A couple of weeks ago I had a day off and my wife Catriona was away for her work. So it occurred to me that I could do a lot worse than head off fishing in the Conde del Guadalhorce reservoir at El Chorro and have a crack at the carp that occasionally venture into the shallow margins.

This kind of fly fishing is pretty hit and miss but thankfully a few fish did show and I managed to catch a common and a mirror carp. Better than that though, I wandered around some beautiful country and had it all to myself.

Even though the real heat of the Spanish summer has yet to kick in, walking around in full sun felt pretty draining and so, after four hours or so, and having nobody to witness me, I stripped off and had a little dip at a little landmark I call Pippa´s rock.

The rock is named for my daughter. A few years ago we went there together in the height of summer. The water levels were then higher and it was possible to dive from the rocks into the cool water. There are plenty of places to swim at El Chorro but this one required a bit of a trek and was well off the beaten path. It is a beautiful, private spot.

Pippa is now working in Taiwan and a lot of water has passed under the bridge since we had our swim here. Catriona and I are off to see her soon and her brother Leo who is working in Hong Kong. We are thinking and talking about little else!