Our Tardis Part 1

Delfin is parked at home until it's time to head south for Dover. It's a bit of a squeeze getting her  between the side of the house and Mark's garage next door, and when combined with reversing her down the slope from the road, well it makes the whole experience a bit hairy,even though the manoeuvre has been done  so often

You are about to enter our Tardis, Those of you who may be wondering how we manage  to enjoy ourselves in a  seven and a half metre tin box, may well be suprised by what you are about to see. Ok, up the step now for those of us with short legs.

and here you are in the dining room. There is seating for 4 if the  driving cab swivel seats are turned to face the table.

See what I mean? Ok  that's the front half, so now let's turn left  and the rest will be revealed.

The kitchen with 3 burner gas stove and of course, the sink. Opposite there is a fridge- freezer and a combined grill / oven. See the remainder of our posh home on wheels in Part 2

In 2010 and 2012 we drove to Greece.

Island scenery. Check out that road we  drove down.

We had 2 amazing trips to Greece, and  from the mainland, we sailed to the Island of Kefalonia to visit Sue's brother,David, who lives there with his partner Ellen. We parked by the harbour for a month for free,and Panae from the taverna gave us water. In return, when we could afford to, we ate at his wonderful restaurant.The small community of Anos Katelios made us very welcome. Our electric bikes were a source of conversation as we pottered from bakery, to grocer, to ice-cream shop, spending our euros, almost as a way of paying for our parking. Holiday makers from the UK who were staying locally, were intrigued  to find a couple of senior ladies travelling alone.We sat there, wine glasses in hand, under the sun shade, with the BBQ stove on the go, doing "Motor Homer's Question Time"  and taking them on tours of   Delfin.

Argostoli, the main town on the island. 

If you look very closely you can see Delfin
in the distance

The harbour.....still not completed!

Fresh sea bream from Captain  Jerry's boat

Feel the heat , taste the grape!

Panagis the owner of a taverna who provided us with  water .

Ain't life grand!

The Camargue in Autumn

The wild, white horses of the Camargue are actually born grey.This one  isn't very wild because he eats apples and lives in the stable that you can see in the corner of his field!!

Spices at the market in Stes. Maries-de-la-Mer, such a colourful site and their perfume assaulted your senses.In fact the whole area was an outdoor arena devoted to tantalising your taste buds. Olives, grapes, cheeses, bread and confectionary, hams, pickles , wine,  fresh fish , fruit and vegetables. Find me a cookery book!

Flamingoes were everywhere.On the "etangs"or salt lakes,their distinctive plumage could be seen as they waded in the shallow waters or as in the case of this one,paddled to take off. Once air born, they flocked together to create a pink cloud as they flew to a new feeding ground.

Bulls are also a popular attraction here. They have bull runs through the streets  and arenas can be found in many towns but thankfully it is bloodless bull fighting , involving the matadors tormenting the beast, then running and leaping over a wooden barrier to escape from it ,as the animal charges across the a arena

Sunsets are ethereal and awesome. On this particular evening, we felt humbled by the magnificene of the sight in the silence of our surroundings.

Camping on board

This is a most amazing experience. We decided to save wear and tear on Delfin and the driver, by taking a mini cruise down the length of the Adriatic for 2 days.We sailed from Venice to Patras,on mainland Greece and then took a smaller ferry to Kefalonia via a port called Kyllini, which is further south down the coast of the Pelopenese.

One gets to experience life aboard  a mini cruise ship without having to book a cabin because you  sleep in the van in your own bed. Furthermore, we could use all the amenities on the ship as well as  have an electric hook up for Delfin so that the fridge, lights and cooker could all function and the batteries were charged at the same time.  Best of all, if we wanted to use the restaurant, then we didn't have to get dressed for dinner.
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Our own special camping car deck where children can play, dogs are exercised and tables and chairs are set up for card games and wine tasting.

Pat and Angus from Derby....we  were a long way from home  but  shared time together on the voyage.

The coastline of Albania appears quite close. It looks rugged and barren. A German couple we met had driven through part of the country and said the roads are appalling. They took a whole day to cover 30 miles on one leg of their trip

Travellers brought their pets and these 2 chaps were grand guard dogs, but suckers for chocolate buttons.

St.Mark's Square  as we sailed out of  Venice.

The Doge's Palace and........

Room with a view

 

Where else? A few snaps of Italy

Lost in Venice and the map is upside down.......calls herself a retired Geography teacher!!

Rialto Bridge

St, Marks Square, 

The Grand Canal 

A cheeky tart who only met one gentleman of Verona

Verona. The scaffolding in the bottom left is the seating being erected in the arena for a concert

Flying kites at Rosolina Mare. How they didn't get the lines tangled beats me.

Switzerland into Italy, for the third time in a the space of 5 minutes. Was it the road signs or the navigator? I just did as I was told but the atmosphere in the van was decidedly heated.

Italian Alps from Lake Maggiore

No one needs rescuing at Punta Sabbione today, but me thinks this is not a beach to use in summer. Can you picture the lines of brollies and loungers? Not our scene.

The entrance to our campsite.The water bus to Venice is outside the entrance, just a 20 minute  crossing and straight into St. Mark's Square. No hassle. No parking.

Lake Como  from a very narrow and winding road with a  precipitous  drop.The navigator was not a happy bunny 'cause it was on her side!

Where have we been before? France

France is really set up for motorhoming. There are Aires throughout the country, some free others not very expensive, where you can park safely and access fresh water and dump your waste. Also there are  municipal campsites with plenty of facilities.Everywhere the people are friendly and if there is a problem with your van, then willing hands are readily available to help, albeit with classroom French and much sign language on our part!!
From Calais to The Camargue and the Atlantic to the Alps, the landscapes and weather offer so much variety.

Have a quick taster as you zoom through these snaps.

Rocamadour, a town clinging to the  deep valley side

A tyrical tree lined French road

Picked grapes in St Emillion

Parked by sand dunes at Cap Breton

A solitary sunflower

Beautifully kept wargraves

and the poppies that represent the spilt blood of the fallen, bloom in the surrounding fields

Hill top village in the Central Massif

Long, clean and deserted beaches

                       One of the many chateaux along the Loire

and finally the magnificance of the mountains.

What have we done so far to prepare for Morocco?

Life on the road is somewhat different from packing a suitcase and heading to the airport,although excess baggage is an issue for us as well, only we call it payload.As far as possible we pack what we feel is appropriate for a couple of months away but we do try to use light weight pots ,pans,plastic containers and take Kindles rather than books.If we go over the payload it makes us unstable on the road and liable to be pulled over by the law! So at the moment I'm trying ,but apparently failing, to keep my eye on Sue, as she endeavours to stash the kitchen sink and the odd crate of wine under the beds.Still time to discover if we are legal or not when we go on the weigh bridge nearer departure day.
What else? Well we have had all the necessary jabs and sorted the vehicle paperwork for getting Delfin in and out of Morocco. Every time I say that word I tingle with anticipation and see camels and sand-dunes. The van has been serviced and the gas bottles for the fridge, cooking, hot water ( we have a very effective  shower) and the BBQ , are filled. The wonders of cyberspace have enabled us to book cross channel tickets,Dover - Calais, on line and today we collected the euros.

Last week we met up with Andrew, in our vans, at a pub on the out skirts of Stratford on Avon. Time to get our heads together and arrange a date for meeting up at Algeciras in southern Spain for the ferry to Tangiers.We looked at maps, shared thoughts about what we wanted to see and do; Todra gorge and the Atlas Mountains, palmeries and an oasis, the Sahara, souks,kasbahs,medinas and camels, a Berber camp, Cassablanca  but without Bogart,and the wild Atlantic coast.The wish list kept growing , along with the bar bill and the noise levels. Each new idea greeted with enthusiasm and expectation. No-one mentioned the miles we would have to cover or the fuel costs! Hey ho , you only live once.
Thank goodness that there are publicans who understand the limited provision for motorhomers in the UK. He got our custom and we had a safe sleepover with a rural view of lambs and daffodils. Bit of a plug for Britstops!!
Apologies for pix in the middle. Still got lots to learn but I had been thinking that we would be experiencing 3 Springs....ours in UK, then France and Spain on the way down and finally Morocco so
this colourful meadow seemed appropriate.

With apologies to London 2012

Age is just a number so they say, but the reality is that time is passing all too quickly.Our pal Jose says that life is like a toilet roll. You get the image and she's right. We recognise that we have to cram as much living as possible into the years while we still have our health and mobility.

Whilst parked up on the quayside in Anos Katelios, a young couple approached who obviously wanted to chat.They were renovating an old property back in Dorset and had quite high powered occupations.They were intrigued to discover more about our nomadic lifestyle, the freedom to roam and general day to day living in a motorised tin box.Sue took them on a tour of Delfin and they were amazed by what we could carry with us which made living so comfortable.

A few days later, before their return flight to the UK, they sought us out at a local taverna, bursting to share the germination of their plans for a new beginning. They intended to resign their positions, sell the partially restored property, use the cash to buy a motorhome and spend several months touring mainland Europe.

We trust that they continue to live that dream.

Urgent name change required!!

It appears that our "tarts on tour " handle has brought unwanted attention from around the world, so we have reverted to The Intrepids ,which our dear friends back in Stoke applied some years ago.Apparently our blog was sandwiched between "The Naughty Girls" and a jam tart factory in Eastern Europe!!
We have much to learn about this blogging lark!! Ideally the intention is to use it whilst away on our adrenalin fuelled journey to North Africa ,which is now a mere 5 weeks away.
Since introducing ourselves to the world, we no longer have Eldy. Instead, as our trips became more far flung and the destinations more varied ,we opted to upgrade our van to a 2008 Burstner Delfin t 700 Performance. Oh what a treat, so much space and comfort and a work horse of an engine.

No tarts here, just a couple of cheerful  nomads.

So who is this?

Who is this smiling assassin I hear you whisper? A man in their lives? Where did he come from? Friends we would very much like you to meet Andrew Ball. A couple of years ago he was parked up next to us on Newbury Showground and we became his " Newbury Fruits".Sometime later it was the "Malvern Maids" and so our friendship began.We have supped the white stuff,  BBQd, shared our traveller's tales and laughed loads, so needless to say, once we had made the Morocco decision,we were keen to tell him of our plans.

The green eyed god shone in his eyes and the words"Would you want to share the trip?" had barely left my lips  before we found ourselves with a travelling companion.

It has to be said that having a bloke around does give one a little more sense of security.Other camping-carnisters have dogs but hey,they can't cook,fix a flat tyre or repair the wifi. No feminists on this trip!! 

Here's the plan......

Once we set off from Stoke on April 23rd, Sue and I would like to keep in touch and let you know how we are getting on.It's a long way and hopefully there will be plenty to entertain you as we roll through the French and Spanish landscapes on our way to the port of Algeciras which is close to the Rock of Gibralter. This picture gives you some idea of what Sue does when she is not slagging off the sat nav. She sits at the dining table surrounded by maps and guide books,plotting the route and finding us somewhere to camp.

Here she is......

This is Delfy. She has taken us roaming over 10,000 miles since we found her in Herefordshire in 2011 and now we are getting her packed for the biggest journey of all, to Morocco!!