Hi folks,

We have been home a couple of days now and are pleasantly surprised at how mild the weather is, I’m sure it will get worse in the new year but we will have acclimatised by then, this is our first winter in UK for about 7 years!

Not a lot to report really after we left the stopover near Rouen, we stopped off in Abbeville to get our covid tests and then went direct to the eurotunnel. I had previously uploaded all the necessary documentation so we sailed through the check in part, we also sailed through the French passport control where our passports were stamped but then….. we joined the queue for the British border force, what a disaster, we were only 8 vehicles back but it took an hour, as it was we made the train we had been allocated by ten minutes so the dog did not get a walk before we departed. All was sorted though when we got off, Bonnie had a walk three hours later and we were home. Trip completed and thoroughly enjoyed. Motorhoming is just so easy.

A few memorable moments for us…..
Going to the tourist office to get ‘Jetons’ (tokens) for the water and electric at our first aire stopover. It took 40 mins as the young lady wanted to practice her English and I was practicing my Spanish. Anyway, long story short, when we got back to the aire and plugged in the electric point was live and the water was on, no jetons required!

We got to another stopover that was in a village, it was empty with a large rock blocking the gate. Maureen declared ‘it’s shut’. Anyway the entrance was a few metres further along the road and the key for the electric was available at the restaurant in the village which also served ice cold beer. Get in!

At another place we stopped we took a walk on the beach to find lots of old fat Spanish blokes walking about naked, alongside families sunbathing and swimming, strange! We did find a beach at Aguilas that wasn’t full of naked folk and went for a swim, Maureen took Bonnie in the water which was a first for the dog. As always though she hasn’t changed her habit of not going anywhere near the water when off her lead, or on it for that matter.

We had electric bikes with us, we had used them in UK but I didn’t charge them before we went for a ride, downhill 6km was fine, Moe’s bike failed miserably on the way back, enough said. Lesson learnt!

Toilet number 8, the public toilet on the seafront which was my walk first thing on a morning.

Finding a shop open on a Sunday morning, it sold roast chicken, chips, fresh bread, salad stuff, alioli, and cake. We got a bit of everything which saw us through the next two days, what a find.

The food wagon that turned up everyday at one stopover, it offloaded all sorts of food but in particular fresh veg and fruit and sometimes eggs, kept us going for ten days before we moved on due to strong winds!

Going on a site that had the smallest pitch ever only to wake up the next morning to find a motorhome had come on and their three little urchins were out playing around the site. We were away within the hour! Far too much noise!

Going on a site that had 400 pitches, it was only a two night stop for us. Of the 400 occupied pitches only 30 odd were not German registered vehicles, at the bar there was no Spanish spoken just German, what an eye opener.

Walking the dog along a street a woman approaching us stopped, turned 90 degrees and stood facing a wall, only after we had passed did she carry on with her walk, how strange! We weren’t even coughing!

And finally on my first attempt to fill the gas bottles in Spain I was putting the nozzle too far on to the adaptor so the gas was blowing out, by the time I had it sorted my hand had frozen, the skin was blue and the hair had disappeared off my hand. Now have it sussed.

Thanks to you all for following our relatively short jaunt abroad, we have had a great time in our motorhome, we learnt a lot and have some great ideas for trips in the near future. We wish you all a very happy new year and hopefully will meet up with some of you in the coming months.

Stay safe….till next time