One of the great things about motorhoming is the ability to change your mind at a moment’s notice and go somewhere different. As we left Nuevalos with the intention of driving towards Valencia we made a spur of the moment decision to turn back a bit and go across to Catalonia. Our plan had always been to follow the coast South but our struggle the other day to find campsites still open around Zaragoza put us off. Finding that the roads were so good and so quiet convinced us that we could do the last hop over to the coast really easily. We chose a site (Vendrell Platja) at Calafell from the ACSI book and arrived there at about 5pm.

Shirley went to book in while I waited patiently behind a very posh A class with a French number plate. Eventually Shirley came out to say that the man in the A class had been told that there was a supplement to pay for a large sized pitch. Being a bit on the large size (the motorhome not us you understand) we thought we should ask how much the supplement would be. To cut a long story and a long wait short it turned out that the Frenchman had Camping Cheques and he would have to pay a supplement (which he refused to do) but we had an ACSI card so we could have a big pitch with no supplement. Another good reason to stick with ACSI.

We chose an enormous pitch with its own water supply, quickly got settled and set off with the dogs along the sea front, passing as we did so the huge A class being squeezed onto a small pitch. Shame…

This is a real Mediterranean seaside resort with cafés, bars, restaurants and shops that sell hats and flip flops all along the front. There were signs everywhere that said ‘No dogs’ on the beach but we could see a number of dogs with their owners playing on the sand so we decided to risk it. Poppy was overjoyed to finally get off her lead and dig a few holes. After a few moments running about, Boo, being Boo, just walked along where he would have been if his lead was attached.

Eventually the endless signs with offers of drinks and snacks became irresistible and we had cava, stuffed olives and crisps sitting overlooking the sea and watched the sun go down. Poppy and Boo were given a bowl of fresh water and they lay down under our chairs, quite content.

After a good night’s sleep we were up and about ready for some serious housework as Holly was looking distinctly messy. Fortunately in a motorhome it doesn’t take long. That done we sampled the showers and awarded them a DB score of 8: Very clean, loads of hot water but not easy to keep your clothes out of the way of water spray.

Dogs walked, motorhome clean and tidy left only one thing on the essentials list. Shirley had to sample the pool. She can never resist a swimming pool, even if all the evidence suggests that it isn’t going to be a comfortable experience. Today the pool looked fabulous but it was deserted. My thought was that it must be too cold to go in but she was adamant, so I offered to sit with my book and keep her company – just not in the water, thank you. In reality I thought I should be there to haul her out in case she froze.

This is a pleasant resort and a really good campsite with loads of facilities and beautiful grounds. We can recommend it if you’re ever down this way.