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Sunday 7th April - Citie Europ to Home

A very early start, 6.00 am - it was still dark, plus cold damp and misty. Necessary of course because we'd re-booked onto an early train and needed to be early, firstly to get Jamie registered, then in case of problems with checking in. However it all went smoothly, everywhere was very quiet and we were processed through to the train with only the usual short wait.

It was foggy in Folkestone as we left the terminal for the couple of miles to the Stop 24 service area for breakfast - it is Sunday after all but we thought £18 for two breakfasts was a bit steep. Never mind, it's only money, so appetites satisfied we headed up the M20 which was roadworks almost all the way to the M25 but apart from the 50 mph speed limit, was delay free although we were surprised at the amount of traffic at this time on a Sunday morning. It may have been due to the race meeting at Brands Hatch.

From thereon the usual slog up the M11 and A1 to Terry's Mum at Navenby where we spent a couple of hours chatting. Then back onto the road for the final run, this time with rain showers most of the way, only clearing when we got close to home, at a reasonable time for a change which gave us a chance to start emptying the van of the most important stuff. Everything else will get done over the next couple of days.

We've got quite a long list of things to get done, both on the van (it is getting on a bit now!) and at home - how did we ever find time to work? But as we have no plans at the moment for our next trip we'll just take it a stage at a time.

So, if you're still with us, thanks for following our travels and we hope we haven't bored you silly!

Saturday 6th April – Le Crotoy to Citie Europe

Le Crotoy to Calais - 63 miles

With nothing to rush for we had a bit of a lie-in before having a cleanup and put away after breakfast. Then with the loo and waste emptied we headed north along the Cote D'Opale to Auchan at Boulogne for some last minute shopping and to refuel. It seems to be the same price as the UK so refuelling now will save us some time tomorrow.

So now we're parked up at Citie Europe with around a dozen others, a few Brits amongst them. With a 6.00 am start tomorrow think it'll be an early night.

But we're now ready to go home - I think we have been for a few days now – so all that's left is the long slog up-country, calling in at Terry's mum for an hour or so near Lincoln. At least, being Sunday, it shouldn't be too busy.

Apart from the run home this is probably the last entry into this trips blog. As always we've enjoyed ourselves and this year been blessed with much better weather, have hardly seen any rain the entire trip and generally until the last few days it has been comfortably warm. We surprised ourselves by changing our minds about visiting Morocco again, probably because we didn't seem to be rushing around so much as before, stayed longer in fewer places.

Friday 5th April – Pont de L'Arche to Le Crotoy

Pont de L'Arche to Le Crotoy - 95 miles

Sunshine again this morning and after breakfast and the van serviced we got back onto the road on our now regular route back home. Our intentions today were to get up to the vet at Rue for Jamie's Pet Passport stamp then see about an earlier crossing.

Basically all went to plan; after lunch on Lidl's carpark the vet, as always, was happy to attend to us almost straightaway and we decided to overnight at the aire at Le Crotoy whilst we made our other arrangements. As always at this time of year there was plenty of room and after a cuppa we called Eurotunnel and brought forward our booking to early Sunday morning – we had to pay a surcharge of course but it was either that or wait until Wednesday. We've a lot to do when we get home, in particular a sudden (aren't they all) family funeral in Cumbria on Friday, so being home a few days early will be a help.

Meanwhile whilst walking the hound Bren spoke to a couple who were full-timing in a converted horsebox and were very keen on visiting Morocco, so a nice hours chat ensued – another convert to MotorhomeFun!

Thursday 4th April – Le Perouille to Pont de L'Arche

La Perouille to Pont de L'Arche - 224 miles

A cold night but it remained dry and the sun was just getting up so a nice pleasant start to the day. The services were off, but we still managed the basics before heading to Chateauroux for a fuel refill which we found at a LeClerc, usually about the cheapest.

But we're now ready to go home so to give us a couple of options we thought we'd get as far as possible today and set our target for Pont de L'Arche, just south of Rouen. The route was on mostly fast dual carriageway that by-passed most of the large towns although we did end up going through the middle of Orleans, fortunately not at rush hour.

Lunch was an abbreviated affair, taken on a supermarket carpark at La Ferte St Aubin before pushing on. It was obvious that it was going to be much later than we normally stop by the time we reached Pont de L'Arche and we did consider stopping earlier, but thought we'd take a chance of there still being room – it is a popular place and has been full before.

Then TomTom showed us some of his advanced properties by warning us of traffic delays ahead, mostly caused by roadworks and the inevitable heavy traffic at going home time. We were held up a few times, the worst being the last mile, but overall it wasn't as bad as it could have been – and there were still spaces at the aire!

There appeared to be a gathering of travellers at the next carpark over but fortunately it had not spilled over to the aire. We've noticed several of these groups but what has been most apparent is that, whilst they still have their big caravans and transit type vans, they are otherwise nothing like their UK counterparts, no mess, loud noises or other unsocial activities.

Wednesday 3rd April – Lembras to near Chateauroux

Lembras to Chateauroux - 177 miles

More rain overnight and we experienced showers most of the day. Managed to get everything done without getting wet, however, so set off for a hopefully better day distance-wise today, which should be achievable bearing in mind much of it is planned to be toll-free motorway.

A fairly uninteresting drive, despite the map describing it as “picturesque” in places, and we got as far as Limoges where we found a Centre Commercial for some bits of shopping and lunch. Back onto a quite busy motorway with the temperature suddenly taking a nose-dive as we approached Chateauroux and it went dark as the traffic suddenly slowed for an accident – caused by a sudden heavy hail shower that turned everything white!

Nobody hurt and we pulled into the nearby services to check for an overnight stop. Although there was a few choices nothing took our fancy except a quiet rural place only a few kilometres away as the crow flies. Typically of course it was much more than that by the time TomTom got us off the motorway but then we found a lovely little spot by the side of a small lake with nobody else on it. We've always said the best places are just a little way off the beaten track and this was proof of our point.

Unfortunately the weather was still unstable and we suffered rain, sleet and hail showers into the evening, having to put the heating on once again – good job we filled up with gas a couple of days ago! It'll be back to long trousers and shoes and socks again tomorrow!

Tuesday 2 April – Mont de Marson to Lembras (near Bergerac)

Mont de Marson to Lembras - 102 miles

More rain overnight but no leaks, so fingers crossed. Woken early by several what sounded like fighter jet aircraft taking off nearby – not been able to find out where they are, none of our maps show a military airfield nearby (???). Anyway although it was a bit damp underfoot (cue muddy doggy pawprints) it was a nice morning so after the usual chores we set off, planning to go cross-country and avoid motorways and maybe see bits of France we haven't seen before. First target was Bergerac, in the Dordogne region.

Needing some bits and pieces of grocery we stopped off at an Intermarche, then continued along the D933, a very pleasant if not particularly fast road especially through the goodly number of small villages and towns. Lunch in a roadside parking area whilst we planned our overnight stop, deciding that indeed Bergerac was probably going to be the place. So we picked a nice-looking aire from a choice of several and let TomTom do his thing.

We found a small, 10-place aire about half full just off the main road through the village of Lembras and pitched up. A bit noisy at first as the local creche was next door, it later became peaceful whilst we relaxed with a cuppa and cake.

It never seems to make much sense to us that a local council would provide such a pleasant space, together with water and waste disposal for nothing – perhaps they're hoping we'll spend some money. Or is it just that France is particularly keen on motorhoming?

Monday 1st April - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Mont de Marson

Vitoria to Mont de Marson - 167 miles

Oh bother! Woken at 3.00 am to rain and a drip, drip, drip – we'd got a leak in the skylight, the one we had resealed a couple of years ago. There really wasn't much we could do about it except shove a bowl underneath and go back to bed.

By morning the rain had stopped, as had the drip, but without getting onto the roof with some sealant not a lot we could do so dried out where we could and left it for now. After breakfast we went to the Mercadona supermarket across the road but it was shut, again! We've never actually seen it open in several visits! So back to the van, a quick service and off to a local garage where we refilled the gas and fuel tanks and topped up the suspension pressure which had faded a bit causing Bertie to roll a little when cornering.

Back to a quite busy motorway and head for San Sebastion and France. We dropped off the Spanish plateau and noted a significant temperature increase; coupled with a brighter day it made for a pleasant drive. As usual we took the toll road through the border then stopped at a service area for lunch to plan our route.

Not being in too much of a rush we thought we'd find a different way north for a change and decided to go a little to the east through Lot and the Dordogne. This would avoid toll roads and also the very boring N10, which now has a blanket 80 kph (50 mph) speed limit on it for us, being over 3.5t. Our intial aim point was Mont de Marson but TomTom wasn't happy about already being on a toll road and promptly took us into the nightmare of D roads around Bayonne, roads we usually take great care to avoid. We laboured through stop start traffic until eventually breaking free onto the open road once again.

We drove straight through the middle of Mont de Marson, picking up a Swedish motorhome as a tail, before finding a pleasant commercial aire on the outskirts. Fully automated, we “checked in” then found a nice spot and settled down for just the one night.

There is obviously an air base of some sort close by, although we never actually located it, as for an hour or so we were “entertained” by a small jet aircraft obviously doing some local training. But it did stop as it got dark. We just hope now that it doesn't rain..............!

Sunday 31st March – El Encinar to Vitoria-Gasteiz

El Encinar to Vitoria - 234 miles

A cold night, not surprising when we were almost 3000 ft amsl, but at least nothing froze up this time. However the heating was switched on for the first time in ages – and the gas bottle promptly ran out! So change bottles, work out what time it was then Sunday Breakfast. A cleanup, service the van and on our way again.

Found our way back to the motorway around Salamancar then up a good but quite busy motorway, not particularly interesting but at least the sun was shining. We pulled off for a comfort/lunch stop just before Burgos as we couldn't find a service area – then 500m after we rejoined the autovia there was a rest area!

We recently learned that Spain has taken over many of the toll-road companies as they have gone bust, not taking enough to cover their costs. As a result a number of autopistas are now free, as was the case with the AP1 from Burgos to Vitoria, a fact which it seemed TomTom already knew because he happily planned a route up it despite being told not to use toll roads. Clever dick machines! So more fast cruising through the mountains until we turned off at Vitoria-Gasteiz (double barrelled name because it is the Basque capital of Spain and all signs have the basque equivalent on them).

The aire here has been extended yet again but was still almost full, however we found a spot and settled in. We could have got further today but were concerned that there might not be room in other aires further north. Anyway we will need fuel and gas in the morning and there is a suitable place 5 minutes away from the parking.

Now debating a route up through France; we're on schedule so something a bit different would be nice although the weather forecast for later in the week isn't encouraging.

Saturday 30 March 2019 – Terrugem to El Encinar

Terrugem to El Encinar - 199 miles

A quiet night and we got our early(ish!) start after breakfast and a quick service of the van. We're in no great hurry but it's nice being able to cruise along at a comfortable speed and keeping a good rate of fuel consumption.

Sticking to the N road for the moment to avoid the toll section, we passed through Elvas, a nice border town whose main claim to fame is a four-level Roman aqueduct running for over 6km. There are also some other interesting ruins so we have made a note to come back here in the future for an exploration.

On our various trips we've never been to Portugal when it hasn't rained at some point. Up to now it looked like this jinx was about to be broken, but no, as we entered Elvas (still in Portugal if only just) it started to rain. Not a lot but we needed the wipers so it qualified. Record unbroken!

Once we had crossed into Spain, where it's significantly cheaper, we dropped into a fuel station to top up and get a baguette for lunch, also to put our timepieces forward one hour. Of course we're going to have to do it again tonight because the clocks go forward, losing us another hour! At Badajoz we took the X100 (no idea why it's an X, just a good single carriageway like many others) which took us cross country before joining the non-toll Autovia del Plata which will be our companion for a couple of days.

It's called del Plata probably because, as we've mentioned before, much of Spain is a plateau of over 2000' amsl and this road runs across it from SW to NE. On it's way it passes through several smaller sierras with mountains high enough to have snow on their peaks, but not at our level of course, although we did touch 4000 ft on one of the several passes.

However there are no service areas or even parking places so we pulled off the autovia at Plasencia to find somewhere to stop for lunch. Nice enough, if a little uninspiring, we found a place outside a closed factory out of the way for an hour before rejoining the A66 headed for our planned overnight stop.

There aren't many campsites in this bit of Spain and only a couple of aires but we noted one just short of Salamancar which was a bit early for us but we knew there was nothing else for quite a long way. So TomTom led us to a quiet but large car-park with a designated area for motorhomes and some basic facilities. With room for at least 30 vans along with 2 other units we didn't exactly over-extend the facility.

Much as forecast, it's been a bright, if partly cloudy day and certainly quite warm enough. We'll probably be close to the French border tomorrow night if all goes to plan, well on schedule.

Friday 29th March 2019 – Alvor to Terrugem

Alvor to Terrugem - 185 miles

We got a load of washing done, dried and packed away yesterday, which was our main reason for using a campsite. We shouldn't now need a laundry again before getting home. Nice hot showers too so today we were ready to get some serious miles under the wheels and managed an earlyish start for a change.

We decided to head north through the Algarve into Alentejo, which is very picturesque following the ID1 and IC2, both quiet fast roads and no tolls. We've used this route before and indeed stopped at the same places too – Beja for lunch then Terrugem to overnight. Not a lot more to say about our day except we're pleased with our progress – although one of our party is still grumpy at being cooped up in his cage all day...........!

Terrugem is still in Portugal, although only 30 mins from the border – we mention this because we'll be losing an hour tomorrow when we cross to Spain so are looking for another early start.

Wednesday 27th March – Vila Real de Santo Antinio to Alvor

Vilas Real de Santo Antonio to Alvor - 79 miles

After a relaxing day yesterday with a walk into the lovely little town and longish chats with a France-based English couple who originally came from County Durham, our intention today was to find a campsite so we could get the washing done and get cleaned up, ready for the run home, which we must get started on. A check of the books showed a couple of ACSI sites along the coast so after the usual chores and goodbyes to new friends we rejoined the N125 for a pleasant run along the Algarve coast.

This road has now been significantly improved over the glorified dirt track it used to be when we first came to Portugal and although reasonably busy it is now a fast and easy route. We stopped off at an Aldi in Olhoa for some basics, which as usual turned into a trolleyfull, before finding our first selection at Armacao de Pera, near Albufeira. First glance looked okay so we checked in, but then spent half an hour trying to find a pitch that wasn't on a hillside, wasn't in the howling gale blowing off the sea and was reasonably close to the facilities. On the basis if we don't like what we see we move on we did just that.

The next was a little further on, past Portimao, at Alvor. Again it looked okay so we checked in but again spent time wandering around. Eventually we settled on a smallish pitch next to some Brits which satisfied our criteria so dropped anchor. This site seems to cater mainly for long-term stayers and is a bit higgledy piggledy, but we're only staying for a couple of nights so it'll do – and it's relatively cheap too despite having otherwise excellent amenities including a cafe/bar, restaurant and swimming pool. The mini-market had closed down but we quickly discovered a “Pingo” supermarket a short distance away, not that we needed anything.

Monday 25th March – Rota to Vila Real de Santo Antonio

Rota to Vila Real de Santo Antinio - 210 miles

We decided to stay another day at Rota as it was such a nice spot, it was warm and sunny …......... and it was Sunday! But ever onward and after a delayed getaway due to chatting with a solo Brit who was new to European motorhoming (actually we think he was just a tad lonely....) we set off with a view to visiting El Rocio which apparently is the venue for one of the largest celebrations of the horse – no that didn't come out right. But at Pentecost apparently thousands of horsey folk descend on the place as some form of pilgrimage with parades, carnival etc. and is quite a spectacle. However as it's not Pentecost we didn't expect to see much.

So a nice run up to Seville and we took extra care negotiating the very busy motorwork network. After a few miles westbound we turned off towards El Rocio, pausing to refill the fuel tank as it is cheaper in Spain than Portugal, before entering the town. First impressions were that motorhomes were not welcome, with signs everywhere, then the one and only campsite didn't help by not accepting dogs, despite assurances in our ACSI campsite book that they did. Then when looking for somewhere to park for an hour to have lunch and look around, it was all pay parking. Now we're not averse to this but the place was deserted and looked decidedly scruffy with lots of closed “touristy” places so we turned round and cleared off.

The road skirts a National Park, which is why it is awkward to get to and we could either return the way we came, anathema to us, or continue along the scenic coast road. Not our day today as it was neither scenic or coastal with fences along both sides and next to nowhere to stop. We eventually pulled into one of the service access roads and parked by the locked gate – nobody was obviously using it – and had a very late lunch.

It got no better as we headed towards Huelva and into our normal stopping time, so with no prospect of finding an overnight spot we just got back onto the motorway and headed into Portugal where we knew of a few aires close to the border which should be okay. Once registered for automatic toll payments we headed for Vila Real de Santo Antonio and the aire on the riverside, where we found a few spaces left and slotted between two English couples, now resident in France and thus being French registered. A bit chat when we discovered they were both originally from County Durham then a welcome drink, tea and settle, having to be reminded to turn our clocks back one hour because Portugal is on UK time.

We'll probably stay a couple of nights before heading onwards. However a check of the longer-term weather forecast indicates it is going to turn much colder everywhere at the end of the week so we'll have to consider some alternatives.

Saturday 23rd March – Castellar de la Frontera to Rota

Castellar de la Frontera to Rota - 110 miles

Awoke to a somewhat cloudy, windy but warm day in no rush as we were planning on being a bit flexible for a while. So after breakfast and the usual seeing to the van, we decided to take a ride up to Sanlucar de Barramedar, a place we've stayed before and loved, but we had heard about some difficulties with motorhome parking there – however we had an alternative planned.

But first Bertie was in dire need of a thorough wash so having identified a suitable place yesterday, we went back to Los Palomes and spent €10 on a thorough jet-wash, before taking to the motorway once more with a now fully serviceable TomTom in charge.

The problem with satnavs is that they need to be kept up to date and as we hadn't done this, whilst at Mohammedia we'd given it a try. All we needed to do was connect to the internet and, yes, there were a few map updates waiting so off we go. Until our Maroc internet expired, which had the effect of deleting the existing maps – they were still there but we couldn't get at them....... We subsequently tried again several times but were only finally successful yesterday afternoon once we had re-connected to a new simcard with lots of gigabytes to play with. Lesson learned!

So TomTom did his stuff and took us straight to a campsite outside of Sanlucar. No, that's not where we wanted to be so reprogrammed the old-fashioned way, that is using lat/long, and tried again. That worked but on arrival we were not surprised to find the aire had been closed down, as well as it's associated service point. It's a real shame because it's a lovely town to visit but we guess it became a victim of its own success – we had heard of problems whilst it had been in use.

We did see, however, a large beachside parking area just outside the town with several motorhomes parked on it and no apparent restrictions so we went there for lunch in the now blazing hot sunshine. Unfortunately it was also very exposed to the still very strong winds so we elected not to stay longer and instead headed for our alternative at Rota.

Rota is known for it's large US Navy base, but the aire is well away from that, in a nice beach-side location that was reasonably protected from the wind by large sand dunes. Only a few spaces left, we squeezed in then took Jamie for a quick run down to the beach before returning to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Friday 22nd March – Algeciras to Castellar de la Frontera

As luck would have it, last night we got parked next to our friends June and Derek who, unbeknownst to us, had also crossed back to Spain a lot earlier than expected, so a small reunion took place. Then after breakfast we went our separate ways, us to spend several hours completely restocking our supplies, ready for the next part of the adventure.

After lunch we said our final goodbyes (well maybe, their plans are not too dissimilar to ours) then went off to refill the gas bottles before heading to the quiet aire at Castellar de la Frontera, a few miles up in the hills behind Algeciras, which we've used before on several occasions. As usual, only a few vans parked up so we settled, sorted out the shopping and relaxed, both of us still a bit fraught with yesterdays shenanigans.

Checked the weather forecast and we've sort of planned to head west to the Algarve then amble slowly north through Portugal.

Thursday 21st March - Mohammedia to Algeciras

Mohammedia to Algeciras - 228 (road) miles plus sea crossing

Well we stayed three nights and did precisely nothing, just chilled out in the sun, walked the dog and watched the comings and goings, including a biggish group of Swiss/Germans who stayed for one night – they'd obviously booked because at least 15 spaces had been “reserved” by the guardian.

But all good things come to an end and it was time to move on. Our plan was to go to Asilah and overnight, getting a crossing on Friday but, with hindsight, Terry's subconscious must have kicked in because we did some calculations and realised we could make the 1700 ferry. We'd seen the weather forecast, which was for strong winds and indeed we were already encountering them on the motorway, although this hadn't actually registered with us. There follows a tale about what can, will and does happen when plans start to fall apart...........

Having decided to miss Asilah and go for the 5.00pm ferry, we arrived at checkin at 4.05pm with the board saying checkin closed. About to have an investigate we were accosted by an "agent" who told us the 5.00pm was the last ferry of the day, all others cancelled today and tomorrow due to the weather. However he said, "just because you are British" (and he should also have said gullible) "I can get you on the last ferry". He took me to the side door of the checkin office, took my documents and after some shilly shallying around handed me our boarding passes - and asked for 100 dirhams (for my brother in the office). Okay, thinks I, probably worth it, but at that point Bren had been to the bureau de exchange and changed all our dirhams into Euros, which she had in her hand. To my deepest embarrasment I managed to give him the 50 note - yes €50 rather than the €10 she was also holding. I put it down to a mental lapse due to the rush, but he must have thought it was Christmas!

Okay, so we were on. Down to Immigration, we'd somehow "lost" the yellow immigration exit forms so the nice policeman told us to go back to the gate and get new ones, which we filled in then went back to him, accepting a mild telling-off. Customs clearance was dead easy, didn't even want to talk to us. Then we found the original yellow forms - talk about idiot Brits - not our best day!

Onto the quayside, last motorhome in the queue as promised. Until 3 others came in after us. At 5.00pm there was no sign of a ship - the 3 others which had been berthed had gone. At 6.00pm a ship hove into view. At 7.00pm we started loading. At 8.15pm the ship finally sailed and we enjoyed a nice chat with a fellow Funster and his wife on a remarkably smooth crossing. Docked at 9.45pm, we managed to get a flyer by driving around all the other idiots waiting patiently for someone else to move. By 10.00pm we were parked up at Carlos', the ticket agents overnighting area, walked and fed the dog then into McD's for something to eat - didn't matter what, we were starving! 

We subsequently learned that several sailings had already been cancelled and this was indeed the last ferry for a couple of days and had combined several departures. We're not altogether sure these cancellations were weather related, but did discover that all departures for the next two days had in fact been cancelled. Subconscious? Luck? Whatever, we could have been stuck for a few days.....

And so endeth our Morocco visit for 2019. At the beginning we said this was probably going to be our last visit but this has now been reviewed and we'll likely come again next year. Yes Morocco has changed significantly since our last visit and looks to be rapidly dragging itself into the 21^st century. However there is still enough of the old left for a good few years not to completely lose it's character.

Monday 18th March – Oualidia to Mohammedia

Oualidia to Mohammedia - 150 miles

With Terry feeling much better we decided to carry on north today so transferred the water “reserve” into the tank, emptied the loo and departed this very nice spot. Our intention was to use the motorway but, in case of problems, we wanted to exchange the small Moroccan gas bottle so started out on the coast road. After we were refused at a couple of places we realised that nobody wanted our Atlasgas bottle, everywhere was Afriquagas, so forgot about it for now.

Bren was feeling a little queasy and the road, not as good as some, was not helping so when we saw a sign to the motorway we turned off. Bad move! Firstly it took us almost back on ourselves, which we didn't immediately realise until Terry noticed the sun was in the wrong place and secondly because the road was awful – so bad the waste tap opened and spilled the entire contents over a verge; oh dear me!

But eventually we found the access road and were soon bowling along on a blissfully smooth carriageway in 6^th gear with the cruise control looking after things. Past Al Jedidah then we paused for lunch on a service area before deciding that Mohammedia was an eminently doable destination. So TomTom was programmed for L'Oceane Bleu campsite, a place we've stayed a few times, and we carried on in ever increasing traffic as we passed Casablanca. Barely recognisable from our earlier visits we turned off the motorway after paying around a tenner in tolls, and found the approach road, noting large numbers of recently completed holiday apartments. We were guided to an excellent pitch in full sun and, formalities completed, Terry took Jamie for a quick walk on the beach then a cuppa and settle in.

There have been a few changes here; the surrounding developments have now all been completed so there is no more building site noise, some new pitches have been created at what was the rear of the site plus a number of “bungalows”, in reality glorified bedrooms, have been added. Sadly nothing has been done about the inadequate ablutions block which in view of the tremendous advances we've seen elsewhere is letting the place down.

Not sure yet how long we are going to stay but we plan to cross back to Spain on Friday and it is a decent day's drive to the port so we'll probably have to build in one more stop somewhere. We'll think about it but it is pleasant enough here and the sun is shining............

Oualidia (again!)

A very unsettled night and Terry was out early to find a pharmacy, where a friendly and helpful lady sold him a 5 day course of strong anti-biotics – you don't need prescriptions for run-of-the-mill medication here. The first tablet had an almost immediate effect, relieving the pain, but he spent the rest of the day asleep! There was a warning on the packet – don't drive or operate machinery.........

So a quiet day for Bren and Jamie, and this continued into Sunday as well as we decided to stay over a couple of days rather than chance any problems with side effects. At least Sunday Breakfast was manageable, listening to Michael Ball on Radio 2 and catching up on logs and blogs. Seems the weather at home is not very nice.

But by bed-time he was much improved and we decided to carry on north tomorrow.

Friday 15th March – Kaouki Beach to Oualidia

Kaouki Beach to Oualidia - 134 miles

Terry was up during the night with a developing toothache, attempting to relieve it with Ibuprofen, and then earlyish again to try paracetomol. It was obviously a repeat of a previous problem and anti-biotics will be needed. But we got the remainder of the packing done, breakfast and a full service before paying the, this time, young lady receptionist who spoke perfect English. Seems that English is taught in all schools for 5 years as a “second language” but she had done an extra two years. French is taught as the main language but Arabic is apparently learned as part of growing up and not part of formal education, which seems a bit strange.

We decided to forego Essaouira but nevertheless called in to Carrefour for some bits and pieces – as usual two items on the list but we came out with a trolley full! A fuel refill then on our way, deciding to use the coastal road to Safi. However we had forgotten that this wasn't very good, okay for the first half but decidely Moroccan thereafter to Safi, past the industrial works. Despite it being Friday and their Holy Day, and so expected to be quiet, we were also plagued with a series of heavy trucks which were of course next to impossible to pass so also had to put up with dust and fumes.

Through Safi, refusing a diversion that TomTom offered us, and we paused for lunch outside one of the universities on the coastal hill leaving the town to the north. From there on it was a nice quiet run along the coast to Oualidia where the guardian parking was quite busy, although there's always room here and we squeezed into a quiet corner. We'll probably stay a few days but anti-biotics are becoming a priority as ibuprofen and paracetomol aren't having much effect on Terry's toothache.

Kaouki Beach (again!)

Up earlyish, ready to “bag” the pitch next to June & Derek. They didn't show any signs of moving so as the next one was vacated we pulled onto it for now. Later they moved off and we took their place. We've noticed that there is quite a high turnover of vans on this site, with a goodly number who have stayed a few days moving on first thing. Then the “ten o'clock shuffle” begins with folk looking for a better pitch. Around 2.30 pm more vans start to arrive until once again the site is full.

Tuesday was a bit dull until mid-afternoon with a cool on-shore breeze but it later dropped and the remainder of our stay was again hot and sunny. We continued our theme of not doing a lot, taking Jamie onto the beach several times for a good run and on Wednesday tried the “restaurant” in the village again – an okay meal but at less than a fiver a head who's complaining?

Our friends, who were staying in Morocco a few days more than us, had made plans to visit Fez, Meknes and Volubilis, so they left on Thursday morning. We've loved travelling with them but are unlikely to see them again this trip although we'll stay in touch. We decided to stay one more day at Kaouki Beach and then continue up the coast, maybe having a day visit to Essaouira on the way. We're starting to feel “morocco'd out”.

Monday 11 March – Aourir to Kaouki Beach

Aourir to Kaouki Beach - 116 miles (including backtrack to Agadir)

An early start into another bright sunny and rapidly warming up day. We have decided to move on, Derek and June leaving well before us but they don't have breakfast so we'll catch up later. Finish packing away, a quick service, pay the man and and on our way, avoiding a large British van with a trailer who arrived as we were leaving. Had a quick chat, surprised at such an early arrival but they had come off the main campsite in Agadir which, as we already knew, was diabolical.

Our first call was back to Agadir to see if the Speedy (aka Kwikfit in the UK) could recharge the air-conditioning but they had run out of gas so no joy there. However our visit wasn't entirely a loss as we made a short call into Marjane for extra supplies of water, soft drinks etc. Then headed north.

About 7km past Tagazhoute, our old but now defunct special place, we checked out the new campsite we had noticed on our way down a couple of weeks ago. It appears to be affiliated to the existing Atlantica Park, which is just up the road but a little away from the coast, and is well laid out with all facilities including a large restaurant. It's best feature though is that it is right on a superb beach. A place to bear in mind for another visit and yet another example of how fast Morocco is developing its tourist industry.

A pleasant run up the N1, which was quiet for a change, along the coastline. There are some fabulous beaches here which look good for surfing, and quite a few places where it is possible to pull off the road to access them. But there is also a plethora of “no motorhomes” signs – you would probably be okay during the day but almost certainly be moved on if attempting a night stop. Unfortunately the popularity of motorhoming is also it's worst enemy because as soon as one or two vans stop, many more join them leading to problems with litter, waste disposal etc. which the local authorities simply don't want.

Shortly after the busy little town of Tamri the road climbs steeply up into the hills and we paused close to the top for lunch and to admire the view, somewehat hazy today so photos were pointless. Further on we spotted a radar speed trap in the distance and although we weren't speeding reduced by a few mph and so weren't troubled. However a French motorhome coming up behind us wasn't so observant and was directed onto the side of the road. Well that's the traffic cops lunch paid for....!

A left turn onto the coastal road saw us caught behind an overloaded (as usual) little van pouring smoke, causing us to shut the windows and turn off the fresh air vents, with no way to pass on the good but single lane road. In no rush, we just hung back until he went his own way, and then enjoyed the final run along the coast again to Sid Kaouke, and Kaouki Beach Camping where we'd stayed before and were due to join up again with our friends.

Being later than our usual stopping time, the site was almost full but we managed to squeeze into a corner for now, knowing that come morning there would be folk moving on. A strong wind had got up as we joined the coast which had the benefit of taking the edge off the temperature so our afternoon cuppa and chat was enjoyed inside. We learned that the French couple on the pitch next to June and Derek were leaving in the morning, so we'll try to bag it tomorrow.

We're now coming to the end of our Morocco visit so are making more definite plans. A few nights here then maybe a day visit to Essaouria before continuing up the coast.

Aourir

Saturday

A nice peaceful night and we took our time in the morning. It seemed that the weather had suddenly turned noticeably warmer and we were quick to get the awning up for some shade. We decided last night that we'd stay here for a few days and get caught up so the morning was taken up with a good cleanup and a session with a washing machine as well as a proper service of the van.

Later it was once again time to relax, after we'd given Jamie a proper wash. He'd accumulated so much dust that he was more brown than white, which no amount of brushing would shift so into the shower with a bottle of doggy shampoo. He didn't much like it but let us clean him up so that by the time he'd properly dried out, not long in the heat, he was once again all nice white and fluffy! We think he appreciated it................

Yesterday afternoon, as it has done for the previous ten days or so, the wind got up to be quite strong so we were watching for it but, although the breeze did increase, it didn't get out of hand. The temperatures stayed around 30 deg and even just before midnight, when Terry took Jamie out for his late night wee, it was still low twenties.

Sunday

Was a bit more washing but as it was Sunday Breakfast day things were decidedly lazy. The washing dried quickly though so that's another job out of the way, probably the last time in Morocco. We hummed and hahed about having a meal in the onsite restaurant but it wasn't cheap, the menu was a bit limited and it has to be booked and taken before 6.30 pm so we decided not to bother – we're pretty well stocked up anyway.

During the afternoon another Brit van arrived and we had a chat with Moroccan first-timers who had been following the MotorhomeFun forum thread – if you're reading this, sorry we forgot to ask your names! Nice to get good feedback though.

As I write at teatime we still haven't decided but will probably move on again tomorrow, firstly back to Agadir where we spotted a place where we might get the aircon fixed. From there we'll likely head north along the coast and cruise gently back over the next 10 days to Tangier.

It's been very hot today - ironic as whilst writing we've been listening to Radio 2 reporting heavy snow, storms, road closures etc. in the UK.

Friday 8 March – Taroudant to Aourir

Taroudant to Aourir - 67 miles

Although it was quiet overnight, the city traffic started early so we were a little disturbed but rose around our normal time. Due to a miscalculation we didn't have much breakfast but managed before our friends turned up. Our plans had gone a little awry but in the end we decided to at least go have a look at the two souks and the two squares which our Rough Guide said were worth a visit.

June and Derek went on ahead whilst we finished off then set out to see the sights, leaving Jamie in a well-ventilated and shaded van. Being all within impressive walls, the town is actually not all that big but of course has many streets and alleys leading everywhere but with the help of friendly locals, wanting “to practice their English”, we found first the Berber then the Arab souk. Both were really much like any other souk we've visited but as today was Friday, the Muslim holy day, many of the stalls were closed. We did, however find a stall selling something we had been looking for and made a good purchase, although we admit our bargaining skills aren't really any match for the Arabs!

Decorated wooden gate to Kasbah

Walls close to Kasbah

Bab Al Kasbah

Olive Press

We then found our way to Place Assarag, said to be a (much) smaller copy of the more famous Jemmaa el Fna in Marrakesh, checking out the various cafes for our friends, passing several times through the smaller Place Talmoklate and fending off a very friendly but somewhat persistent guy trying, among other things, to sell us a trip by calleche, or horse-drawn trap. Some bread for lunch then back to the van. We also kept walking past the hospital morgue.............!

Having seen all that we wanted, we made tracks for Agadir, using a new fast dual carriageway road along the generally non-descript Souss valley, heading for the large Marjane hypermarket to stock up again. The traffic around Agadir was absolutely chaotic, given that today is supposed to be a holy day, like our Sunday, but thankfully Marjane, like most UK supermarkets, didn't conform to the religious pattern and was fully open.

Once finished there we consulted with our friends and decided to have a look for an apparent campsite they had spotted just north of the city. Unfortunately there was nothing there but our campsite information showed a place a few kilometres inland which we remembered from a much earlier trip so we headed there to find an excellent site, well organised with very good facilities although not the cheapest we've used. Less than half full we found a pleasant pitch which promised good sun so set up, after being conned by the shop owner to buy a big plateful of freshly made vanilla slices - “they'll last 5 days in your fridge”. Not in our fridge they won't.................

We'll stay a few days and get caught up with things, like washing and this blog.............

Thursday 7 March – Tafraoute to Taroudant

Tafraoute to Taroudante - 116 miles

Up earlyish to a partially cloudy and quite cool morning, which was actually quite nice as we are moving on today. June and Derek left early and we planned to meet up with them later, so after servicing the van and saying our goodbyes all round we headed out.

First call in a very quiet town centre was to refuel – although we had half a tank our rule is don't let it get less unless you are sure of the next refill. Then out to the north east, climbing steadily up to the rim of the bowl Tafraoute is in and across the hills on an excellent but almost deserted road to Ighrem, stopping a short distance after for lunch. Then another good but “scenic” road across the Anti Atlas mountains, generally above 4000 ft amsl before descending sharply into the Souss valley and onto a long dead straight road to Taroudant.

We had planned, and programmed TomTom, to go to the “official” guardian parking but when we were directed to turn in through the city walls we baulked and instead set off around them, ignoring TomTom, to try and find the parking area. The walls are a 6km drive all round and, of course, we went the entire length before finding the parking area we knew of; yes about 100 metres from where we had turned the other way........... We'd set the wrong place and of course our friends were at the other one!

But anyway we parked up and after a cuppa took Jamie and went looking. We didn't find them so returned through the city and were not really impressed – neither was Jamie who kept sitting down as if to say “I've had enough” it now being very warm. We later communicated and agreed to meet up tomorrow, which apparently did not go down that well with their guardian who was saving a place for us.

Tafraoute 2

Our days took on a bit of a pattern. Not up too early as the sun didn't come over the rim until around 9.00 but then the temperature climbed quickly. We had orientated the van to take advantage of all day sunshine but had to add additional screening by deploying our windblockers so that we could enjoy the sunshine without getting burned!

Afterwards it was a mix of doing light chores and hobbies plus frequent chats with other Funsters going to and from the town. Occasionally we visited the town too for essential shopping and a few times to enjoy meals out too. We've eaten out a lot more on this trip than ever before but it's so cheap and so good it's not worth cooking ourselves.

Most days the wind freshened up at around 4.00 pm, necessitating taking in the awning, despite extra tie-downs. Several times there were Funster “beer-o-clock” get-togethers, and we hosted one on our last day at Tafraoute, inviting the first non Funster Brits we've seen in Morocco to join in. On that occasion we also met a couple of Kiwis (New Zealand) on a very extended tour of Europe and beyond – they were already 21 months into their trip with no plans to return home!

Beer-o-clock

However all good things come to an end and we started getting itchy feet, not for the want of seeing something else but just to move on. So after our beer-o-clock we packed everything away, ready for a reasonable start in the morning. When we first came to Morocco we said this was probably our last time, however we've enjoyed it so much so far that that decision may be looked at carefully!

Tafraoute

Well we thought it was about time we stopped enjoying ourselves and reported back to our readers!

As we've said before Tafraoute is likely our favourite place in Morocco, maybe because we have happy memories of enjoying time with many other Funsters, the superb weather, the lively and welcoming township – and also because it's CHEAP! Okay, it's guardian parking, that is, rough camping with security and a few facilities thrown in, but at 15 dirhams (about £1.25) a night it's the bargain of the year and many, many motorhomers take advantage of it. There's probably upwards of 300 motorhomes here of all nations, ranging from simple converted vans through to super-liner monsters towing cars, buggies and motorbikes. Then there is a smattering of giant off-road machines, designed for the desert proper, usually German. But the place is so large that, unless you want to live hand-in-glove, like the French seem to insist on, there is plenty of room to be on your own if you wish.

Water is delivered by bowser who you need to keep an eye open for and then wave him down, but he'll deliver as much as you want for 25 dirhams. The toilet cassette emptying facility is primitive and totally inadequate for the number of people here, so you need to pick your time – 5.00 am seems to be good! As for “grey” water, most just water the few stunted trees.

Local tradesmen call round at intervals, the most regular being the bread man who will leave you a baguette or bap in the bag you tie to a door handle and leave 2dh in before you go to bed - he also does absolutely delicious coconut macaroons! Solar panels, bodywork repairs, argon oil, honey, windscreen and wheel covers, floormats – we've met vendors for them all. Local ladies offer a “meals-on-wheels” menu, home-cooked and served in your van, also a laundry service if you wish. Young lads collect used water containers (they get a kick-back for them) and will also run errands – one took our gas bottle for replacement this morning, was back within an hour and was overwhelmed when I told him to keep the change, around £1 which is a lot to them. The gas cost £4 for a 13kg bottle – how much is it in the UK?

The weather has been fabulous, the main reason of course for us coming to Morocco. The sun comes up over the eastern rim – Tafraoute is in a bowl, almost completely encircled by mountains – at around 8.00 am and disappears the opposite side around 6.45 pm. Overnight temperatures drop to a comfortable 12 deg and during the day we've seen as high as 37 deg. Mid-afternoon a strong easterly breeze gets up, enough to cause us to take in the awning, but it remains very warm. But just to ring the changes, this morning it was partially cloudy although it has mostly cleared and is once again quite hot. The solar panel has the batteries recharged by 10.00 am.

We've walked into the town a couple of times, once for some shopping on market day when it gets totally chaotic, and one evening for a meal at an excellent restaurant for the princely sum of £12 for the two of us! There are others which are, shall we say, colourful but are very enjoyable and we'll almost certainly be eating out again. The locals are very friendly and almost without exception very helpful, although they always have an eye to turning an advantage, but also they are not pushy and accept Europeans as a normal part of life – there are quite a lot of us about however......

Our reason for coming a little later this year was to see the 9^th annual Almond Festival and this has been taking place over the last few days, today being the last. During the day there are stalls selling goodies, a bit like a Christmas market we suppose but realistically only up-market versions of stuff you can get every day. A big sound stage has been erected in the main square near the mosque and that has been hosting entertainment for the last three nights – and we mean nights; it was still going when Terry got up at 7.30 am this morning. Unfortunately it was quite loud too and Arabic music sounds very repetitive to us so not to our taste. Never mind, we can at least tick that off our todo list.

Our days have been generally spent relaxing, in and out of the sun so that we're colouring up nicely without getting sunburned. The humidity is very low so the heat is much easier to cope with. We've had a few get-togethers with our Funster friends and more are planned – we've just been told about a planned “farewell lunch” in a local hotel next week. Brenda is getting quite a lot of her sewing done, although the quilt is still slow progress, whilst both of us have got through a good number of books.

We've had a couple of problems with the van, not entirely unexpected given it is now 12 years old with 107,000 miles on the clock, but nothing serious thank goodness. We tried to use the cab air-conditioning on our drive up here from the coast but it wouldn't work; suspect it needs a recharge but we'll need a proper garage for that which we'll look for later. The freshwater pump started to fail so we replaced it with the spare we carry. As previously mentioned the mains electricity element in the fridge failed on our way through Spain but, not being able to get a replacement, we're managing okay on gas, although using a lot more than before. Finally we thought we had a leak after unexpectedly running out of water, but that appears to have been us using more than we had thought when doing some washing, though we'll keep an eye on it.

Strangely we've seen no other Brits other than from MotorhomeFun all the time we've been in Morocco and have come to the conclusion that insurance companies introducing a hefty charge for the obligatory Green Card has deterred many this year. The French however, after a couple of lean years when we heard they'd had the same problem, are back in force, totally overwhelming all other nationalities.

We haven't made any plans about when we intend to move on, or even where although a couple of ideas are being kicked around – this year was always intended as a relaxing break rather than rushing around being tourists. We've not taken many photos either but here are a few more, some taken by our good friend Phil.

Must finish now, my deck chair is calling.......................

The camping area (Phil)

Evening falls (Phil)

Sunrise (Phil)

The mountain rim (Phil)

Lion Rock - can you see his face? (Phil)

Daily visitors

Main road into town

Festival poster