Blog 32 December 2015
Well,
already, we are at the last blog for 2015 and it is delayed due to our decision
to run off into the sunset and spend the festive season in the sun. We did
however put a few decorations out to give the house a Christmas spruce and then
we packed the camper and made a run for it.
Our last
social occasion before the off was to the Simply Chateaux Buffet and Dance with
the theme of theatrical or whatever you fancy. I took the opportunity to get
the family tiara out of the bank vault, put a temporary tattoo on my arm and my
grandmother’s long gloves and I felt like a nearly well-dressed Dame, and Mike
just went dressed in Red, no reason, just festive and red. The evening was
filled with joy and fun and we all had our parts to play in a pantomime of a
theatrical presentation which actually developed into an hilarious production
that could never be repeated, no matter how hard Broadway pleaded. Thank you to
Mark and Shirley for a fab night out
I was
delighted to get a picture of Alex in Canada wearing his new waistcoat at his
Christmas concert. Mike thought he would not want to wear such a colourful
creation from his Nona but I knew he would love it and getting pictures from so
far away of the babies we love, is such a treat.
To keep you informed we were excited to see that the manoir on the way to town has started its
arduous renovation. It was a year ago that I blogged you all, that the abandoned
manoir was seemingly being looked at and it has taken a full year to see some
positive progress. This property has been abandoned for tens of years and was
at crumble stage when we arrived 9 years ago but now it seems someone out there
has a vision and can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I hope they
stay strong and committed having got this far so slowly. I will keep you
informed as I promised a year ago.
We left
home on 16th December with our Christmas dinner cooked and frozen
and all the trimmings we felt we might wish for. Sadly on day 3 of our 4 day
journey to Spain the camper broke down and we were transported to an almond
grove next to a garage because it was Saturday and all the garages are closed till
Monday…….
Despite the
cold, as we were in the mountains, we made ourselves comfortable and did some
wild camping other camper owners can only dream of. No electric, little water and having to rely
on our solar panel and gas to keep our freezer and fridge at temperature. We
walked into a small dusty town with windows and doors firmly closed to the cold
and winter but we did find a bread shop on Sunday and clocked a mini
supermarket for Monday should we need to stay in the Garage waiting parts.
As we
wondered around the town we came across an adorably traditional church and town
square and in all the stress and disappointment that our holiday was on the
brink of destruction we found this little treasure to look at and wondered how
many times it has been driven past and not acknowledged. For a moment I felt
very privileged and calm in its presents, then life kicked in again and we were
back to the worry as to how to get on with our adventure. Sadly, on Monday, we
were forced into a stressful situation with the garage owner not wanting to
touch a Ford engine and the assistance company too slow and incompetent to get
them to transport us to a Ford garage. We had to battle the language barrier
because the Benidorm ethic that English spoken loudly does not apply here in
the centre of Spain. After a very heated discussion with the assistance company
we agreed to pay for our transport to Fords and were then dumped 150 kilometres
nearer to our destination at the closed door of the Ford garage and waited for
them to open after their well-deserved siesta.
The diagnostic PC came out, and with plenty of waving of hands and
pointing at phrase books we were diagnosed as having a failed fuel filter and
within 30 minutes the problem was solved.
We were then
back on the road and within 2 hours snug
as bugs in a 5 star camp site with all the electric and water we might need,
with limited wi fi and lots of happy
holiday makers around us in Camper heaven.
Calpe,
famous for its monolith rock singularly jutting out of the sea is a sight to behold
and we walked to it, around it but not on it, as the closer you get the bigger
it gets and even HOSS was showing signs of disinterest
We found
the larger than expected town of Calpe full of interest and when I saw this crock on display in a 2
euro shop I wanted to take it home and put it in my garden, but had to be happy
with the photo instead.
In the
warmth of the Mediterranean sun we put a Christmas lunch together and were not
disappointed with the result, although I hit the champers a little too hard and
slept for the rest of the day but Mike sat out in the sun and we managed turkey
sandwiches and Christmas pudding later in the day ….lovely and very relaxed.
We took a
little deep fat fryer with us and Mike cooked pretend roast potatoes and later
in the week we had homemade chips …. Nothing better.
After
12 days in the sun we set off home with great optimism but with the knowledge
that during the visit at the Ford garage a leaking turbo was diagnosed that might
give us a problem. Mike did a bit of a
mend on it but we were not confident and decided to make a dash for the French
boarder as I felt I could cope better with a French based breakdown. We were
doing well and in good spirits until Mikes mend failed and the turbo started to
malfunction and brought our camper from a spritely fast and reactive camper to
a 1970 post wagon getting to speeds of 50 miles per hour up hill. It meant that
we were forced to stick to the motorways to give us stress free slow down space.
We actually befriended a couple of Lorries and tucked in behind them taking the
creeper lanes and putting ourselves in a convoy for comfort. We drove over the French
boarder in the dark, postponed a long awaited visit to Mike’s cousin and
carried on whilst we were doing OK, and got as far as Bordeaux. We found an Air,
parked up and slept for a few hours. HOSS was a star and was very patient and
kept his head down despite few wee stops and feed times. He did not want water
all day but when I put a bowl of milk down, he woofed it up like a baby
Then
we set off again for the home run and did a couple of tours around the Air to
make sure that the fuel filter was functioning OK and it all seemed well until
we hit the slip road and the camper faltered and put her wheels in the gutter
to a grinding halt. In the dark on a motorway slip road we had to think quick,
set up the triangle and then I watched in awe as Mike pulled out his
replacement fuel filter that he insisted we should buy in Calpe in case the
same problem occurred and he replaced it and got us back on the road. We decided that with 400 kilometres to go we should
not stop until we got to the gates of our house and that is what we did. I made
sandwiches in the back as we trundled on and the A84 we felt on home territory
and started when we got to to relax and when
we opened the gates to our home we got a warm and satisfying feeling that home
is where the heart is and that this is a wonderful place to be at last
HOSS has
showed us what a truly thinking being he is. During our stay he tired of
walking the streets of Calpe and got bored and despaired that he could not go
to the beach as dogs were prohibited. He put his paw down and refused to walk
out with us to the point that we only took him out for his constitutionals but
left him tucked up in his bed when we went exploring and then on the journey
when things were difficult and stressful he sat at the back of the camper on his
favourite bed and let us get on with it without a moan, a groan or bark……
Je Suis
Hero
Xxxx
