Motorhomes may be tolerated parking on the sea front, but the locals turn up at 07:30 blaring club music out of their cars lest we should over-sleep.

Today is Valentine's day so despite seventy -odd years of wedded bliss amongst us we have a nice breakfast of smoked salmon and eggs.

Nick and Grete set of to meet friends who live a few miles down the coast for lunch. We leave soon after planning to meet later this afternoon, Grete texts their parking coordinates.

The journey from Belanmedena takes us around Fuengerola and Marbella. The sea is bright blue and the shore is chock-a-block with white tower blocks. Resorts and clubs have Anglo-Spanish names like Marbella Beach Costa. Traffic is busy and the bimbo driven SUV count is high.

We divert into Puerto Banus which is a bit less tacky but really not to our liking. Ten minutes later we reach San Pedro and locate Margo [N+Gs van] near the seafront. We don't fancy another day of ambling around another Costa del Sol out of season resort so over a coffee we look at the map and realise we are only 30 miles from Ronda, which a good few people have told us is a 'must do', so Ali leaves Grete a voicemail and we head for the hills. So as the song goes; 'Help Me Ronda'.

The road climbs sharply from the seaside into the now familiar 3rd gear left-right-right-left wheel-twirling cliff-hugging mountain drives, this time along the A-397. The scenery is stunning, with deep ravines and distant views to the sea. As we ascend we pass clusters of mountain goats before we reach the top of the growth line. Here trees give way to scrub and then nothing as we drive among barren white rocks.

We reach Ronda and see the castle walls but before we can find parking we see signs for El Sur Camping 1500 metres. We follow the signs to the site make enquiries and check in. Ali phones Grete to tell her our movements. They decide to stay on the coast tonight as they have been to Ronda before so we'll meet somewhere tomorrow.

From the site it's a 25 minute walk back to the town, and although it's a bit fresh it's a delight to be away from Chavington Del-boy Mar. On the way to town we pass little gardens of very old gnarly olive trees.

Ronda is one of Spain's most significant Moorish towns. The town has its own dark yellow colour for windows and shutters and many of the houses have stout oak doors with the lower section panelled with iron or brass sheet.

As we climb above the old town walls there are magnificent views across the valley of pasture land and olive and walnut trees. The road rises further to Duchess of Parcent Square, where a small garden with fountains and palm trees is surrounded by the town hall and chapel of Marie Auxiiadora. Flags and oranges glow in the late afternoon sunshine.

We continue past tapas bars and leather markets to Ronda's landmark; Puente Nuevo or new bridge built in 18th over the 330ft Tajo Gorge. The views are amazing looking down on people walking the footpaths and watching birds skim below us. Old fortified remains hug the terrain down to the valley floor. In the distance are the white peaks we drove through earlier and between them and us the low sun casts shadows and highlights across olive and walnut orchards.

The lowering sun also brings a drop in temperature and by the time we reach the campsite we are both bitterly cold, but soon warm up inside the van with a mug of soup.

In the evening we go to the site restaurant and enjoy an excellent steak dinner with a bottle of local Santimia wine.