11 days
9 campsites
500 miles
3 breakdowns

On wednesday having embarked on a high spirited leg of the journey we buoyantly turned of the motorway to a fuel station. As we trotted back to the camper and climbed in we were met with silence as Dave turned the key. Well, I say silence, actually there is the faint click of the engine registering the attempt but then nothing. We pushed her out of the way of the fuel pumps and tried to stop within some shade. This was the same issue we had had in West Wittering – and something that seemed to be random. The engine has been running like a dream – so although a little frustrating we knew it could be worse. After an hour of Dave and I looking up the books, Dave crawlying under the camper and in the engine bay we were at a loss. Perhaps it was the heat, maybe the starter motor had a problem, we knew it wasn’t the battery . In the end we decided to do it the old school was and flexed some muscles getting to the top of the hill/slip road than ran back down to the motorway. We pushed and she started rolling, Dave jumped in and I kept pushing, then he gave me the call and I chased after him and jumped in just as Dave popped the clutch and she came roaring into life. We decided not to risk another pit stop and so kept going until we reached out next stop at Zaragoza – where we decided to have a break and stay for two nights!

With every passing day we become increasingly confident in getting to know the ins and outs of driving a 40 year old car. She has been running brilliantly and that has been a significant help in becoming more relaxed. However, each time a car gets too close, we miss a junction or a sharp corner comes up too quickly our nerves reappear – we, therefore, recognise the importance in making our lives easy when choosing routes and ensuring we have a break when we can.

As you might have noticed our goal at the moment is getting to Barcelona. As we are running in a newly put together engine we need to do a complete service including oil change at 500miles – and we are going to be close to 600 by the time we get there. I say we buy this is also being incorporated with a ‘holiday’ for my dad and my brother and his girlfriend are coming to spend some time in Barcelona/show us how the hell you change all the oil in an engine! So we left Zaragoza on Friday morning and made a good 130 miles (we are going to be working in miles as we need to use the milometre to count miles and to work out petrol consumption – neither the petrol gauge or speedometer work!) arriving in Montblanc in the afternoon. The engine was a little hot when we arrived and so the final 70 miles will be done in two stages to ensure our safe arrival in Barcelona. We are also very grateful to have been ignored by the police so far – apparently we are meant to have a red and white stripped sign attached to the bikes on the back but we have had no luck actually finding one anywhere. Although the police car that passed up (without sirens blaring) at 120 mph would have had trouble seeing us and our disregard for road rules anyway.

We are staying in a campsite in Montblanc which makes you want to be a kid again the playgrounds and pools are incredible. As we are still in the Spanish low season we are blessed with having camping plots with no one around, the toilet and shower blocks are always empty and our only other company so far are the local families who all come to spend their days by the pool. Lovely to watch the relaxed attitude: the mums sit around nattering and smoking, the dads all stand pools side in some sort of display of abs and masculinity, the kids play happily and are left to their own devices often looked after by older children. They chat, they smoke, they laugh, they play and above all they are relaxed and smile a lot. I really can’t imagine the same if this pool side was full of british holiday makers. Although we have just witnessed the ‘naughty towel’ showing perhaps things are not so different! Another blessing about being in our own quiet plot is that no one else had to hear Dave’s 1 hour discussion (with himself) about the best job in the world. If you are interested, apparently it is the bass guitarist from U2…he has then money, none of the hassle and he is doing something he is good at. Anyway….So while we are yet to explore the off the beaten track, traditional and historic areas of Spain, we feel as if we are getting a taste of the way of life. We are also finding the traditional variation of our London lives. All the coffees are full mob people having iced coffees. Not your costabucks frappadooda but a waiter giving you a glass full of ice and then pouring a double espresso over the top…just so much better!

As we drove here we are struck by the surprisingly bare and dry landscape aside from a few fruit tree vineyards there was nothing. Even the roads around the motorway were dirt tracks and we saw endless depressingly beautiful ruins including a whole village with only the stunning stone church still relatively in one piece holding its ground in the centre. We felt like we could be in the wild west and that cowboys and Indians are hiding in the hill tops ready to attack each other at any moment. Actually we were often alone on the roads so able to soak it all in – we swiftly realised that no one pays for the tolls and so we are free to have most of those roads to ourselves – having seen the traffic on the single a roads trying to climb the steep hills we are grateful to pay to have a path sliced through the hills for us. Although of course that finances willow stretch to this around all of Europe.

So we are happy and safe and although feeling the tiredness a little from the stress of the last few months….we are in Spain….and that is what Siestas are for!