dobbinitallin – Hairdressers

On the morning of the 4th January 2017 @ 8:45 we got into Molly Murano, first stop the hairdressers to get a healthy haircut to set us on our way, all neat and tidy and not having to worry about a knife and fork cut somewhere we were not familiar with. Goodbyes done all of us holding it together, keys in the ignition – Nothing – flat as flat thing. Where were the jump leads? oh yeah very diligently put in Hobby Hobster in case we had a flat battery, well we did and their location was not helpful. Denise asked her Mum do you have jump leads? oh yes in the back of my car. I retrieved them to find they were broken. One of the grips was not really a grip sort of in half and not capable of gripping. The back up to this plan was Denise’s brother Ian who thought somewhere in his garage he might have some jump leads. He may well have done but no one really knows where they might be in his garage. Well, Molly got started with a little help to the non gripping grip and off we went. The upshot was we couldn’t risk turning the engine off again and when we did Molly needed to be where she was going to rest for the next few months – the storage depot keeping Hobby Hobsters spot safe. Two cancelled hair cuts due to car trouble.

Molly replaced Hobster and we set off to Canterbury, our first overnight stop. As most of you will know its not in my nature to worry, well I don’t call it worrying I call it mitigation planning, Denise however still after many years thinks I over think. My mitigation planning was set around how we would cope with parking up without having to un hitch Peter and Dorian or worse still having to unload Dorian only to have to re load the next morning all of which takes time and energy, both of which I didn’t feel we needed to be bothered with. Clearly I don’t have a crystal ball and was not able to see where we would be required to pitch up but this didn’t stop my over thinking. I did establish that the key to any of my plans was the ability of Denise to reverse the trailer successfully. Now I am aware that she, Denise is somewhat expert in her driving abilities but I did have a little niggle that these reversing requirements might be a bridge too far as it were. Oh she of little faith.

Canterbury Caravan & Camping Club site is ok, just ok. Great for the night before the tunnel or Ferry stop but I wouldn’t want to be there for much longer. The pitches were tight and it was here that Denise was able to show off her reversing skills as a starter. Peter needed to be parked next to Hobby Hobster which meant reversing it up hill onto a very tight pitch. All done with aplomb as was the re hitching in the morning. My job was to stand very confidently waving going “yep” “good” ”thats it” like some kind of foreman when really I was feeling very proud and enjoying the fact that the caravan curtain twitchers were getting a master class.

It was here we discovered that one of our new taps had suffered in the cold weather and was now knackered. Not a complete disaster but it meant we couldn’t use the water pump until we got it fixed. The good bit was that we got to see Theresa.

This was our first very cold night, we woke up to a pretty deep frost but Hobby Hobster had kept us warm and we were ready for really the start of a 1681mile journey. The plan was to do around 250 to 300 miles per day, we had pre booked some stop over campsites all recommended by the Camping and Caravan club, the first night though was go be a service area around or near Rouen.

Denise made the tunnel look like Childs play, we got a slightly earlier crossing and off we went. Hobby Hobster is lefthand drive, its bliss for me not to be sat looking at on coming drivers in the eyes although it can be fun when we get overtaken in the UK and I have my feet up chillin, the number of double takes is amazing. French roads and tolls as ever easy and at this time of year not crowded.

If we thought Canterbury was cold bloody hell its was tropical compared to Rouen. We did get a little protection as we parked up between some very large HGV’s and their heaters / engines must have helped keep some of the frost and cold away. It took a long time in the morning to defrost so we could carry on. Still no opportunity for showing off, no reversing required. That said the first part of the drive was horrible in freezing fog. I was required to sit with a blanket over me as it was sooooo cold or was i just nesh?

Next stop was Nante, a nice little site next to the Loire river. Lots of warning signs about the river flooding and escape routes, having checked out the river level there was no requirement for mitigation planning. Reversing skill required, straight back into the nice large pitch, no un hitching all ready to go in the morning. The following destination was just south of Bordeaux, easy to find and another drive on un hitch reverse next to Peter situation all done with expert prowess as was the driving out the following morning, there was a bit of a chicane to negotiate.

As I am writing this I realise my role in all of this seems somewhat minimal and I am consumed with a desire to justify myself! I am in charge of navigation, subsistence and company. Two out of three ain’t bad, when the next turn is 160km away I do have a tendency to nod off for a fair chunk of the 160km. I do try hard not to but it has to be said not one of my better qualities.

From Bordeaux we crossed the France Spain border and stopped overnight at a place called Burgos, a drive through pitch no need to unhitch – Marvellous. One memorable moment when I wasn’t actually asleep on a long between turns stretch Denise announces very calmly “we have lost a wheel” “what?” “we have lost a wheel” “WHAT?” “the spare wheel on the trailer its chasing us, oh nope now its in the central reservation”. We stopped and it appears the three retaining bolts had all sheared and off the wheel went. Fortunately no damage or harm came to anyone, I am sure there will be an update on this in the future.

Caceres was the next stop over and this campsite wins the award for nicest and warmest place on the journey down. Another drive through no need to unhitch, fantastic. Each pitch had its own private shower and loo block, the weather had warmed up sufficiently for us to sit in the sun in T shirts and the site had a restaurant. A couple of beers and a good night sleep set us up for the next day and us reaching Portugal. The next morning we realised that it wasn’t that simple to get out of the pitch. The pitches were terraced and the terraces had steep walls on the entry and exit of the pitches. This is where Denise really had to work hard manoeuvring not only Hobby Hobster but also Peter, reversing up hill around the wall many times in a bid not to hit the front (European) offside of Hobby and not to “bump” Peter over the edge of the wall. It was a cliff hanger but she did it with an audience and a very proud foreman.

We drove down to Seville and into Portugal. The Portuguese toll system was easy enough just over the border, the sign made me laugh advising “strangers” to a specific toll lane where you could link your credit card to a vehicle. Helpful for Hobby but not for Dorian, we still need to work out how to deal with Dorian and Toll roads. The road conditions seemed to deteriorate especially as we came off the motorway and entered the N125, goodness me it was terrible. So bad that it shook us so much the tow bar electrics came detached and bounced on the road for some way before lodging its self in the trailer. We discovered this at our last stop over, Ria Formosa as we parked up Peter and Dorian in the carpark. The damage caused was just to the 13 to 7 pin adaptor which we guessed we could sort without too much trouble. This was true, enquiries at the campsite revealed that the very next day a company called CamperSer would visit the site and they would be able to fix it for us. Indeed the following day Bob and Ludovic came to see us, yes they could help but they didn’t have one on board their van. We arranged for them to come to us the following week with an adaptor and some wheel covers for Hobby so he didn’t get sunburn on his tyres.

This was good but meant the hour journey to Camping Albufeira Peter was a little less flashy than normal. Anyway we got here without being stopped so a result. Bob and Ludovic have been to see us, they fixed the trailer, got us some super wheel covers and fitted a new tap, another result.

Our time at Camping Albufeira is as part of a Camping & Caravan Club Rally. These have been run here and other places for many years with lots of people re visiting every year, some staying the 3 month duration some for weeks here and there. We felt it was a great way to dip our toe into long term stays and we plan to stay for the duration of the Rally. The site is very good and we have secured a quite large pitch which will have more sun in a couple of weeks as the sun gets higher in the sky. The instruction was find somewhere to pitch up between the trees. There are no set plots and we are lucky to have the space we have. The car, trailer, motorhome and a driveway awning all on the plot. The drive away awning I inventively called “the annex” is another one of those lucky for us situations. The original ordered awning was to be delivered here when the bedroom optional extra became available, that should have been in early January as part of my mitigation planning I established two days before we were due to leave that it was unlikely the optional extra would be available rendering the awning useless to us. We have guests coming! A visit to Don Amott did them and us a favour, we bought a brand new driveway awning that came with a bedroom as standard, they had not been able to sell it as it is quite large but it was exactly what we wanted. A deal was struck a hefty discount given and we were sorted. Our “annex” is a fab.

Now, gently I go with this next bit as we have caravanning friends……. safe to say there is a particular type of group of people drawn to these “rally’s” I am not sure how to describe them but lets say a lot of craft workshops, line dancing sessions and trips to “Gypsy markets” are on the weekly program of activities. On a Saturday Morning @ 11 there is a coffee morning where you are required sorry invited to attend with a chair and a coffee cup to hear about the following weeks activities. Repeat “ralliers” take different activities and they tell you all about their activity. When the lady taking Line Dancing came on I was a little visual in my “not a chance me doing that” and our neighbours who are more on our wave length found it highly amusing.

The cliental are well retired with a vast variety of caravans and motorhomes some old and some very new and most of the fellas like to talk about their rigs. Denise and I have been aware we might not fit in but decided to make an effort to socialise and have attended some of the other activities such as the quiz evening and a couple of meals, which have been very good value for money. Especially the Sunday lunch which turned into a full on afternoon session. Towards the end of the afternoon and several glasses of wine I queued to get my coffee and started chatting to a little tiny lady in front of me. All was going well until she said ‘are you coming tomorrow”. Now “tomorrow” was either the dinner dance or line dancing and I guessed wrong “not sure I think we might” “good, have you done it before?” a little confused “No its our first time here” “thats ok I will go gently with you, and there is no use standing at the back because we do turns and you will end up at the front anyway”……..Shit she means line dancing……. Horror on my face “Now don’t be shy I EXPECT to see you there” I nodded politely with absolutely no intention of attending.

At an other meal we got chatting to some experienced “ralliers” and were giving us lots of advice about different supermarkets, restaurants, where to illegally get your gas bottle refilled etc. They were a nice couple but the chap was supporting a combover and one of his recommendations was a local hairdresser …………..Now both Denise and I are short of a haircut we know that but how I kept a straight face when Mr Combover kept on about this fantastic hair dresser is beyond me.

Denise found a locally based British hair dresser not the recommended local lady and today we had our hair cut, very happy we are too especially as the “fantastic” hair dresser recommended by Mr Combover cuts only one style, its unisex. We have booked our next appointment with Lisa hopefully we don’t have any car trouble and have to cancel it.

Jarjar

Jarjar has been his usual entertaining self and a really good boy to boot. He is amusing all of the campsite with his regal demeanour in his chair. He has settled very quickly. It was his birthday yesterday 19th January he is 9 in doggie years and apparently 60 in human years. We took him for a smashing run on the beech and then went to find the big pet store to get him a new toy. There was some shopping in the back of the car which included our treat, some pain au chocolat to go with a nice cup of tea. It appears Jarjar thought these 4 pain’s were captive and needed rescuing he managed to secure their escape returning their cage to a locked tight position! Git, I really fancied them too.