Beatrix pottering: Riding the Cobra

As we drove across the plains of almond blossom, the peaks of Serra de Tramuntara ahead were shrouded in mist. The weather had turned; and today we were ascending an official "mountain", albeit on four wheels rather than four feet.

The beginning of our journey (part of Car Tour 3) took us from Sóller, the main town on the north coast, to Biniaraix, a pretty little village a bit inland. Or rather it was supposed to - some conflicting signs (or my interpretation of them) meant that that stage was missed out. Instead - after a gorgeous drive through a stunning valley fringed by these striking mountains, traced with stone walls, and scattered with lush-looking orange and lemon groves - we found ourselves at Fornalutx, which should have been stop number two. Ah well, Biniaraix will wait for another day.

And Fornalutx was certainly worth visiting - one of the prettiest villages we've seen. Shallow cobbled steps leading steeply up past sturdy stone houses with green shutters, all softened by trees and flowers - everywhere you turned was another postcard image. We had a lovely wander (some more Mallorcan hills to keep our legs working), with lots of stops to admire the various views. Very beautiful, and very peaceful - unlike the summer months, one imagines.

After Fornalutx, the road wound higher and higher up into the mountains. After a little while we drove through a tunnel underneath the summit of Puig Major, the tallest mountain on Mallorca at 1,445m, and the landscape suddenly changed: from a green, inhabited and cultivated valley, to a rocky lunar-scape dotted with clumps of low shrubs and very little life. We passed a lonely lake right at the top of the mountain, milky blue in colour, and afterwards another one, equally lonely, a slightly darker blue. And then we reached our ultimate destination: Sa Calobra, or The Cobra, one of the best driving roads in the world.

Kevin had seen a video of a motoring journalist driving Sa Calobra in a Porsche 911 GTS (a car he has just bought, and which he hoped would be delivered in time to bring to Mallorca, but it wasn't to be). And now he was ready to take on Sa Calobra in...our rental 1.4 Vauxhall Corsa. He still volunteered to demonstrate liftoff oversteer - but I passed on that experience.

Even without the sunshine it was pretty spectacular: 12 kilometres of sinuous tarmac curving impossibly through the jagged landscape, down from the summit of Coll des Reis at 682m to sea level. It was difficult to see how on earth they could have built it. And once we got to the bottom, one had to wonder why they bothered: the Port de Sa Calobra was a pretty-enough bay, but nothing special for Mallorca; and seemed mainly to be full of massive (closed) tourist restaurants - not even any houses for residents.

We parked right at the bottom (the brakes making slightly funny noises and giving off a rather strong smell) and followed the signs to the Torrent de Pareis - a spectacular twin waterfall landing on a shingle beach. Or at least it is, after rain. Not today - literally not a drop. But the walk there and back showed us some of North Mallorca's dramatic rocky coastline, and included a fun tunnel or two.

Back up Sa Calobra, the Corsa once more working hard - Bradley Wiggins can apparently do it in 28 minutes, which is staggering; and then a different route back down the mountain past Lluc and Inca, both destinations for another day. And home to Chameli's in time for lunch, and school pick up. We missed the blue sky today - all the beautiful places we saw would have been even better with that arcing above. But even in the grey, Mallorca is still great.