Spain to Morocco

After an amazing night out with Kevin and Heike we got up in the morning feeling a little worse for wear. We packed up at a slow pace and said goodbye to the residents in the camp site. They seem to spend winters in Spain and then head back home for the summer. All very lovely people who all seem to come from the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and of course England. They were all very interested in our adventure and the vehicles, all coming up to take photo's and having a nosy around the cars. When we left it was like having another leaving party with them all congregating to say goodbye and wishing us safe travels.

We were on the road again and made our way down south where we stopped at a very crowded campsite called La Manga (http://www.caravaning.es/en/campsite-la-manga-del-mar-menor). You could even call it a village as people seemed to make their caravans permanent with great big satellite dishes in their tiny pitches. Packed in like sardines, we all had the same idea that this place was mental and couldn't understand why people flocked to it. Possibly just not our cup of tea as we love open space with views, but we paid 14euros for the night, so couldn't complain.

After spending some time in France and Spain, I have personally come to the conclusion that the Spanish seem to be much more friendly than the French (however the French do know how to make lovely little cakes and pastries). The houses seem rather run down but there are lovely little places that stand out from the rest. I particularly enjoyed driving in Spain as the views were absolutely beautiful with large areas devoted to farming with beautiful orange tree's and vineyards. We did however, pass many prostitutes which surprised me! Is there such a large market for them to be sat at every 100 yards? It saddens me to realise so many have had such a bad life that they are brought to sell their bodies. It makes me realise how lucky I am!

It was time to hit the road in the morning, we made our way down to the next camp site that had a lovely heated pool which was such a treat. We spend the evening and the morning having long dips with the boys doing back flip and tricks into the big pool. Such fun!! The local residents too came to say their hello's and warned us of the torrential rains coming in the next couple of days. They weren't wrong either, at the next camp site it certainly did come down. As the weather was so bad there were no Ferries running that day so we booked one for the next at £150 per couple and car and hoped for the weather to improve. So we sat by the bar and drank far too much with the beer only being 1.80 euro's each.  We met a lovely gentlemen from Germany called Martin who was travelling southern Europe on his bicycle. We swapped stories and got happily merry together. We invited him for dinner and enjoyed a good old spag bol. He seemed to love the company and so did we. What a great way to spend out last night in Spain.

In the morning the weather had subsided after a very stormy night, so it was time to head for the ferry, and say goodbye to Europe.

(I have started our expenses and have decided not to publish it till the end. If you are thinking of doing a trip like this, and would like to have an idea of what we are spending our money on, please don't hesitate to send us a message and I'd happily forward it to you. This was something I really struggled to find when doing my research.)

Spain

Just a quick update... As you know Cat and Charles have their blog. Obviously some of the info on theirs will be the same as ours, so please forgive me if you end up reading the same info. But ultimately this blog is for Rob and myself to forever remember our travels. I hope you can appreciate that.

With us wanting to spend the day in Barcelona to celebrate Cats birthday, we wanted to find a campsite with good access to the centre of the city. We came across an idealic campsite with a small walk to the train station. We checked into Casas Crosas S. L. campsite in El Masnou which was very pricey at €27 a night, but I suppose to be expected so close to Barcelona.

We arrived at about 4pm, set up camp and headed for the beach in search of much needed celebratory birthday drinks for Cat. We found a lovely bar on the harbour with great service, wifi and of course cold beers! After a few we headed back for an early dinner and straight to bed, ready for Barcelona in the morning.

In the morning it was time for a good hearty breakfast (porridge and coffee) before we head off to the train station ready for an awesome day in Barcelona. Not forgetting a few balloons and happy birthday signs as we couldn't really celebrate Cats birthday the day before. 

Don't we just look the part while sporting our Craghoppers gear!? Thanks Graghoppers, these clothes are perfect for the outdoors.

After about a 5min walk we were at the train station with a very cheap return ticket at €5 each. We were certainly in Spain with a Spanish man peacefully playing his guitar all the way there. Once off the train we booked ourselves into a day City Tour Bus (€27 each) so we could experience and see as much of Barcelona as we could in a day. What an amazing experience seeing the amazing architecture of Barcelona. 

One of Gaudi's greatest works also know as La Pedrera, with the stone façade suggesting the movement of the waves. He seemed to have monopolised Barcelona with more beautiful buildings such as the Sagrada familia and Casa Batlló. And not forgetting the beautiful cathedral. 

I'll post photos when I can.

What a fantastic day! We arrived back made some botched dinner to tie us over after a very filling lunch. Nothing like rice, spam and spices... Lol! I brought out a little treat for Cat for her birthday with some cake fingers with candles to finish off the day.🎂🎂

My slimming world would be horrified with our lack of greenery. Oh well... You only live once 🙊

In the morning it was time to head off and make our way to Valencia. We found an idealic spot for only €15 a night. Fantastic place (Santa Marta in Cullera www.santamartacamping.com) that looks like it would be a buzzing place in the summer/peak months, with marble counters in the ablution blocks. Luxury camping... Lol! We did our first bit of washing which dried over night. I did make a boo boo and forgot to get a washing line.... But Charles came to the rescue with some para-cord. Yay!

We made another strange concoction for dinner using pasta, chorizo, 'nice' cheese (random cheese that Robs family had which was referred to as 'nice' cheese), broccoli, and a salad on the side. I was glad to see a bit of greenery finally! 

In the morning we headed for the beach where Cat and Charles ran along the boulevard and myself and Rob went for a speedy walk (still with a headache on tow, I wasn't up for a run). What a beautiful beach! We walked in awe at the beautiful views! We enjoyed a lovely iced coffee and off on the road again it was. We were VERY SURPRISINGLY to run into Kevin and Heike (couple who are doing the same trip and who we met at the overlanders show in the uk), you can view there travels on their Facebook page Kevin Heike. What a small world. We decided to camp together in a camp site in Benidorm (Armanello for €15 a night, thanks to Kevin and Heikes discount book). We will head out to town to have a drink or two or three! Should be an awesome night! 

On another note..

I'm going to post a spreadsheet of our expenses on here for each country as this was something I wanted to read on other blogs when we were doing our research, but there was nothing up to date and specific. So watch this space and will post at a later date. 

If you wanted the password to our spot tracker, please send us a message! 😘😘

Day 1 to day 3 - The hard goodbyes

What a fantastic last day in the uk before we headed to Dover to start our adventure.

We are all so overwhelmed by the shear love we received from our friends and family. 

Rob and I set off from our home where we said goodbye to Rob's family and of course our gorgeous little pooch, Bella. Goodbyes are never easy, but it did come as a bit of a shock to the system with our emotions going wild. This trip for us just wouldn't be possible without Rob's folks, so we are forever grateful that they gave up their home for us. We will most certainly miss them and hope Bella behaves while she's with them... Lol! (Almost no chance of that 😜🐾)

We headed off to Bicester to join Cat and Charles and all congregated at the local pub where all our friends and family came to wish us safe travels. Such an awesome moment in our lives, and a great way to start of our travels. A huge thanks to everyone who came, it was so special and we will miss you guys like crazy!

We were finally on the road after just under 2years of planning.

We arrived in Dover and all went well after having to dispose of excess petrol we had on board. Charles and I were chuffed to be showing off our newly acquired British passports (a momentous occasion for us South Africans). We made our way on board and onto the deck to wish England a farewell. Watching the boat motor away from the shore, it suddenly had hit me. WE ARE DOING THIS, ITS HAPPENING, NO MORE WAITING... (Well, I'm not even shy to admit it, but the odd jumping up and down like a silly school kid with excitement had to happen)

We arrived in Calais and started making our trek to Champlost. An uneventful drive, with a few odd mistakes due to tiredness, but we made it in good time driving through the night. We arrived in Champlost where we spent the afternoon with Robs family. She fed us well and spoils us like crazy! 

Unfortunately I've come down with a very nasty headache and haven't been able to keep down any food since yesterday. Very unfortunate but I think the tiredness took over and my body is telling me I need some good comfy rest! We are making a good hearty dinner later using French sausages (Cats favourite) which is just what the doctor ordered. 

Tomorrow will be spent celebrating Cats birthday with a day out in Barcelona. Can't wait xxxx

Its all starting to come together!

Well it certainly has been an exciting past couple of weeks.

Charles and Myself had to go through the final step before receiving our British passports; attending the interview which proves our identity. They asked all sorts of unusual questions which was quite interesting and very unnerving. My interviewee wanted to know the ins and outs of my time in the UK, including the time and date I arrived... It was 7 years ago that I arrived; what makes him think I can remember the time!? Charles and myself compared our interviews and by the sound of things mine was a lovely chat and Charles' was very militant with her being very abrupt and firm. So Charles walked away feeling very unsure if he had passed the test.
But he had nothing to worry about as our passports arrived a few days later. This has been a long time coming and an event we will remember forever!!!!

We had a lovely weekend at the Adventure Overlanders Show in Stratford-upon-Avon (http://www.adventureoverlandshow.net/). We had the luxury of camping with the UK Overlanders group (http://uk-overlanders.co.uk/) which was absolutely lovely as they are a brilliant bunch! We got to meet the lovely Kevin and Heike who will be doing pretty much the same journey as us. We are a little jealous though as they are leaving before us.. tisk tisk! But we hope to meet up with them somewhere in Morocco.
We also got to meet a fantastic couple who are also planning some very awesome overland trips over the coming months in their defender called Ruby the Landy.
It was such a treat to chat to like minded people who had some great tips and pointers for our trip. The love and support we receive is so overwhelmingly awesome. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to wish us safe travels.

We arrived at the show with the sun shining and a lovely greeting from Steve from the UK Overlanders forum. It was going to be a lovely week end! :)
We set up camp and opened a cold beer. Well the cold beers didnt stop there! They flowed all through the night as the boys stayed up, talking overlanding around the fire till 4am in the morning.

Well I think its safe to say many people felt very fragile on Saturday.

And then the rugby happened! Mixed feelings for the four of us as SOUTH AFRICA WON! but sadly England lost!!

After leaving this show, it just made me want to leave NOW... YESTERDAY!! Knowing that we have a bit of a wait still is a bit of a killer. But 'D' day will soon be here!!!

During the show Charles and I had some fun and made a bit of a video to show you the vehicles aka our homes. Please apologise as we may have had one too many. lol.....
We hope you enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI0YVz4jdpM

Make sure to follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Where-to-next-Africa-301927936647306/timeline/

Cat and Charles also have their blog at
http://ditsysdisco.blogspot.co.uk/

Meet the crew

Hi everyone,

So I've been fiddling with a movie maker this afternoon and thought I should introduce you to us crazy lot!! I got a little carried away, so it's a tad long as I just couldn't decide which photos to delete. We've had such awesome times together over the years...  

We are looking forward to making many many more memorable moments in our adventure which is just around the corner now.

But I hope you enjoy.

We had a fantastic weekend at the Stratford Overlanders Show, which I will write about throughout the week.

Have a great week 😊😊

Make sure to follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Where-to-next-Africa-301927936647306/timeline/

Cat and Charles also have their blog at
http://ditsysdisco.blogspot.co.uk/

The last of the Daisy and Ditzy's tweaking

The boys were hard at work this week-end tweaking all sorts of things with the two vehicles. I say this because they both returned looking black and grubby and smelling of diesel, and of course demanding food..... lots of food!

The focus was mainly on Charles' Ditzy, so I'll go through the list of jobs very briefly (As you know, I'm no mechanic!!)
- made a shovel mount from scratch to mount on the rear ladder
- tidied up the auxiliary battery and switch board wiring
- added two outside lights; one for the rear door and one under the awning (I foresee us fighting a loosing battle with the midges and massive flying bugs at night. Lol)
- the horn button wasn't working so this was re-wired
- a bracket was made for the steering wheel to cancel the indicators
- more wiring done on the alternator
- they did a crankshaft rear main oil seal as it was leaking quite badly
- replaced the centre diff washers, a job that was missed the first time Rob rebuilt the transfer box (apparently this was a fun job as it was the first time doing anything like this)
- cut off the rear bumper and refitted it more securely
- Charles fitted a ladder extension and drilled some more holes to allow for better adjustment of the ladder on his Howling Moon roof tent
- welded the over centre catches on the solar panels as the clasp wasn't strong enough and opened itself up in the closed position so a small weld prevents this and now works perfectly
- waterproofed the awning on Robs Daisy

So overall a very busy week-end.
As I was asking Rob for the list, half way through I started thinking "What the hell have I got myself into!?" I don't understand half of it and the list keeps coming!
But it's nice to know all that's left to do on the vehicles is a overall service and a good clean!! We are pretty much there!!! YAY

Other than that we applied and paid for the carnet which is Daisy's passport. A total of £890 (OUCH!), that's almost as bad as my citizenship application! This passport will allow us to temporarily import the car into all the African country's (except Egypt). We will receive the carnet around the 16th of October, ready for us to drive away into the sunset!! :)

Enough about the cars; lets talk fun, camping, overland, food and drink!
So we will be heading to the Stratford Overland Show this week-end where we can swap stories and gain some last minute advice from like minded people. We hope to meet you there for a beer or two, so please pop by and say hello!!
We are very excited for this show and its nice to see the weather should play along! We love opportunities like this as we get to test the cars and of course we get to see our travel buddies, Cat and Charles. We don't get to see them much as we live in different counties.

As always, make sure to follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/Where-to-next-Africa-301927936647306/timeline/

Cat and Charles also have their blog at
http://ditsysdisco.blogspot.co.uk/

Almost there..

Well, it certainly has been a long time since our last post. So I'm taking upon myself to give a little update on our progress while we slowly come closer and closer to a possible leaving date. Wahooo...

We are all starting to feel rather frustrated and just cant wait for that faithful day when we can say, "Right, we are outta here!!" and to finally start our adventure from the UK, along the west coast of northern Africa, all the way down to Cape Town.

We have had some delays with regards to paperwork for Charles and myself and therefore have had to move our original leaving date. We started by saying we would hit the road on the 3rd of August; well the 3rd swiftly came and went. And then we thought we would try head off from the Overlanders show in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 27th of September. Well, I can say that that wont be happening, so we have a more realistic date of the 24th of October. This date should give us more than enough time to get our ducks in a row.
Our biggest delay is because Charles and Myself(South African citizens) applied for British citizenship in April this year, which has taken much longer than originally anticipated. We are both over the moon as Charles went through his ceremony process last week and received his certificate (MASSIVE MOMENT!!). It was a great day as we all went to watch this very important moment and celebrated late into the evening with far too many drinks all round.
It was then my turn to go through the motion and pledge my elegance to Queen Elizabeth the second. (ANOTHER MASSIVE MOMENT!!) So I can very happily and gratefully say we are both British citizens and therefore have applied for that little maroon travel bible. So if all goes well we should have our British passports in our hands within the next 2-3weeks.

Over the past couple of months Charles and Rob have been hard at work on the odd weekends working on the vehicles to get them up to scratch with pretty much refurbished engines. To my knowledge our vehicle is pretty much ready with Rob installing the last bit of kit this week... the clutch. A good feeling! and the car is looking top notch if I don't say so myself. Charles still needs a few bits and bobs which the boys will be working on this weekend.
Then I believe all that's needed is to order the long list of spares. I wont go through this as I'm the typical girly girl who knows nothing about car bits. Come back to me at the end of this trip and I may turn into a very good mechanic with Rob's guidance and of course being thrown in the deep end when he asks for help.. lol!!

In the past couple of months we have had all our vaccinations and are now totally up to date. We certainly have felt like pin cushions while they poke and prod us with all sorts of different jabs. This is the list for those who are interested:
Typhoid
Tetanus/Diphtheria/Polia
Rabies 1, 2 and 3
Yellow fever
Meningitis/ACWY
Hepititis A
Hepititis B 1, 2 and 3
Cholera
240 malaria tablets each
We went on a very cool 1 day out door specific to our trip medical aid course which Cat very nicely and gratefully organised for us. Peter from the Oxford College of First Aid www.oxfordcollegefirstaid.co.uk was the guy who came and conducted the course. He was great, with a wealth of knowledge and went through all sorts of things like what to do with broken bones, burns, stings, bites, accidents, shock, general first aid, etc... the lot! obviously all while knowing we may be miles and miles away from any help or hospitals.
He went through a list of medical equipment we should carry with us at all times. Cat once again went ahead and sorted this all out for us and spoke to someone from www.dsmedical.co.uk. Apparently they were great and really helpful. Well done Cat!! Thank you...

But other than the knitty gritty stuff. We have had a great time camping where we can. Catching up with friends and family and just enjoying our last couple of months at home. Got to make the most life, even if it doesn't go to plan!! I keep reminding myself, that these delays will only mean that when that day comes where we will say goodbye to England, it will be an even greater moment than ever expected! Our adventure will happen... and its getting closer and closer to reality.
Can't wait!!!..... not that you can tell. lol!

I'm sure there is loads more I'm missing out on. So please bear with me. I'll post as I remember more bits and events.
Lots of love, Mandy

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Charles and Cat also have their personal blog up and running... and I must say have been better at updates than we have been. Obviously, you may find some similarities.. So please find theirs at http://ditsysdisco.blogspot.co.uk/