Portugal in the sun.....in December !!

Would you believe it? Well we couldn't. All the glorious sun and warmth that is Portugal but in December.
We went on a pre Christmas jaunt and got to know The Algarve, from the sheer cliffs of Cape St. Vincent in the west to Mia Priah and Lagos to the east.

We saw fishermen perched on ledges on the cliffs with knee wobbling drops beneath them.

 Marvellous rock erosion with spectacular colours visible in the strata.

There were trips  inland to the Barragem , a vast resevoir  whose waters were held back by a massive concrete dam and also the beautiful fortified town of Silves, with a quaint street market, storks on chimney pots and steps.

Sunset at Pria de Luz

Peejay .... cyberspace to the rescue.

What do you do and how do you plan for an excursion that you have never attempted before, when you are two, 60 plus ladies, in a motorised vehicle? Well you seek out those more experienced than yourselves and through the wonders of modern technology and an organisation called Motorhome Facts, we found our cyberspace pals, Pete and Judy, aka Peejay, with whom we have been in contact.
Motorhome Facts has a forum where questions can be asked, solutions found, experiences shared and journeys followed.
This couple spend a long time on the road and over the years have become known for producing up to the minute information regarding site fees, camping locations with GPS co-ordinates, points of interest, toll road and fuel costs, so they share their wealth of knowledge with other like-minded travellers ........ like us!
So where is this going?
Pete and Judy are almost at the end of a winter break in Morocco and since leaving the UK, they have sent regular posts, which we have picked up and which have enabled us to rethink routes, stopovers, what to see, where to shop, road conditions and security. They have provided invaluable information in an entertaining and informative way. So a big " thankyou " to them.

15 days to go and counting !!  How about this view being the first thing you see in a morning?

The Tyre Saga.

It's my own fault, I should have done something about it sooner.
The last MOT flagged up that the tyres on Delfin were old and beginning to deteriorate, especially the sidewalls where fine graining is visible.This is mainly due to a combination of oxidation, a breakdown of the rubber to steel bonding and the brittle nature of rubber that comes with age - not unlike my own ageing skin!   Well in a van of our weight and size, when this happens, there is the possibility of a blow-out and that could be a deadly disaster.We will be covering 4 to 5 thousand miles, not all of them on decent roads, especially in Morocco, where there is often just a narrow strip of tarmac with gravel either side to enable passing.So time to act, despite the fact that there appears to be quite a depth of tread left.
I have spent the last three days learning about tyre sizes, tyre ages and tyre compounds.I know the meaning of all the letters and numbers printed into the rubber on the wall of each tyre and how to apply on-line to have tyres delivered to a local fitter.I know my Michelin from my Dunlop and Continental from Bridgestone.
To think..... I could have been in town buying shoes!!
 For our own safety and the safety of others,we have had to bite the financial bullet and invest in new rubber.Our present tyres are seven years old so by motorhome standards, have done very well.
So why the panic? Because this is the time of year when camping- cars come out of hibernation, are dusted down, checks are made and new tyres are in short supply because everyone wants them! None of this would matter a jot except that we have an appointment with a ferry on the 23rd.
A wonderful organisation called Tyres on the Drive spent the morning ringing around to track down the ones we require and their perseverance paid off. Thunderbirds are GO!! Delfin has new shoes.

Can you see the fine cracks within the tread and the shot below which shows the graining on the sidewall ?

And fungi 3

And flowers 2

Sue's arty photography 1

He took us on his boat to watch the seals on the Isle of Skye

Old boats are always an attraction

This intricate art work is made from paper by a lady in Paris

Sad sunflower field on an autumn day in France.

Shells and stones at Poros.

Bit of a knotty problem.

Someone being clever with the lens!

Lichen covered in frost.

Worn wood and forgotten sandals.

Majestic, and tranquil. The forest at Sandringham

Trying to be tekkie

As a teacher, I never really took to computers. At school the youngsters showed me what to do so it's only in retirement that I have become the proverbial Silver Surfer.I do some on- line shopping, email friends, download photographs and that's about it.
However, the prospect of Morocco as a once- in- a- life-time adventure, got me thinking about how to keep in touch with everyone whilst away.
The result is a Mifi dongle to create a mobile hotspot, 3G sim cards for the dongle, which we will buy and use in  each country that we go through ( our first stop in Morocco is Asilah and we have already been able to locate the Maroc Telecom shop which sells them thanks to Google Earth) and between us we have all the necessary " black goods " should we need to summon assistance or merely to keep in touch with family and friends.There is also a satellite dish on the roof but that's for watching TV not to keep us on NASA's radar!
This pic just shows the little corner at home from where I keep pestering you with these pre trip tasters and also to let you see that today I dusted and polished my trusty old desk. A definite sign that staying indoors in this cold weather is sending me stir crazy.

Those who came to visit......

This is Gizmo, our most loyal, feline friend, who visited several times a day for milk and was frequently seen leading tourists to our location at the harbour. Soggy tea bag holder became her milk saucer and the door mat was her bed.I have to say that I shed a tear when we departed and hope that she quickly found another sucker to love her.

Nancy has to be  the mother of almost every hound in Katelios. . Any dog with a brown and white coat, a white star on its head and sporting an ultra long tail, will probably be related. She was gentle and obedient and never ventured on to the doorstep. She just waited patiently for a treat, which always came, because we knew that she had yet another litter concealed further along the beach

Three little ducks from the pond are we ...with apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan. They waddled across to quack hello, until the day they caught the smell of fowl of another species cooking on the griddle, and were never seen again!!

A camping-car guard dog.His owners used to go down to surf the waves at Cap Breton and he barked until he was hoarse, that is, until we discovered that he liked to lick ice-cream from a cornet. Problem solved!

.

Look into my eyes and love me.....so we did for 7 hours!! We had only stopped for lunch, when we saw her wriggle through the partially open window of a huge RV and tumble to the ground.Being concerned that she might scamper off and be run over, we two softies, or should that be soft touches, fed her stale bread and

milk,walked her on a make shift lead around the lake and generally dog sat until her owners returned.

The campsite at Fusina must have been the runway for swans returning from Venice, as we frequently saw them taking off and landing not far from our door.

I will not dwell on the sad tale of the four kittens, suffice to say that only this little chap survived. 

Aigues Mortes.......a cultural moment

Aigues Morts is an ancient town, on the flat coastal plain of the Camargue and as you can see from the this pic, it was constructed in a grid pattern. Two sides of the rectangle are almost a kilometre long and defensively, there is an uninterrupted view in all directions.
The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south and a canal to the north. Apart from the numerous narrow streets and alleyways, the town is famous for the sea- salt which is produced locally and exported around the world.

This was our view from Delfin.

Windmills of my mind....who sang that?

Entering through one of the huge gateways

The town square is bustling with life , restaurants, shade trees and a man playing a grand piano.

Little 'n Large !!

So there we were, in a completely empty car park, having stopped for elevenses, surrounded by the most spectacular mountain scenery. On went the kettle, out came the cake, yes we still had some left, after  all we were only a few days into the journey.
Out of Delfin we leapt ,stretching our legs and breathing in the cool mountain air, when out of nowhere came a mammoth of an articulated waggon ,which needless to say, ruined the silence and filled the atmosphere with noise and diesel fumes. Not only that but with all that space, he parked right next to us.
The whistling kettle called us back inside to make a brew. We muttered rude things about inconsiderate lorry drivers when suddenly our mini world went black as night. Another monster had planted itself on the other side of us!! Some kind of joke or what? We look like a motorhome sandwich.

Master Chef

What Deliah is to cakes, Gordon is to bad language and Jamie is to school diners, Sue is to the camping kitchen. When she is not hunched over the BBQ stove, she can be found delicately peeling grapes, rationing our British bacon, making sure the wine cooler is chilled and creating delicacies in the wok.
She travels nowhere without her trusty, multi-stained apron.
What a talent she is! Trained by the Good House Keeping Cookery Book, third edition circa 1973 and 101 Meals on a Shoestring For Students. We dine well in Delfin!

Some people have all the luck!

Some people have all the luck, or should that be muck! Yes I know what you are thinking "It's a dirty job but someone has to do it ".
Me, well I just say " Sh-- ! Is it time to empty the cassette again?"
What do you think of the snazzy blue gloves? Hygiene is a priority on the road otherwise I could be doing this even more often.
To this day, I don't know how , out of all the chores we share, I got landed with this one.

Snow at Cobwebs and almost April!

As a slight diversion for those of you who are viewing in warmer climes, take a look at the snow around the house. What you need to know is that on this day last year we had Spring temperatures of 20 degrees C which is approximately 68 in degrees F.There was no white Christmas but a white Easter is looking possible. Brrrr

This is for you Mags....even whirligig didn't escape.

That snow is over 12 inches deep on the table top. I stuck a ruler in to measure it. How sad is that? I suppose we don't normally expect to see the white stuff so deep in these parts and the reason that it's not piled up against the door is because it is inside the house...well it's not now but it was, because I never gave drifting a thought as I went out to feed the birds. Roll on Morocco and the sunshine!