Saturday 30 January

A warmer night; being at a lower altitude helps and for once Jamie didn't shout too early so a lazy start to the day.

Then the electricity went off, which is a nuisance because we really wanted it for the fridge. However it seems the whole town is off so that's that. It came back on early afternoon.

Plan today was a walk to the market which takes place on Saturday and Sunday, despite the guardian saying it was just Sunday. Rather than a souk, all collected into one small area, this market extends both sides down a dead end road for about 500m and as always sells most things including the inevitable tat. The fruit and veg is usually worthwhile and we bought some replacements for our dwindling supplies before strolling back to the van. On the way we called in at the local “supermarket” - think Open All Hours – for items not found in the market.

Light lunch then a sit in the sun for a while but had to retire to the van when it got a bit too hot. Back out later though for a chin-wag. A small group of Dutch came onto the site to join the 2 French that arrived this morning. A tour minibus pulled in, obviously for lunch at the small restaurant, but when they came to leave it wouldn't start. The driver has spent the afternoon trying to get it fixed but as of now, he seems to have given up. As it's quite a modern Fiat Ducato similar to Bertie I could offer my diagnostic reader but I don't think he'd understand the results.

As I write the sun is going down and the Imams have just started calling – sound like an air raid siren! We've decided to go out to eat tonight; will report tomorrow.

Friday 29 January

Having reconsidered our plans for this visit to Morocco, we've decided that as we've been here before we should move on in order that we can stay longer in places we haven't yet seen. So last night we packed away all that could be packed ready for a prompt start this morning. It was also prompted by a weather forecast which promised a cooler cloudy day, it being more pleasant to travel when it's not so hot.

So our earlyish start went well for a change and we were only 15 mins behind the lead group of 3 vans. Then the satnav decided not to play so we resorted to the old favourite, a MAP! But a full reset once the battery was recharged sorted it out although our route was to be the same as last year. Given the paucity of roads here in the mountains, once we were heading in the right direction it was not difficult to remember. Not too far into the journey Jamie forcefully reminded us that he hadn't been walked before setting off, so a quick “comfort stop” was necessary.

The weather forecast turned out to be a load of tosh and we enjoyed brilliant sunshine all day and our altitude meant it was not uncomfortably warm as we transited the fantastic landscape.

A steady pace meant we caught up with the first group at Igherm, a crossroads town where our route turned south, just setting off from a coffee and cake break. After a fuel stop for Derek, we followed, choosing to take our lunch break en route in the mountains. Thereafter the scenery got better and better – this was definitely THE drive of our trip, so much so that as this is written Terry is saving the dashcam files to turn into a video. Regretfully we can't post it here but will let you know if/when we've been successful in uploading it somewhere.

Last year the roads showed evidence of the havoc wreaked by the storms with bridges washed away and surfaces reduced to the bedrock. Obviously a great deal of time and money has been spent in making repairs as there are now only isolated stretches where work has yet to be completed and, apart from the hills and hairpin bends, usually together, it is an easy drive. Being Friday, the Muslim sabbath, the normally very light traffic was non-existent and at a guess only a dozen vehicles passed us going the other way all day.

Our destination was Tata, a small town with a couple of campsites (almost full) plus a guardian parking area outside the swimming pool complex, available because officially the pools were closed. You could swim if you wanted but it's French title, piscine, put ideas in your head when you looked at it................

The first group had arrived a little while before us and set up. There were only 2 other vans so there was plenty of room as well as electrical hookup, although as usual not a lot of amperage – we tripped the fuse at least twice. Being in the town it's a bit noisy and we can't leave stuff out, but it is convenient. Another reason for moving today was probably the big market here on Saturday, so we'll stay a couple of nights.

Thursday 28 January

We had problems overnight with the fridge – the Spanish bottle is supposed to be propane which we deliberately asked for because butane tends not to work properly in low temperatures – and it gets quite cold at night. However we suspect we've been given butane in a propane bottle as the burners are failing to relight and the warning is reading low gas pressure. But if we don't open the door it should be okay – and we'll use less gas of course.

Once the sun came over the hill the temperature shot up, this time with little wind and it turned out even warmer than the last couple of days so not a lot was done. One of the group is keen on cooking so produced pizzas for everybody for lunch, although it ended up quite late as lunchtimes go.

Being open scrubland, the area is commonly used to graze animals and a herd of goats passes through every day, driving the dogs nuts. Today we had a couple of different visitors:-

Initially quite amusing, eventually they became a nuisance but a local did show us how to drive them off – straight towards some French motorhomes. Er, oops, sorry (hee hee, or rather hee haw).

Mid-afternoon we walked into town with friends Derek and June, who had not yet had a proper look and mooched around for an hour, chatting with various locals and a nice lady from the argon oil ladies cooperative, which is exactly what it says, a group of Moroccan women working together to produce the various varieties and uses of this national product.

We plan to move on tomorrow so before it got dark we packed up all we could, ready for a reasonable start in the morning.

P.S. We've finally managed to catch up with the blog, due mainly to rather poor internet. Hope to do better and also include more photos as we visit places we've not been to before.

Wednesday 27 January

There's some good walking around the area leading to excellent views and a number of fit (and brave!) souls decided to give it a go - but not us! Instead we said we'd walk into town and join them at a chosen hotel for a group lunch.

So at 1.00 pm the rest of us wandered down to the town, through the weekly market and arrived at the hotel at the same time as the walkers. You would think that 20 people descending on a quiet hotel restaurant all together unannounced would create a stir, but the staff took it in their stride and we all sat down to a pleasant meal; not the best we've had in Morocco but very acceptable. Inevitably not everyone got what they wanted and a few suffered delays in receiving their meals, but the ambience was nice and the sun was shining. No alcohol though of course.

20 for lunch

by the pool

Later in the day three of the ladies went to try a hammam, the traditional Moroccan public bath, which we were told consisted of a bucket of hot water with which you washed yourself down. As many Moroccan homes lack “proper” bathrooms, this is a popular way of getting clean. Sorry, no photographing allowed!!!

Tuesday 26 January

The cloud cleared overnight to a bright sunny morning and the temperature soon shot up, although it was still cool for a while in the shade. Breakfast seemed to be unusually early for us, until Terry discovered his watch had stopped – it's happened on each visit to Morocco.

The servicing facilities are, to say the least, a bit basic but we managed okay, having kept several used drinking water bottles filled with tap water to top up the water tank. We'll collar the bowser tomorrow. Our first gas bottle ran out, rather sooner than we'd hoped so the backup Spanish bottle was connected up – we'll need to be careful with our usage. However, it's only the fridge using the gas with the occasional bit of cooking. Hot water is boiled in the kettle on a gas ring screwed into a Moroccan “Camping Gaz” bottle – dirt cheap and available everywhere. In an emergency we can also connect one of these bottles into the van system although I'm loathe to do so as it's not the best quality and tends to soot up the jets.

This year we've bought a proper Camping Gaz 2-burner stove to connect up to the Moroccan bottle and we did try it out. However we're not over-impressed and it's a bit of a bind when having to pack everything away at night, so we'll leave that for the moment.

Yet another Funster, one of our original group, turned up late in the day so our little encampment now has 11 vans.

Monday 25 January

At an altitude of 4000ft and with clear skies, it get's a bit cool at night, but being in a bowl, once the sun clears the surrounding mountains it warms up quickly, although today turned out to be cloudy for most of it. Still shorts and T-shirt weather though.

Local traders come round, a bread-man at around 9.00 am, ladies with cakes and things, touts for 4 wheel drive expeditions, the local garage owner in case you need repairs and of course the artist. This guy will paint a Moroccan scene of your choice on your van (we call it a van tattoo) from a book of examples – including a photo of ours although he didn't do it, cheeky b*****r! Two of our newbies decided to indulge and thankfully they've turned out nice; we have seen some poor work.

A day that degenerated into haphazard, after lunch Jamie decided to go walkabout again. We'd tried him off the leash yesterday and as he had other dogs to play with there was no problem. However today he was on his own and a prolonged period of quiet revealed – no Jamie! He was soon spotted however but thought it was fun running away as we got near. Eventually we “borrowed” another Funsters more obedient dog to entice him back, much to Brens relief! But I honestly don't think he would have wandered far, as long as he could see or hear us.

Jamie on guard duty

As the day wore on so folk congregated to enjoy a general chin-wag for an hour or two before the sun went down behind the mountains and it turned cold. It gets dark quickly here too, so we all retreated to our vans. Later the guardians came round and strongly suggested we take in the various bits of camping equipment left outside – seems that there has been the odd item go missing overnight of late.

Sunday 24 January

Bacon and eggs on Sunday has now become a tradition with us, no matter where we are or what we're doing. Of course we've had to bring bacon as pork products are unobtainable in Morocco, so our little freezer is full.

Moving on today but despite an early start it was still after 11.00 before we got away and then everybody needed to refuel. The local fuel station did rather well out of us, as did the lady selling “pain traditionale” a sort of unleavened nan bread, hot straight from the oven.

Fortunately our destination only involved a couple of hours driving, but what a drive! We climbed steadily into the Haut Atlas mountains with series of hairpin bends and spectacular views, pausing briefly at the top to let one of our number with an elderly van to catch up. Of course we came this way last year so didn't take any photos – go to our previous blog terryandbren7.blogspot.com.

From there the run was easier but on the usual single track roads, moving onto the hardened edge to let oncoming traffic past – of which there was not a lot. Approaching our destination, which is located in a bowl surrounded by mountains, we encountered a long series of tight hairpin bends, descending very quickly into a village. We then made a short diversion to visit the painted rocks.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to paint several large rocks in different colours in the middle of nowhere – why, nobody knows, but they've become a tourist attraction. We stopped for lunch, being joined briefly by a young couple (honeymooners?) who were spending 17 days touring Morocco by car.

From there it was but a few minutes to Tafraout, a busy small town where we stayed last year on the guardian parking. Really nothing more than a large area of scrub desert that has been taken over by motor-homers, locals have set up a bit of security, waste disposal and arranged for a water tanker to come round daily. You simply park wherever you wish and pay the man his 10 dirhams (70p). We set up a settlement in an open area, close to where 2 other Funsters were already parked. Tafraout has become a MotorhomeFun unofficial rallying point since the demise of Taghazoute.

Saturday 23 January

Lie-ins now are a thing of the past – as soon as it's light doggykins wants up! Still it means we do see more of the day, although today it all went quite quickly without us seeming to do an awful lot.

Tina's washing machine came in for good use as Bren finished off the washing, which again dried very quickly in the strong breeze – so strong that we had to take the awning in or risk losing it.

After tea the breeze remained quite warm for a change so we had another of our get-togethers outside one of the vans, much to the amusement of the French who hid behind closed blinds with their satellite dishes up.

Talking of French, there seems to be even less here again this year and we did hear a story that many of their insurers refused to cover Morocco. Not that we're complaining of course.........

Friday 22 January

With no place to go today there was no rush, however Jamie has his own built in alarm clock and we're lucky to get past 8.00 a.m. But it was a lovely morning, warming up quickly so after breakfast we set to with the domestics. Bren got the washing started – drying almost as fast as it was put out on the line – whilst Terry sorted and cleaned out the van, for the first time setting up fully with tables, chairs etc. We even got the flags out!

Mid-afternoon the others started turning up and, as planned, filled in the spaces around us and once settled everybody got together for a “beer-o'-clock”. But once it gets dark, and it does so quite quickly at these latitudes, the temperature plummets so everybody retired to their respective vans.

Thursday 21 January

We'd been told that this “little village” had quite a bit to offer but in reality all we saw was a lot of unfinished development overlooking a very nice small beach. Matter of opinion we suppose.

Some of our group, having heard of the “we can fix anything cheap” side of Morocco, had decided to visit the famous Mustafa, the local fix-it man in Agadir so they departed first whilst we and Derek and June followed on, heading for Agadir and the Marjane hypermarket to stock up.

Our route down the coast took us through Taghazoute, where we had stayed for 10 days last year on an idyllic, if somewhat busy, guardian site. Anyone reading our last blog will recall we were suddenly evicted from the site late one evening to make way for the planned development, so we were interested to see what progress had been made.

Our first indication that all was changed was the distinct lack of motorhomes/campers parked up along the coast surrounding the town; we were later told about a proliferation of “No Motorhomes” signs. The town itself was unchanged and still as bustling as ever and the beach, and what we could see of the site from the town, looked fine. But once on the road out of town it became an absolute travesty, the road had been diverted, everywhere was surrounded by fences and barriers and a start had been made on a row of holiday chalets. We suppose it will be nice when and if they ever finish it but our observations elsewhere give us little hope. This was then more or less repeated on all the open land all the way to Agadir.

We'll just conserve our happy memories of a better time.

Marjane was it's usual self and we encountered yet another Funster in the carpark whilst we paused for lunch. Then, a little later than planned, we headed off further south to another campsite we'd used last year just south of the bustling town of Tiznit. Camping Tizerzate is a modern, well laid out and fully equipped site at a very reasonable price – think Caravan Club but at one third the price! However what we noticed straightaway different from last year was that it was only about one third full, all French. Not too concerned we found pitches that meant the rest of the group when they arrive tomorrow can park next to us.

And the receptionist even remembered us from last year! (But it might have been the moustache on the bonnet of the van).

Wednesday 20 January

Guardian campsites don't always provide waste disposal facilities and that at Essouira is one. However in the next “carpark” along there was a closed disused toilet block behind which was an opened manhole with access to the sewer system. You needed to be a bit athletic to avoid “accidents..............”

Ever onward south our next “target” was a small village where we had been told it was okay to overnight overlooking a nice beach, about 100km away. Using the main road – no motorways here – we negotiated several towns and villages on a reasonably surfaced highway (we didn't need to replace ALL our fillings) to find a not so small village experiencing a lot of development and the parking was roadside amongst this building work. However the views were fine so we joined a couple of other vans and settled down to lunch and a lazy afternoon.

But at teatime the security man came around and, quite apologetically, told us we couldn't overnight here, despite a couple of “older” vans quite clearly having done so for a while. Perhaps it was the influx of our 6 units, plus others who followed on later which pushed tolerance to a breaking point. He suggested the campsite, which we knew about but didn't exactly have rave reviews, but it being quite late we thought it at least worth investigating.

After a hairy turn onto the very rough and ready access road, we found quite a well-organised campsite with adequate separated and marked pitches and all facilities, including hot showers and electricity if required, all at a reasonable price. Caravan Club it was not, but easily as good as many we have seen in Europe, so we settled in.

Tuesday 19 January

By breakfast time, the sun was hot and the solar panel had fully recharged the batteries. Someone please remind me it's January!

Our plan today was to revisit this attractive town and have lunch at the restaurant we used before. We left Jamie in the van with plenty of water and ventilation then strolled along the longish promenade with friends Derek and June, who had not visited here before. Some money changed – the rate is the same everywhere – then through the outer and inner walls to tiny streets and alleys with a myriad of small shops selling almost everything; rather like a large souk. There are also a good few touristy shops selling souvenirs, the carved wood objects being very nice and very inexpensive. And no, they don't have “Made in China” stamped on them!

Up onto the fort walls giving views out to sea before plunging back into the maze to work our way towards the restaurants. We noticed that, despite it approaching lunchtime, it was a lot quieter than we remembered although once we'd found our way to the main street it was busier.

Arriving at Marche des Grains at the time we'd agreed with the rest of the group, it was then down to choosing which of the several restaurants to patronise. In reality, they were all the same, the only apparent difference being the colour of the chairs. It was funny, then, to notice that everyone else who came into the square all chose the same restaurant!

A good choice of menu and excellent attention from the young waiter meant an enjoyable Moroccan meal at a very reasonable price. We all had different things, although we'd forgotten about the appetiser of layers of puréed beetroot and carrot served in a small glass topped with yoghourt – an unusual and delicious taster. The large glasses of cold freshly squeezed oranges also went down rather well. The final touch was the mint tea, served with ceremony by our waiter.

Well sated, we ambled slowly to the van in the hot sunshine, to find Jamie impatient to welcome us back – although 28 deg the heat did not seem to bother him. Another of our original group had arrived while we were away then yet another who were staying at a nearby campsite called in to say hi. We've not heard anything about the last couple though since we left Assilah.

Monday 18 January

With the racers gone, peace returned to Oualidia last night, although they'd now let in even more motorhomes and were triple-parking them! Up at our now normal 8.30 (Jamie is an excellent alarm clock!) we refilled the water tank, having made arrangements with the guardian last night, then after breakfast continued our journey south in, yes, even more hot sunshine!

Setting off a few minutes after the main group we ambled casually along the coast road – well, road is probably a bit generous as the way of life seems to be with everything, make it and use it until it breaks. Maintenance??? Our route took us to the large modern port town of Safi, again where we stopped last year, but this time our visit was simply to shop at the Marjane hypermarket, which actually wasn't as “hyper” as we remembered but nevertheless quite adequate.

Lunch on the car park, took the opportunity to refill the fuel tank – much to our relief the fuel consumption was now back to normal – and continue although somehow the two groups seemed to go different ways. Consequently we arrived at our intended destination of Essaouira first and found an area in the guardian parking which would accommodate all of us. The others arrived about 10 mins later, having taken the main road whilst we hugged the coast. I have to say that this was not the most interesting of roads, mainly through a highly industrialised area supporting the phosphate works and then a huge port, half of which was still under construction.

We loved Essouira last time and wanted to repeat our experience, at the same time introducing it to our new friends.

Sunday 17 January

Decision already made to stay here another night, a casual start to the day with our now usual bacon and egg breakfast. It wasn't long before the race cars started up in earnest and the sound stage starting belting out disco music. Also the park-like area we were pitched next to started to fill with locals who came to see the spectacle.

After breakfast we walked up the short steep hill to the town intent on visiting the market – duff information again as apparently it's now on Saturday! Nevertheless the shops were open and small purchases made before retiring to a pavement cafe to join others in the group in a refreshing coffee.

Back to the van for lunch and a quiet(?) afternoon ignoring the noise. Then Jamie managed to get out and thought it was great fun chasing the local kids, who in turn thought it also great fun to run away. Unfortunately they led him away from us and panic ensued as he ran to where all the action was taking place. Eventually I managed tp persuade the kids he was chasing to come back to me and succeeded in grabbing the little bxxxxx. We're a lot more careful now!

One of our morning purchases was some beautiful steak, cut straight off the haunch, which we had for tea. We knew it was genuine because the haunch still had other, well, bits attached that you don't normally see and never on a cow.........!

Saturday 16 January

We now appear to have got into the good weather we've been looking for; though cool at night the days are now bright and sunny with mostly clear blue skies and the temperature is soaring.

From Dar Bouazza we took the ordinary roads, it really not being worth diverting back to the motorway, and enjoyed a steady run along the coast through the typically Moroccan towns and villages i.e. disorganised chaos! People say Morocco is poor but they all have satellite TV and mobile phones – I wonder if the death rate caused by mobile phones here is as bad as the UK. Jaywalkers! They also seem to have their fair share of weekend drivers too, so you have to keep a really sharp lookout.

Our target today was the small seaside town of Oualidia, just a couple of hours south and where we've stayed before on a huge carpark close to the beach and just a few minutes walk from a nice clean modern town. The French seem to be coming back to Morocco in large numbers now and we counted over 60 motorhomes parked up with more arriving by the hour. Eventually the guardians had to close it – and we were by ourselves last year!

There was, however, a clue; a couple of car transporters were unloading what looked like road racing cars and a couple of the streets had barriers. One looked like it was being turned into a “pits” area and the afternoon was occasionally interrupted by noisy engines “tuning-up”. They also had a half hour practice run too while somebody else was setting up a sound stage. Could get noisy!

Friday 15 January

Some rain during the night – no different to the last 2 years there – but dry enough to take Jamie onto the beach for a run round. Although it remained cloudy for most of the day, it stayed dry and warm.

Terry returned to Maroc Telecom to sort out the internet whilst Bren cleared up. Meanwhile 4 of our group set off, one of them being the slowest, leaving 2 of us to catch up and leaving one van to stay over by themselves. But we'll meet up again soon.

Wanting to get south as quickly as possible we resorted to the motorway again. This does make it much faster but you do miss out on the character of the countryside you're passing through. Briefly catching the others at Kenitra services, we then battled our way round the Rabat ring road which is (still) undergoing extensive works. No doubt one day it'll be finished!

Our destination was a campsite just south of Casablanca at Dar Bouazzah, where we've stopped on both previous trips. Our route took us through the outskirts of Casablanca and reaffirmed our earlier opinion that the place is a bit of a dump. No doubt there are nice spots but it's not for us.

Arriving only a few minutes after the others we found the campsite again improved from our previous visit, although “improved” is a relative term; they've still a way to go to reach European standards. Still, it was perfectly adequate and the staff friendly so our little band, who were the only residents that night, settled in and celebrated the first of our “beer-o'-clock” sessions – but mainly in tea!

The Crossing to Morocco

Everybody was ready bright and early and the weather also cooperated so we all departed for the hour or so run to Algeciras, some making a small detour to top up LPG tanks at the only fuel station for miles around that had it – Spain still only has a paucity of LPG pumps. Once gathered at the new parking area and after checking in with Carlos, the travel agent, Terry collected up documents and cash to get the ferry tickets. We also managed to pick up another Brit planning to cross who decided to join us rather than follow his original plan of waiting a few days. Saved himself €20 but ended up being somewhat rushed!

With lunch out of the way we then set about restocking the van, ready for at least a few days until we'd got established in Morocco. Then later we returned to Carlos to collect the tickets plus a nice little present for each van of a bottle of wine and lump of cake. We also got a nice little “kick-back” for being the group leader – not expected but every little helps so they say.

Thursday morning was a tad dull, but being quite early it was actually due to the sun not yet above the horizon! Breakfast then, problem! Colin could not get his van started, diagnosing a flat battery. Fortunately jump leads were instantly available but he eventually had to buy a new battery in Morocco after it let him down again.

Everybody managed to complete the short 15 minute run to the ferry terminal without getting lost and we were checked in straight away. However as we were also last to be loaded we spent an hour watching heavy lorries being reversed on with varying degrees of skill and much hand waving and shouting from the loading crew. One driver was particularly inept and they took him off, but it all meant that we were somewhat late departing.

This was supposed to be the “fast” ferry, a catamaran, but it still took 1hr 20m to cross and our arrival at Tangiers-Med unfortunately coincided with prayers, lunch and computer failure, which took an hour to sort out. It did give us chance, however, to have lunch while we waited at this modern port. Once they'd got their act together the formalities proceeded at the usual officialdom pace so it only took us 30m to clear Customs and Immigration! From there a stop at the bureaux de change, and also to get some insurance for a couple of the party who had been unable to arrange things in the UK, before we eventually got away.

Our run down the motorway to our first night stop, pausing at a fuel station to top off tanks at 56p per litre, was a bit of an anti-climax although the “newbies” found it all rather fascinating. Assilah is a typical small Moroccan coastal town around an hour from the port with overnight parking for motorhomes on it's edge. This, for those who've not read our previous blogs, is known as guardian parking and consists of a hardstanding area, managed by a couple of locals who provide security, rubbish and waste disposal for around £1 per night. Common throughout the country, prices vary as to location and facilities – some have water and even occasionally electric hookup – they are cheap and convenient places if you are self-contained as most motorhomes are.

Once settled in, a few walked up to the local Maroc Telecom office to obtain datasims for the cheap internet available literally everywhere in the country, then returned to get it set up. And guess what, the only one who's didn't work was yours truly; it took a bit of sorting out and that's why this blog is delayed.

Mission accomplished, that is, we've got the group across in one piece, we now look forward to our holiday. Next episode tomorrow.

Estepona

FIRST AN APOLOGY - Due to a number of reasons, lack of internet being one, I haven't been able to keep the blog updated for a few days. However problems now hopefully sorted and I'll endeavour to catch up,plus some piccies, over the next few days.

We settled in to Parc Tropicale, a full camp-site with all facilities. The plan was that the group of Funsters travelling together to Morocco all meet here to get to know each other, get sorted with washing etc. and make sure the motorhomes are properly watered and waste disposed of, ready for a few nights "off-grid". We arrived a couple of days early, due to the poor weather conditions across France and Spain and rather hoped that we could use that time for ourselves.

However there always seemed something to do, especially trying to make some sense of packing in the van. Perfectly adequate before, the introduction of a dog has turned everything upside down, the biggest item being his travelling/sleeping cage which, when not being used, was always in the way. Coupled with two boxes and a bag of his food, toys and other essentials it descended into chaos - as bad as having a couple of kids! By further re-arrangement we managed to stow a few more things away and as time went on it did in fact improve once we'd got a routine together.

As to the days, Sunday became washing and drying day utilising the camp-site machines and our portable airer until gathering clouds forced us to find yet more room in the van to finish off - but we've been here before and had a system.....

Monday morning revealed the promised rain but it never amounted to more than a light drizzle which, in the warmth, didn't have much effect. However today was when the group were supposed to arrive so keeping an eye open, chatting to others on the site and signing up a few more Funsters meant the day passed quickly. One couple, who had said they were definitely coming but then failed to respond to our communications, turned up first (an internet based problem it seems) followed by a "normal" arrival. We'd managed to hold several pitches together for our use so they were slotted in. Late afternoon a phone call revealed another couple couldn't find the site so a bit of help was needed before they too joined our happy throng.

Which left one couple who, once darkness had descended, we thought had been delayed. But on Terry's final walk with Jamie he spotted a vehicle at reception which turned out to be our missing members, who also had had difficulty finding the site, eventually employing a taxi driver to bring them. All safely gathered in, and it had also stopped raining.

Tuesday was thus our get together day and once everybody had got themselves sorted we got together and managed to block off the service road whilst having our getting-to-know-you meeting and discussing plans. A somewhat mixed group all with different ideas of what they wanted to do, which is exactly as it should be - not that it turned out that way.........

But we answered all the questions, made sure everybody understood what was to happen and ended the day happy.

The next couple of days are going to be busy!

From Calais to Estepona

I am covering this section of our trip in one posting, mainly because every day was pretty well the same. Future posts hopefully will be on a daily basis.

Monday 4 January – started wet and miserable, and also dark, which set the pattern for the next few days. We decided that, as the weather didn't look promising we'd make the effort to push on with a view to getting into the sunshine as soon as possible. To save time we used the toll road as far as Abbeville, where the sun made an appearance and stayed with us more or less for the rest of the day. From hereon we used ordinary roads on our usual route through Rouen, Evereux, Chartres and on to Chateaudun where we've stopped several times before.

We had had concerns about Jamie being cooped up in his travel cage all day but, bless him, he was no bother, just asking to go out whenever we stopped.

A chat with some Funsters who were on the Aire as well then our usual pattern of tea and a chat before an earlyish night.

Tuesday 5 January – bright and clear (once it got light of course) so away as quickly as we reasonably could, stopping off in Tours for a baguette then later at an Intermarche for fuel and lunch. Later passing Poitiers it started to rain with occasional quite heavy showers and a strong headwind, which played havoc with the fuel consumption.

Overnighted at an Aire at Montguyon, a place we had been before but not Colin and Tina. Again free with water and waste disposal – we just love French Aires de Service.

We heard that one of our party had had their Portsmouth/Santander ferry crossing cancelled due to weather at short notice and were transferring to Eurotunnel. Another couple were due to use the same crossing in a couple of days time but we've heard nothing from them.

Wednesday 6 January – again wet, windy and dark but with the decision made to press on we decided to use toll roads again although there was actually only one which took us into Spain avoiding the havoc that is the roads around Irun on the border. Rain stopped shortly after crossing into Spain and the traffic was unexpectedly much lighter too so using toll roads , which are much cheaper than in France, we pressed on to Vitoria-Gastiez, again where we stopped last year. Found parking places okay but it filled up shortly afterwards.

Noticing a Mercadona supermarket across the road we walked across to find it closed – then it dawned on us, today is Epiphany and a public holiday in Spain which was why the roads were so quiet! Confirmed later by fireworks.

Thursday 7 January – when we went to bed the outside temperature was 7deg; when we got up it was 17deg, a good sign? Our first priority was again fuel, glad it's relatively cheap; we're paying around €1 per litre which is 74p. Then back onto the motorways, using the toll this time although it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference, the main roads generally being excellent. Lunch taken on a parking area just off the motorway then on to Madrid.

Like most capital cities Madrid has an extensive ring road system which, though very busy, was well signposted and we had no holdups getting onto our southward road taking us to an Aire on the edge of the small town of Puerto Lapice. Newly constructed, it had all facilities and we shared it with another Brit who was homeward bound, telling us they hadn't seen any rain since November! Shame then, that it chucked it down overnight!

Friday 8 January – refueled yet again. For practically all the trip so far we have had strong headwinds which make a real difference to a vehicle our size. Coupled with frequent long climbs – most of Spain is on a plateau over 2000ft high and several times we were over 3000ft – the fuel consumption has been quite poor. But today hopefully was the last leg to the Mediterranean coast so we headed for Granada.

Clearing the pass at Sierra Madrona the weather finally improved quite dramatically so a side trip into Granada to find a hypermarket was in bright warm sunshine with the windows open! Height barriers and heavy traffic caused us to abandon our search so onto the motorway for Malaga, lunching at a service station.

Our destination was a wild camping spot just outside Marbella. Needing some supplies we hopped off the autovia a couple of times but failed to find anywhere – then a bit of a fright when Jamie suddenly vomited a nasty black substance and was crying and whimpering. Fortunately we were close to our destination but by the time we arrived he seemed to have recovered and on inspection the mess appeared to be old engine oil. We have no idea where he managed to pick this up, maybe at the service area as there were a lot of lorries, but he seemed to be okay so he was watched for several hours. Apart from a black poo later there appeared to be no further ill effects and he soon returned to his usual self. Puppies!

The place we stopped at was a large hardcore carpark where motorhome stopovers were tolerated, just outside a golf complex. A new Aldi had opened across the road and there was an Asiatic restaurant adjacent where we decided to treat ourselves, having more or less finished all the hard driving. All in all a fine ending to an “interesting” day.

Saturday 9 January – a lie-in! Jamie didn't bother us until we were up to a bright warm day. After breakfast we wandered around the market that sets up here every Saturday, making some “spur-of-the-moment purchases (as you do). Then after lunch a half hour run took us to a campsite just outside Estepona where we had booked 8 places to meet up with the other Funsters going with us to Morocco. Despite us being 2 days early there was no problem and we also found one of the group already here, as well as being joined later by yet another Funster also Morocco bound, though not with us.

Sunday 3 January 2016

We had arranged to meet Colin and Tina at Folkstone then travel together thereafter. This involved a 10.30 departure from Navenby which, probably due to an early call from Jamie, actually happened! Unfortunately the weather, though okay at the start of our journey, deteriorated and we suffered strong headwinds and heavy rain almost all the way to Folkstone. So in trying to keep our speed up to be reasonably on time, the fuel consumption was horrendous and we eventually ran out some 30 miles short, with just enough to creep off the motorway and find a fuel station.

We had hoped we might get an earlier departure than our booking and did in the end save about 40 mins but this was at the expense of no lunch and a deal of stress and fatigue, not helped by the atrocious driving conditions. However Eurotunnel was its usual efficient self and we had a chance to relax a little during the crossing, having met up with Colin and Tina at the Stop24 Services a little before the tunnel terminal.

As always it was straight round to Auchan for fuel then we decided to treat ourselves to a meal at Flunch, where we were joined by around 30 heavily armed gendarmes - obviously part of the security in place around the tunnel - who had just come off shift. Both vans were totally surrounded by police vans; no problem with security here!

After a pleasant meal we proceeded to our planned night stop at the Aire de Camping Cars at Wissant, just 20 mins south where we parked up then planned the next few days over a nice cuppa.

The "holiday" begins.

New Year.....

We left home on New Year Eve this time, basically so there would only be one dog in Mums house - Mum looks after Terry's niece's dog a couple of days during the week and it clashed. As it happened it would have been alright but plans had been made so that's how it was. We've installed remote access for the heating and hot water systems so less to worry about, although our good neighbours will keep an eye on things for us.

Apart from an altercation with a pheasant who didn't get high enough and tried to come in through the roof of the van (no damage to Bertie but evidence suggested the bird lost!) we had a steady run down the A1 to Mum. Thereafter we spent a few pleasant days, basically re-creating Christmas. Jamie wouldn't settle however, involving a couple of early mornings for Terry!

So our real story begins on Sunday 3 January........