It's time to get back to it

Well i've been in Spain a month now and things are finally settling down. Only one box stands between us and un packing freedom and we finally have a car. The internet is the last thing to sort but at least we have it at home now even if it is via a very expensive dongle - 4 euros a day.

So far 2 companies have said they can get us broadband only to tell us a week later they can't. We need satellite internet as getting a phone line where we are can take months. To pay for this i need to get a spanish bank account. To do this i need a certificate from the police station to say i am who i say i am and that i am resident in Spain. The way that i prove this is to go to the police station and say: " I am living in Spain can i have a certificate to say so." Show them my passport and then 2 weeks later they will give me a piece of paper i could have printed off the computer myself. It'll all come together in time.

Meanwhile in lieu of any climbing related fun here are some pics of the awesome wildlife to see round here.

A Booted Eagle

Loads of these round here in the Montes de Malaga. One day when it was really windy we saw about 20 all circling together. Seems to be the Andalucian equivalent of buzzards - but cooler cos it's an eagle.

A cheeky weasel was spied at Sector Yugoslavia. We scared him off but he came back for a second look - cheeky little fella. I may start seeing if i can get him to take food.

Loads of other birds such as bee eater ( beautiful iridescent green, blue & orange ) and hoopoes which have a cool crest of feathers on their heads.

However the top spot so far has to be....

The Andalucian Funnel Web spider

Loads of these bad boys about. Trying to do my 'Dad' job and show the kids there is nothing to be scared of and i poked the entrance with a piece of grass to entice the friendly little guy out so we could have a look. To my surprise something about 1/2 the size of a tarantula ran out bloody quickly, stood on its back legs and hissed at me. This caused me to fall over from my crouched position and roll away in panic as i envisaged some sort of scene from Arachnaphobia with the spider leaping up at me and attaching itself to my face. After that brave display the kids now know not to go anywhere near them. Job done !!!

One creature i've not found yet is the brown reclusive spider. Hides in your house, comes out at night and is more poisonous than the black widow. Has the strength to penetrate human skin and causes necrosis of the flesh. Often mis-diagnosed and or ignored as the bite is not that painful and often occurs when you're asleep in bed and you touch the spider that is walking over you while you sleep. The other time it gets you is when you're stumbling through the house going to the loo in the middle of the night with nothing on your feet. I didn't sleep properly for 2 nights.