Wednesday 28 March 2012

And they're off again ..... well almost !!!

Well, it had to happen. Mr H has started composing music with his spoon on the bottom of a yoghurt pot and I'm washing everything that's not nailed down. Beautiful sunsets but time to move on!!


Before we set off have been visiting a few more local places; gardens,


seaside,

and mountains :).


The car has been returned and we set off on Monday for a leisurely journey back to the UK via Portugal, Spain and France.

So there we are on the day of departure after 5 months of chilling. Wearing matching blue disposable gloves we happily scrubbed the waste pipes whilst air-kissing numerous fellow campers goodbye and what happens? When Mr H presses the magic button to raise the levelling jacks the bus starts to bleed !!! Oh yes, I'm stood outside the happy bus when I notice red liquid dripping from underneath. I thought some animal had been mashed in the process but no such luxury. On investigation we found the hydraulic thingy had sprung a leak from a knackered joint. The system only controls the jacks which were thankfully up so decided to risk heading down to Swan Autos http://www.swanautos.com/index.html hoping they could fit us in.
Survived the 12 km to La Marina spraying fluid all over the road and RV then spent 3 hours camped out on the pavement waiting to be seen, eating anything that didn't need cooking and playing I Spy. The lads were great when they eventually surveyed the damage, totally unflustered, one guy had a fag hanging from the corner of his mouth throughout the whole process, respect! Jointly they tutted, scratched their heads, drilled, tapped, unscrewed and taped the bugger. Cleaned her up but they didn't have enough fluid to fill the reservoir again. So we stayed on Marjal's sister site in Guardamar overnight. http://www.campingmarjal.com/en/ Returned to Swan the next day, filled the reservoir and no leaks Hurrah!! Great job and very reasonable, thanks to Will and the team we're on our way.

Travelled down to La Manga campsite for a couple of nights.
http://www.campings.com/camping-caravaninglamanga-La-Manga-del-Mar-Menor/
Whilst there we decided to cycle along the La Manga del Mar Menor strip as it looked impressive on the local maps. It is a long strip of land between the Mediterranean and a sea water lagoon. We were not disappointed, the Med was all shades of blue and green as we cycled along the beach (another first for us)


 and the lagoon is a calm oasis sheltered from the coastal winds



and fed by a river of sea water flowing under a bridge.


We took two stops on the strip, one for a cafe con leche and one for a fresh-made pizza and garlic bread lunch with beer and views of both sides of the strip.

Aseos newsflash!!! Just before we sign off I'm sure you'd appreciate an update on the toilet situation. After months of brand new, underfloor-heated, state-of-the-art glamping at the new Marjal site I suppose other campsites don't stand a chance in impressing one! My experience so far since leaving Marjal (a whole 2 days) has been eventful. I have encountered louvre doors, very unnerving seeing others walk about while you are on the loo. The cubicles were so small that the toilet roll dispensers were on the wall of the main washroom! So I had to guess how much I would be needing, got that wrong and had to sneak out for more when the coast was clear. The force of flush on one toilet was so good it doubled as a bidet if positioned correctly or if you put the lid down it pressure washed it for you. Equipped with this information and armfuls of loo roll Mr H still had a near miss though, he reported that while pulling the chain to flush the lavvy it came off and nearly took his eye out! He recovered enough to replace it before returning to the RV still a bit shakey. Light-timer switches are popular in cafe toilets in Spain. Ok, I get that electricity should not be wasted but they are tempramental. While using such a facility in the depths of a cafe building the light went out and it was pitch black. I didn't know where the door was let alone the lock or light switch. Good job I was a Brownie cos my training kicked in and I used my lighter to find the lock and door. Wearing your sunglasses in dark places is also not to be recommended.

Well, that was the Murcia region, on to Andalucia next, will update when I can, bye for now.