Day 2 - arrival in Earthship Valencia!

After our rather disturbed first night, we wake up early in our little van and all three jump into the sea which is just in front of the housing estate. Back at the car we discover that we have parked right next to the open air showers! Alright!!!

A café con leche later we are ready to set off and explore the area. By the end of the morning we find Alcudia, where an Earthship is being built by hard-working Lisa, from Oz, and Oscar, valenciano.

We have been following Oscar and Lisa's developments on their blog ever since we visited the Earthship in Brighton last summer and were amazed by and further investigated this type of sustainable dwellings that use earth and garbage (old tyres, bottles and cans) to provide the warmth or coolness a home requires. The maximisation of the Sun's energy and the collection and recycling of water make these constructions very self-sufficient. Visit the Earthship UK site for more info on this fascinating combination of imagination and technology.

We were astonished to see the beauty and size of the Valencia Earthship!

The little white pod on the right of the photo is the first, one-hub jewel of an Earthship that Oscar and Lisa built five years ago and where they live while they are building the large one in the forefront. Their new home includes five hubs and beautiful finishings, from the smooth adobe wall rendering to the carpentry, the plants that recycle the gray waters to the wonderful bathroom... It is a-ma-zing! Do visit their blog for great info and lots of piccies. Here are some of ours:


Plants (watered with the gray waters from sinks and shower!) are thriving in the planter which runs along the inside of the glass, South-East facing front.


In what will be the bedroom of Carla, Lisa and Oscar's lovely daughter.



Carla and Ana admire a stylish and useful detail in a bottle wall: towel hangers for the bathroom! Make a note of that one!

So we join in with the work and make ourselves useful...


Danny sieving earth that is used, mixed with sand, straw and water, instead of plaster.



Danny assists Oscar in rendering a wall...



... while Ana gets busy with the paintbrush on the front of the house! Three guesses for the colour... ;)

Sleeping in our van facing this amazing eco-construction, with our feet hangin' out the back doors and the sound of nature around us, we feel blessed to have been welcomed here so warmly and have the opportunity of experiencing an Earthship...