We are not moving !

Good morning. Today the wheels on the bus are not turning even an inch. After 1,780 miles, we are having some R and R. Fresh bread has been ordered and the coffee is on the hob.
Just been for an early morning stroll around the site as the sun's rays are filtering through the pine trees and the dawn chorus is clearing its throat!
From the beach we can look across the Straits of Gibralter to the coastline of North Africa. Morocco is within touching distance. I can hardly believe that we are a mere  two hour ferry crossing from experiencing a whole new culture.
But for now, a little normality as we potter about here until Friday morning. Sue has already got the longest clothes line on the site and has filled it with a weeks worth of washing
By this afternoon the weather had really warmed up. Red knees and noses, dry washing and a bbq for tea. We christened the new stove which still had all the bubble wrap around its various parts The whole episode became a spectator sport for the large Spanish family next door, as we endeavoured to fit the bits together. All went well until the moment of ignition, silence descended, then....no gas came through the pipe from the van!! We shouted "Boom", they laughed and before you knew it we had a handsome young man sorting the problem. I hadn't turned the gas on. Embarrassment was disguised beneath red from the sun. Lots of " muchos graziases" and soon we really were cooking on gas!
Todays picture offerings are; Sun blinds and shade trees and the shell seeker on Tarifa beach.

Catch up time.

Finally, here we are with a wifi connection!! Life has been quite hectic since we were last in touch. The drive has been long but these Spanish free motorways are amazing, so we have been able to zip along from one stop over to the next with relative ease. There have been storks on their nests high up on electricity pylons, goats at the side of the road  (one almost became kebab meat ) and beautiful horses with foals everywhere. The wild flowers fill the embankments with colour and birds of prey are frequently seen circling overhead.
Last night we reached the coast at Sanlucar and found a great parking spot on the front row, facing the sea. As we set off for a walk, we noticed a van just like Andrew's, who by the way we are meeting on Friday on Lidl car park at Aljeciras, and whom we presumed was still in Portugal. Well talk of the devil, and there he was, the old rogue, beer in hand, waving us into his motorhome. Being a couple of Tarts on Tour, we didn't need asking twice We were simply stunned, that out of all the places to rest our heads, we had all ended up at the same location. Several beers and red faces later, we stumbled back to Delfin.
We waved him off this morning as he was going to see friends in Malaga before we meet up for our departure to foreign shores even further afield.
Unfortunately, we also had leave early as the local community workforce were preparing the area for a May day festival, so we set off to follow the coast towards Rota, having been told of a quiet campsite by the sea. Could we find it ? No! The sat nav took us up and down the same narrow road approaching it from several different directions 5 times. We did a bit of bumpy off- roading, then stopped in a lay by to see over the dunes  what we were missing. It was a magnificent sandy beach, totally deserted and glowing golden, in glorious sunshine. But we were not destined to reach it today, so back to the main road in search of Tarifa, which is where we are tonight.
Time for a well earned break. So as the sun sets on this view from our door, it's adios from me and adios from her.
Buenos Noches Amigos!

The water saga.

The night was a cold one so we rose early to make a brew. No water in the tank? We have such a clever motorhome, that she knows when the temperature falls below freezing,so she empties herself to avoid burst pipes.Plenty of exercise back and forth to the fresh water tap. A 100 litre tank takes some filling!!
There was thick frost on the roof so it's as well it happened.
Prior to that, yesterday I killed our small bucket by reversing over it before putting it away.
The last watery saga can be seen in the picture. Yes, Sue has finally had an opportunity to wash some knickers!! We are parked up at Caceres for the rest of the day and the sun has finally come to stay.
Lastly, we have been trying to learn Spanish pronounciation from the Kindle dictionary, and it strikes me that a person with a lisp would do well speaking this language!

50 Shades Of Grey

Those 50 shades of grey refer to the skies above us today.The weather has been as changeable as a chamelion's jumper! We have driven through rain,sleet,sun,hail,snow twice and now as we park up in Palencia, glorious evening sunshine. The jagged silhouettes of the Pyreneese, the patchwork colours of the fields along the N1and the pink-beige tones of the building stone in the small, isolated villages have been in sharp contrast to the tourist routes in the north of Spain.
We have plenty of company at this city centre Aire
and as long as the sun is out, the solar panel will charge our batteries. Off for a short walk before dinner. Adios.

Pic shows our first bit of blue today through the branches of a tamarisk tree.

What a differance a day makes.

Yesterday a scorching 34°, today a numbing 10°, with a howling wind which has rocked the van and sent Sue to sleep.
We are parked up at Cap Breton in the sand dunes, with the Atlantic waves pounding the beach beyond.No bbq for us tonight.The sky is slate grey and the rain comes in stinging showers. Tomorrow we could invoke the motorhomers mantra of " if it's raining then we'll move on."
Today we have travelled the length of the N10, skirted around Bordeaux on the ring road amongst frenetic, lane hopping, commuters  and then driven along incredibly straight roads through sweet smelling pine forests.

Here comes the sun

After the late start to Wednesday because of thick fog, we very quickly found ourselves rolling through the French countryside heading for our first stop over on the banks of the Seine at Pont de L'Arche.
The town mayor called in to say hello and to reassure us that the travellers next to us would not be a problem. I thought they were fellow motorhomers!
Today we have clogged south to Nersac, south-west of Angouleme and experienced all the colours of a French Spring; every shade of green in the forests, pink and white blossom on the trees, purple lilac and wisteria and fields of flourescent yellow rape seed,.....best of all, temperatures. in the low 30s.
Also done a bit of DIY when we discovered that our fresh water tank had sprung a leak because of a perished seal. Mr. Bricolage to the rescue.That's a French B and Q.
Tomorrow it's Cap Breton and a couple of rest days by the sea before the Pyreneese.

Picture of the chateau within whose walls we are staying tonight

Intrepids are leaving the country!

Early start from our overnight stop on Marine a parade, Dover. The weather is grand with a slight breeze producing a gentle swell and best of all,sunshine. No queezy tums on this crossing.
Delfin is down below along with many other camping cars but we are on deck watching the not so white cliffs, fade away, whilst the French coastline appears on the horizon. Soon we will dock and the adventure will begin, despite driving on the wrong side of the road.
Rouen is the target for today, just south of the city, on a meander of the River Seine at an Aire called Pont de l'Arche.
We won't be able to send posts every day because French SIM cards are expensive for the MiFi so we  shall use McDonalds,who offer a free wifi service.
We don't want to bore you with the duller moments of a daily blog or diary so we thought that an overview of  a few days at a time, supported with pics, might be the best way forward.
 Aurevoir mes amis. Nous n'sommes pas Les Miserables mais Les Enfants Terribles. Vive la France!!


PS. Sea mist has descended and obliterated all remaining views of dear old Blighty.

Our last night in the UK

As the light fades and the fret drifts in from the sea, we are settling down for the night with this panoramic view through our window. The ferry boats plough back and forth but we are far enough away from the port not to be disturbed.
We have wandered the streets in search of the fish and chip shop which is legendary amongst motorhomers but ended up with an Indian. There are other travellers parked up so we have company ( great believers in safety in numbers ) Time to set the alarm for tomorrow's early start, then sleep with dreams of souks and sand dunes. Nite all. x

Thunderbirds are go!!!

Departure day has finally dawned after weeks, no, months of planning and preparation. Delfin has been hooked up to the electric for two days to ensure the freezer is ready to receive three chickens and half a pig. Won't dwell on the meat out of respect for the vegetarians out there.I don't know about motorhome, we seem to have all the characteristics of a mobile supermarket!
Fresh water tank is filled, taps and toilet are primed, beds are made and gas tanks topped up. Diesel, thanks to Tesco vouchers, will go in as we pass our local store We have enough maps and books to paper a house and the clothes lockers are bulging.Remarkably,we've even found room for the ukuleles. I wonder if noise pollution, I hesitate to call it music, is an issue for camels? Just checked the temperature in Marrakech, 34 degrees, nevertheless the navigator has sneaked in a hot water bottle!! I forsee choppy waters ahead and I don't mean the English Channel!!
Thunderbirds are go. North Africa here we come!!

Is this it? Are we really on our way? I'm just a little excited!!

2 more bedtimes.

Almost there; today is the time to check and re- check.
The phone has been ringing off its hook with final goodbyes. We aren't emigrating dear friends, nor journeying to a galaxy far, far away but we really hope that we'll be worth more than a couple of camels if abducted in a kasbah!
An alcoholic thought for today.....there's nothing like a gin and tonic to get rid of the taste of sterilised water from our tank.
So as Bogart might have said in " Cassablanca "......... " Here's lookin' at you! "

Marking Time.

At the moment there isn't a great deal to tell you. In the excitement of the planning and preparations plus the need to find something to keep me occupied at three in the morning, perhaps I put myself on the blogging learning curve a tad too early for us all.
The recent posts have been a bit like the taster for the main event.Please don't forget to return to this space on April 22nd  for the serialised version of "The Road To Morocco", with apologies to Bob, Bing and Dorothy.Now that line is for folk of a certain age!,
Is it in political thrillers or spy films when a character "goes dark", and it means  they are not in contact for a period of time? Well that could be us!

Meanwhile, here is a photograph to make you smile.......motorhome gives birth to a jeep at Narbonne  Plage

Countdown is now in single figures!!

The excitement is mounting and the shopping is almost done.

Nothing more can be done for Delfy.
 Tyres, brakes, lights, oil, water and every other container with a level , has been checked. She is running smoothly, purring in fact, which for a diesel engine is in itself quite amazing.

Almost all the food shopping is loaded; tins for quick, lazy meals; boxes of pasta, rice and cereals. Fresh fruit, veg and meat will go in the fridge and freezer on the 21st.

Then there are all the pills, potions and lotions that keep us oldies young. Sun and moisturising creams for the more crumpled skin, chemicals to keep us on the move.....or not, and enough first aid to kit out a field hospital! No sex, got the drugs and loads of rock n' roll !!

CDs , cards, Scrabble, crib and chess, DVDs and  games to keep the brain cells active, are stowed  in a cupboard above the dining table and the outside lockers house everything for our mobile patio ... BBQ stove, table, chairs and a special carpet for dusty stop-overs

  

 Once we reach warmer places, more time is spent outdoors. Cooking, eating ,washing and reading.
Can you spot Sue's marigolds?

As for now, there are clothes that still need to become acquainted with an iron ; too chilly to put bedding in yet and we are still  using the maps to decide how to find our way to The Sahara.

Untidy house.

There are piles of partly assembled items for the journey, all through the house.
On the settle are the tekkie goods and maps
In the kitchen the drier is strewn with clothes fresh from the washer.
Why a giant torch is parked in the middle of the dining table, only time will tell.
The pantry is clogged with emergency tin diners and cereal boxes, whilst the conservatory has bedding airing in the sunshine.
There are clothes and towels in a corner of my bedroom and I fell over a pack of water bottles as I came through the back door.
Message from Sue........."Gone to buy battery for the big torch"....ahh, mystery solved.

Talking of houses, how about this for a colourful advert for a well known paint manufacturer, but without the big dog. What appear to be white dots are in fact beer cans stuck on the fence!

Discovered on the road to Argostoli. Greece.

Today's news.

Some news to share.
We have been out and about visiting friends to say our "goodbyes".
I have been to Buckingham, Sue is off to Uttoxeter, then there are a few pub lunches to have with folk locally before D day.
Just when you think the to do list is done, you find even more to do, so the list isn't getting any shorter at the moment.
 Yesterday I realised that the garden required a quick face lift otherwise I would return to a jungle. So grass was mown, some pots were emptied and last season's growth, cut back. The hedge can wait!
One job to do on Delfin today is to fill the fresh water tank and add some Milton to the water. Then we'll prime the taps and run the water through so that the pipes will be sterilised. After rinsing, it will be ready to fill for the trip down, but because of the cold weather and freezing night-time temperatures, we can't leave any water in the system in case of bursts so that will be done just before we leave.
There was one minor problem after the new tyres were fitted. I lost 2 wheel trims when we went on a run because the plastic ties had not been replaced. Good old Amazon to the rescue!! Cheap replacements were found, rapidly delivered and installed this morning.
Andrew set off today for his crossing to Santander in northern Spain where he will meet up with a friend and see something of Spain and Portugal before hooking up with us in Algeciras in May.
Ced and Deb go to Portsmouth to meet their brand new motorhome off the ship from Germany, so we wish them well on their inaugural journey in the shiny, new "posh house".
Finally, it won't be long before Col and Pam fly in from New Zealand to collect their van "Lefty", which has been in storage since October. They will embark on another six month wander around Europe, so "Welcome back " to them.
All in all , it seems as though the motorhoming fraternity are finally waking up, smelling the open road and are heading south for the sunshine. Secluded bays and long, empty stretches of sand for the shell-seekers.

Bring it on !!!

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.