Everything was in the clouds this morning. I’d like to say the drive was the best scenery of the trip, but we’ll never know.

Continuing through the Cairngorms, it was nice, but it just wasn’t as dramatic as way up north and we both felt a bit underwhelmed. If we had’ve come here first, it would have been a completely different story.

We drove past Balmoral castle but we couldn’t see it. We did a brief stop in Braemar, which is where they have the highland games, but nothing was open as it was a Sunday.

So we decided to fast track it south, and get past Edinburgh and Glasgow, but still avoiding motorways.

The afternoon drive was a bit meh, driving through the outskirts of Edinburgh with ugly council blocks and traffic.

But we got as far south as Peebles, and I’d seen a free overnight parking spot. We drove down a narrow one laned road for a couple of miles and at the end was a carpark with a beautiful view over the valley and a stone bridge over the river Tweed.

There were a few cars parked up here, out doing day walks I guessed. But then another van arrived and we deemed it was ok to stay. And a guy was here sleeping in his car.

We had bacon, eggs and baked beans for our dinner and had a lovely quiet night.

We had a good night sleep at the lighthouse, despite the wind rocking us around all night.

This morning we took our time, then heading on to John O’Groats. It was very touristy so we took the obligatory photo with the sign and got out.

The weather is still pretty dreary and cold so we are going to start heading back. It was probably quite really nice coastal scenery today, but after all the wow factor moments, it just looked nice.

We turned off the main road and found a little spot right on an inlet from the North sea for lunch. It was off the tourist route just north of Dornoch and was stunning. We made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches and enjoyed the view. Apparently there were seals and otters there, but we didn’t see any.

After that we fast tracked it past Inverness where the NC500 circuit starts and finishes. It seems like we’ve accidentally done all of it except for a short section as we didn’t start at Inverness.

Then we turned off the main roads and headed for the Cairngorms, which is a snow road route and is supposed to be really nice.

We got as far as a town called Tomintoul, which is the highest village in the highlands sitting at 345 meters. Apparently the highlands aren’t that high! The malt whisky trail is around here too, and we keep seeing signs for Glenlivet.

They have a little freedom camping spot just outside of the town, and it was very peaceful with just one other van here.

We had a great night’s sleep in the quiet car park and woke up to silence.

No wind.

And you know what that means in Scotland?

Midges!

The thing is, I didn’t notice them at first when I put the Starlink outside. Then suddenly they were everywhere, swarming around me and following me back into the van.

We’ve bought some insect repellent called Smidge, which is apparently one of the few things that actually works on them. But when I asked the Scottish couple we camped next to a few days ago, their advice was very different.

They said there’s nothing that can protect you. The best thing to do is hide.

I remember doing exactly that in Norway last year when the mosquitoes came for us. We shut all the hatches, close the doors and didn’t go outside.

Unfortunately, the Starlink was still outside.

Neither of us wanted to go and get it, so I waited for my video to finish uploading and then sent Mike.
He smothered himself in Smidge and went for it.

I put my buff over my head, dived into the front, and as soon as he was back inside we got the heck out of there.

Once we were moving, we opened all the windows and that seemed to suck most of the little buggers out.
The beautiful weather we’d been having had disappeared by then. It was drizzly and grey, with none of the huge Highland views we’d had over the last few days.

But it was still a pretty moody drive.

And eventually, we made it all the way to the north coast.

We drove out to Dunnet Head, the northernmost point of mainland Great Britain, where there’s a lighthouse perched right out on the cliffs.

By the time we arrived it was windy, wet and thoroughly miserable.

Perfect Scottish summer weather.

They allow overnight parking there for a fee, which was lucky because it was already 5pm and neither of us fancied driving any further.

The sign said £10 for a motorhome or £5 for a car for 24 hours, which seemed a little anti-motorhome to me.
But the view of the lighthouse was amazing and we decided to stay anyway.

Then we went to pay.

We put Bertie’s registration number into the machine and it charged us £5.

Because we’re registered as a van, not a motorhome.

Yay!

So we parked up overlooking the lighthouse, made toasted ham and cheese sandwiches for tea, and were rocked to sleep by the wind.

Scotland has really turned on the weather for us. Today was beautiful and sunny and 24 degrees!
And the drive today was incredible.

We started by driving down from the mountain where we’d camped for the night to the little seaside town of Applecross.

It was a quaint little fishing village, and there were guys selling what they claimed were the world’s best bacon rolls. Unfortunately, we’d just had breakfast. Bad timing.

From Applecross we continued north, following tiny single-lane roads that twisted their way around the coast. There were mountains on one side, the sea on the other, and every time we rounded another corner there seemed to be another enormous view.

There were loads of viewpoints along the way, so we stopped at one, toasted a cinnamon bagel and smothered it in butter. Diet starts now!

We also realised that, despite having absolutely no intention of doing it, we were now well and truly on the NC500.

The NC500 is a 500-mile circuit around the north coast of Scotland. I’d heard that it could get ridiculously busy, with motorhomes queuing up along the single-lane roads, so it sounded like exactly the sort of thing we’d hate.

But here we are, doing it. And it’s been incredible.

Even more surprisingly, it hasn’t been particularly busy for the end of August. For long stretches today we had the road almost to ourselves.

I reckon we might have hit a sweet spot where the kids have gone back to get ready for school in September, while the motorhome folk are waiting until September before heading away. Whatever the reason, right now it’s amazingly quiet.

We are absolutely loving the Highlands. It has that remote feeling we love, with huge empty landscapes, mountains, lochs and, of course, lots of winding narrow roads.

The only problem is finding somewhere to sleep for the night.

Most of the suitable places seem to have signs saying “No Overnight Parking”, which seems a bit rude. Plenty of Scottish people come to New Zealand and sleep for free in our country!

There are a few places where you can pay £10 for the night, but you don’t actually get anything for your £10. No toilet. No facilities. Just somewhere to park. Nope!

So today we really struggled to find somewhere to stay.

Eventually we pulled into a little layby where we could get right off the road. It had absolutely incredible views across to Quinag, one of the distinctive mountains of Assynt.

It was a beautiful spot, but we weren’t 100% sure about staying. The ground looked like it could get pretty boggy if it rained, and there was a rather ominous dark cloud looming in the distance.

We cooked up a burger (diet starts tomorrow), had some dinner and spent a while debating what to do.
Then we decided it probably wasn’t worth the risk and moved on.

Thankfully, in the next little town we found a rest area with no signs saying we couldn’t stay overnight. It had a beautiful view, plenty of room and just one other van parked there. Perfect.

We settled in for an early night after what had turned out to be one of our best driving days in Scotland so far.

Wow, the days just keep getting better!

We weren’t going to go to Skye, but as we were driving right past it, we decided we might as well drive over the bridge and onto the island.

As expected, it was super busy. There was plenty of traffic on the roads and apparently cruise ships come in with thousands of people who then swarm all the major scenic spots.
But we had a plan to avoid all that.

We turned left off the main road and onto a single-lane track which took us away from the madness.
And it was a beautiful drive, winding amongst towering hills and alongside a loch before eventually taking us down to the sea.

Unfortunately, there was nowhere decent to stay along this stretch, so we had to backtrack and we got off Skye as quickly as we could.

Then came the interesting part.

We turned onto a road that had warnings.

No motorhomes. Experienced drivers only. Dangerous road, etc!

The campervan behind us decided it wasn’t worth the risk and turned around. But we’ve been on some pretty gnarly roads over the years, so we decided to go for it.

And wow, was it worth it.

It was quite possibly the most interesting drive we’ve done yet. The road was ridiculously narrow and steep, and the views were amazing.

By this time it was around 7pm, and I’m so glad we’d left it this late because there was barely any traffic. There were plenty of passing places too, which thankfully were clearly marked.

The other problem was finding somewhere to sleep for the night. We’d seen nothing along the way and there was nothing showing on our apps either.

But when we got to the top of the pass, there was a nice car park with only a couple of people in it. Our app said no overnight parking, but there were no signs anywhere saying we couldn’t.
So that was good enough for us.

Another girl was planning to sleep there in her car too, as apparently the town below was full of midges.

We parked up for the night and Mike went about cooking tea and getting grumpy with me for trying to help.
So I left him to it and went for a walk over the hill to see the amazing views and the colour in the sky as the sun was setting.

On my way back, two giant stags were blocking my path.

Their antlers were huge and they looked very scary, so there was no way I was walking past them. I took a rather large diversion back to the van instead.

By the time I got back, Mike had just finished cooking our Thai vegetable curry. We put it into our takeaway mugs and carried them back over the hill to watch the sunset.

It was perfect.

Then Mike noticed I was sitting on something.

Under the rock I was sitting on was a geocache!

So we had a look inside, added our names and I left one of my stickers.

Then it was back to Bertie for a very peaceful night on the mountain.

It was an awesome drive today.

First up, we caught a ferry to avoid driving anywhere near Glasgow. It was only a 20-minute crossing and it wasn’t even very busy. But when they charged us £52, we balked. That was ridiculously expensive.

I remember scoffing at paying €100 for a two-hour fjord cruise in Norway for us and Bertie, but this was next-level insane! And the fjord cruise in Norway turned out to be incredible — though we didn’t know that at the time we paid.

Anyway, that was my freakout for the day. Still better than driving the long way around via Glasgow.
Then came the really scenic part, driving alongside Loch Eck. What a beautiful loch. It looked more like a sound back home in New Zealand, but without anybody else there.

It was mostly a driving day today. We wanted to get up into the Highlands.

And then we hit them.

The hills grew around us.

And so did the traffic.

It seems like park-ups with free dump points are now a thing of the past. But with a full pee tank, we needed to get rid of it. Campgrounds up here range from £32–£45 a night, and it’s not really in our interests to stay in places like that when all we need to do is empty the tanks and find somewhere to sleep.

But we found the perfect spot at the Glencoe ski resort.

It cost £5 to dump our waste, £5 to park overnight — technically a donation, which obviously we paid — and £1 each for a nice hot shower.

And as well as all that, we had an absolutely beautiful view of the Highlands. There are even 24-hour toilets here!

So, for £12, we considered that a bargain in this touristy part of Scotland.

It was a super quiet night, and we slept well.

We had a lovely quiet night sleep at the disused nuclear power plant. This morning we met our neighbours and spent the morning chatting with them and looking for whales. Apparently someone had seen one the previous morning.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, so calm and the water still as. Because the weather was so nice, we decided to go for a bike ride to the next town of Fairlie. It was a lovely ride on a mixture of unused roads and a forest and along the coastal path.

When we reached Fairlie, we stopped at a seat and ate our lunch. Ham and cheese sandwich and two mini pork pies. Yum yum.

Fairlie was a gorgeous little town with nothing much there. A few houses lining the waterfront and a pub. There was a beautiful ride along the waterfront where there were just a few people walking their dogs.

Now, something I noticed yesterday were people walking their dogs in prams. I saw one woman doing it, and immediately later another one. So I asked if it was an Ayrshire thing as I’d never seen it before. She said, no, it was just because her dog was old.

But then when I saw someone else today walking dog in a pram I decided it wasn’t a coincidence, it was a thing. Probably a bit like eating a snickers bar with a knife and fork. You see one person doing it, suddenly everyone is doing it.

Then we headed back towards camp and I found another bridle path which would take us to another town. So we followed that for a while, until it hit the main road, then decided that was enough.

Still, it was so nice to be back on the bikes again, and hopefully we’ll get more chances up here as it’s much cooler.

That evening back at camp, the weather was so calm and the water like glass. We sat outside beside the water and watched the sun go down. It was perfect.

Today we moved on from our lovely beach camp. It was sad saying goodbye to our new friends. They even offered us some more mackerel to take with us. We gave them a rockmelon, then were on our way.

Our first stop was the quaint seaside town of Portpatrick. It was a really pretty place, with colourful houses around the harbour and lots of pubs and cafés.

And there were shops here. I went a little mad buying stuff.

But I really did need jandals, a raincoat and a puffin.

My justification: no more flip-flopping around in my clown jandals, I can now go out for walks when it’s raining (it does that a lot up here) and, most importantly, I have a puffin to join my ever-increasing stuffed toy collection on the dash.

We thought about having a pub lunch, but I really just fancied a Tesco sandwich meal deal. And there was one in the next town.

But when we got to the next town, we couldn’t find the Tesco and ended up in Lidl instead, where we bought some bread and cheese. That would do for lunch.

Then it was a bit of dual-carriageway driving on our way to our next stop. We didn’t exactly know where this was, but I found a spot for the night and we were heading there.

But when we arrived, we drove through a nuclear power plant, which seemed really creepy. There were nuclear signs all over the place and a big barbed-wire fence and security, and I pretty much decided we wouldn’t be staying there before we even arrived.

But when we got to the carpark at the end, it was a beautiful spot overlooking the loch, which is basically a fjord. Then we decided we would be staying there!

It turns out the power station is actually disused and in the process of being decommissioned. Now it just has to sit there for 50 years until it’s safe to dismantle the reactor.

We saw a castle way off in the distance and a coastal path leading to it. So we followed it. There were towering cliffs on our left that reminded me of Kairakau Beach in Hawke’s Bay.

Turns out this is part of the Ayrshire Coastal Path, and it was an absolutely gorgeous walk. Along the way we saw people stopping and looking out over the loch. So, as you do, we did the same.

Then we saw what they were looking at. Dolphins! And apparently they saw a whale out there too. So we’ll be keeping an eye out for those.

After about 30 minutes we arrived at the castle we’d seen, and there was a little township there, with houses. And then we wandered back.

For dinner we had marinated pork, rice and salad. It was really nice.

Today I got up before the sunrise again. I was awake so why not. But this time I tried not to wake Mike and took a walk along the beach.

It was another beautiful sunrise and I felt lucky to be here.

We decided to stay put for another day, as Mike feels like he’s come down with something.

Our neighbours went kayak fishing and brought back a load of mackerel, and were handing them out to people at the camp.

We fried some up straight away and it was delicious and tasted a bit like salmon.

I spent most of the day editing another video, then that evening our neighbours bought us some smoked mackerel to try. It was next level delicious!

Then we joined them with our other neighbour from Wiltshire and sat around their campfire for the evening. It was really nice.

This morning I awoke at 6am, looked out the window and wow! The sunrise was spectacular! And suddenly Mike was woken up too. (Serves him right for waking me up snoring.) But even he realised that the sunrise was incredible.

Then it got cold and we actually turned our heater on!

We took a walk to Port Logan, on the other side of the isle. It was a long straight road and pleasant enough, taking just over 30 minutes. On the other side was a beautiful bay, and a stone lighthouse at the end. It was gorgeous.

On the beach a load of giant jelly fish had washed up and I decided I wouldn’t be swimming. The cold weather had nothing to do with it.

On the walk back I saw a hare, which made my day. We stopped and stood perfectly still as it ran towards us. I got some good photos on my camera.

That afternoon a lot more people started arriving, and I realised it was the weekend. A couple of guys parked next to us with their kayaks, and they’re planning on going kayak fishing for mackerel.

A lady on our right has come all the way from Wiltshire with her dog. It’s a really friendly place and we’re enjoying it here. Maybe we’ll stay a few more days.

We took our time this morning, just enjoying the nice spot we’d camped at, and got away just after lunch.
It was a gorgeous drive today, most of it along the south coast.

Our plan was to head to the lighthouse at the southern tip of Scotland. As we got closer, the road narrowed to a single lane.

We could tell it was a tourist area as there were signposts marking where the passing spots were! And even then, people couldn’t figure it out!

But there wasn’t too much traffic and only a handful of people at the top. We found a park overlooking the Irish Sea, with Northern Ireland across the water.

The lighthouse was a short walk away and we did a loop walk. We had planned to stay in the car park overnight, and it would have been stunning with 360-degree views, but it didn’t have the vibe. And it felt quite exposed.

I’d seen a free spot on the way up that had toilets and a dump station, so we headed back there.

When we arrived, there were already a few campervans parked up. It’s weird, as it’s right next to a camping ground that charges £45 a night with no view, but in the free spot it’s, well, free, and you are parked right overlooking the sea. £45 for a shower seems excessive! We’ll just find a local swimming pool or recreation centre. Or just continue to smell.

It was a gorgeous spot to stop and we took a walk along the beach. It’s a mix of stones and sand, and it’s a really neat spot with that rugged vibe we like. Reminds me a bit of the Thames coast.

We settled down for an early night.

Not much knitting done today.

Today we were on the road by 9am. What were we thinking?

We stopped in Dumfries and did a Lidl shop, then stopped again in another town to upload a video at the library.

With all our chores done, we hit the road again. And we now have a new hobby.

Knitting!

Mike bought some wool in Norway last year and had been giving it a go. Then, when I saw some wool and needles in a garden centre, of all places, I decided I wanted to do it too.
No idea what I’m knitting, but it’s something to do on the drives when the road
s are too winding to read. As it’s so cold up here, I’m visualising jumpers, socks, and maybe a blankie for Bertie. We’ll see how long it lasts.

We didn’t drive far today. I saw a place called Isle of Whithorn on the map and decided I wanted to go there. Research and navigation all rolled into one.

It’s a quaint fishing village in the south of Scotland, and they have free overnight parking overlooking the sea and the Isle of Man. Just across the water is Northern Ireland. It’s rugged and rocky and feels remote. It’s perfect.

And there’s also a toilet, dump station and fresh water, all free. This is how it should be done. England, you should be ashamed! We actually couldn’t find anywhere to dump our waste in all of England.

On our walk, we discovered an old church dating back to the 1300s. Just ruins now, but it’s on a pilgrim route (or tourist route, as Mike calls them). There’s a pile of rocks there that apparently pilgrims bring with them to dump. Not sure of the purpose of it, but I prefer the “leave no trace” rule and leave rocks and stones where they are. You never know who might have had a home under one.

The village itself is small. Just a pub and an actual church, which had an exhibition inside. There’s a lot of history here. This is one of the first places in Scotland where Christianity was introduced, with pilgrims coming across from Ireland around 300 AD.

And there were many shipwrecks along this coast, and I’m not surprised.

It’s such a nice spot to just sit and stare out to sea, with the faint click-clacking of the needles in the background.

Our first night in Scotland went well and this morning we ventured out on foot to try and find the castles.

It was a nice walk through ancient woods, with some trees as old as 200 years old. Lots of gnarly branches and stuff, it was pretty cool.

Along the way we came across a little shelter overlooking the wetlands, where apparently you could sit quietly and watch the birds.

So we did.

There weren’t any.

There was, however, a board behind us showing all the birds we could have seen. Ducks. Seagulls. And various other birds that looked suspiciously like the sort of thing we see every day anyway.

We decided we weren’t missing much and carried on to the castle.

Or what was left of it.

The first one was known as the Old Castle, although calling it a castle was being fairly generous. It didn’t have any walls. Just a few rocks in the ground showing where the walls had once been.

Apparently they’d chosen a terrible place to build it. The ground was too damp and unstable, which seems like something you might want to check before building a castle.

But, they built another one a little further along.

And this one was much more castle-like.

It had walls! And a moat! And towers! The whole thing was seriously impressive.

You could pay to go inside, but from experience, castles nearly always look better from the outside. That’s our way if justifying it anyway.

So we circled the outside instead, took far too many photos, and wandered back through the woods to the van.
By now it was lunchtime, so we made egg and salad sandwiches and decided we quite liked it here.
So we stayed another night.

We spent the afternoon editing, playing chess and sleeping.

Well, why not.

If we wanted cooler weather we certainly got it. We’ve both been wearing our fleeces over the last couple of days. And last night it even rained! We have not seen rain for literally months!

We really didn’t want to leave our gorgeous spot in the Yorkshire Moors. So we sat and spent the morning doing editing and just enjoying the views.

Then we thought we probably should go for a walk, even though the hills were in the mist. We wandered down to the Viaduct to have a look. An impressive stone railway bridge built in the 1800s.

After our walk we continued driving. We drove through Kirkby Stephen which I remember from my sisters’ blogs. There was supposed to be a Devils bridge here, but we didn’t see it. We stopped at the Co-op instead for chocolate.

Then it was a mad dash to get past Carlisle before the traffic. And next minute, we were in Scotland! I even got a photo of the sign (unheard of!).

We also fast-tracked through Gretna Green as I didn’t want to accidentally get married. I do remember stopping their with Mum and Dad on their road trip in our old Kombi van.

It was now 5pm-ish so it was time to look for somewhere to camp. We looked at a couple of nice lay-bys overlooking the estuary, but they were a little too close to the road for my liking. Although it didn’t look like a very busy road.

We ended up driving to a place marked that had dump facilities and fresh water. It was 10 pounds a night and quite pleasant, surrounded by bush and a castle nearby which we might look at tomorrow.

We slept really well in the pub car park, and had a very lazy morning just chilling out. We went for another walk along the canal, heading the opposite way this time, and it was really lovely. Quiet, green and exactly what we needed after the last few days.

Then it was back to the van for a homemade salmon sandwich before finally getting ourselves on the road at about 2pm.

The drive today was much more civilised. Not too much traffic, decent-sized roads and, most importantly, no motorways. Every time we crossed over one, we could see it was absolutely heaving below us.

So that’s where everyone was.

By about 5pm I’d found a car park where we could stay overnight for £6. There was nothing particularly wrong with it. It was cheap, quiet and would have done the job.

But it didn’t have the vibe.

And I’ve learnt that when somewhere doesn’t feel quite right, it’s usually worth carrying on. Somehow we almost always find somewhere much better.

We were right on the edge of the Yorkshire Moors by then, and I spotted a pub further on that allowed campervans to stay for free. So we headed towards that instead.

Almost as soon as we entered the national park, everything changed.

Suddenly there were wide open views, rolling hills, fields stretching into the distance and old stone walls running across the landscape. After the traffic, towns and busy roads of the previous few days, it felt like we could finally breathe again.

The pub car park, unfortunately, was already pretty full of campervans.

But just a little further up the road we found a long lay-by. Most of the day visitors had already gone home, leaving just a handful of vehicles and an enormous view.

And it was absolutely perfect.

Fields stretched out below us, with a long stone viaduct crossing the valley in the distance.

Much better than the £6 car park.

We’d planned to leave Matt and Sonia’s at 9am. We were on the road by 11am. Close enough.

As we headed north I wondered when the accents would change. I love a northern accent, and was looking forward to the moment we crossed the invisible line where everyone suddenly started talking funny.

We’re trying to fast-track it to Scotland, but still avoiding motorways. The roads were much better behaved today, and not as narrow and winding.

We stopped at Warrington to get our tyres checked as they are wearing funny. And the man took a look at them, opened his mouth and guess what?

He had the accent! Yay! On the negative side, he said it might be our suspension causing it and to get that checked, but he didn’t seem to think there was a problem for the moment. At least, I think that’s what he said. I couldn’t really understand him.

Then somewhere along the way my jandal popped its clog, and has been impossible to walk in them. So we spent the next hour or so, looking for jandals. I thought Decathlon would have had them. But nope. Only those stupid scuff style ones, and crocs for 40 pounds!

We tried the Lidl. Nope. Homebase. Nope. Now you might be thinking I was going around asking if they had jandals. But no, I’m not that stupid. I was definitely asking for flip-flops. Although I had to get Mike to translate a couple of times as people up here don’t understand my accent.

Finally I found a pair in Aldi. But they only had the one size, and they were a size 10! But, they would have to do. I can’t survive without jandals. They’re easy to slip on and off, and essential for the showers in preventing foot fungus!

So I am now wandering around in a ridiculously oversized pair of jandals. I wonder if that’s why people have been giving us a wide berth.

After that we were exhausted and started looking for somewhere to sleep. I’d seen a pub that allowed campervans to park overnight, roughly between Manchester and Liverpool but a little further north, so we headed there. It was a lovely spot, right on the canal with already a couple of vans parked up.

But what a noise. There were a load of rowdy cyclists there, all drinking and jumping in the canal, naking a terrible racket. I actually said, ‘lets get outta here.’ But Mike seemed to think they wouldn’t stay long.

It turns out it was a charity bike ride and they were raising money for their rugby club and to play in Ireland. And Mike was right. Within a couple of hours they were all gone.

We had a couple of beers in the pub, but I didn’t fancy anything on the menu. Then I saw the specials board. Sausage, mash and gravy for 8.90. I’d be having that! And it was so yummy. Diet starts tomorrow.

After dinner we took a walk along the canal. It’s a really gorgeous spot.

We saw a guy trying out an inflatable kayak he’d bought from Lidl. He was loaded up with camping gear while his mate walked alongside. The whole thing looked questionable. It had no keel and didn’t seem interested in travelling in a straight line.

I wished him luck and got outta there. I wasn’t jumping in to save him.

Despite being in a pub car park on a Saturday night, we had a really quiet night.

We’re on the road again.

For how long, we’re not entirely sure. The vague plan is to make our way up to Scotland, have a look around, and see how we feel. So, about as organised as usual.

For some reason, our first day on the road turned into a tour of British supermarkets.
First stop was Lidl to stock up on supplies. From there, we went to visit Mich, who is currently off work with sciatica, before hitting the road.

Quite why we thought setting off in the middle of the school holidays was a good idea, I’m not sure.
The roads were packed. Roadworks seemed to be everywhere, sections of motorway were closed, and we had no choice but to take the back roads.

Normally, we love the back roads. In Spain and Portugal they’d taken us through tiny villages, over mountains and along roads where we could drive for miles without seeing another car.

England is slightly different.

Here, there are other cars on them.

Eventually we made it to supermarket number two: Tesco, for a sandwich and snack deal. Proper road-trip cuisine.

Then we sat in some more traffic.

As we drove through Bradford on Avon, the air suddenly became thick with smoke. There had been wildfires breaking out around the UK, and driving through the haze was a little unnerving. I was starting to wonder whether this was really the best time to be setting off on a road trip.

The plan for the night was Ludlow, but somewhere just south of Gloucester we hit yet another traffic jam. As I stared at the map, I suddenly realised we were going to be passing quite close to Matt and Sonia’s place.
Mike gave Matt a call.

And just like that, Ludlow was abandoned and we were heading to see them instead.

Via Aldi, obviously, to get beer.

Three supermarkets in one day. We know how to travel.

It turned out to be a really nice change of plan. Instead of spending the evening looking for somewhere to stop for the night, we got to catch up with Matt and Sonia, and even had a proper bed to sleep in.

Scotland will just have to wait.

Today we went for a walk in the Malvern Hills with Matt, and we almost got injured twice!

The first walk was fairly uneventful, although it was quite steep and we had a bit of trouble keeping up with Matt, who was powering up the hills. I hadn’t realised how unfit we’d become! It was a gorgeous day though, and the views from the top across the countryside were well worth the climb.
The second walk was much more eventful.

Our first panic was the parking. We’d already paid £6.50 at the previous car park, and when we arrived at the next one, the machine wanted another £6.50. I’m not used to paying to go for a walk, so paying twice didn’t sit right with me.

Then we spotted the small print. The ticket actually covered all of the Malvern Hills car parks for the day. Phew!

Before we set off, we stood watching dozens of paragliders drifting overhead, floating around in the thermals. There were so many of them, I couldn’t work out how they managed to avoid each other.
The walk started along a lovely narrow woodland path. Matt spotted a sign marked ‘MTB Route.’

‘That’s a mountain bike trail,’ I said.

‘Nah,’ he replied. ‘Probably stands for Malvern Trust Board.’

About ten seconds later, two mountain bikers came hurtling towards us.
The path was so narrow I had nowhere to go and just hoped they’d stop in time. Thankfully they veered off around a corner at the last second.

That was close.

Our second close call came when we reached the top of the hill, where the paragliders were getting ready to launch. We watched one take off beautifully. It looked so effortless.

Another pilot was preparing to launch, so we stopped uphill to watch. Mike and Matt stayed back while I wandered a little closer to get some footage.

The pilot’s wife was helping him when, all of a sudden, he took off!

Only instead of gliding away downhill like the previous paraglider, a gust of wind blew him straight towards us.

He narrowly missed his wife, then he was coming for me! I took off running, then turned around just in time to see him heading straight for Mike and Matt.

Mike ducked.

Matt carried on filming.

Thankfully nobody was hurt, and looking back at the footage it was actually pretty funny.

But later that day we heard that a paraglider had been seriously injured and airlifted from the hills.
We couldn’t help wondering if it had been the same guy.

We finished the evening with a game of Scrabble.

Mike proudly played a T on a triple-word score, managing to make both AT and ATE at the same time, giving him a grand total of 8 points!

I said, ‘Matt’s probably sitting there with an X thinking, “I could have got 50 points with that, but you took my spot!”‘

Mike looked at his letters. ‘Oh. I had an X,’

Today we left Butlins and headed up to Ledbury to visit Matt (Mike’s son). It’s normally a 2.5-hour drive from Minehead, but it took us about 3.5 hours due to traffic and roadworks on the motorway. (Yes, we had to take the motorway, otherwise it would have taken 5 hours!)

Matt and Sonia took us for a sightseeing tour of Ledbury, which is a charming historic market town, full of chocolate ripple and wonky-shaped buildings (my favourites).

We went to the Prince of Wales Free House for drinks, and this is a proper olde-worlde pub. And apparently it’s haunted!

Sonia said there had been reports of people’s drinks falling off the tables, but they’d never seen anything before.

We sat down with our pints of Guinness and all was well. Until it was time for our second pint. Mike and I decided to share one, so Matt bought us a can to share. I had just finished pouring our beers and placed the can on the table when the ghost decided to visit!

The can just started sliding across the table, all on its own!

We all just sat there watching it. It was proper spooky.

There had to be a perfectly sensible explanation.

We threw a few ideas around, but the only logical conclusion we could come up with was that the ghost wanted a Guinness. We didn’t stay for a third beer.

After that we went to a beautiful Italian restaurant for dinner. And it was delicious. I chose the creamy salmon pasta, which was delicious, and Mike had a tortilinni.

We were too full for dessert, so we went back to Matt and Sonia’s and had yogurt and mango. Then we sat around outside chatting for the rest of the evening.

We had grand plans to walk to Dunster today.

Then we woke up a bit late… and couldn’t really be bothered.

So instead, we decided to do something even more exciting.

Laundry.

Our plan was to get it over and done with early, but there was a queue. Then, when we finally got a machine, the payment system wasn’t working. There was a bit of a kerfuffle as everyone tried to pay, failed, and started ringing customer services.

Not Mike though.

Despite being the oldest person in the room, he was probably the calmest. While everyone else was flapping about, he quietly downloaded the app, paid through that instead, and had our machine running before anyone else had even finished complaining.

By the time the washing was done, it was 12:30. So much for an early start.

We wandered into town for fish and chips after being told the best place wasn’t on the seafront. Even better, they did senior meals, which means you get free chips with your fish.
Naturally, we both ate far too much and spent the next hour wondering why fish and chips always seems like such a brilliant idea until you’ve actually finished it.

With the day disappearing, we figured we should at least make use of everything we’d paid for at Butlin’s.
Our first ride was the merry-go-round.

That didn’t go entirely to plan either.

Our first idea was to share a horse. I climbed on the front, realised there was absolutely nothing to hold onto apart from the horse’s neck, and decided this wasn’t how I wanted my obituary to read. So Mike climbed off and found himself another horse.

Problem solved.

For about thirty seconds, the horses bobbing up and down felt surprisingly dramatic.
Then it became… a merry-go-round.

Next was the giant slide, where they hand you a sack and encourage you to throw yourself down it. There was a lovely view from the top, although I spent most of the climb concentrating on not dropping my 360 camera while wrestling with a hessian sack.

It was actually pretty tame.

Then we finished the day with tonight’s show, Electric City.

And wow.

It was genuinely next level. Laser lights, glowing costumes, incredible dancers, loads of energy… definitely not what we were expecting, and a great way to finish our last day at Butlins.

Yesterday we vacated our smelly Butlins unit, today we were exhausted!

We grabbed a few hours sleep in the van, and went back to our unit to use the loo. We’d left all the windows open in the hope that the smell would clear out a bit, but it was still hideous. I decided it wasn’t good enough, so I rang them and complained.

They said they would send someone to look in the next 2 hours. I asked if we could just move rooms, but they said it was full. Apparently if we had’ve complained on the first day, they might have been able to move us. I’m not 100% sure that would have been any better.

Anyway, two hours later nobody had been to our room, so I rang again. They said someone will be there within the next two hours (4 hours by this stage).

So we waited another 2 hours and went back to check. A guy was just turning up with an Ozone machine, which is supposed to remove bad smells. He looked at the carpet and decided to clean it first. He said it would take about 2 hours.

So we went to an afternoon show called The Masked Singer. Apparently it is based on a TV series where you have to guess who the masked singer is based on clues they give you. I’d never heard of it.

Anyway, it was fun. They had two masked singers, and a panel on stage, and they even asked members in the audience who they thought it was. I’m not sure anyone actually got it right.

The masked singers turned out to be people I’d never heard of. Some guy from Emerdale farm, and a lady, who was on Emerdale a long time ago.

After that it was time to check out our room. The urine smell had gone, and the carpet was a completely different colour, but now it had a chemical smell from the ozone machine. We wouldn’t be sleeping in there. We left all the windows open though.

That evening we went to a show called Mad For It, and it was a fun cheesy pop sort of thing. A fun way to finish the day. Then back to Bertie to sleep.

One advantage of sleeping in Bertie (there are actually many) is how quiet it is at the edge of the carpark where we camped.

At our unit, people were constantly walking right past our room making lots of racket, oohing and aahing at the tree outside our window which was lit up with fairly lights. We knew to expect this so it didn’t bother us as it’s like being at a festival. But when we got to Bertie it was absolutely silent. And clean!

And that was day two at Butlins.

We arrived at 1 pm. Check-in was in the skyline pavilion which is a big top tent. Immediately it felt like I had walked into Circus-Circus one of the older casinos in Vegas. It really had that vibe about it. But rather that slot machines, there were arcade games. You know, the multilayered coin games where it looks like it’s going to drop any minute but it never does? That’s the level of gambling going on here.

Check-in was super easy and we got our big envelope containing our welcome pack. But we couldn’t go to our room until 5pm. So we went back to our van to look inside our pack, excited there might be goodies inside.

But when we opened it, it was a little disappointing. That big envelope contained only two wrist bands and two key cards.

At 5pm, we were finally able to see our room. And holy crap it stunk. Real bad, like someone had pissed on the floor bad. In hindsight we should have complained straight away, but by this time it was 5.30pm, we were due at Ems and Nicks place for dinner and we had a show to see that night.

Included in the Butlins ticket is accommodation, shows and rides. We paid 300 pounds for 4 nights, which seems pretty good value considering all that is included. The accommodation we chose is basic, just a room, with a bathroom and a jug and mugs. And if it didn’t smell it would have been fine.

Ems and Nick have much nicer accommodation. Theirs is a 3 bedroom apartment with a kitchen. But it was still pretty dirty. Ems spent most of the afternoon cleaning it. I don’t think Butlins put much effort into cleaning here which is pretty shocking.

The evening entertainment was a show called Theatre of Rock which I really enjoyed. Then came the part I was dreading. Going back to our room.

I don’t think I got any sleep at all as I was constantly gagging on the smell. And I kept on thinking how it would be infusing into all our clothes and bags and stuff. We’d brought our cereal into the room with us, but there was no way in hell I would be eating in there.

By the time 4am rolled around and the seagulls started making a racket, I’d had enough.

‘I’m going to go sleep in Bertie,’ I said to Mike who was also restless.

So we picked up ALL our stuff and started trudging back to Bertie at 4.30am. It was still dark and as I came around the corner a guy dressed all in black gave me a fright. I thought he might have been a security guard, although I hadn’t seen one so far.

‘Checking out out early?’ he asked, noticing us loaded up with our backpacks.

‘Nah, just out for an early morning hike,’ I replied, knowing we probably shouldn’t be sleeping on our van.

But he wasn’t a security guard. He was just looking for somewhere to buy a fizzy drink.

We’d parked Bertie at the far end of the carpark in the dark. We crawled inside and didn’t even bother making the bed up. Luckily Berties day set-up has two single beds, so we collapsed and passed out. We were home again.

It rained! Really, it did! Overnight. I woke up and it was all damp outside.

As a result, my nose was streaming. Mike’s had hay fever for a couple of days, and now I have it.

Just some observations from the campground here. People clearly aren’t touring, they come and set up for a week or more I am guessing.

They all have an awning or some sort, which I understand, but the thing that gets me is the clothesline. Not simply a piece of rope like we have that stashes away neatly and has multiple uses. But a proper full on rotator clothesline like you would have in your back yard at home. And absolutely EVERYBODY has one! (They must have been on special at the motorhome show.)

We were both really tired today so we had a quiet day, resting up ready for this weeks adventure at Butlins! I’m not sure whether I am looking forward to it or not.

It has finally cooled down enough to not be a sweaty mess 24 hours a day. We even had our jumpers on this morning and evening.

It’s nice getting up in the morning and being able to boil up our kettle outdoors. There are a load of pigeons here and they are noisy. If you watched our video a few weeks ago, Mike heard the birds saying “can you hear me?”

I hear the pigeons talking too. They are saying “I can’t do poo poo” over and over again. Then they proceed to crap all over the van.

It was supposed to rain today so I spent the day getting a video edited. We probably should have gone out and done something as it didn’t rain at all.

We tried for a healthy day today, starting with a banana, mango and salad smoothie, but the day got progressively worse from there. We had bacon and eggs for lunch, followed by chippies and then some chocolate. And a third coffee.

Not much else happened.

It’s my birthday!

We had a plan for today. Most of it failed.

We started by taking a walk to a nearby town called Winsford. We had a list of elaborate instructions written on paper and a map with lots of useless squiggly lines.

It started off ok, alongside the river, then through a few houses, but then we ended up on farmland. Now, farmland is my least of all favourite places to walk. But, we persisted, in the heat, no shade, opening and closing gates.

But when I got bitten by a horse fly, I decided that was enough. I’ve been bitten by these guys before and they have caused great big welts and were the most painful bite I have ever had. Plus the walk was boring as hell. So after only 30 minutes, we backtracked. It turned out to be a great decision.

I hadn’t wanted to drive anywhere on my birthday, but we decided to head to a little town called Withypool for a cream tea. (Not Devonshire as we are in Sommerset). As it turned out, we’d be driving through the town we’d planned on walking to, so we could see what it was like. As we drove towards the town we saw a couple from camp, ploughing along the road towards it. Suckers.

The town itself was nothing special. Some thatched cottages, a pub and that was about it. So we drove on through, eager to find our cream tea.

We arrived at Withypool and this was a charming little town with a river running through it, and the tea rooms.

We both ordered a cream tea each, whereas one to share would have been more sensible. A giant scone came out with a large tub of clotted cream which looked more like clotted arteries. And two types of jam, strawberry and a blue one. Oh, and a big pot of tea. I was a bit disappointed they had tea bags in it and not tea leaves, but it was still delicious.

And the cream tea was amazing! In England there is this thing. Do you put the jam on first or the cream. We both know that of course it’s the jam. But I have come up with a new one. I call it the slurry. You put the jam on, then the cream, and mix it into a slurry. That is now the best way to do it.

We both really enjoyed our cream tea. Mike, who is probably more of an expert than me, thought the scone was a bit dry, but I actually liked it like that. It was melt in your mouth delicious!

After that we drove along the moors to Tarr steps. These are 800 year old stone steps going across the river. It was mind blowing thinking that these steps have actually lasted 800 years without any mortar or cement. Just sitting there, strategically placed with occasional maintenance.

We walked across and they were so solid, not a rock wobble in sight.

On the way back to camp, we saw the couple who had decided to walk all the way, sitting on the side of the road looking very hot and bothered.

We finished the day with dinner at the local pub near the camp. The Badgers Holt is a really quaint little pub. It felt more like sitting in someone’s living room. There is just the one chef and the one guy serving drinks. It’s interesting as they only take bookings of one seating per half hour so the chef can keep up with meals. So we had the 6pm booking.

We had a Guinness while we waited and a man came in being pulled along by his dog. ‘This dog can smell a pub a mile off,’ he said. ‘I don’t even like pubs but the dog pulls me here.’

I thought it was funny.

We both ordered the aged fillet steak and it was absolutely delicious. Served with chips, onion rings, mushrooms, salad and peas, it was the best steak I have had in a long time (probably since Eve).

After dinner, Mike asked me what the photo of the bird on the wall was. It was a kiwi! A kiwi cricket team had visited in 1986 and gifted a photo of a kiwi. Well, thought it was cool.

Today we packed up from our campsite at Dartmoor, and headed for Exmoor national park. We’ve booked another adults-only campsite for 4 nights.

Now, I know I’ve said I’m not going to take the back roads in England again, but somehow we ended up there again. Old habits die hard.

I figured to get from Dartmoor to Exmoor it might be nice to drive along the moors. But… the moors had other ideas.

It started ok, with only 2 or 3 “I am NOT going down that road” moments. I really wanted to keep Berties sides in tact and I wanted to make it to my birthday.

So we drove along a nice two-laned road which was fine until it suddenly ran out. Well, there was a sign saying the road was closed ahead. So we took a diversion. It was a narrow one-lane road but do-able.

Then, at the end, it narrowed even more into a goat track. Mike would have gone for it, but I refused. I was thinking about Bertie.

So I made an executive decision as I did not want to be sitting in the car all day. We would take the Devon expressway (that undercover motorway from the other day) and just get to our destination.

So we backtracked and hit the highway. For the 10 minutes we would be on it, it seemed a good compromise.

I’ve realised you have to take on a different mind-set when travelling in the UK. It’s no longer about the road tripping and the slow journey on the back roads wondering where you will end up.

It’s now about getting to your destination that you have booked up well in advance, driving via the most efficient method possible, and staying put for more than a day. So that was our new plan.

Mike had booked the Exemoor campsite earlier in the week, in the national park for 4 nights. We’re hoping to do some hiking and visit some local pubs, maybe find a cream tea (we missed the Devonshire tea, dammit), or a ploughman’s lunch.

We arrived at the campground mid-afternoon and it was already busy. Thankfully we were early enough to grab a decent spot as people were streaming in after us. We were in reception when a man came racing in with his caravan and we heard a loud bang. He’d scraped his caravan on the metal pole at the entrance and ripped some of his caravan off. Oops.

By 5pm, the campground was full! I thought that choosing adults-only we would have avoided the mad holiday crowds, but nope! Just a lot of people and their dogs.

But it’s a nice enough spot, right on a river Exe, which is more of a creek.

After dinner we went for a walk into the quaint little village. Just a few houses and a pub – the Badgers Holt – where Mike is taking me to for my birthday. And a phone box on the edge of town. Yes, these still exist!

Yesterday, when we drove through Lyme Regis, I thought it sounded quite delicious, so today we decided to make one in the van.

It involved layering secret ingredients into a clear plastic disposable cup to make it look fancy. Well… as fancy as a clear plastic disposable cup can look.

Apart from the yoghurt glooping down the side of the cup, it did look quite fancy. Mike tried to wipe it off but only succeeded in smearing it everywhere. If you’re making your own Lyme Regis at home, I suggest you don’t do that.

It was surprisingly tasty, although I think there’s still room for improvement.

Just to be clear, I’m fairly certain a Lyme Regis dessert didn’t exist before today, so I’ve taken complete creative licence.

Let me know if you’d like the recipe to our famous Lyme Regis.

We finally got off our butts and left Bournemouth to go on a mini-road trip. The plan was to drive to Dartmoor national park, which was only 2.5 hours away. We left at 10.30am and somehow didn’t arrive until 3.30pm!

First up, we had to stop at Lidl to stock up on supplies. We met a lady in there who was trying to find her husband. He’d completely disappeared on her. She was worried he got lost as he was wearing new glasses.

As we did our shop, we kept seeing her, looking flustered. ‘Have you found him yet?’ we’d ask.

Then we found ourselves at the same checkout. She’d finally found him.

I commented that his new glasses looked nice, and he looked at me like I was a weirdo. Only in England will you have random conversations in the supermarket with strangers.

Anyway, loaded up with “stuff” we headed on our way. By now the traffic had gotten bad. Did I mention we are going away in the school holidays? You may think ‘big deal’, but in the UK, with such a huge population, usually all the campgrounds are booked out well in advance.

And they don’t have freedom camping like we do at home. But we had a plan, which I’ll tell you about shortly.

We had no choice but to stick to the main roads, as it would take two days via the back roads. As it turned out, it took us most of the day anyway. There weren’t many places to stop along the road and any lay-bys had lots of trucks and cars parked on them.

So I diverted off the main road into Puddletown forest. This was more our kind of road. Narrow and rutted. Thankfully we didn’t have to drive too far to find a little lunch spot tucked in the forest.

After that, we headed back on the main road for a short way before heading off through Lyme Regis, which sounds like a tasty dessert. But all we could find were lots of people, so we got out of there quick. Still, it was nice to be off the main road for a bit.

Then came the interesting part. Google tried to send us on a motorway. It was disguised on Google maps as the Devon Expressway, but it looked suspiciously like a motorway to us. So Mike swerved, narrowly avoiding it, and took the back roads.

I swore I wouldn’t do this again, but they had trimmed the hedgerows at an angle, so Berties side mirror was safe. But… Google Maps kept trying to send us back onto that Devon Expressway. So I had to do some navigation work, zooming into find alternative roads.

Then I saw the Old Exeter Road. That will do! But when we got there, Mike looked at it and said, ‘It’s too narrow.’

I said, ‘It’s this way or a expressway.’

So we took the Old Exetor Road. And actually, despite it only being 1 lane all the way through, it wasn’t too bad. Not a hedgerow to be seen. Lots of walking trails and bridleways too.

But we powered on through to the campground we had booked. Now, I hear you ask, how did we manage to book a campground at last minute during school holidays?

Well, it’s an adults only campground. I know, it sounds dodgy, but it’s actually a thing. Not a dodgy thing, just a thing. A place you can camp that’s not packed with noisy kids running around. (At least I hope that’s what is is. People here do seem incredibly friendly.) I’m just thankful I managed to steer Mike away from the campgrounds he likes.

Anyway, it’s quite nice here for a camping ground. The toilets and showers are clean, , there is toilet paper AND seats. (this is how I now judge a campground.) And there aren’y too many people.

There’s a man camping next to us who has been living here in his van (same size as ours) for 3 months while he waits for a house purchase to settle. I do wonder why he has been staying put in one spot instead of travelling. Maybe I’ll ask him.

After bacon and eggs for dinner, we went for a ten minute walk through the forest next to the camp and came back an hour later. It was just so nice out we wanted to keep walking. That was it.

It was world cup semi-final day and we’d planned to watch the England-Argentina game at 8pm.

But then the worst possible thing happened. The power went out at 7pm. I have a feeling this was on purpose as my team never wins important games when I am watching. I’m a jinx like that. But I did feel sorry for the people being called out to fix the power and missing out on watching it.

So instead, we sat outside and played a game with the kids where it was cooler. That’s one way to get them off their devices!

By 9pm, there was still no power, so we went to the van. I had a message from brother Paul saying: “Go ENGLAND!”

‘Oh, they’ve scored a goal,’ I said to Mike. ‘Let’s go watch the rest of the game at the pub.’

Mike screwed his nose up. We’d been up the road earlier before the game started and the pub had been heaving with people and loud music playing and it looked like a real party vibe.

‘Come on, it’ll be fun,’ I said. Reluctantly he agreed.

But as soon as we arrived, Argentina scored a goal. 1-1. I felt really bad, and realised it was probably all my fault. But, instead of walking away like I should have done, we stayed to watch, standing on the street with a hundred other people. Except we were the only sober ones. And possibly the security guards.

Then Argentina scored again. I knew at this point I REALLY should have walked away, but I really wanted to see England come back. They didn’t. And I take full responsibility. Sorry.

When we got back to the van, I checked to see if there was an update on the power coming back on. The website said they would attempt to get the power back on by… Friday? I looked at my watch. It was only Wednesday. There was a major underground outage. Oops. Oh well, guess the people working on it were probably happy they missed the game.

Today I had an email from my rental agent with the fire report attached and just a single line in the email from her. Cause is on the last page.

So. obviously I skipped to the last page and scanned it, expecting an elaborate write-up or even a paragraph of the cause. But hidden deep in the page I found what I was looking for. And it was only 5 words.

I couldn’t believe what I saw. I had to read, re-read, gave it to Mike to read, asked chatGPT to interpret, then read again.

This is what was written:

People playing with heat sources

At 3am! WTF! I scanned a bit more and a butane cylinder had exploded. This made me very angry as it was their own stupidity that burned my house down.

Then I saw another email from my insurance company that pissed me off. 

Can you please give me the details we requested from you in previous emails.

What??? There were no previous emails. And why send me an email asking for details without actually forwarding the other emails so I know what details you want? They are not inspiring me with confidence.

Grrrr. I’d have to wait for the evening to call them. 

The other dramas of the day. Ems has a very sore elbow, so bad that she couldn’t straighten it, and a bony bit seemed to be popping out. So she went to the hospital for x-rays. 

Meanwhile we were in charge of picking Jessie up from school. But first we had to make a stop at a game store because Eddie wanted to sell his Nintendo gamecube. He was hoping to get 75 pounds. They offered him 30. So then we continued on to pick up Jessie.

We felt very important, waiting outside the school with all the other parents, grandparents, uncles and aunties. But we didn’t know which door to wait outside. So Mike stood outside one, and I stood outside the other. I chose correctly! And they let her go off with the woman with the strange accent!

Back at the house we heard back from Ems and her x-ray. Thankfully it’s not broken and she has been diagnosed with Tennis elbow. Even though she doesn’t play tennis. But we did play table tennis the other day, so maybe that did it!

Anyway. ouch. So she’ll need to keep it rested until it heals.

Other than that, it is still hot, but it’s a nice heat without that cloying African dust in it.

We’ve decided to head back to Bournemouth and try to deal with this fire claim and neither of us really felt like going away now.

Before leaving camp this morning we went for a walk in the New Forest. It’s a really nice area and all flat too (unless you are cycling). Then we headed off and took the scenic detour on the way home.

Our first stop was Buckler’s Hard, which has some interesting history. It was originally planned as a port for importing sugar from the West Indies, but for some reason that idea never happened. So instead it became one of Britain’s most important shipbuilding villages.

They cut down oak trees from the New Forest to build the ships, and it could take thousands of mature oaks to build a single one!

Don’t ask me why it’s called Buckler’s Hard because I’ll probably come up with something rude.

After that, we headed to Milford on Sea, where we managed to find free parking overlooking the water. It’s virtually impossible to find any free parking in the New Forest, so we were pretty happy.

There’s a spit that leads out to Hurst Castle and a lighthouse, so we went for a walk. It was incredibly windy, so we had to hang onto our hats. And the thick gravel was really hard to walk on. But we made it almost all the way to the castle before we’d had enough and turned around.

It was a really neat area, with the Solent and the Isle of Wight on one side, and the marshes full of windsurfers on the other. The Isle of Wight was so close it felt like we could kayak to it. Except we don’t have a kayak.

After that we headed back to Bournemouth. Not sure what’s happening over the next few days.

I had a bit of shocking news this morning. I had an email from our rental agent in NZ saying there had been a fire in our Cassidy St property. 

Thankfully everyone is alright, but the fire apparently started in the garage and spread to the house. It’s currently not liveable and the tenants have moved out. Scary stuff. Now I have to try and organise an insurance claim from the other side of the world. 

It doesn’t help either, that we’re in a dead zone in the New Forest with no phone or internet coverage. But luckily we have our Starlink, which we usually only put out twice a day to check messages.

Anyway, that put a bit of a dampener on the day. So we spent most of the morning trying to find out more details. Barry knew more that the agent had told us, so that was enough to lodge a claim with the insurance.

After lunch we decided to go into Lyndhurst to do some shopping and find a toilet. But a Sunday afternoon in Lyndhurst was heaving, and it was all paid parking, which was all full. So, I jumped out of the car while we were stuck in traffic to run into the Tesco, while Mike drove around the block. Then, I jumped back in the car, and we got out of there, fast!

But we both still needed a toilet. So I navigated to a pub in Ashurst, about 10 mins away, which had a free carpark. Everyone was inside eating their Sunday lunch, so I ran in and went to the toilet while Mike ordered two Guinesses. 12 pounds for two guinesses! That’s $28 NZD! That was a VERY expensive toilet break.

But, we are enjoying our time in the New Forest. Apart from bad news from home, it is quite relaxing.

We’ve decided to spend a few days camping in the New Forest. As I said yesterday, it’s not actually new. It was created as a royal hunting ground by William the Conqueror nearly a thousand years ago. But, I guess a thousand years ago it was new.

But thankfully, no hunting these days, just a load of horses and cows roaming freely. They belong to local families with grazing rights that have been passed down through the centuries.

It was a gorgeous place to wake up, so quiet and surrounded by nature. A couple of horses wandered by, a robin came to visit, and it was just so calm.

It’s a primitive camp with no toilets. But there is a dump station and fresh water, so that feels like a luxury. You know you’re a vanlifer when a tap and somewhere to empty the toilet feels five-star.

And the best part? We are right on all the cycle trails. So this morning we headed off on a ride to Beaulieu.

The cycle trails are mostly on gravel, but it’s decent gravel, good enough for our slick tyres. There was one point where it got a bit deep and slippery going downhill, but the rest was fine.

That last bit was on a main road down a steep hill with loads of traffic. I wasn’t keen on that bit. Not so much the traffic but the steep uphill we’d have to cycle on the way back.

It took us about an hour and twenty minutes to reach Beaulieu, and what a neat little town. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful river with the old abbey reflected in the water.

But we were hungry. I was drawn by the pub, but Mike spotted the Beaulieu Bakehouse. It was full of cyclists, which usually means the food’s good… or they’re all knackered. But we thought, why not?

We both ordered bacon, egg, and hash brown on a brioche bun, and it was the most delicious bacon and egg bap I’ve ever had. I suspect they snuck in a bit of hollandaise on there too, as it was sooooo tasty. Proper bacon too, probably from a local farm.

But by this time it was proper hot. (Actually, it was already hot at 9 am when we left.) And we now had to cycle back. What were we thinking?

And first we had to tackle that steep hill on the main road. And as it was now lunchtime, the main road was even mainer! Thankfully there was a slight edge we could walk on as we pushed our bikes up. There were plenty of other bikes on the road holding the cars up, so we didn’t feel entirely responsible.

I was pretty heat-stressed by the time we got back to camp. I used to love the heat, but somewhere along the way that stopped. I’m not sure when.

But… we have a shower I’ve just been itching to use. So I grabbed it out, filled up a bucket of water, and plugged it in.

Nothing.

Tried another power socket.

Dead.

Shower doesn’t work.

Brilliant.

We’d been carrying this thing around for two years for absolutely nothing.

So, I did the next best thing. Grabbed a cup, dipped it in the bucket of water, and poured water over my head and all over me. It was absolute bliss!

Then I talked Mike into giving it a go. He’s not so keen on cold showers, but the water was almost tepid. Even he enjoyed it, and we felt so much better afterwards, with all the stickyness now seeping into the ground. Don’t worry, we didn’t use soap.

We had a vegetable stir-fry for dinner and a couple of zero beers. Perfect!

Today was the day we were heading off on our UK adventures, but things didn’t get off to the best start. 

The plan was for an early start, but first Mike had to go and get some keys cut for the house. He got back, and none of the keys worked. So he had to walk back into to town to get them cut again.

By the time he was done it was lunchtime, so we had some lunch before leaving. But it was already really hot and we didn’t know where to go, we just knew we didn’t want to drive far. 

So I asked chatGpt for advice. He suggested the New Forest, a mere 50 minutes away. I found a couple of primitive campgrounds, so we made a booking before we left.

But did it take us 50 minutes to get there? Of course not.

First, we needed to stop and get supplies. We stopped at a supermarket in Ringwood. We’d just finished paying when one of our bottles of beer fell out of the pack and landed right on Mike’s foot, exploding into glass and beer everywhere.

We were too scared to move in case we cut our feet on the glass (we were wearing jandals). Mikes foot was already oozing blood all over the floor.

The staff came rushing over armed with paper towels, and started throwing them on the floor. Glass had spread all across the self-checkout area and I feared for other peoples safety. Then the first aid man came to check on Mikes foot. He led him away, sat him down, looked at his foot and realised it wasn’t that bad.

But he gave us loads of antiseptic wipes to wipe away the glass from our feet and jandals. It was actually quite traumatic and a little bit amusing.

Anyway, that took care of another hour or so. Then I decided to navigate the back roads. Remind me NEVER to do this in England again. I remembered last year when we tried this and we lost our wing-mirror on a cheeky hedgerow. 

And I feared it happening again. Why are the roads so fricking narrow? And why do they insist on planting hedges right on the edge of the road? Anyway, after a lot of swearing and pushing on my imaginary brakes, we made it to the New Forest campground.

We found a beautiful spot to camp beneath the shade of ancient oak trees. The New Forest isn’t actually new… but more about that tomorrow.

It was still in the low 30s, so we just chilled out for the afternoon. It was too hot to cook, so we made an avocado, salad and pickled onion wrap with a squeeze of aioli. It was surprisingly delicious! 

Today the satnav said it was 11 hours drive to Cherbourg, and we drove all day and the sat nav still says 9 hours. How do we do that?

We didn’t do much other that drive either. We stopped at a LIDL for supplies, and had a two hour nap somewhere, but that was about it.

But we did find a really nice free spot to camp. It’s just on the outskirts of a town and it overlooks farmland. And there are flushing toilets with seats on! And we’re the only ones here! It’s great.

And, I’m loving that it is so much cooler. Still 30 degrees, but that feels like bliss. We were able to sit out in the full sun and not swelter

And in the night it actually got cold. It was 27 degrees in the van when we went to bed around 10pm, but in the night I was actually reaching for a blanket. It was lovely! But… the temperates are creeping up again on the weekend and 38 is forecast again for Monday. So we ain’t sticking around!

Being back in France feels a bit like being home. It’s familiar and just feels easier. The roads aren’t so mountain-ness and squiggly and it seems easier to find the roads we like.

We’re still taking the back roads but heading north to Cherbourg before the next heat wave hits on the weekend.

But it’s been absolutely beautiful with the weather today. A high of 30 and it felt so refreshing for a change. All that cloying heat has moved off to Poland and Russia for the moment.

It’s funny though as our habit has been to drive until late (9pm) to avoid the heat but we realised we didn’t have to do that today. So at 5pm, I found a place for us to stop in a small village. It’s quite nice as we’re overlooking a little farm with goats and donkeys.

We took at walk into the neat little village which has buildings from 12th-14^th century. And the first night markets of the year were on, so that was an added bonus!

There were loads of wonky old chocolate ripple buildings and the square was already buzzing with people. We took a walk around the food offerings. There was snails, rotisserie chicken, salads, chips, meat being fried fresh, crepes and fresh strawberries. The snails smelled delicious, oozing in all their garlicky goodness, but the thought of it put me off.

We decided on Chicken and chips, and a couple of zero beers and sat and enjoyed the ambience.

There were a lot of English people here, the most I have seen since we left England! I reckon the ratio must have been about 50:50 French to English speaking.

All in all a great day and a great find.

We stayed another day at the hotel as we didn’t feel like moving. It was raining too. You might think that would cool it down, but it just made it more humid! We haven’t had rain since… well the last time we were in France. We didn’t actually have any rain the entire time we were in Spain and Portugal!

We didn’t do much. I tried to get some editing done. We took a short walk around the town. We went out for dinner. At the same restaurant we are at in 2018! We are creatures of habit. I didn’t choose the duck gizzard salad this time. Instead I had confit de canard and Mike had a massive steak. It must have been 500g of steak! And he ate it all!

We followed up with a crème brulee. Well, we are in France.

Today we started our drive over the Pyrenees and it was a beautiful drive. We stopped about halfway up at a swimming hole. The water was coming straight out of the mountains and had been dammed to create a swimming area.

Of course it was hot so I had to go in. The water was absolutely freezing but gloriously refreshing. We spent a bit of time here and had our lunch and it was nice to sit for a while.

Then we continued on up the Pyrenees. The road eventually turned into a very narrow and winding road (nothing new there) but thankfully not a lot of traffic coming down.

At the top was amazing 360 degree views over the Pyrenees. There were so many wild horses up there, just hanging around posing for photos. They were really cute and dark brown with blonde mains. And there were even a few young ones. I asked Mike why there were so many, and he said they are probably farming them to eat. 

We spent about an hour at the top as it was a lot cooler at 1500m. Then we had to head down and this was very steep and windy. But by this point we are used to it.

We knew we probably wouldn’t be stopping until 8 or 9pm due to the heat, so we took our time. We found a nice spot by a lake at around 8pm which would have been perfect. Then I saw the GR65 signs and realised we had walked through here on the French camino. I don’t know how we keep stumbling on these places!

There were a few goats hanging around which made me a little nervous. It was an entire family. There was grandpa goat, mum and dad goat and 2 baby goats. They were really cute. But when they started nibbling at our van we decided to leave.

I saw there was a camping car place in Aire sur L’Adore. I remember this place well from the camino. We met our sisters there and said goodbye to Susan. And we ate duck gizzards for dinner.

It was about 9pm by the time we arrived and a very sticky hot. We found the camping car place, which was free, but it didn’t have a very nice vibe. There seemed to be a few squatters there. It would have been fine, but too hot to sit around. So we headed for the same hotel we stayed at on Camino, just across the river.

There was good parking outside and it was reasonably priced, and it seemed we were lucky to get in. They only had 2 rooms left, and she was about to lock up.

After checking in we wandered down to the river to watch the sunset. But we were a little late. The photos still looked good though. The temperature sign said it was still 35 degrees! At 9pm!

Then we watched the thunderstorms roll in from the window of our hotel. I’m not sure if it rained overnight or not, but it was lighting up the sky. The weather over the next few days is supposed to cool down to the low 30’s and high 20s, so hopefully that will make it bearable

We didn’t leave our hotel until the 12 o’clock checkout time. We thought we’d enjoy the A/C for as long as possible!

The thought of navigating the city to look at the hanging houses didn’t appeal either, so we just got outta there!

It was a beautiful drive today through a massive gorge with towering rocks either side. 

It went on forever.We spent a lot of the day at altitude too, so it wasn’t quite as hot. Still 32 degrees, but that is bearable now.

But then we came off the mountain and it was back to 38 degrees. So we kept on driving.

There were quite a few really straight roads that looked like Roman roads. And so many pristine castles along the way. And houses built into the hills. It was really neat drive.

We looked at a couple of places to stop, but at that heat it was too hot. At 7.30pm, we found a hotel which looked quite nice overlooking an old town, but it was locked and nobody was on reception. It looked like one of those places you had to book online and get a code. It seemed like too much effort. So we carried on driving.

We are heading towards the Pyrenees, and I really didn’t want to start driving over a montain pass at this time of day. But Mike ensured me he was fine.

At 8.30pm we made it to another town, but it was still stifling hot. And the only hotel looked a bit dodgy. So we kept driving.

Then, at 9pm, I saw another place in a town. There were two other campervans parked there and it looked fine. Still hot, but the sun had gone behind the buildings so we were in shade. And there was a lovely view from our open doors at the rear.

You’re not supposed to take your chairs out at places like this, but everyone else was. And it was way too hot to sit inside. So we sat out the back of the van stealth like and admired the view of the mountains.

A few more campervans came in while we were sat there. We had a couple of false starts at going to bed. At 10.30pm Mike tried first. He lasted 10 minutes before he fell out of the van again, panting.

I tried at 11pm. Nope, not happening! Now I know why Spanish people don’t go to bed before midnight.

I’ve been carrying strawberry ice blocks in our freezer, so we had ate of those and that seemed to cool us down a bit. And I wet my buff and used it to cool me off. By midnight it was still 32 degrees inside the van, but we couldn’t stay awake any longer.

By 3am, a cool breeze came in through our roof vent and it was bliss!

We finally left the nudist colony after 3 relaxing days. The heatwave was due to break and it seemed like a good time to make a run for it towards France.

We drove most of the day and it was quite nice. We stopped at a town of Cuenca and headed straight for a hotel.

There was one on the outskirts of town with safe parking for Bertie. It was nice to have the relief of aircon again.

This town is famous for hanging houses, apparently hanging off a cliff. Maybe we’ll take a look tomorrow.

We are not resort people. We overlook the pool from our balcony and it’s funny watching what goes on. Everyone is heading to breakfast but on their way, they put their towels out on the pool recliners to save them. We even saw run guy running to get his spot for the day.

As a result, when we go down to the pool, there are hundreds of chairs with towels on them, but nobody using them. And trying to find a recliner is near impossible. I think the whole situation is weird, who wants to sit by the pool all day? And if you’re not using it, take your towel with you! Geez!

Today I woke up feeling lousy, with a sore throat and absolutely exhausted, probably from my late night. Plus we haven’t been eating properly. So I spent the day taking it easy, trying to get some editing done but not getting very far.

That evening we decided to eat out. There is a buffet at the hotel and for 24 euros it seemed like good value as it also included drinks. Thankfully this is another hotel rule. You must be dressed for all eating areas. Thankfully, as I can’t imagine how naked at a buffet could pass hygiene standards!

I was so hungry I ate two giant plates of food, followed by desert. I think I really need to start eating properly again.

The day started with booking another night at the hotel. Thankfully our room was available again. She said this hotel is always full!

There are a few rules to staying at this hotel. Everyone has to wear clothes between 8pm and 8am, and you can’t wear any clothing into the pool. But you can wander the streets and the beach with nothing on. Weird huh?

At 9pm we took a nice stroll along the beach, the mediterranean pounding on the shore. It was too rough to swim, but we paddled our feet and the water was really warm. 

But by 10am, it was hot! So we found a shaded spot by the pool then spent another hour sitting.

I’m not sure how we do it, but we always seem to arrive somewhere during a traditional festival. Earlier in the day, I saw them setting up a huge bonfire with what looked like a pile of old rubbish ready to burn. It turned out it was for San Juan, a midsummer festival celebrated on the night of June 23. Traditionally, people gather around bonfires, enjoy fireworks and parties, and burn old belongings as a symbol of leaving the past behind.

The hotel hosted a beach party that started at 10pm with a live band and dancing. Then, at midnight, they set off a fireworks display before lighting the bonfire on the beach. It was really cool to see bonfires stretching all the way along the shoreline.

As a result, we didn’t get to bed before 1.30am.

Today was brutal. We’d had a pretty lousy sleep sweltering in the van, so we headed off at 9am to try and avoid the heat. But obviously it was already hot. There were some Dolmens, which are neolithich underground burial chambers we wanted to go to. 

The first challenge was getting there. It was only 5.5 kms, but Google told me there was a quicker route only 3km away. I should have known better but I think the lack of sleep was affecting my judgement. Next minute we are navigating horrendously narrow streets inside the old town and it was terrifying.

We managed to get out and followed the main roads. Somehow it took us 30 minutes to drive 5.5 kms. And do you know what the worst part is? We got there and it was closed! Monday’s are a closed day for museums. Doh.

So then I asked AI where we could go to avoid the heat. He said the mountains. So, off we went, driving some more narrow and terrifying roads, but this time with lots of idiots on them. It was a beautiful drive though.

I navigated to a campsite with sounded really cool. They bring you tapas when you order a drink, and they also have a pool. But when we got out of the car, the shock was unbearable.

It was 45 degrees, by far the hottest of anywhere we had been. The wind felt like it was a burning fire! There was no relief even in the shade. It turned out, even though we are up in the mountains, it was in a valley and the hot air was trapped there getting hotter and hotter. It was awful and I couldn’t wait to get out.

So I asked AI again, and he said, go higher! I didn’t want to spend an hour in this heat driving higher and higher and be faced with the same problem. I told him this. So he suggested the coast.

I set the navigation and off we went, up another steep narrow road, this time no safety barrier. I was absolutely terrified. But, we made it to the top, and remarkably it was a bit cooler. Still 37 degrees, but it felt much better. And there was a stunning view over the mountains, which had frikking snow on them! The wind was even blowing from that direction, but it made no difference. The other side was a view of the mediterranean sea.

Anyway, we had a decision to make. I’ve become a bit nervous about narrow winding roads, and the road google was sending us on, was a narrow winding road down to the coast. So I asked google AI as he has been quite helpful. He said ‘Don’t take that road. It’s narrow and steep with no barriers and you will burn your brakes out. Go straight on.’

But straight on was quite a lot longer. And really, would it be any better? So I asked chatGPT. He said “Go for it, you’ll be fine.” I think he knows me better.

Anyway, we went for it. Google AI was half right. It was steep and narrow and scary in places, but there were some barriers that made it feel safer. And Mike knows how to drive steep mountain passes so brakes weren’t an issue. Heck, we drove down the Mesa Verde with no brakes when they failed in America

Anyway, we made it down no problem. But it was still stinking hot at the coast! It was 6pm, so we looked at the campground there, but it was full of permanent vans, and nobody on reception. We parked up and looked at out options. There wasn’t a lot.

Mike has been on about a place on the coast further north that he wanted to go. But we’d have to stay in a hotel there because of the heat. And it was 4 hours away. But it seemed like the best option at this stage as the coast is very busy and there are not any camping grounds.

I plugged Mike’s place into my google and removed avoid motorways. Only 2 hours! So we decided to go for it. We gave up our avoid motorway plan to hopefully find a nice air-conditioned hotel by the beach.

Oh, did I mention why Mike wanted to go there? You’re probably thinking it’s just another nudist beach. But it’s bigger than that. It’s actually a naturist town, where you are allowed to wander around with no clothes on. I know! Not for me, but I’m happy for Mike to be happy.

So, off we went, hurtling along the motorway and I must admit, apart from all the tunnels, it was quite relaxing, not having to navigate or to hang on for deal life going around corners. And two hours later we arrived.

I’d chosen a hotel to stay at as I wanted to make sure there was parking for Bertie. And as it was now 9pm, we needed somewhere with 24 hour reception.

Thankfully there was parking. We went into reception and tried to book a room, but it was full. Eek. She did some stuff on the computer and thankfully there had been a cancellation. But it was a studio rather than a double. But she gave it to us for the same price as a double, so that was nice.

It’s actually a naturist resort, with bars, entertainment and a pool. But there are rules, but I’ll mention more on that in tomorrows blog.

Our room is expensive, but still quite nice, with a balcony overlooking the pool, a big room, and a kitchen. I figure most of our accommodation has been free on this trip, so paying for a couple of nights won’t hurt.

Europe is experiencing a massive heat wave at the moment, but it is supposed to ease off a bit on Thursday. So we’re hoping to stay a few days. But we have to check in each morning to see if there has been a cancellation.

Mike can have his naked time, and I can spend time editing my videos in a comfort of A/C.

Today was brutal. We’d had a pretty lousy sleep sweltering in the van, so we headed off at 9am to try and avoid the heat. But obviously it was already hot. There were some Dolmens, which are neolithich underground burial chambers we wanted to go to. 

The first challenge was getting there. It was only 5.5 kms, but Google told me there was a quicker route only 3km away. I should have known better but I think the lack of sleep was affecting my judgement. Next minute we are navigating horrendously narrow streets inside the old town and it was terrifying.

We managed to get out and followed the main roads. Somehow it took us 30 minutes to drive 5.5 kms. And do you know what the worst part is? We got there and it was closed! Monday’s are a closed day for museums. Doh.

So then I asked AI where we could go to avoid the heat. He said the mountains. So, off we went, driving some more narrow and terrifying roads, but this time with lots of idiots on them. It was a beautiful drive though.

I navigated to a campsite with sounded really cool. They bring you tapas when you order a drink, and they also have a pool. But when we got out of the car, the shock was unbearable.

It was 45 degrees, by far the hottest of anywhere we had been. The wind felt like it was a burning fire! There was no relief even in the shade. It turned out, even though we are up in the mountains, it was in a valley and the hot air was trapped there getting hotter and hotter. It was awful and I couldn’t wait to get out.

So I asked AI again, and he said, go higher! I didn’t want to spend an hour in this heat driving higher and higher and be faced with the same problem. I told him this. So he suggested the coast.

I set the navigation and off we went, up another steep narrow road, this time no safety barrier. I was absolutely terrified. But, we made it to the top, and remarkably it was a bit cooler. Still 37 degrees, but it felt much better. And there was a stunning view over the mountains, which had frikking snow on them! The wind was even blowing from that direction, but it made no difference. The other side was a view of the mediterranean sea.

Anyway, we had a decision to make. I’ve become a bit nervous about narrow winding roads, and the road google was sending us on, was a narrow winding road down to the coast. So I asked google AI as he has been quite helpful. He said ‘Don’t take that road. It’s narrow and steep with no barriers and you will burn your brakes out. Go straight on.’

But straight on was quite a lot longer. And really, would it be any better? So I asked chatGPT. He said “Go for it, you’ll be fine.” I think he knows me better.

Anyway, we went for it. Google AI was half right. It was steep and narrow and scary in places, but there were some barriers that made it feel safer. And Mike knows how to drive steep mountain passes so brakes weren’t an issue. Heck, we drove down the Mesa Verde with no brakes when they failed in America

Anyway, we made it down no problem. But it was still stinking hot at the coast! It was 6pm, so we looked at the campground there, but it was full of permanent vans, and nobody on reception. We parked up and looked at out options. There wasn’t a lot.

Mike has been on about a place on the coast further north that he wanted to go. But we’d have to stay in a hotel there because of the heat. And it was 4 hours away. But it seemed like the best option at this stage as the coast is very busy and there are not any camping grounds.

I plugged Mike’s place into my google and removed avoid motorways. Only 2 hours! So we decided to go for it. We gave up our avoid motorway plan to hopefully find a nice air-conditioned hotel by the beach.

Oh, did I mention why Mike wanted to go there? You’re probably thinking it’s just another nudist beach. But it’s bigger than that. It’s actually a naturist town, where you are allowed to wander around with no clothes on. I know! Not for me, but I’m happy for Mike to be happy.

So, off we went, hurtling along the motorway and I must admit, apart from all the tunnels, it was quite relaxing, not having to navigate or to hang on for deal life going around corners. And two hours later we arrived.

I’d chosen a hotel to stay at as I wanted to make sure there was parking for Bertie. And as it was now 9pm, we needed somewhere with 24 hour reception.

Thankfully there was parking. We went into reception and tried to book a room, but it was full. Eek. She did some stuff on the computer and thankfully there had been a cancellation. But it was a studio rather than a double. But she gave it to us for the same price as a double, so that was nice.

It’s actually a naturist resort, with bars, entertainment and a pool. But there are rules, but I’ll mention more on that in tomorrows blog.

Our room is expensive, but still quite nice, with a balcony overlooking the pool, a big room, and a kitchen. I figure most of our accommodation has been free on this trip, so paying for a couple of nights won’t hurt.

Europe is experiencing a massive heat wave at the moment, but it is supposed to ease off a bit on Thursday. So we’re hoping to stay a few days. But we have to check in each morning to see if there has been a cancellation.

Mike can have his naked time, and I can spend time editing my videos in a comfort of A/C.

Well, today did not get off to a good start. After 4 days break we finally headed off again, starting our trip north. First stop, Lidl. But when Mike turned a corner, he pulled out in front of a car that was in his blind spot and they blasted their horn at us. But it wasn’t just any old car. It was a police car.

They pulled in front of us, put their lights on then stopped. Shit. This ain’t gonna be good.

Then all four policemen got out looking pissed off. The looked really intimidating with their flak jackets and guns. One was shaking his head in disbelief and started heading my way. Why’s he coming towards me, what did I do?

Then I realised I was in the drivers seat if I was in a European van. So I pointed to Mike. I didn’t want to deal with this.

Thankfully he spoke English but he was very mad. He said we almost caused an accident, it was very close. Mike apologised saying he was in his blind spot. Normally he gets me to check. But I didn’t see them either, it’s like they came out of nowhere. I think they were going too fast.

Anyway, he asked where we were from. When Mike said New Zealand, his face visibly relaxed. It was really weird. His whole demeanor softened, and he just said, “Be careful. That was close.” And they all piled back into their car and drove away. Phew.

But, that was a terrifying start to the day.

The rest of the day was awesome though and we saw some cool wildlife. Our first stop was a lake where we could view pink flamingoes. There were hundreds of them on the lake and they were very cool to see. And we were the only ones there! But it was ridiculously hot still at 5pm, so we only took a short walk as there was no shade.

But then we found an observatory on the other side of the lake, so we headed there and sat in the shade admiring the birds. Still nobody around! I loved watching these guys, standing on one put, dipping their heads into the water. They didn’t look that pink though!

Then we headed an hour away to some cool rock formations called El torcal near the town of Antequera. Up and up and up we went up a squiggly steep road to the top. Again there were very few people around. Probably because it’s 7pm and still frikking hot, but slightly cooler at 1400 metres. 

We took a walk through the rocks and Mike kept point out animals. I’ve since read that these are called Spanish Ibex, a native wild mountain goat. We saw quite a few and I felt a little intimidated by them, especially the males with their long curved horns. But they were very cool to see.

It was 8.30pm by the time we’d finished our walk so we headed back towards the town on Antequera where I’d seen some campervans parking overlooking a cool castle. 

It was still stinking hot when we arrived so we found a bit of shade. There was a vicious hot wind, and it was blowing dust into the van and a fine layer settled on everything. It was really gross. And the wind kept blowing our top hatch shut, so we couldn’t even get a decent breeze into the van. We had a sweltering night where the temperature didn’t drop below 31 degrees. I gotta say, I am getting sick of this heat!

A quiet day today as it was much hotter. I spent the morning finishing my video, then the afternoon at the bar uploading it. While we were there we ordered a pizza and it was huge. So we had half of it, and took the other half back to the van for dinner.

I love how liberal Spain is. Women are wandering along the beach topless like it’s the most natural thing in the world. All shapes and sizes, old and young, it just seems to be a thing here. Meanwhile, just across the water is Morocco, a muslim country, where this would not be allowed. Must be a shock for them coming into Spain.

We’ve really enjoyed relaxing here. It’s still been very hot, but not unbearable because of the sea breeze. But we are planning to move on tomorrow and start heading north. Well, there’s not much choice as south is Africa. And it’s too bloody hot to go there!

That evening we went down to the beach bar again. I forgot to mention, where we are camping is probably the equivalent to half way up Paku, so it’s a bit of a slog up and down in the heat. But that didn’t stop us going back down to the beach bar for drinks. We ordered a couple of local beers and they were really yummy, and it was perfect, sitting looking out over the ocean. It felt like we were on a boat as the tide was right in, up against the bar. Just without the rocking.

Then about 9pm we headed back to the van to eat our leftover pizza and to have a cold shower. Tomorrow we leave.

Today our aim was to walk into Tarifa to reach the southernmost point of mainland Europe.

We could get there along the beach but we had to time it right due to the tides.

I thought the tide time was about 1pm but I decided to check with AI. He told be 3.30pm. I asked him to double check and he said 11.30am. I asked him to triple check and he told me 1.30pm. Seriously, don’t trust AI for your information. 

So instead I went to the official tide place and it said 1.10pm and the high-tide is 8 hours later. It’s a 16 km round trip, so we figured if we left by 10.30am we’d be fine.

We set off and the part of the beach from our camp was covered in seaweed, but after that it turned into nice firm sand. Walking along beaches is not my favourite thing to do, but it was quite nice. A breeze kept us cool and there was a bit of cloud cover. We’d picked the perfect day to do this.

A few kite surfers were setting up as we wandered along. It took us almost two hours to reach the end. There is a causeway that separates the Mediterranean sea from the Atlantic which we walked along. It was viciously windy so we had to take our hats off.

We took a few obligatory photos then headed back. The kite surfers we saw earlier were all out in force now and we had to navigate around them. They had their kites laid out, and their ropes were all over the place. We both thought it seemed a bit dangerous to step over their ropes, so we had to zigzag around them.

4 hours later we made it back and we were exhausted. That’s a longest walk we’ve done since Karen’s one.

I stopped at the campground toilet to go to the loo when I met my first kiwi. They also keep their van in England over the winter with family. She was from Whakatane, so we’re practically neighbours. So that was exciting to meet someone from home.

We’re officially halfway through out Schengen allowance in Europe, that means we have 45 days to get back to the UK. But with this heat and the summer holidays coming, we may even go back earlier.

I didn’t do a blog for yesterday as we didn’t do much. I spent the day working on scheduling facebook posts and my next vlog. Mike did some laundry and a few other chores. And somehow the day just disappeared! We’ve decided to stay at this campground for 4 nights, as it’s so nice and relaxing.

We were ready for an early start this morning and just as well we were. By the time we were ready to leave the sun was streaming in and the carpark was filling with cars. So we were away by 9am, a record for us.

It was a driving day today. We were on a mission. To get to the south coast of Spain where it might hopefully be cooler. Thankfully the roads were straighter and I was glad for taking a wide berth of Seville.

Around 2pm we arrived a campground just outside of Tarifa. We picked our campsite, a gorgeous spot overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa across the water. It’s still hot though! But there was a nice breeze and we were in shade and I felt so happy to finally be here. After the stress of the last few days I feel like we might well stay for a week.

That evening when it cooled down enough we went for a walk along the beach. It’s not every day you can walk along a beach at sunset and look over at Morocco. It was pretty special.

It’s an hour on the ferry to Tangier, and I’d be quite keen to do it. But Mike keeps looking at the high rises over there and thinks we’ll probably hate it. He’s probably right.

It’s about a 6 km walk into Tarifa, and we can probably walk most of it along the beach at low tide. We don’t actually need to go to the town, but I would like to reach the southernmost tip, just to tie it in with last years northernmost point.

Today I was awake at 6am to see the stunning sunrise from our camp. It was nice and cool this morning and we spent the morning chilling out at at camp and didn’t get away until after lunch.

Today, we drove back into Spain, over a long bridge. I am no longer just film maker and route planner. I am route strategist. I am trying to find the best route to get to the south of Spain by avoiding the heat.

My plan today was to stop somewhere in the mountains where it would be cooler. That didn’t work out too well. I did find a nice spot overlooking a lake, and we stopped for the afternoon and had a nap. But we decided we didn’t want to stay there as it was next to a main road.

So we continued on, looking at every parking place for a camping car. But none of them seemed very nice. Next thing, we are off the mountains, and the heat was brutal and we still hadn’t found somewhere.

We drove to a town called Lora de Rio, as there was a place there. But as we drove in, there were towering apartment blocks and it just looked like a scummy town. So we got the hell out. By this time it was 9pm and we only had 45 minutes before the sunset.

Even though I took a wide berth of Seville. I think we are still on the outskirts which is why we are having trouble finding somewhere, and everything is so busy.

So, even though we are heading south, we’d found a place about 30 minutes east, so we headed there, arriving just as the sun set. It’s nothing great, just a big carpark in a town. But there was another campervan here which made us feel better.

But so much for avoiding the heat. Even at 9pm it was still 35 degrees. So we headed out for dinner. Thankfully there were a few bars near us, but only one place was open for food on a Tuesday night. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen Spanish people eating, but was 10pm by this stage, so that’s probably why.

We looked at the menu, and didn’t really know what to order. I wasn’t very hungry, so we just ordered some patatas bravas and a pork skewer. Both were pretty bad. The zero beer was nice though. 

It was 11pm by the time we’d finished and still way too hot to sleep. So we didn’t end up in bed until after midnight. Hopefully it will be cooler by the coast.

The day started with a castle sunrise, and ended with a castle sunset. But the bit in between turned to shit very quickly.

It started well. We were both feeling great after our rest day. I was navigating beautiful back roads through cork oak trees. We even saw some guys harvesting the cork. But we needed supplies.

There was a shop coming up in a small town. We decided we would wait until the Lidl in a bigger town further on. Then we changed our mind. Then changed it back again. Then we turned right when we should have turned left.

Big mistake, as we suddenly found ourselves on a main road. But what happened next was way worse!

Mike went to do a U-turn when there was this almighty explosion and I was covered in glass.

WTF!

I sat there trying to process what had just happened.

Then I saw it.

My side window had shattered, with bits of glass still clinging in place.

“FUCK,” I said.

I opened the door and some of it tinkled onto the ground and it was all over my seat. It was a mess!

I closed the door and some more glass crashed down . I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much broken glass!

The first thought that entered my mind was, this could seriously ruin our day. How on earth were we going to get that fixed?

Some guys had been strimming on the side of the road and a rock had flown up and smashed my window.

Mike got out of the car and started swearing at the guys in English. They swore back in Portuguese. How could they think this was our fault? Meanwhile, I was a shivering, shaking mess. Trucks and cars continued to barrel past, not even slowing down.

The guys didn’t speak a word of English, and we didn’t speak a word of Portuguese, except for “Olá”. Anyway, we asked them to call the police. Polícia – that’s a new word I now know.

The police turned up and we communicated using our phones. He told us we should not have turned there because of a solid white line. But we were turning into a driveway, so it seemed legit to me. And the guys really should have stopped strimming when they saw us.

The local policeman was very nice and rang a glass place about 20 minutes away. They couldn’t get a spare window, but they could put a film on it. So we brushed all the glass away as best we could and drove there.

It was a fast road, and not very nice with my window wide open and the breeze rushing in. We arrived at the glass fitting place, but he couldn’t fit the film until 2 pm. It was 12.45.

So we went to the nearby Mercedes dealer in the hope they might be able to find us a window. Thankfully, a man there spoke good English. He said they didn’t have a window in stock. I asked if he could see if any other dealers had one. If needed, we could get one ordered near a place we were travelling through.

He grabbed our documents with the VIN number and looked at his computer.

“Oh,” he said. “We might have one here.”

He disappeared upstairs while we twiddled our crossed fingers. He came back and said, “Good news!” Those were the words we wanted to hear.

It turned out someone had ordered the window and never picked it up. Yay for us! He said they couldn’t do it until 3 pm, but there was a good local restaurant we could try for lunch.

So we went to the restaurant. It was very, very busy – the Portuguese like eating out for lunch. There was a choice of buffet or off the menu. The idea of navigating a menu was beyond my cognitive ability at that time, so we chose the buffet, having no idea what it would cost.

There were lots of meats in gravy, potatoes, crisps and some green stuff. I tried a bit of everything and wasn’t too sure about the green stuff. Everything else was really tasty.

And the cost? 36 euros for both of us, including a Coke. I thought that was pretty good.

The window was a different story, though. But we didn’t care, we just wanted it fixed. We sat in the lovely air conditioning at the Mercedes dealer while we waited. A man came and made us a short black. It was pretty nice.

Then the man we spoke to earlier came out and asked what was wrong with the van. Seriously, we’d shown him an hour earlier. He’d gotten the glass for us. A panic rippled through me, wondering if they’d fixed the wrong thing.

But no, something had just gotten lost in translation. The staff thought they were fixing the mirror. But it was just a misunderstanding, and they had the glass for the window and went about fixing it.

We didn’t get Bertie back until 4.30 pm, with the grand total of 300 euros. Nothing is ever cheap at Mercedes, but we were just pleased they were able to fix it. We realised how fortunate we were.

Then we had to do the shopping at long last. This involved going to two supermarkets as Lidl didn’t have what we wanted. What sort of supermarket doesn’t sell AAA batteries?

Anyway, we were finally back on the road by 6 pm. I was absolutely exhausted, shattered like my side window, and a little traumatised by the day. But Mike seemed fine and was happy to drive.

It was 8 pm by the time we got to another old whitewashed town with a castle. The car park for camping cars also had a beautiful view over the lakes below. And as per our new thing, we hiked up to the top to watch the sunset.

This was another amazing town, quite different from the others. It reminded me of those villages in Greece, with the white walls, flowers on the sides and cats on every corner.

Except we only saw one cat, and it decided to take a shit right where we were enjoying the sunset. Then a couple of guys came along and gave us a dirty look, as if we’d made the smell.

Anyway, we moved away from the putrid stench and found a better spot for the sunset. We had a look around the ruins of the castle too. It was absolutely gorgeous and I felt like the day had redeemed itself.

At 9.30 pm we were back at Bertie and it was still stinking hot. So we sat outside and had a beer, watching the last of the remaining light disappear.

Today was a rest day. It was only forecast to be 29 degrees, which seemed like a good excuse to stay put. Not that we needed much convincing. Our camp overlooking Marvão has amazing views, plenty of shade, and we love it here.

We are both feeling a bit flat today and I thought it was just the heat. But we’re coming up to that six-week mark, which I’ve always said is the sweet spot for travel. Up until now everything has been new and exciting, but after six weeks it starts to become normal. You settle into a routine and some of the novelty wears off. Add in the heat and it can be hard to find the motivation to do much. 

Most of the day was spent trying to work out a route south through Spain using the back roads. It sounds simple enough, but it’s proving harder than expected. We have about a week before the temperatures start creeping back towards 40 degrees, so we’d quite like to make some progress before then.

We do actually have a goal, believe it or not, and that’s to reach the southernmost tip of mainland Europe. We made it to the northernmost tip last year, so it feels only right to complete the set.

This evening we walked back up through the narrow streets of Marvão to the castle and watched the sun set once again. The haze from the Sahara dust has made for incredibly orange sunsets, and the whitewashed houses glowed in the evening light. And tonight, the streets were deserted.

We wandered around the castle for a bit, had a poo in their toilets and then found a spot to watch the sun go down. 

And it didn’t disappoint. 

One minute you’re staring at maps wondering where to go next, and the next you’re watching the sun set from a castle overlooking the Portuguese countryside. It was the best way to shake off that flat feeling. Or maybe it was just having a poo.

There were no mad roads today, just normal twisty roads with a white line down the middle for most of it. After the last few weeks it felt very civilised.

The area has now opened up into more farmland. Mike noticed a lot of high wire fences topped with barbed wire. When I googled it, it was apparently to keep wild boar out.

The other thing I’ve noticed a lot in Portugal is houses covered in porcelain tiles. They look really decorative, and when I googled it, apparently the shiny surface helps reflect the heat and also helps insulate the houses. And they look pretty.

I’m getting sick of the frikking heat though. 38 degrees again today. And it feels really oppressive even when it’s only 33 degrees for some reason. Usually 33 is a tolerable temperature, so I googled that too.

Apparently this heat wave is caused by an African heat dome. And the fact that there isn’t even the slightest breeze makes it feel suffocating. That and all that Sahara dust, I guess. Thanks Africa!

So we drove for most of the day in the heat. We did stop at a town which looked neat, up in the hills. There were 450-million-year-old fossils embedded in the rocks. So we took a walk to see if we could find them.

But of course it was the heat of the day. We trudged through the narrow cobblestoned streets, all uphill of course. I can see why all the buildings are made of stones here, as we’ve been driving through fields of rocks for weeks.

At the top, it was then a steep downhill walk to a swimming hole in the rocks and to view the fossils. But we didn’t bring water with us. What were we thinking? So with no water and the heat, we decided we weren’t that keen. Maybe we’ll look at a photo of it instead.

We were ready for lunch, but with Bertie sitting in full sun, we moved on to find a better spot. We re-fuelled the van (expensive in Portugal) and continued on our way with the A/C blasting on full.

I took a little detour down to a river spot, hoping to find some shade so we could eat our lunch. It’s a river that separates Spain and Portugal. Apparently you can sleep on the Spain side, but not the Portugal side.

We found a little spot in the shade to stop and eat overlooking the river. There was a little beach on the river and I found it odd that at 1pm on a Saturday it wasn’t heaving with kids. In NZ it definitely would have been. Maybe they are all chilling out inside in their air conditioning, which is probably the sensible thing to do. Apparently that’s the Portuguese way. Hibernate between 11am and 5pm.

After lunch, we decided to drive to Spain. It was just across a little ford-type bridge, with no sides. But there was no shade in Spain, so we left. A couple of people were there by then, having a swim, and that made it seem more normal.

We drove for the rest of the day, enjoying the cool of Berties A/C. At one point we got onto a narrow road and the police passed us. Then shortly after, Mike noticed them tailgating us. Uh-oh. So when we got to the main road, Mike pulled off to let them past. Thankfully they did.

I was navigating to a town called Marvão. That lady we met from the Lakes District a week back recommended it. I just hoped that it might have cooled down by the time we arrived.

It was 6.30pm by the time I saw it: a village and castle perched on top of the hill. “That’s where we’re going!” I said to Mike. I just hoped there would be space left at the camping car place.

When we arrived I was ridiculously pleased. Not only was there space, there was shade. I could have jumped out and hugged the trees, but the giant ants around here are terrifying. It was still 33 degrees, but manageable out of the sun.

We had dinner. Mike had wraps and I had hummus and crackers and a salad. I can’t remember the last time we cooked! Or ate meat!

Then we waited until 8pm to take a walk up to the castle. It was still 32 degrees at 8pm, and the steep climb up to the town was brutal. But by the time we reached the castle the sky had turned bright orange. It looked like we were in for another beautiful sunset.

And even better, the castle was still open to look around. It’s just ruins, but it was still pretty cool, and an amazing spot to watch the sunset. Unlike the other night when we were all alone, there were a handful of people there to enjoy it with us.

I think I might start a series called Castles at Sunset! We didn’t get back to our van until about 10pm, and it was now cool enough to go inside and have a game of Monopoly Deal before bed.

We’d parked strategically the previous night so we’d be in the shade in the morning. There was no internet coverage where we were in the little village, so we got the starlink out to research our route for the day, and also upload my blog.

Today was mostly a driving day. We took on another suspicious mountain pass. This road was steep and pot-holed, but there was a centre line. I wasn’t sure about it, but up we went anyway. 

Then we came across a village, built steep in the hills. This is always another source of anxiety, having to navigate their narrow cobblestoned streets. We haven’t seen any other campervans or motorhomes for days! They certainly don’t seem to take the same roads as us.

The village wasn’t too bad, but we still drove through it with a few expletives. It’s when you are on a narrow cobbled street and it is steep and going around a corner I get worried. And the way the locals stare at us!

Anyway, strangely enough on this mountain climb there were 3 villages we passed. The third was perched on the edge of the main road. And by main road, I mean enough room for two cars to pass without slowing or pulling over. It was still windy AF, just faster!

I also don’t like to stress Bertie out by running the A/C on the steep uphills, so we were also sweltering. But Google had told us it would be cooler at the top. He lied.

I’d researched that the town at the top was only at 29 degrees, rather than the 36 we were having below, but when we arrived it was still hot at 33 degrees. And that doesn’t sound like a lot, but for some reason it felt oppressive. I think it was the humidity.

So we hopped back in Bertie and headed downhill with the relief of the A/C blasting. We went through a town called Paul, which was exciting for a moment.

With this heat it was either find somewhere and suck it up for the afternoon, or drive until 9pm when the sun goes down. Then I thought, what if I find somewhere with a pool? I started searching for campsites and found one in the town of Fundao with a pool.

But when we arrived, the man on reception was very grumpy and I did not get a good vibe from him. We had a look at the campground and it all had a weird vibe. There seemed to be a lot of permanent people here. 

But it was 5pm and we were both tired, and the entire campground was in shade. And then I looked down and saw the sparkling blue pool below. It was either that or drive until late. So we decided to stay. And it was only 12 euros!

It was a tiered campground and most people were squeezed in up the top, but we chose a spot on the lower tier and we were all alone and it was quite pleasant. Apart from the tent people one tier above us. I wondered if they were living in the tent, an older couple, sitting there, no car.

She came over and was trying to communicate with us, but neither of us know a word of portuguese, except for Ola and Obrigado (thank you). It was weird.

Anyway, the first thing we did was put our togs and headed for the pool.

As I stepped in, it was freezing and I was convinced I heard a ssssss sound as I submerged. You know that sound when you pour cold water on a hot grill? Yeah, pretty sure I heard that.

We spent probably a good hour in and lazing beside the pool, enjoying being cool for a change. 

Then we went back to our camp and sat outside, enjoying being a bit cooler. Then the lady came back and wanted me to sniff her water bottle. I dunno what the heck that was about. Mike declined a sniff and she went away. Like I said, this place is weird.

Then we went for a walk around the camp to see who else was here. I quite like to see what nationalities are about. But they were all mostly Portuguese. We did meet one Englishman, but I think he is living here. 

Then a couple tried to leave in their car. We assumed the barrier would open automatically, but it didn’t. He looked a bit stressed, I tried to find a button to press, but there was none.

The grumpy man who checked us in pressed a remote control to let them out. Great. We’re locked in here! I put the thought out of my mind and we headed back to our camp.

For dinner, Mike had a salad and meat wrap, and I had some left over baguette and some cheese. It’s too hot to cook. Heck, it’s too hot to eat! Then we finished with Mango and yoghurt for desert. Yum Yum.

The other day I was bragging in my blog about stumbling upon a hidden medieval village that nobody knew about. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog that, as we were sitting there in the morning having a cup of coffee, Mike spotted five coaches driving up.

As we drove away, we saw they were from Emerald Cruises, the same cruise Lynda is doing with Chrissy! So people do know about it; we were just lucky enough to be there when nobody else was around.

Anyway, back to today.

There is a cycle trail near here that I want to do. It’s the one thing I actually researched before we arrived. But with temperatures forecast to hit 38 degrees, we figured we’d tackle it first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, this morning we weren’t organised enough. Instead, we went to the library to upload a video, then headed to the midpoint of the trail. The plan was to ride one direction and backtrack, then ride the other direction the next day.

But when we arrived in Tondela, the midpoint, it was too fricking hot to even think about a short ride. So we sat in the shade for a while until the shade disappeared.

We didn’t really like the town we were in, so I navigated to a smaller village where we could also pick up the cycle trail.

The start of the trail was down a very steep hill, and I’m starting to get a bit nervous every time we head down one of these narrow, steep roads. What if there’s nowhere to turn around?

Thankfully, at the bottom there was a little grassy car park right beside the trail.

Then we made a decision we probably should never have made.

We were here, the cycle trail was there, so why not go for a bike ride in the middle of the day?

And it really was the hottest part of the day. The van was showing 40 degrees!

But off we went anyway.

Thankfully, the breeze you get on a bike certainly helps, and there were plenty of shaded sections. It was such a nice trail, extremely smooth, with beautiful views over the Dão River. We were cruising downhill at 18 km/h without even trying. I’d forgotten I much I love riding a bike.

But it was hot, and it would be uphill on the way back. So we turned around at the 6 km mark, not wanting to overdo it, and slogged our way back up.

By the time we got back to the van, we were properly heat-stressed. We dumped the bikes on the ground, climbed inside, and blasted the air conditioning until we’d cooled down enough to put the bikes back on the van.

Then we headed 2 km back to the village where we thought we could spend the night. It was a beautiful little spot with just a few houses, a church, and a river running through it.

There was a little bit of shade in the carpark, and a tap which I dunked my head under like a duck. 

It wasn’t an official place to stay overnight, but we thought we could probably get away with it, so we lay down for a while.

But then the sun shifted and the van was no longer in the shade. I couldn’t bear the heat any longer. Despite drinking plenty of water throughout the day, I had a terrible headache.

There was an official motorhome parking area in the next town, about 20 minutes away, complete with toilets. So we headed there, enjoying the air conditioning along the way.

But when we arrived, it was an ugly town and the toilets were locked. By this point it was already 8:30 pm.

So we headed back to the little village we’d just left. The sun would be gone soon, and hopefully it would start to cool down.

By 10 pm, the temperature had dropped to 27 degrees inside the van, cool enough to sleep.

It’s forecast to be even hotter tomorrow, so we might not get the big bike ride in after all.

Typical.

Today was… interesting.

It started off with a morning grocery shop where we couldn’t find anything, followed by a nice drive. But as we got into the hills, I started feeling claustrophobic. It’s hard to describe, but I just wanted to get out.

We were driving through a glacial valley with mountains surrounding us, and it was that closed-in feeling.

So we headed up. I was reluctant to go up the road as the map showed it was extremely twisty with extreme switchbacks. But Mike said, ‘Let’s go for it.’

And the road didn’t disappoint. It was ridiculously squiggly with steep drop-offs, but at least it was wider than the scary road we were on the other day. It was still a little scary.

At the top were amazing views over the town below, and I instantly felt better being up here. But then, the road I wanted to go on was a dirt track. I saw a couple of cars go up there and a hotel sign, so I thought maybe it was just for a short stretch. Mike didn’t want to go up there, but I didn’t want to backtrack.

So up we went. And it wasn’t just a dirt road. It was steep, twisty, potholed and simply terrifying. In places the surface was so rough we were bouncing along, hoping the bikes didn’t fall off.

Every time the road disappeared over a rise I wished I had’ve listened to Mike. But it was too late. We couldn’t have turned around if we wanted to.

It was so steep that if we’d stalled, we would have been stuck, as I doubt we’d have got started again. Mike was taking it in his stride though, i’m glad he’s a confident driver.

But after about 30 minutes of driving, we made it to the top, where there was indeed a hotel. And the road turned to tarmac. It looked like the road had been washed away and this was just a temporary road over the farmer’s paddock!

But the drive from here was incredible, through fields of giant rocks. I couldn’t stop taking photos of them balancing like they were about to tumble onto the road in front of us. It was freaky.

And the views out over the valley were amazing. But it was 7pm and time to find somewhere to sleep for the night. We deliberated over which way to go before finally choosing a town called Gouveia down in the valley where there was a free spot for campervans.

The drive down was also beautiful. We arrived in the town and drove through the narrow streets while everyone stared at us. This is normal. We wave, they continue to stare, but they never wave back.

We arrived at the freedom camp, and it was perfectly fine, near the centre of the town. But neither of us wanted to stay there. So we navigated to another one about 30 mins away. This one was even worse. It was just a huge unkempt car park on the outskirts of town. Both of us said no to this too.

So we found another place another 30 mins away. That would make it 8.30pm by the time we got there. We wanted to find somewhere before it got dark, and it gets dark at 9pm.

On the outskirts of town was a giant factory, which didn’t look promising. The town itself was ok, and we found the car park. There was a barrier and pay stations, and I didn’t realise we’d have to pay. But the barrier was up.

A local came over to us and told us it was free, so phew. It wasn’t the greatest spot, surrounded by apartment blocks. We were the only ones here, but it felt fine.

We decided on having an early night as we were both shattered. So at 10pm we crawled into bed and had just dropped off to sleep when a banging sound came from outside the van. 

I woke up and looked out the window. On the street above us some men were walking around with sticks. For a second I wondered if we’d chosen a terrible place to park for the night.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Then the drums started.

‘Something’s going on out here,’ I said to Mike, who was softly snoring away.

‘Mumble, mumble, snort,’ he replied.

And then the music started.

‘Come look,’ I said.

So Mike crawled out of bed, rubbed his eyes and peered out the window.

By now, some women in traditional dress were dancing in the street.

I googled what was going on to see if anything special was happening. Turns out 10th June is a special day in Portugal. It’s their national day.

So we both got dressed and went outside to watch. It was a pretty cool way to end the day. I think we finally got to sleep around midnight.

Today I woke up and decided that, as it was such a beautiful spot, we would stay put. There was no shade, but the forecast was only 26°C, so it would be a cooler day.

At 8am we took a walk up through the old town of Castelo Rodrigo. It’s a really neat place: a preserved medieval village high on the hill. As we wandered the narrow streets, I heard snoring reverberating through the stone walls and had to giggle. The town was still asleep.

We climbed a narrow but steep street to the castle, only to find it didn’t open until 9:30am. It only cost €1 to visit, so we decided to come back later.

After exploring the village, we returned to the van and spent the day marvelling at the view while working on a video.

I cooked dinner that night: pizza. A tortilla wrap in the pan, topped with cheese, ham and pickled onion, then another tortilla on top. Toast, flip, and serve. Simple and tasty.

That evening we took another walk around the village in the hope of catching a nice sunset, and it was worth every step.

But first, we had to have a little argument. As we walked up the hill, the sky was already a deep orange, and we had to shade our eyes from the blinding sun.

I saw some amazing light through an archway leading up into the castle and said I wanted to go up there. But Mike was on a mission to walk around the town walls first.

‘But we might miss the sunset,’ I said.

‘Sunset isn’t for another hour,’ he replied and kept on walking. But the entrance to the castle was calling. So we went inside. It looked like the sun was very close to setting, even though Mike insisted it wouldn’t set for at least another 30 minutes. So I Googled it.

Sunset: 2 minutes.

So we grabbed a spot up by the castle to watch it go down, accompanied by a running commentary of ‘I told you so’, ‘we could have missed this’, and so on.

As the sun dipped lower, the sky caught fire and cast a warm glow across the landscape below, and the commentary was replaced with ‘wow’, ‘beautiful’, and ‘glad we didn’t miss this’.

We turned to look at the castle, and its stone walls had turned to gold in the last of the evening light. It was perfect.

We wandered around a little longer afterwards. The village reminded me of Mont Saint-Michel, but without all the tourists. In fact, I’m surprised there are so few visitors here at all. I suppose most people head for the cities and the coast instead.

On one street there were some very little doors, way smaller than Mike. They looked like little hobbit doors and I wondered how often people bonked their heads going into their houses. I decided there and then, I wanted a house with a hobbit door. In a town like this.

There was just some residual light left from the sun, and it cast an eerie glow on the streets. Only a couple of locals were out, going about their evening. The same two old men we’d said hello to that morning, still sitting in the same spot, and another guy calling his cat.

And then I realised we’d forgotten to explore the castle. Maybe tomorrow. We scurried back to the van before we got lost in the dark among the back streets.

Portugal wowed us today.

But to start with, my navigation was off. I navigated us to a town about an hour away, but Google kept trying to send us via this major road. It looked like we had no choice, so we figured we could handle it for 25 minutes. But as soon as we got on it, we had to get off. Too busy. Too fast.

So we ended up taking the squiggly back roads instead, passing lakes, fields of fruit trees, and eventually what looked like an entire field of rocks. Then we headed down another narrow, winding road to the Douro River, an almost 1,000 km river that runs between Spain and Portugal.

We found a wonderful recreational area with toilets and plenty of shade. It was a beautiful spot, with only a couple of other people around. We took a walk in the midday sun: singlets on, no sunscreen, no water. Not exactly our smartest decision. But it was a beautiful walk alongside the Douro. If I’d done that in New Zealand, I would’ve been burnt to a crisp. Here, somehow, it’s fine.

We spent most of the afternoon by the river because it was just so damn nice.

Around 5 pm, we decided it was getting too hot, so we backtracked up the steep road and continued higher to a viewpoint overlooking the Douro far below, along with a dam and power station. We were so high up that eagles were soaring beneath us. For such a spectacular viewpoint, I was surprised to find we were the only ones there.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay the night because it was in a national park, so I found another spot about an hour away.

And this is where things got interesting.

We drove through a village with tiny, narrow streets before turning onto the scariest road I have ever been on. It was narrow, winding, ridiculously steep, and had a sheer drop right beside us.

I was freaking out.

Mike couldn’t understand why, until he saw the drop-off for himself. From where we were, you could see the road zigzagging all the way down the mountainside below us. It was probably the craziest road we’ve ever driven.

If another vehicle had come the other way, we would’ve been in trouble. There were very few places, if any, where two vehicles could pass.

At some points Mike was crawling downhill in first gear. You could see the next corner ahead, and beyond it… nothing but a cliff edge. I was gripping my seat for dear life while simultaneously sticking my 360 camera out the window.

Priorities.

Thankfully, we made it to the bottom without seeing another soul on that road.

We rolled into a place called Barco de Alva, right on the Spanish border, and suddenly there were cruise ships everywhere.

Cruise ships?!

This is the first place we’ve been where there’s been any real sign of tourists. Yet there were no people around. So I’m still not entirely sure what was going on there.

From there we continued over another mountain, which turned out to be another beautiful drive. The afternoon light was perfect, and we spent most of it saying “wow” at whatever appeared around the next bend.

Then Mike spotted what looked like castle ruins high on a hill.

As we got closer, sure enough, it was a castle!

And then Google started directing us up towards it.

Turns out… that’s where we’re staying tonight.

Can this day get any better?

Well, yes, it can.

The place we’re staying has the most spectacular views. It’s a free camping area provided by the council, with nice flat parking spots overlooking the countryside and the castle above. And not only does it have dump points, it also has free electricity.

Not a bad way to end a lazy day.

Man, it’s gotten HOT again! We left our campground and headed for a town where there is supposedly a rail trail as we wanted to go for a bike ride.

It was a pleasant drive today, through fields of fruit trees, mainly olives and avocados. The olive trees looked like they were all having a bad hair day. It was only about 1.5 hours drive but by the time we got to the town, it was HOT! 

On the outskirts of town was the best Lidl I had ever been to. It looked like it was brand new and beautifully air conditioned and even had nice toilets. We grabbed a few bits and pieces then headed to the town of Mirandela and parked up in a camping car place for the night. It’s quite a nice spot, beside a park and the river.

But we had trouble finding where the bike ride started and it looked like we’d have to ride mainly on roads. So we lay down for a nap instead. At 5pm, I couldn’t stand the heat in the van any longer so we took a walk alongside the river into the town.

There was a student festival to celebrate the end of the school year, and the town had a great vibe.

We sat down at a bar and ordered some zero beer. I couldn’t believe the price. 3 euros for two beers! So cheap! At that price we decided we could afford two each! It was really tasty too, a Portuguese one. I can see now why so many people sit around outside drinking at bars. We couldn’t afford to do that at home.

Today we booked another night in our campground and decided to explore the area.

I had made a plan to go to a traditional stone village, but first Mike wanted to explore the castle in the nearby town. We followed the signs to the castila, and the next thing we knew, we were driving up a steep cobblestoned street.

Then Google tried to send us to a parking area through a narrow tunnel that Bertie would never fit through!

So we had to turn around on this steep road, doing one hundred-point turns, followed by a terrible burning smell. I really hoped we hadn’t just wrecked our clutch!

We parked down the bottom and walked up to the castle. Bragança Castle isn’t just a castle; it has an entire medieval town inside its walls, with people still living here. The castle walls are still intact, and we were able to walk around them, and then through the little village itself. There were mostly old people living here, going about their day. For the second time on this trip, I feel like I’m imposing on people’s lives here.

Then we tried to do some shopping. The first obstacle was finding parking. This town is not campervan-friendly, with tiny car parks. The first supermarket we tried didn’t have anything we wanted. So we tried Lidl, but the queues at the checkouts were horrendous. I didn’t want to spend the nice day queueing, so we escaped. Quickly.

And then we took a drive to one of the most unusual villages in Europe because it is split between Portugal and Spain. On the Portuguese side it’s called Rio de Onor; on the Spanish side it’s known as Rihonor de Castilla. The two halves are separated only by a small stream.

We followed the narrow lanes between traditional granite houses topped with slate roofs, peeking down quiet side streets while trying not to be too nosy, as there are a few elderly residents here. It’s not a tourist destination as such, just a little town on the border, which made it feel authentic.

After that we followed the back roads to our camp. And this was almost a mistake. At one town, the streets were so narrow I thought we were going to scrape Bertie’s sides. I was simultaneously holding my breath while swearing and barking orders at Mike.

But we made it through and continued our drive through the Portuguese countryside of olive trees, cherry trees and wineries.

Back at camp, a couple had just driven in in their three-wheeler open-top car. A light blue Morgan. It was very cool; they had all their camping gear strapped on the back. There was barely enough room for the two of them to sit side by side.

We saw the UK plate, so got chatting to them. They are from the Lake District, so I had to tell them about my sisters doing the Coast to Coast. Apparently, the walk goes right by their village of Bampton.

That night we decided to eat in the camp restaurant as it had good reviews. We both ordered local dishes. Mike had the wild boar and I had the roast pork. Mike really enjoyed his, but mine was just OK. I guess I was imagining a roast from the roast shop. It was nothing like that.

It’s been another beautiful day and not too hot.

It was COLD this morning when we woke up. We’ve been enjoying the cooler mornings, but it was only 6 degrees! So I actually had to put the heater on. How can it go from so hot to so cold all of a sudden? We’ll probably regret saying that later when it hits 30 degrees.

The drive through the mountains today was beautiful, and we kept stopping to take photos. But then we came into a town and it was time to get back to reality. We needed to stock up on supplies and also spend a while on the main roads. There were still nice views from the main roads, it just felt less of a vibe with the faster speed limits.

I kept trying to find other routes to get us back onto the little roads we like. Then we turned off, and the road just got narrower and narrower. It was supposed to be the road to Portugal, and I was really hoping it wasn’t the road to nowhere.

There were no safety barriers on this road, and nowhere to pull over or turn around if we met someone coming the other way. But we ploughed on through, thankfully seeing nobody. Then, just like that, a Portugal sign appeared. Obviously we had to stop and take a photo. And the old border crossing was still there!

And as always, when crossing an artificial line, things change. In Portugal, it suddenly opened up into farmland and loads of fruit trees. I have no idea what type of fruit trees, but I think that’s what they were.

After a bit more driving, we came to the town on Vinhais that had parking for campervans. There was quite a nice outlook, but all the parking spots were on a slope. So we decided to navigate to a camping ground instead.

The camp was really busy place with loads of international vans, mainly from the UK and the Netherlands. Had we just arrived at a tourist hotspot? Anyway, they had one spot left for a van our size, and it happened to be the best one, with a gorgeous view over the mountains. And it’s only 20 euros a night, with nice modern toilets that have toilet seats, paper, and hand soap. Oh, and there’s a pool, but it’s only marginally warm enough to use. But it was oh so nice to have a hot shower. We might spend a couple of nights and explore the area.

Today was a bit of a trip down memory lane. We left our busy park-up and took the back roads. It’s amazing how there were about 20-30 campervans and motorhomes parked there, but we didn’t see one on the road today.

As usual, we took the squiggly roads while they probably took the nearby motorway. But the back roads didn’t disappoint. We saw so many storks high up in their nests, hanging out with their giant babies. I am just so obsessed with these birds. Poor Mike having to stop all the time so I could get photos.

Then we came into Sarria, where the last 100 km of the Camino starts. I don’t remember it being such an ugly city, but thankfully we only touched on the outskirts due to my expert navigation.

We saw the pilgrims walking in looking a bit worn out. And then we started recognising places. In Samos, a couple of carved wooden pilgrims that I remember taking photos with. And up and up and up we went until we arrived at the proper Fonfria this time. I stopped and took a photo of the round-shaped building where we had a pilgrim meal, and the albergue up above.

It’s amazing, having spent 2 weeks driving here, to imagine we walked all this way. At the time it didn’t seem like a big deal, just one foot in front of the other, making our way between towns. But when you’ve driven here in the comfort of a van, it kinda does seem like it was a big deal. And strangely enough, we’ve spent almost as much time driving it as we did walking!

And then further up was the bit I always remember from my Camino: the outlook at the top of a steep climb. I remember climbing that never-ending hill that just went up and up, and it was one of my favourite parts of the Camino, reaching the top where the view was incredible.

And today, we stood trying to see that same view, but it was covered in clouds. There were still glimpses of the farmland below, though. We took a short walk down and watched the pilgrims struggling to walk up, thinking how glad we are that we’re not doing that again!

Then we continued on, turning back onto the back roads. It was another beautiful drive, a narrow road hugging the cliffside and a sheer drop below. There was a guard rail, but it probably wouldn’t help much in a slip or an earthquake. Or a car coming fast the other way. But we put those thoughts aside and just enjoyed the wonderful drive.

And then, in the middle of nowhere, I saw a camping car place surrounded by the hills. It was only 3pm, but we pulled in and had a little nap. We woke up at 5pm and decided we’d stay as it was a gorgeous spot. And we were all alone there.

There was a path leading up through the trees, so we followed it to see where it went. After about ten minutes we came to a tiny little village. Just a few stone houses built into the hills.

We wandered up and down the little lanes, not really sure where we were going. I felt a bit awkward, like we were peering into people’s everyday lives. One man was pottering around in his garden, another was sitting on his deck, and there we were wandering through with a camera.

Only the cats seemed bothered by us, eyeing us suspiciously as we walked past before darting off into the bushes. Everyone else just carried on with whatever they were doing.

By the time we wandered back it was 8pm and time to settle down for a game of Monopoly Deal. No one else had joined us here, and we were all alone.

We woke up tired and decided to stay put. The car park we’re in is actually really good, with free power, water and a dump station. It’s also much cooler here, so we can sit outside without sweltering in the full sun.

We really are off the tourist trail. Every other campervan here is Spanish, although last night there were a couple of French ones too.

We took a short walk along the river, then came back to the van to do our exercises. By then, the sun had come out and it was hot. Typical. The van step, however, is the perfect height for step-ups. I’ll be sore tomorrow!

A couple of things I’ve noticed in Spain (and France) are that you can’t buy simple things like paracetamol in the supermarket; you have to go to a pharmacy. So that’s what we did today. The pharmacist brought out the 1000mg stuff (the strong stuff), and I tried to ask for 500mg instead.

That’s another thing about Spain: nobody seems to speak English. I tried saying “demi”, squeezed my fingers together to show I wanted a smaller dose, while Mike kept saying, “Just write it on your phone.”

So I spent ages connecting to my mobile data and trying to translate “500mg” into Spanish. When I finally managed it, I discovered it was exactly the same as in English. Geez, I’m thick.

Anyway, that was pretty much our day. It’s not the nicest town, but it looks like they’re trying to improve it, and encouraging motorhomes to stop here is probably a good start.

After a day’s rest we were itching to leave. But first, Bertie decided to attack Mike. It’s funny how he was worried about the horses the other day, when it was actually Bertie who gave him a little kick. The cupboard snapped back and got him in the forehead. Just a cut, and apparently he’s fine.

It was a much cooler day, with a forecast high of 16 degrees. We were driving along a fairly main road, quite busy. Well, it had a centre line and a few trucks. But I decided it would be better to turn off and take the longer route.

We followed a beautiful winding road alongside a huge reservoir. There was a lone cyclist on this road and we managed to overtake him four times! Who said things were faster in a campervan?

We were obviously on the old road, as on the other side of the reservoir was the motorway, with trucks and cars barreling along.

Then we went under the motorway and back up into the mountains. It was up and down and squiggly driving all day. And when I say all day, I mean it. We’d left just before 10am, and by 5pm we were struggling to find a suitable spot to camp.

There was one spot high up in the mountains with a gorgeous outlook, but Mike didn’t like it. So we continued to the next town, A Fonsegrada. But on the way it was more up and up and up, even above the tree line, with incredible views over the mountains below.

Then I got excited when I saw Fonfria coming up on my map, a place we walked to on the Camino. It was hard to believe we’d hiked all the way up there, although I do remember the uphill being brutal. I tried to look for the funky-shaped albergue we stayed at but couldn’t see it.

So we continued on to the town of A Fonsegrada with the hope of finding somewhere to sleep. But when we got there it was hideous. Such an ugly old town that all we wanted to do was get out of there.

We stopped while I looked for somewhere else. It was almost 7pm by this stage and Mike was really tired from all the squiggly driving and the potential head injury (although he insists it’s fine).

I found a place 40 minutes away. Thankfully the road to get there was a bit more main (as in wider), but still quite squiggly. It was probably close to 8pm by the time we arrived, and it was almost full. But there was one spot left just for us.

It’s actually a popular spot, especially for campervans and motorhomes, and it’s free to stay there. It also has free electricity, water and dump facilities.

We’ve noticed a few places in Spain doing this, realising that motorhome tourism is an actual thing worth encouraging. Other places charge you to stay, which we’ve never yet paid.

And while I was looking at the route into Portugal, I saw Fonfria on my map. I thought, oh no, we have to go back the way we came. But it turns out it’s the actual Fonfria we walked to on the Camino, not the one we drove through earlier.

O Cebreiro is there too. I remember the relentless uphill to get there. The Pyrenees had nothing on those hills.

So that will be exciting for next time. And we’re also not far from Sarria, which we’ll pass through because there’s really no choice in the direction we’re going if we want to avoid motorways.

Today was a rest day. It’s such a quiet little village, and there’s water and a dump station here, so it seemed as good a spot as any to stay put. Plus, I needed to get a video uploaded.

It was actually quite cool this morning for a pleasant change. I had a jumper on and a blankie over my legs.

I hadn’t yet touched my final French video, so I got stuck into that today. I wanted to get it uploaded via Starlink before it rolled over into a new month. We get 100GB a month and we’d almost used it all. Usually, I take about a week to put a video together, but this one only took a few hours, so it’ll probably be crap. Let me know if you think it’s crap.

Around midday, the sun came over the hill and it got properly hot. So what did we do? We got the bikes off and went for a ride. It’s fairly flat around here, and it was nice to be back on the bikes, but it was just too hot. Thirty minutes was enough.

We spent the afternoon lying around and sweltering, but thankfully we started to get some shade around 6pm. I think the next few days will be cooler.

After weeks of mid-30s temperatures, it looks like today’s high will only be 16 degrees, which will be refreshing. I saw something about 12 degrees on Thursday, but we might be out of the mountains by then.

We’re exhausted. I think the endless hot days have finally caught up with us. It’s been too hot to stop and sit anywhere, so it seems easier to keep on driving with the A/C blasting.

I’d found a spot where we could hopefully spend a quiet day doing very little, but as usual it was sitting in full sun. Then I spotted a waterfall on Google nearby. The next thing we knew, we were winding our way through a beautiful gorge, towering cliffs rising on either side of the road.

It was just a short walk to the waterfall, or cascada as they call them here. It was like a bridal veil, pouring in through a hole at the top and into a pool below. And the noise was fierce! There were some people getting ready to abseil in,which would have been cool to watch, but it was just so damn loud!

We continued our leisurely drive through the canyon, stopping occasionally for a short walk or admire the scenery. In the end, we still managed to drive 85 km on what was supposed to be a quiet day. We headed back to the spot we had stopped earlier, and we decided to stay there. 

It’s actually a beautiful spot in a small town overlooking the mountains. If the temperature behaves itself tomorrow, we might just stay put and have a proper rest day. The temperatures look like they might be dropping over the next few days, below 30 at least.

We woke up in the mountains. Mike was actually up first this morning at 6.30 am to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous. 

Then the cows with their bells came down the hill with their dog. This is a really cool thing I didn’t know about. In Spain, they raise a dog with the herd, so that they bond. Then the dog spends its life hanging out with the cows and keeping an eye on them, mainly to protect them from wolves. We’ve seen a few herds like this with a dog keeping an eye on them. It’s neat.

Im actually not sure who is in charge. Do the cows just go where they want and the dog follows? Or does the dog tell them where they need to go? And how do they even know where to go? Guess they are just wandering nomads like us.

I thought we were at the summit of the pass, but I’d seen a road that goes even higher. So up we went. It was actually nerve wracking, a very narrow road with a sheer drop off at the edge. But the view from the top was amazing! A massive mountain range spread out in front of us, with jagged bits and pockets of snow.

I saw a couple getting ready for a hike, so I asked them about it, using the very little Spanish I know. They said it was 3-4 hours long, and it was facil. I couldn’t remember if facil was easy or hard, but we thought we’d follow them.

We trudged up this steep hill and I found myself puffing. I don’t usually puff on hills. But then I realised we were up a mountain at altitude. We walked as far as a viewpoint and wow. An even better view of the jagged mountains, and the mist sitting in the valley below.

Then we moved on. It was lucky we stopped where we did, because I was able to research our route, and there was a much better way. Just when I thought we’d seen the best scenery, it got even better. We drove through mountainous gorges with rocks and jagged peaks. I can’t really describe how amazing it was so you’ll have to wait for the video.

Then we turned off onto a road that turned proper narrow. There was a sign saying no motorhomes, but we’re not a motorhome, we’re technically just a van. So we went for it. I found myself gripping the edge of my seat at times as we went around corners, worried there might be someone coming the other way. 

And if I thought the first bit was narrow, it got even worse. A sheer cliff on one side, and a wooden fence on the other, and a steep drop into the river below. Imagine Karangahake gorge with a single lane with no room for passing. I was literally holding my breath as we drove through. If we met someone coming the other way, one of us would have had to reverse. And that would not have been Mike!

Thankfully we didn’t meet anyone. But at the end was a beautiful village called Cain, surrounded by the mountains. There was a gorge walk I wanted to do here. But, unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea.

It was a Saturday and all the walkers were out. And there was nowhere to park. Who woulda thought after that thankfully quiet drive in, that there would be so many people! It’s a very popular area for through-hiking and I think it would be spectacular to do a multi-day hike here.

After that, we kept on driving through the mountains. Eventually we found a beautiful spot to stop for the night. It was also at 1600m, and had incredible views over the mountains. It was just a large pull-off next to the road, but there was barely any traffic. I checked the weather forecast and there was no torrential rain or winds forecast, so we thought perfect. It also mentioned mist, but I thought a bit of mist would make it moody.

But then, around 7pm, the fog started rolling in thick and fast. It looked freaky, and I didn’t like the idea of getting stuck up on the mountain in thick fog. Plus our beautiful view would be ruined. So we headed down and found a parking place in a town for the night.

Oh, and when I got some internet to check facil, it means easy.

Well, I had a bit of a disaster this morning. 

I got up early as usual, trying not to make too much noise as Mike likes to sleep in. As I was making my AeroPress coffee, I hadn’t screwed the base on properly, so when I pressed it down, coffee started spilling onto the bench. Did I take that as a sign that something might be wrong? No. I decided to push down harder.

Big mistake.

The next minute, hot coffee was squirting all over the bench, all over me, and all over the van. I’d made such a mess with coffee and grinds everywhere. And all the swearing woke Mike up.

He tried to salvage my coffee, but there were far too many grinds in it, and somehow he was making even more mess. In the end, we gave up and made a fresh one.

Thankfully, the rest of the day was much less chaotic.

It was a lovely cool morning, so we hung around camp until midday before heading off. The drive over the mountains towards Picos de Europa was absolutely stunning. We’d been told it’s a touristy area, so we were prepared for lots of traffic and people. But apart from a few motorbikes, the roads were surprisingly quiet. We stopped at a lookout and could see snow-capped mountains in the distance, which was pretty impressive.

We continued on to Potes, the main town in the Picos (Peaks). We needed fuel, and surprisingly, it was even cheaper here. The town itself was fairly busy, with more people than we’d seen in ages and a few tourist shops, but nothing over the top like I was expecting.

Then we headed higher into the mountains again, and this drive was incredible. Even though it’s a main road, it was still pretty narrow in places, and I found myself holding my breath around some of the corners.

We stopped at the San Glorio summit, 1,600 metres above sea level, where a couple of motorhomes were already parked up. One look at the views and we decided it was a gorgeous spot to spend the night.

Best of all, it was so much cooler.

When I looked at the map this morning, it felt like we haven’t come very far at all. We really are just inching our way through Spain. But that’s part of the fun. We’ve been sticking to the back roads, and today turned out to be one of those days where one wow moment just led to another.

Our first stop was a building built into a cave. It looked really cool from the outside, and as we arrived a tour group was kitted up in helmets and head-nets ready to go in.. Apparently the cave ceilings inside have been painted with murals. It sounded interesting, but the entire tour was in Spanish, and I’m not a huge fan of being underground, so we skipped it.

Then came the first proper wow moment.

A village built on top of a bridge.

From down below, it looked incredible. A huge stone bridge spanning the river, with a whole village perched on top as if it had grown out of the rock. In the heat of the day, we climbed up to the village. It was far too hot for uphill walks, but it was worth it. The little town was lovely, and the views over the valley stretched for miles.

There was also an amazing cycle path running through the gorge below. It’s a shame we’re not more organised. If we’d arrived earlier, we could have spent a few hours exploring it.

After that, we really committed to the back roads.

We could have taken the main road, but that’s not our style. So we turned off. The route turned into narrow, winding mountain lanes that climbed higher and higher before dropping back down again. At one point, we had a near miss with a car coming the other way at speed. I was happily chatting away to the GoPro one second, and the next… a few expletives slipped out. I’ll definitely need to bleep those out later.

The next funny moment came when we met a school bus on one of these tiny roads. The driver stopped and kindly signalled for us to come through. The only problem was there was absolutely no way our van was fitting past him. Luckily there was a farm track beside us, so we ducked into that and let him squeeze through instead. It’s exactly the sort of moment I should be filming, but never seem to be. Doh.

And then, around the next corner, came another WOW.

A hill covered in giant rock formations.They looked like enormous sculptures sitting on top of the ridge, each with its own shape and character. One was shaped like an arch, another like a chimney, and a cluster of others looked uncannily like giant stone fingers reaching into the sky. I’m still not entirely sure how nature created them, but they were spectacular.

We grabbed a few photos and carried on.

Then we rounded another bend and arrived at Orbaneja del Castillo.

WOW. WOW. WOW.

This is one of the most beautiful villages I’ve ever visited.

At the top sits a small village, but below it is a wide cascading waterfall tumbling down through the landscape into crystal-clear pools. The water then continues flowing through more terraces and pools below. The pools were a deep emerald green and absolutely gorgeous. It was so hot I just wanted to plunge right it.

Unfortunately, that’s not allowed.

We walked up through the village, still frikking hot, and discovered that the waterfalls actually run through the town itself. At the very top is the source of the water, emerging straight out of the mountainside. The village was beautiful too, with old stone buildings, quirky little streets and hidden corners everywhere you looked.

What surprised me most was how quiet it was.

A place this stunning should be absolutely crawling with people, but there was hardly anyone around. Maybe we just arrived at exactly the right time.

We probably could have stayed the night in the car park under the trees, but even in the shade the heat was stifling. So despite it only being 5pm, we decided to keep moving.

In the end, we settled on a campground in the town of Aguilar de Campoo. Which is an apt name, because we most likely will do a campoo.

It’s a pretty basic campground. The toilets have no seats, although they do at least provide toilet paper. The only catch is that the toilet paper is in the communal part of the bathroom, so you have to estimate your requirements in advance, gather your chosen amount, bunch it up in your hand and then head off to the cubicle.

I think I’ll just take the whole roll with me.

Today’s lesson: sometimes Mike is right without even knowing it.

It was a much cooler morning today and I even had to put my jumper on. We got up and did our little workout routine. I did mine first, loving that I can exercise with such a great view. But when it was Mike’s turn to use the weights, a massive dump truck came and parked right beside him. It was pretty funny. Thankfully it didn’t stay long.

It started warming up around 11:30, so we decided we should move on. But we were soon distracted by a large supermarket, the first we had seen in ages. We probably spent a good hour in there, enjoying the air-conditioning and trying to find the things we wanted. Thankfully I managed to find some cheap tank tops, as I’d been wearing my only one for about a week. I definitely didn’t pack very well.

It was mostly a driving day today, but the scenery was spectacular. I managed to avoid the main roads for most of it. I was congratulating myself for taking us over the hills rather than sticking to the main road, when the road abruptly stopped, with barriers blocking our path. How rude.

So we turned around, but thankfully didn’t have to backtrack too far. We stopped at the top of a hill in a little village next to a church for lunch. The hills were so green, dotted with little Spanish houses, and beyond them were these unusual triangular-shaped mountains that looked like giant Toblerones.

Then the afternoon drive was amazing. We drove over a mountain pass with more switchbacks than I’d ever seen. Up and up, back and forth we went along a steep path overlooking the valleys below. I tried to film it, but my GoPro kept toppling off the dash, so I wedged Pierre in to keep it steady.

At the top, the views back over the valley we had just climbed out of were incredible. We actually climbed a combined total of 8,280 feet today!

Then came the time to hunt for a place to sleep — my favourite part of the day. Not. We had already dismissed one place and were navigating to another.

We got to a roundabout and I specifically told Mike to go right. He went straight on. So we had to awkwardly turn around on a tiny narrow road while I continued explaining how we definitely should have gone right.

We backtracked to the roundabout, this time with a very clear plan to take the right exit. Mike drove straight past it again.

After a few stern words from the passenger seat, we went all the way around the roundabout once more and finally took the “correct” exit.

Except it wasn’t the correct exit at all.

For some reason my navigation had decided to send us to a pub. And the road Mike had tried to take both times was actually the right one all along.

We eventually found a scenic park-up place near a town. The car park was huge and empty, so we picked a spot overlooking a little park and the hills. Another guy arrived soon after us in a small campervan and parked at the far end, then headed out for a bike ride.

Not long later, three giant motorhomes rolled in. Despite there being about twenty empty spaces in the middle of the car park, they somehow decided the best option was to wedge themselves directly beside us and the other van.

When the cyclist got back, he looked pissed off. Within about thirty seconds, he started his van and moved to the opposite end of the car park.

It looks like there is some cool stuff to see tomorrow, so it should be more of a sightseeing day. One place I’m especially keen to see is a town built on a bridge, and another town with a waterfall running right through it.

Now to see if we can find them!

We are still trying to figure out Spain, and not doing so well.

I can’t believe we’ve been travelling for 3 weeks already!

We left our lovely campsite and kept heading west, taking the back roads. We drove up to the top of a mountain and there were lots of car parks, so we thought there must be something good there. That is the level of research we do. Anyway, it turns out there are a lot of hikes, so we chose a short one before it got too hot, although it was already too hot!

Thankfully the walk was in the shade and it was really pleasant. There were large rocky outcrops on the edge of the path and a few rock climbers, plus a quirky stone tunnel and beautiful views. Just a pleasant 1 hour walk as it was too hot for any longer.

We continued driving, just enjoying the scenery and magnificent views. We drove up to a sanctuary on top of a hill, but it wasn’t anywhere near as cool as the 1,000-year-old monastery we saw yesterday. The drive up was beautiful though.

We found another town car park to camp in and the views over the mountains were incredible., But it was in full sun, and it was way too hot to stay in the van. So we took a walk into town to look for food.

We walked through the town lined by old buildings with faded shutters and tiny balconies. Then the street opened out into a lively little square filled with bars, outdoor tables, and groups of people sitting around drinking and chatting in the evening heat. We thought, this looks promising. But no-one was eating.

We know it’s impossible trying to find somewhere to eat before 7:30 pm, so we found a nice air-conditioned bar to sit in while we waited. But that bar didn’t do food.

It was way too hot to cook in the van, and we were out of anything that could make even a wrap interesting without cooking.

So at 8 pm we took another walk into town. But nope, still nobody eating. Just loads of people sitting around drinking. It seems like nobody eats in Spain!

So we gave up and went back to the van. By this time the sun had gone behind some trees and it was marginally cooler.

I took our cooker outside and we made some scrambled eggs and assembled them in a wrap with some salad and aioli, and it was really nice. And the view from our camp is incredible — a giant mountain right in front of us. Not bad for a car park in a town.

At about 9:30 pm it finally started cooling down, so we opened all the doors of the van to let the cool air inside, and this worked really well. By 10:30 it was cool enough to go inside!

Wow, what a day.

This morning, we left our campground at 10:30am and mucked around trying to avoid the main road, while Google Maps repeatedly tried to send us down a narrow bike track.

After the third suspicious-looking turn-off and a 1000-point turn, we gave up and did the sensible thing for once and drove the 5km on the main road instead.

Then we were able to turn off and follow the squiggly roads we like. But first, a supermarket stop to get some supplies. And then came the usual ritual of trying to find the things we want in a new country, while also trying to remember what language I’m speaking.

The drive through the Pyrenees today was unbelievable. Windy mountain roads, thick forests, little villages clinging to the hillsides, and huge views across the mountains. And every time we thought the scenery had peaked, it just got better.

Eventually the roads got steeper and narrower, winding through dense beech forests where the sunlight barely made it through the trees. Then suddenly we popped out at the top of the mountain and the views were insane. Proper 360-degree views across the Pyrenees.

And sitting right on top of it all was a 1,000-year-old monastery. There was a huge car park, but it was empty. We were all alone there.

We wandered into the monastery. Inside the massive stone walls, the temperature dropped instantly. Like walking into a fridge. After being outside in the heat all morning, it was refreshing.

The church was dark and quiet, with barely any light. You could hear every little footstep echo around the room. It was kind of creepy. If someone had appeared slowly from a doorway wearing a robe, I probably would have gasped.

We had lunch overlooking the mountains afterwards, mesmerised by the view. Then we took a short walk on a rocky outcrop. Way down below was an unusually shaped giant rock. Mike said it looked like a steamed pudding sliced in half. 

Then I noticed a tiny winding road down near it. I asked Mike if we’d be driving on it.

“No,” he said. “That’s just a footpath. The GR282 hiking trail comes through here.”

Anyway.

When it was time to leave, we turned onto a concrete road which looked suspiciously like a footpath. But both Google Maps and the sat nav insisted this was the way down, so off we went.

It was one of those roads where you try not to look too closely at the edge because there’s nothing between you and the valley below. Sheer drop-offs, tiny corners, no barriers. Beautiful though.

Then we spotted the unusual steamed pudding rock we’d been admiring from the monastery at the top.

And realised we were driving down the “footpath”.

Turns out it actually is a road. Technically.

About halfway down, we came around a corner and found a giant eagle standing in the middle of the road.

Even as a baby, this thing was HUGE.

The poor thing looked exhausted and was struggling to fly, stomping around on his massive feet trying to work out what to do. We sat there for a while to give him space and watched him attempt a few take-offs, but he just couldn’t quite manage it.

Meanwhile his parents circled overhead, keeping a very close eye on us. I wasn’t getting out of the van.

Eventually we drove slowly past and left him alone, but it was such an amazing thing to see.

And somehow the day still got better.

I’ve been pretty nervous about accommodation in Spain because of some of the comments on the app I use for park-ups.

In France, the complaints are things like “no toilets” or “no water”. Meanwhile in Spain people are writing things like “they tried to steal our bikes”, “someone shook our van in the night”, or “they threw rocks at us”. And these aren’t isolated comments either. It seems to be a recurring theme all over.

So I’d already resigned myself to paying for campgrounds most nights.

But at the bottom of the mountain we found a special campervan area in this little town. And it’s free until June.

Driving through the town was slightly concerning because there was graffiti absolutely everywhere, but the actual park-up was just outside town and completely different. Surrounded by rocky mountains, farmland, and a few other campervans already parked up, which always makes things feel a bit safer.

So we stopped there for the afternoon and melted into the heat.

It’s still ridiculously hot, although slightly better up in the mountains. I’m actually enjoying it as long as I don’t have to move too much.

Later we walked 15 minutes into town for supplies and treated ourselves to a Magnum for the walk home.

And beer, obviously.

We’ve embraced the Spanish way of eating late without even trying. I mean, it’s just too hot to eat anyway, so we don’t even start thinking about dinner until about 7:30pm.

Tonight we settled for chicken and salad wraps because it was too hot to cook. And we had to wait until about 10pm before it seemed cool enough to go inside the van.

I do love these long days though.

Today we’re going to Spain!

Mike finally got to go to his fancy beach this morning. We cycled in and down a steep hill (the right one this time), locked up our bikes, and it was just a short walk to the all-over tan section. It was a gorgeous morning, and I actually considered a swim. But I didn’t.

Then we trudged back up the steep hill and packed up the van to head on. We’ve decided to go inland because the coast is very busy. I took Mike up the windiest road I could find to get us up into the Pyrenees. And when we crossed into Spain, I couldn’t believe what I saw!

Diesel was 40 cents per litre cheaper! (That’s 80c NZD.) So I’m very glad we didn’t fuel up before leaving France.

The road continued winding up into the Pyrenees, and it was a gorgeous drive with heaps of hairpin turns. Except something kept rattling around in the back. We pulled over to secure a rogue gas cylinder, but when we tried to drive again there was a steady stream of traffic and motorbikes. So much for choosing the quiet roads!

The first town we got to was Bera, and it was amazing how quickly the architecture changed from France. The houses were much more mountain-style and reminded me of walking through little villages on the Camino. But we’re very glad we’re not walking today because it’s so hot — mid-30s!

Then Google wanted to take us on a main-ish road. We decided to outsmart him by navigating our own route. But this did not go to plan. It was a beautiful drive along narrow roads and I was busy congratulating myself when the road just… stopped. There was no way through the mountains! So we had to backtrack all the way to the main road.

But we weren’t on it for long before turning off again to hunt for camping. There’s a real lack of campgrounds in Spain and they all seem very expensive. But we found one in the town of Sunbilla with a beautiful view over the Pyrenees, and it was only 24 euros for the night.

No pool though.

But not only are there toilet seats AND toilet paper, there is also HAND SOAP! Can you believe it? And that’s not all. There were even paper towels to dry your hands. This is unheard of in France!

And there were a few cycle tourists here too. Looking at them all set up with their tents and cooking their meals on the ground seemed so adventurous. It feels like a lifetime ago that this was us. But I’m very glad we’re not cycling in this heat.

It’s crazy hot, and humid too. We sat outside until 10:30pm waiting for it to cool down enough to go to bed. But the bugs were biting, so we scurried inside anyway. At least we have two roof vents, one of them being a fan to suck the hot air out.

We decided to stay a third night at the camping ground in Hendaye. The campground is pretty nice. It has toilets with seats AND toilet paper. Still no soap though. The toilet paper situation makes me wonder if the French always carry a roll with them.

It was a bit cooler today so I managed to get my video finished and uploaded. In the afternoon we took a ride down to one of Mike’s fancy beaches where he can get an all over tan. But we went the wrong way down a steep hill, and when we got to the beach it was stinking hot and crowded. 

So we struggled back up the hill. By this point I’d decided I’d had enough, so we headed back to camp for a swim in the pool instead. We’ll try the beach again in the morning.

It was actually a nice relaxing day (apart from the bike ride).

It’s HOT! We decided to stay put at the campground and get a walk in before the heat really kicked in. At 9:30 we headed out, following a beautiful path through the trees and along the clifftops, with views over the little coves and the Atlantic Ocean, which was incredibly calm today. Every so often we’d come across old bunkers scattered along the coastline. Even that early, the heat was already building.

At one point we had to step aside to let a couple of girls on horses pass. We stepped well out of the way. Both of us are very wary of horses, always expecting them to casually throw in a little kick as they go by.

As we neared the beach we’d planned to walk down to, the sight below changed our minds. Scattered along the beachfront were ghastly high-rises. Not quite Surfers Paradise large, but big enough to completely take away from the wild, natural feel of the coastline. It was probably just as well, as by then it was becoming seriously hot.

On the way back we crossed paths with the horses again, only this time on a narrow section of track. Nope! not getting that close to a horse. So we backtracked until we found a clearing where we could step safely off the path and let them pass.

1.5 hours later, we got back to camp a hot and sweaty mess. And the pool doesn’t open until 2pm! Thankfully we are parked in a shady spot and we have our faithful awning.

At 2pm, we went to the pool and found a comfortable lounger in the shade, and a slight breeze to keep us cool. This pool area is so beautiful, and feels like being in a 5 star resort, and at only 25 eruos ($50) is seems like a bargain. So we spent the afternoon lounging, reading our books and dipping in the pool to keep cool.

As it’s Friday night, the camp restaurant was open and we decided to eat out. And my favourite was on the menu. Confit de canard (sorry Donny). So we both ordered the same and it was delicious. Not sure we plan to leave this place anytime soon.

We decided to spend another night at our campground and go for a bike ride. Finally the weather is wonderful and warm.

But as Mike was setting up the bikes, I decided to shut the rear doors. You know how the bike rack now overhangs both doors? We’ll I’d forgotten about that and proceeded to slam the bike rack on my back. It hurt. I swore. So after that I didn’t feel like a bike ride.

I had a lot of trouble choosing coffee in the supermarket. For all our time travelling in France, nothing was familiar. Then I realised when we did our cycle tour, we never bought coffee here (we went to the little ole man bars for coffee in the mornings.)

So when I made coffee this morning the stuff I had chosen was disgusting. Thankfully there was a Spar next door to the camp and after some googling, we found something we would like. And a stale baguette.

We just spent the rest of the day lazing around. I worked on my movie, and we sat outside in the sun. Mike is feeling a lot better. Thankfully he didn’t get it as bad as I did.

It’s quite a nice campground, but as per usual, there is no toilet seats, hand soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms. So when you are walking to the toilets with your toilet paper in hand, EVERYONE knows what you’re doing.

For dinner we had a sort of fried rice. Sort of meaning, the gas ran out before we got a chance to fry the rice. So it was boiled rice, bacon, garlic and egg.

Today started with an early morning mission: find a toilet in town.

And when we found it, It wasn’t just any ole toilet. It was one of those futuristic self-cleaning boxes. The kind where the door locks behind you, the toilet seat folds itself down, and you just trust the process. I must admit, with my claustrophobia I was a little nervous I might get locked in there.

When you’re done, there’s no flush button or anything. You press the exit button and the entire room gives itself a full clean. Slightly terrifying, and a little creepy.

Our next mission was to find somewhere to dump our wees. I navigated us to a dump station beside a lake, and we both had a flashback to 2011. Mike got a flat tyre in this exact same spot! Funny how random places can unlock memories like that.

After some lunch and a short walk, we headed on again, deciding to find somewhere to camp for the night.

We found a free place to stay for the night. It was one of those campervan-only spots where you can park for 24 hours. It looked perfectly fine. Other people were staying there. But for the first time on this trip, something just felt… off. It didn’t have the vibe.

I didn’t say anything at first because Mike was tired and ready to stop, so we climbed in the back for a nap.

A few minutes later Mike said, “I don’t like this place.”

Instant relief. So it wasn’t just me.

Neither of us could explain why, but the vibe felt weird, so we decided to trust our gut and move on. We figured it was probably time for a proper campground anyway. We needed showers and to do laundry.

We ended up finding a lovely campsite near the beach for only 16 euros, which felt like a bargain. I’ve seen camping car places charge more than that and not even include showers!

So we settled in for the afternoon. The sun finally came out, and so did the awning. After all the cold weather we’ve been having, it felt so good just sitting outside soaking up the warmth.

The beach nearby was long and sandy, but the sea was wild and rough. In the distance we could see the Pyrenees.

We’re only about two hours drive from Spain now… although in campervan time, who really knows how long that means.

I was feeling much better today, but Mike is now a snotty mess. We left our lovely forest camp fairly early and headed towards Europe’s largest sand dune. Somehow, completely by accident, we found the back way in. We ended up on a quiet residential street with a little gate leading straight onto the dune.

We climbed about halfway up and could see a long trail of people marching along the ridge at the top, looking like tiny ants in the distance. We’d already been to the top before, so decided we didn’t need to join the procession this time.

As we drove past the main entrance later, there were hundreds of cars lined up and a huge paid car park packed with people. We were very glad we’d stumbled across the sneaky local entrance instead.

Then I finally found somewhere to have my moules frites (mussels and chips). The restaurant was right by the beach overlooking the ocean, which made it even better. We ordered one pot of moules to share, but when the waiter brought them out, they’d split it into two smaller pots so we could each have our own. I thought that was really sweet. Even then, I still couldn’t finish mine.

After lunch we continued down the coast and eventually stopped in Biscarrosse, where there’s a free car park in town just for RVs.

By tea time we were still full from our late lunch, so dinner ended up being mango and yoghurt.

Today I woke up with a vicious headache. It seems this cold/covid/whatever is taking ages to go away. I’m a bit grumpy as there have been so many gorgeous places to ride our bikes but haven’t been feeling up to it.

I managed to upload my video via our starlink today as we haven’t seen anywhere else. Then we took a drive down to Cape Ferret, which is like a spit. 

At the end was a cool view looking out at the largest sand dunes in Europe which were on the other side of the water. But to get to them you have to drive all the way around. We climbed up them 15 years ago when we cycled here, but we might skip them this time.

The spit was an in and out road, and so we decided to go back to our pine forest free camp for the night. By this time I was feeling much better, so went for an hours walk through the pines.

It was nice to have a relaxing day. 

Today we continued further down the coast and took Bertie on a ferry! We could either drive for 3 hours via Bordeaux or take a 20 minute ferry ride for 50 euros, so we opted for the ferry as we wanted to avoid Bordeaux.

Neither of us are still feeling well and I’m starting to wonder if we have covid. Just when I start to feel right, I go backwards again.

So, we’ll just keep taking it slow, taking in the new sights.

We stopped the night near Lege Cap Ferret, and found a nice freedom camp under the pine trees.

Today the wind dropped enough that we were brave enough to walk some of the coastal walk. There are a lot of structures in the water with nets and we’re not sure whether they are for crabs or flounder.

We tried to go to La Rochelle, but somehow kept getting onto narrow roads, getting stuck in traffic and going around in circles. So we abandoned that plan and headed further down the coast to Fouras Les-Bains. 

We found a nice spot to camp, the beach on one side and a toilet on the other. We took a stroll into town, and it was a wonderful little place. The promenade was lined with beachfront restaurants and I thought I could finally have my moules frites. There was only one problem. We had just eaten lunch and weren’t hungry. And I was starting to feel very achy and fatigued again. So we headed back to the van for a nap with plans to come our again for dinner.

But when we asked at the information centre, they said we couldn’t park there overnight. Well, we could, but we might get a fine. So we ditched our nap and our moules frites and headed further down the coast. We didn’t have to drive far before we found another pleasant seaside carpark to camp. It was actually right next to a big paid carpark for motorhomes but it looked full. And the app we use assured us we could park here for free overnight. But it was limited to 5m length, which thankfully Bertie fits into.

During the afternoon a few pop-top campervans joined us, so we knew it must be a legit spot. We were both too tired to cook an elaborate dinner, so we had some left over cold pasta, and made ham toasties in the frypan using wraps rather than bread.

And the bad news is, Mike now has my cold.

We don’t really know what we are doing. We’re trying to head down the coast of France, making our way to Spain, but it’s been really cold and windy and I still don’t seem to be over this cold. And neither of us feel up to doing much. So we’re just tootering down the coast, following roads that we have cycled on before, and not making a lot of progress. 

But with the price of fuel here, that’s not a bad thing. It is the equivalent of $4 a litre here for diesel and I think that’s more than nz. And Bertie does like his diesel!

Today I put in a place in the navigation that was 1.5 hours away. But somehow it took us all day to get there. Why? I have no idea. Although we did spend about an hour trying to find a toilet this morning.

We didn’t even go to the shops. Although we did stop and buy a stale baguette. I don’t know what has happened to France, but once upon a time a stale baguette would have been unheard of. But now it seems to be a regular thing. We did get two pain au raisons though and they were delicious.

We eventually made our way to the place I had planned to camp at two nights ago. It’s on a clifftop with beautiful views over the ocean. And it’s free. But, it’s so frikking windy and cold. We tried to do a clifftop walk and almost got blown away. So we scuttled back to the warmth of the van.

Mike is trying his hand at knitting, I am trying to edit a movie.

I decided I was feeling better and we left our little beach spot. But then I felt lousy again, so we stopped early at a park up for campervans at a place where there were oyster farms. You can buy oysters from vending machines here! It’s quite a neat spot, very flat with dykes and drainage ditches. It’s really weird because we cycled along these roads 15 years ago and we remember them.

The next day I was feeling a lot better, although still very snotty for some reason. There is a road which goes to an island but you can only cross it at low tide. We cycled across it 15 years ago and this time we wanted to drive it. But as per us, we got there at high tide and it was quite freaky to see the road disappearing into the sea.

We spent the day following the coast along the little roads, before ending up at a free camping place with a bunch of other motorhomes by the beach. It looks like we might have bad weather for a couple of days.

The last couple of days i’ve been sick, and we’ve basically stayed put by the beach and I’ve slept. Sunday was a really wet and miserable day and I slept all day as I was feeling lousy. But Monday was much nicer and I felt less snotty. It warmed up in the afternoon and we took a stroll down the beach and sat in the sun for a while. There were some gigantic jellyfish washed up on shore, like really really big ones. They were creepy and made us think twice about swimming. I’m hoping to feel better tomorrow and that Mike doesn’t get what i’ve got.

I’m sick. I woke up all snotty and sneezy, and felt a bit achy too, Mike is also feeling a bit achy and we’re worried we’ve picked up something nasty.

We only drove 1.5 hours today before deciding we were too tired to drive any further. I wanted to get a bit further down the coast, but we ended up at the same camping spot we stayed at when we first got Bertie, and coincidentally I was sick then too. This trip is having a lot of deja vu moments.

We slept for a couple of hours before taking a stroll along the beach.

On the positive side, it is hot. Our parking spot overlooks the ocean and we were able to try out our awning for the first time. After our stroll we sat outside, drinking zero Corona, overlooking the atlantic ocean. It was perfect. Apart from the snottiness.

This morning we decided to sanitise our holding tank as it has had water sitting in it over the last 6 months. That involved emptying the water, then refilling it with some stuff dissolved in the tank. No idea what it is, but it’s for cleaning out RV tanks (came with the van). Now we just have to wait 12 hours or so before emptying it again.

Today was a driving day. We stopped at a supermarket and picked up supplies. We thought everytime we stop at the supermarket we should try something new, so we picked up some tins of stuff from the shelf.

When we got back to the van and opened it, it looked suspiciously like cat food. We spread it on some fresh baguette and it was surprisingly tasty. It reminded me of the innards of the pork pie. But I still can’t be certain we didn’t just eat cat food.

We ended up in a little town called St Jeen le Grande and found a free park-up for the night. Then we both just passed out and slept for the afternoon. We are still so tired!

We had a sweet and sour chicken for dinner before heading out to look at the town. It’s actually a really neat old town with quirky buildings but not a lot else happening. So we settled for an early night of monopoly deal, followed by Uno followed by sleep.

We had a really nice first night in France. It was quiet, peaceful, and after all the partying we slept really well.

The next morning we mostly just lazed around until about 2pm before deciding we should probably find a laundromat.

We drove about 40 minutes down the coast to an aire de camping car place Mike had found. But when we got there it was 15 euros to camp, and it didn’t even have toilets! I’m sorry, but if I’m paying 15 euros to sleep in a carpark, I at least expect a toilet.

So I ditched that idea and continued on to the campground I had eyed up earlier. Which turned out to be a very good decision.

It was only one euro more expensive, it was right on the beach, and it even had a swimming pool. Okay , it wasn’t warm enough to use it, but still… A pool! And it was right on the beach! And that wasn’t the most interesting part.

It turns out back in 2022, we cycled here and stayed in this exact campground! That was super weird and it wasn’t planned!

But the best part was, there was laundry on site and our sheets really needed washing. So we spent the afternoon doing laundry and working on a movie. We took a stroll along the beach front to the shops, but the meat looked a bit manky, so we just got some eggs and some garlic.

We had a bacon and garlic pasta for dinner. Diet starts tomorrow!

The alarm woke the whole house at 5.30am. And I couldn’t find my phone to turn the screeching thing off! Sorry Nick and Ems. But we were up and away early to catch the morning ferry to France.

We’re sailing from Poole to Cherbourg. There was hardly anyone in the queue when we arrived, and hardly anyone on board. There were quite a few motorbikes and cycle tourists though (seems we have started a trend!).

It was a beautiful calm crossing, but in our madness of packing up, we forgot to make sandwiches. And we were both so hungry. So we succumbed to the overpriced meals on board.

I just wanted a sandwich but this wasn’t an option, only a meal. And I think we have made this mistake before. The meals were absolutely disgusting.

Mike ordered the beef bourginon for us to share, but it tasted suspiciously like kidney and I couldn’t eat it. So I ordered a burger instead but it was so disgusting I couldn’t eat it either. Only the French could fuck up a burger! So I ate the chips, which were surprisingly ok! We must start eating healthier.

5 hours later we arrived in Cherbourg, and set off down the coast. We stopped at the campground we stayed at last time, as we needed to fill up our water and wash our sheets, but it was a sad old place with rusted caravans and looked more like a scrapyard.

So we ditched that idea and headed further down the coast and found a nice freedom camp overlooking the ocean. We took a short stroll along the beach and watched most of the sun set. Then scurried back to the van before we got too cold. We settled down for a game of Uno (Mike won) then Monopoly Deal (He also won) before deciding I had taken enough abuse and it was time for bed.

We rolled out our sheets, preparing for the worst, having sat around all winter in the van, but they were ok. Just a little bit smelly, but tolerable. We were so tired we didn’t care! We’ll find a laundromat tomorrow!

It’s been a mad week since we got here. Jet lag seems to hit harder every year, and we were so tired for the first few days. Our first task was dropping Bertie in to get his awning fitted and also a bike rack. But when we got there, they said couldn’t fit the bike rack because of the modifications Mike had put in last year (dents). But they did fit the awning, but it’s been too windy to test it out yet.

So Mike decided he would fit the bike rack himself. First we took it to a panelbeater, and they told him how to get the dents out himself. So Mike gave it a go. But he banged on the wrong place and ended up putting more dents in. The problem with the dents was they left a big gap between where the rack would fit, but we figured we could just add more sealant to fill the gap. Brother Paul confirmed this should be ok (although it was hard for him to see properly)

So Mike set about putting up the first brackets for the bike rack, which would take 24 hours to dry. So we left them alone and went to the festival. We had an amazing time and there is a whole video on this, so I won’t say too much here.

So on top of jetlag, we also had 3 days of next to no sleep, and 1 whole day free before our ferry to France. In this time, we had to finish the bike rack, get all our clothes washed and dried, go to storage and pack up our van, and get the festival video edited and uploaded. Usually it takes me about a week to do a video, this one took about 6 hours!

Somehow, amazingly, we got almost everything done. Our sheets from last year haven’t been washed, but they will just have to wait until we find a laundromat.

Next stop. France.

The first leg of our flight was so good, apart from the giant baby in our cabin. I don’t know why it was so large, but it was very grizzly. But I still managed to get a good 5 hours sleep.

We had a shorter flight time to Singapore, although we had a short delay as they had to take 3 peoples bags off. I always wonder about the story of people who check their bags, then don’t get on the plane. Why?

We took off about 12.30am, and by the time they had fed us it was about 2.30am. I’m not sure it was actually worth waiting up for.

We were warned of turbulence across Australia, but I hardly noticed it if there was.

We arrived in Singapore and this airport is just so damn easy. We don’t even need to clear security. Then straight through and onto the next flight! Oh and I have to mention the automated wheel chair, just aimlessly wandering around the airport. It looked really lost, so I tried to sit in it. But it growled and said it was out of service. Then if followed me and made me a little nervous. So we took the escalator and we managed to lose it.

We’re just sitting in the lounge, with only a 2 hour wait for our next flight to London. This one is a long one, 14 hours! Oh well.

It’s that time of year again and we are sitting around at home, chewing on our nails, waiting until it’s time to go to the bus station. But as per normal, we’ve left everything to the last minute and we have to wait for the dryer to complete before we can put Poppy in the garage. Why do we have to wait for the dryer? Because when Poppy is in the garage, there is literally an inch to spare.

Eventually the dryer finished and Mike inched Poppy in and disconnected the battery. Our flatmate had kindly offered to drive us to the bus station.

While we were waiting to board the bus, we got talking to a woman who was going back to Dubai. She got evacuated during the bombing, and she said it was way scarier than the media let on. She really didn’t want to go back, but the fees for getting out of her contract were horrendous. I really felt for her.

Our bus was a double decker one and the seats were in a weird front/back layout. And the only seats available were sitting backwards, which was odd, but strangely kind of cool. I got to see all the people overtaking us, and well, it was as interesting as a bus journey could be.

We had to change buses at Manukau, but it was pretty low stress. We are now at the airport about 6 hours before our flight. I swear, we get worse every year! Now we just have to try and stay awake until midnight.