Spain 3rd edition

Heading East over the mountains towards the Portugese/Spanish border we travel happily on B roads through small to medium townships- Vagos, Oia, Parraes, Aqueda - and then suddenly find ourselves on a motorway with 167kms to travel. This might not seem a bad thing to some but with all the horror stories we have been hearing about Portugese motorways we are a tad nervous but comforted in the fact that "no tolls" has been entered into the GPS. So we continue on, passing Regoso and Caramullo, Viseu and Fagilde - flying through the hills on this near empty, futuristic motorway at an altitude of 870metres. Once again over high, long viaducts giving us amazing views of little villages, olive groves and vineyards dotted on the hillsides below. We pass under several gantries mounted with cameras but, no worries - all will be good. If the Euro signs we are now seeing prior to these gantries mean we are actually on a toll motorway, we can pay at the border! Guarda, Pinzel, Convilha all whiz past, special right hand lanes emerge for Molly {bit slow uphill but gets there eventually} and she is given a moral boost as she triumphantly manages to pass a laden tanker on one uphill slog and then we are in Almeida at the border - where to pay there are no toll booths to be seen!!!!!!.

Unfortunately we have been on one of their motorways which has recently been converted to electronic tolls, is hard to exit once on and which GPSs know nothing about. The charges range from 55cents to 2.75 euro for each segmented stretch of road which are seemingly defined by overhead cameras so, by the time we get to the border, we have probably clocked up close to 25 Euro in tolls being a Class 2 vehicle. Leaving the motorway at the border and heading in the direction of the "control centre" we expected to see a place to pay these tolls but there was nothing and the road just took us back up to the motorway, fortunately in Spain this time where some motorways are free.

Researching and reading blogs about Portugal's motorways causes the mind to reel. After accruing these tolls you have to wait 2 days before you can pay them at a post office but you need to do this before the 7th day otherwise fines click in???????? We are now in Spain so how does that work????????? Motorway avoidance is the answer as we will be returning to Portugal at some stage and have no intention of paying heavy fines for something we tried our hardest to pay. The system is a shambles apparantly.

So we are now back in Spain in Salamanca province, the clocks have gone forward an hour as they, unlike Portugal, do not have daylight saving. As we approach Salamanca, on our free motorway and in the sunshine, we both get the feeling that we are driving into a flat, middle-eastern city not a city in Spain!!! Salamanca looks gorgeous in the distance as though shimmering in a desert..

Arriving at our campsite (camping Regio) we are happy we only need to be here 2 nights - we have had worse but we have had better. It is OK but only just. True to form as dusk begins to fall a huge campervan pulls up right beside us, doors bang, kids jump out kicking and screaming followed by Mum and Dad doing likewise. There are sites all over this camp-why choose us? It is almost impossible to hear our video over the bedlum outside and the same had to be endured the following morning whilst we tried to have a lie in. Is door slamming and screaming and shouting really necessary - and thats just the adults!!!!!!

1.40 Euro each got us a local bus ride from our campsite (a definite plus) to the Old City of Salamanca. Once again the architecture is amazing, the small and narrow side streets give it a lovely oldy worldy feel. Most of the historic buildings have been taken over by the University of Salamanca and of course the students give the place a vibrancy as only students can. Personally for me it lacked that heart and soul I often talk about but Gary really enjoyed his visit, thinking of past history and happenings that had taken place there.

The cathedral is built in the baroque style as are many of the churches - some of which are no longer churches and have been desacrilised - and a Roman Bridge in very good condition forms a backdrop to the old city. We had some tapas and beer and then headed back to the campsite by bus to find our neighbours from hell had gone!!!!!!

Suffering a peaceful night - yeh - the next morning we were up bright and early and heading South to Caceres stocking up at a "straight forward Lidls" as we left Salamanca, paying 46 Euro for two full, big, "save the earth bags" which included wine, beer, good, fresh food and a little meat.

We are now travelling through the Spanish high country at an altitude of 1000metres. The landscape to start with is quite flat and boring as we travel across the mountain top plains. All that exists up here are cows and horses cohabiting with self seeded olive trees and abandoned stork nests high on electricity pylons. From time to time we pass a few brightly painted cows on the side of the road (made from concrete presumably) and then the boring landscape starts to improve and becomes quite picturesque as we fluctuate between 1000 and 1200 metres. We pass an occasional lake, small towns and villages - Guijuelo, La Cabeza and Bejar. Bejar looks beautiful in the sunshine but proves to be too steep and difficult for Molly to safely access so we get back onto the Autova Rota de la Plata and continue to head South on this very, very hot day. We are now coming down off the mountain motorway passing Jarilla, where we see special stands for Stork nests have been erected to discourage them from building on the pylons. The nests must weigh a ton plus the dangers of electric shock, but still they prefer the pylons?? We are now 5 hours into our journey as Oliva, Cancabosa and Grimoldo rush past and finally Caceres comes into view and it is much, much bigger than I had ever imagined. Consequently I am disappointed but the campsite, although busy, is great. We have our own ensuite cabin on our pitch and the sites are sort of cozy somehow. We settle in and plan our visit to Caseres tomorrow.

Caseres - disappointed? No!

1 Euro each local bus to Centrum. 10 minute walk to Old Town Caseres and what a delight. We spent hours just walking up hill, down hill, up steps, down steps, through typical, narrow Spanish streets lined by multistorey higgledy piggeldy narrow houses, discovering churches, the Cathedral of Santa Maria dating back to the 13th Century, buskers, a museum of artifacts, a sole surviving City Gate (Arco del Cristo) dating back to 34 BC and the Plaza Mayor littered with al fresco dining. This whole village within the Old Town walls is unspoiled and a photgraphers heaven. Every which way you turned or spun there was an amazing photo opportunity. Rough brick centuries old buildings with a backdrop of blue, blue sky and brilliant sunshine.

Arriving at the Main Square we had a fabulous 3 course lunch (1st Course, 2nd Course and desert) with nibbles, bread and wine thrown in for 10 Euro each. Such beautiful food for such an awesome price.

By the time we had finished once again the mood had changed - siesta time!!!!!! Siesta time has a lot to answer for in my opinion.

Bussing back to Molly we had enjoyed our day so much we decided to return the following day to actually do some shopping, rather than sightsee, in the newer areas of Caseres. It would be Saturday which generally heralds Markets, heaps of people, cafes and shops heaving and buskers galore. We were to be surprised!!!

Repeating our bus journey starting at 10.35am we initially became concerned when the roads appeared less busy than Friday, Lidls was closed as were several outlying shops and there were only 4 of us on the bus. Alighting the bus in Centrum everywhere was closed and dead. Long story short - the 1st of November is All Saints Day and is a holiday where families take flowers to the cemetaries to respect their dead - only restaurants are allowed to open. They say never repeat or revisit somewhere or something that you truly enjoyed as you leave yourself wide open for disappointment. This was it in a nutshell. Lesson learned.

Next morning we are off to Cordoba in Andalucia - Driving over Lemons territory. Once again we opt for the motorway as it does cut our traveling time tremendously and we are crossing the seemingly never-ending Spanish plains still which are a little boring to say the least. This terrain stays with us as we pass Aldea and Casa Don Antonio, no higher than 420metres, then at Aljucen vineyards start to appear as does the rain. There are little clusters of houses - each with an ornate church as it's centrepiece and focal point - and then we are back into scrubland where dozens of men are out shooting (not sure what). Then the land is given over to agriculture where massive dry fields are being ploughed ready for their next crop to be sown. As we approach Merida the landscape changes again. Newly planted vines are everywhere as are newly planted olive trees and the rich, dark red soil is being prepared for more. Little did we know that we were driving past the largest Roman ruins in Spain!!!!!!!

We are definitely in wine and olive oil country and the plains are vast, hot and flat. Grape vines and olive trees grow side by side in Almendralejo and span kilometres of land. We have seen three different ways to grow the vines - 1. As a bush 2. Espaladed and 3. On top of trellises like kiwifruit.

At Los Santos we leave the motorway, passing a huge olive oil and ?greenfuel refinery and take the B roads deep into the heart of Olive Grove and Vineyard territory. It is breathtaking, the sun is shining and the roads are empty.

We are now moving into more interesting rolling hill scenery and small villages all painted white with terracota tiled rooves are springing up on the hill sides. Villagarcia, Valverde, Granja, Fuente Obejuna, indicating that we are now in Andalucia - all have the obligatory church. The hillsides are like rainbows with all the different coloured soils beautifully ploughed at different angles, the colours looking crisp and clean. At Belmez we see paddocks and paddocks of black solar panels turning their heads up to the sunshine and now we are leaving the rolling hills behind and moving into the Andalucian mountains. We quickly climb to 660metres, passing what looks like a few old mining shafts and a few goat herds and then we are heading down to our campsite just outside of Cordoba in the hinterland.

Cordoba, Granada and Seville are the 3 main areas to see in this part of Spain so although we do not do big cities often we are doing these.

Catching a bus to Cordoba from our campsite at VillaFranca we are shocked when the bus arrives. Whilst we have been waiting many other locals have joined us at the stop and each one alights the bus in order of arrival - there is no queue just pure politeness and respect. The local bus was also a first class coach for the hours journey not your run of the mill, lumpy seated contraption. On arrival we then had to walk for an hour to the historic Old Town. 20 minutes if we took the right route!

Cordoba once again is full of history, narrow streets and great architecture. We were intrigued because although in places the appearance is quite bland with very plain facades, looking through wrought iron gateways the reality is very different. Wondrous gardens and courtyards exist behind this plainness and if you passed too quickly you could easily miss this beauty.

I think Cordoba epitomises Spain. Orange and lemon trees line the walkways. There are small squares where you can sit and take in a special view under the shade of citrus trees and there is always a fountain of some sort there to give the square a cooling atmosphere. Once again every which way you turn there is some new breathtaking scenery to be captured on camera. It is hilly, has an amazing Cathedral, numerous churches and plenty of steps. These all add to its enchantment. We spent a whole day here not catching the bus back to Molly until 6pm. Happy, tired and very hot.

Next morning, after a cold shower and complaint, we head to Granada via the backroads, rather than motorways, a journey of 3hours plus. Unfortunately I have had a "back attack" overnight and the thought of a bumpy journey today!!!!!!! Now we are passing through tiny narrow villages with very bad roads, rather than passing by them but to be honest i have not documented too much on this journey as my focus was on my back spasms and not much else. a bottle of Wrigleys chewing gum was my friend - squashed between the spasming muscle and the seat back. What I have noted does not make much sense either except this journey was probably one of the nicest and prettyist we have done through this part of Spain along the Avenda Andalucia. Rolling hills of Olive groves - young and old - stretched out to the horizon and only seemed to stop when the mountains came in to view. Typically white Andolucian villages dotted the hillsides and huge crumbling castles majestically poised themselves on top. The sky played its part too - dark grumbling clouds tracked our journey giving the vista a magical appearance. I can say, however, we passed through El Carpio, Castelledel Rio, Baena, Donna Mencia, Ventes, Moclin and Pinos Puenti and finally, after a "Kate (GPS) mistake" arrived at our campsite in La Zubia where I scrambled into bed after a glass of wine and some pain killers with fingers and toes crossed and a lifesaving massage from Gary. .

Now all is relatively back to normal the campsite here is rather lovely but the weather is cold. There is snow on the mountains around us and last night the temperature dropped to -1degree.. We must remember it is winter and we are on the edge of the Sierra Nevada National Park where the Spanish come to ski.

It is Gary's birthday today and until we arrived here we had nothing special planned- then it all fell into place perfectly. Firstly we spend our day strolling into the tiny village of La Zubia, having coffee, buying gifts and amazingly finding a part for Molly, which we have been looking for for weeks, in this little shop that sells everything. The whole thing cost us 8Euro, was quite difficult to demonstrate what was needed, not a skerry of English was spoken but we all fell about laughing at the antics and got exactly what was needed. Think it was Mum, Dad and son running the shop and we also bought a new Wok to compliment our amazing stone frying pan.

After enjoying a relaxed, casual day we readied ourselves for Gary's evening birthday bash. An impromptu evening involving a meal in a restaurant set into a cave accompanied by Flamenco dancing and music - all in Granada and all very traditional. The mini bus picked us up at 7pm sharp taking us for an hours guided journey through Granada into the old gypsy sector. Everything was lit up and so pretty, it was freezing cold, the streets amazingly narrow and we finally arrived at the Ceuva Flamenco Restaurant in one of the many caves set into this huge mountainside where the gypsies supposedly live. The evening was amazing, the food great, the music great and the dancing hypnotic and awesome. The Sangria flowed. Only 5 other couples were having dinner although others arrived just to watch the dancing. Having never experienced true gypsy flamenco dancing before we were not sure what to expect. It is all about rythmn - clapping, guitars, snapping fingers and hands slapping thighs - the footwork is unbelievable and very, very fast. Once the rythmn is built the dancer becomes trancelike and their whole body becomes part of the dance involving rapid head movements, arching bodies and beautiful twisting, intertwined arms, hands and finger movements. The vibrations from their stamping feet are reflected in their faces as sweat just drips from them. We were awarded front row seats for the show and were mesmerized. An older Spanish couple were sitting beside us and although, once again, they spoke no English and us no Spanish we were able to communicate on some level with lots of laughter. When they got off the mini van on the way home they gave us such big hugs and kisses - think we helped make their evening awesome somehow. So after taking midnight photos of La Alhambra from a viewing point high on the mountain we headed back to Molly. Happy birthday Gary and yes----------I spoiled him rotten!!!!!!! (For all those who suggested I should)

Today we are spending catching up on repairs and maintenance as tomorrow we catch the bus for a full day in Granada by daylight.

Catch you soon. Much love. Life is good xxxxxx

Portugal - 1st Edition

Today we head for Portugal. The weather in Spain has not been that great but it was not completely unexpected in the North for this time of year. The weather outlook for Portugal looks much brighter so we head for Viana do Castelo.

This is quite a long drive, not on motorways, and we pass through the last of the Spanish Wine country where they grow their grape vines along the top of tressles much the same as we grow kiwifruit, through Cobedelo, Pontevedra, Paredes and Cesantes. We are amazed to find we are still on the Santiago Pilgrim trail whilst being so close to the Portugese border. We have no wind and no rain. To be honest there is nothing pretty to see up here just scruffy towns and equally scruffy vineyards and we wonder whether the recession has hit Spain harder than we were aware and then suddenly we see a "Lidls" - really exciting because it is something we have not seen in what seems like ages - and we decide to stock up on their cheap fresh food and wine before crossing the border into Portugal. Much easier said than done as explained below:

1. Negotiate entrance - directly off very busy roundabout. 2. Take ticket at barrier arm (slightly difficult because the ticket dispenser is designed for cars not Mollys and Gary is almost throwing himself out the window to grab the elusive piece of paper) 3. Drive and find a park in a tiny, already full carpark. (only ones left are for Nursing mothers so Gary parks, stays in the van and tells me to go in and be quick. ( "Shop like Rachael" he says)(Damn you Rach I will never live your shopping skills down) 4. Shop (no problem, really quick) 5. Queue and stack (all good, except the man behind me wants my basket??? Blow, I wanted that because now i will have to pay for bags!!!) 6. Act dumb because the cashier is asking me for something and I don't have a clue (getting hotter in here?) Man behind me waves his car park ticket in my face and suddenly the penny drops - but my ticket is still in Molly with Gary and there is now a queue of at least 20 impatient Spanish shoppers behind me. (definitely getting hotter in here?) Then the knightess in shining armour comes from the back of the queue, speaks to the cashier in Spanish, tells me "all is OK now" in English and calmly resumes her place in the queue. 7. Pack, pay and run - in that order but not before you are given another ticket which will operate the barrier arm to allow you to exit (hopefully - because as we came through the "in barrier" a very irate driver was swearing, cursing and thumping the life out of the "out barrier" machine because his little ticket would not lift the arm. 8. Profusely thank everyone, in Spanish of course, for their help. 9. Return to Molly where I am welcomed with "you have been three quarters of an hour????!!!!" from you know who. Mouth open, sweat pouring down my face (because it really was hot in there) I drag my expensive plastic bags full of cheap groceries into Molly, sit down and explain. Maybe the 4 Euro bottle of gin redeems me? (yeah it did! And the paper ticket got wet and almost didn't work the barrier which was on an uphill slope. So riding the clutch while leaning out the Window to scan the wet barcode was precarious to say the least. Didn't fancy rolling back onto the car behind.)

Moving on again we skirt St Antonio and Tui, where the rain rejoins us, and cross the border into Portugal.

Almost immediately we see the Romanian girls on the side of the road prostituting themselves - we had not expected this in Portugal - and pass a huge gypsy/Romanian encampment made of blue tarpaulins and boxes and boasting mountains of rubbish. Not a very good "hello" for our first visit to this country.

A few viaducts and tunnels later accompanied by more wind, sun and rain (noticed here that the viaduct wind socks are ripped to shreds) we arrive at our campsite in Viana do Castelo in brilliant sunshine. Long may it last.

2 hours later who should roll in but Alex and Dave - totally unbeknown to each other that we were heading for the same campsite. It was such a surprise and so lovely to see them again. As you can no doubt understand this had to be celebrated way into the night with copious amounts of red wine and great conversation.

Next day - maybe with a little red wine headache - we walked the "10 mins to the bridge" which is the entranceway to the lovely old town of Viana. Yeh right - more like 45mins and then the bridge is a km long on top of that!!!!!!! It was, eventually, well worth it though as it was a definitely cute place with a Funicular to the Basilica de Santa Lucia (nice name) on top of the hill overlooking the town which keeps everyone under close supervision down below. Whilst in the Basilica we witnessed groups of people walking around the alter in circles, going round and round over and over again - quite bizarre really.

Next day we wave goodbye again to Alex and Dave - no farewells as we are pretty sure our paths will cross somewhere - and spend a relaxing day in the sun, going to the beach in the evening to watch the sun go down. Unfortunately it was quite hazy so not much of a sunset but the idea was good as was the walk. The weather has definitely improved.

Next stop Porto - well a little outside of Porto actually in Perafita. Once again we passed through many villages and the jury is out on Portugal at this point. Everywhere looks quite dishevelled and dilapidated. We are passing through an obvious agricultural area, perhaps market gardeners, with plastic greenhouses in abundance. There are wheelbarrows on the side of the road full of onions, fresh fruit and vegetable road stalls and we pass the cutest elderly couple dressed in portugese peasant clothes. They are very short, he has a stick and she is carrying great swathes of green foliage on her head and they are helping each other along the road. They must have been in their 90's and had probably been doing the same routine for years but with far less traffic around them.

In Amarin, a big city, we saw pigs on spits being cooked and in Amero birds in cages were lined along the roadside. I could have put out my hand and touched them and boy were they squawking!!! It was by now getting very, very hot.

Following Kate (the GPS) we turned right - directly onto cobble stones and we would be with these all the way to our final destination about 10kms away - shaking Molly to pieces. Winding through narrow, narrow villages, turning right turning left, up hill down hill finally arriving at the campsite which was very nice but smelled of cow shit and needed the grass cut. Walking to the sanitary block through long wet grass was not pleasant and the overpowering smell of silage made me feel nauseous in the end.

Apart from that we enjoyed Perafita - a small Portugese fishing village with a beautiful sandy beach once again on the Atlantic Ocean. We strolled along the beach, explored the market - fish of course and fruit and vegetables - and even managed to buy some fresh coriander here!!!! The boats, literally just pulled up onto the sand, were made of wood and all painted vibrant colours. In little shacks behind the boats net making and mending was in progress and small fish restaurants were dotted in amongst all this. If you looked at the bigger picture it could possibly be deemed quite basic and tatty but to be honest, for us it was like we were immersed in a colourful picture book.

We stopped to have a lovely fish meal in one of the local restaurants - expensive given the fish was caught locally and it literally was a very small cobblestoned village - but the experience of ordering something from a menu in a language you don't understand from a person you don't understand and getting something you actually enjoy is priceless. The very normal looking fish was halved, squashed in a rack and BBQ'd over hot coals and served with salad and potatoes - the potatoes transporting me back decades to school dinners. Yummy.

Replete we staggered to the beach, lay down and, for hours, watched the waves crashing into the shore whilst we updated our sun tan.

Next day we took the bus from right outside the campsite to Porto. 1.60 euro each for a 1hour 10 min journey from hell!!!!! The driver was young, had a fixation for his nose and just loved jamming his foot on those brakes. We had no expectations for Porto, it seemed like just another big city when we passed it on our way to the campsite but the bus eventually took us straight to the heart of the Old Town and.............We loved Porto.

It was higgeldy piggeldy, irrational, full of contrasting colours, textures and building materials. In one pic we see a rock face with colourful, three story, plaster covered houses teetering on its edge half way up its face.(seriously if you took the end house away I am sure they would all fall over). Sprouting up a little further to the right is the meccano type root of the main iron road and rail bridge which spans the river taking tourists to sample their famous Port in the Caves below ground on the other side. From the bottom, concrete steps, enhanced by colourful graffiti, track slightly off vertical to the top and behind all this?........the most brilliant blue sky. Around us a cacophany of noise - traffic, laughter, languages, police whistles, sirens, seagulls, happiness and sunshine.

As we wandered around we stopped to eat and drink small amounts of food, tapas style, at different cafes/retaurants - each place had a different atmosphere, menu, view, busker and we spent a whole day enthralled by and immersed in this part of the huge city of Porto. It is the second largest city in Portugal - Lisbon is the largest. Normally we would use a hopon hopoff bus in such a large city but we both were so glad we opted to stroll, soak up the atmosphere, immerse ourselves in the culture and thoroughly enjoy our day. A quick, Australian-theme-park bus ride back to Perfita, the smell of cow shit and the wet long grass and we decided to head for Aveiro the following morning which was just as well because a very loud gaggle of Portugese men came and parked right beside us????? Yep...here we go again......is it Molly or is it us? So many other empty places.....why oh why park your caravan right there!!!!?????

So here we are in Costa Nova at another Orbitur campsite (Parque de Campismo da Vagueira) and just outside of Aveiro. We can cycle to the local beach - 4km - cycle to the village of Costa Nova proper - 7km - drive to Aveiro - 15kms.

Yesterday we took the local beach - quite nice with lots of sand dunes and soft golden sand and a fish market and today has been a catch up day for those things domestic and personal. Tomorrow we will cycle to Costa Nova proper - 7kms away - and then pick up some fresh fish, from the beach fish market on the way home (I have become quite a fish addict on this trip). We will drink cheap, but good, white wine and stuff ourselves full of moist, tasty white fish cooked whole, wrapped in foil, with slices of fresh lime and a few sprigs of coriander. Yummy.

In the ideal world this is what we will do - tomorrow is another day though so we will see.

So tomorrow has come and gone and yes we did cycle to Costa Nova and it was very pleasant and not too strenuous. Very picturesque along the inlet - in fact quite serene - watching paddleboarders being taught how to survive a few duckings and stand on their boards, colourful boats lazily gliding through the glass like water and the coldest of ciders in a beachfront cafe. Yes it was very hot and also very busy - it was Sunday.

The architecture here is very different - white buildings with coloured vertical stripes in bold colours - mainly bright red and cape cod blue - give this place an authentic seaside atmosphere along with the beautiful sandy, clean beaches decked out with sun umbrellas. We enjoyed our time here and decided we would find a local restaurant for our fish meal rather than buying to take home and cook. The fish markets are great but one thing we have learned - there is a price for us and a price for locals in this area of Portugal.

Eventually finding a small, genuine, Portugese restaurant absolutely heaving with locals we squeezed ourselves onto a vacant table between gabbling Portugese speaking people, smiling right and left as we did so. We sat and we waited - didn't matter we waited soooo long for the table to be cleared and reset - we were totally immersed in our surroundings. What they were all eating - very different from what we have seen up to here and mainly fish stews, soups, grilled baby octupus and baby squid. How they interacted - very Italian and homely. One guy beside us started bashing his huge crab claw with his knife handle on the edge of the table - smiling at us while he did this - as if to say "this is really Portugese style"!!!! So I stayed on course for grilled sea bass and Gary opted for a good old steak. We got to talking with another couple on the other side of us wanting to clarify a few things and they spoke a little English. What happens in Portugal when you sit down at a restaurant - bread, pate, olives and butter are put on the table. They are not free, as they are in Spain, but quite expensive and we wished to clarify this was so before we hoed into them. To be honest ours looked as though they had already been on other tables before we were honoured with them but hey.........the meal was awesome and the company great. Turns out our chatting buddies were weekend campervanners parked 100 metres down the road and we all had a good laugh whilst the single waitress in sweatpants and t-shirt ran around the tables like a chook with her head cut off, ranting and raving in Portugese!!!!!

Cycling back to Molly Gary got hiccups and I fell off my bike - could it have been the cheap wine we consumed with our lunch???

Next stop the beach close to the campsite where, at a camperstop, a kind Portugese guy was going to take Gary into Aveiro to get an adaptor for our gas bottles and we had decided it wasn't necessary. We had been to this beach on Friday and it was deserted - today it was anything but. It was like Brighton seafront including the stalls, sooooo many people and cars and even a traffic jam!!!!! Finding Manuel - he was holding court at someone elses caravan - a quick explanation and we were on our way back to Molly.

Unbeknown to us daylight saving had clicked in on Saturday night so it was a very, very long hot day.

Today we are still in the campsite at Costa Nova having a relaxing day, trying to find an apartment to rent in Portugal for a month and resting my knee which has an effusion now after my fall from my bike. My knee has been a constant aggravation since surgery and i really did not need for this to happen.

Tomorrow we travel to Salamanca back in Spain.

Spain - 2nd Edition

Oh.......really hot, hot water and Dave and Alex! Yep both the best things about this campsite. Oh....and the dog makes three, sorry Layla.

We stayed here a few nights in camping Gaivota as, although there was no more to do than turn right or left as you hit the beach, it was a family run campsite and they made you feel welcome and wanted. It was very clean and well looked after and the shower water was hot, hot, hot. Such a small thing to make such a big deal about but luke warm showers on a rainy day even in Spain is not enthralling.

Our first day there we hit the beach. The atlantic Ocean crashes onto these rocky shores at a fierce pace of knots and there is always a sea salt mist hanging over the sand giving the beach a haunted appearance. We turned right and headed for Cathedral Cove. It was very windy and a little cold but we were captivated by the rock formations along this beach (photos on facebook). Towering layers of Schist and marble undercut by the sea stood proudly to attention as we meandered along. Within the Schist layers orange and white layers co existed making the rocks look like enormous sandwiches. The tide was outgoing so we explored Cathedral Cove then headed back for the lunchtime special at a beach cafe overlooking this incredible vista.

The next day we went to the beach and turned left. A rather large township was on the horizon so we opted to walk along the beach to it mainly to find some bread to buy and maybe a supermarket. Having walked a good few kilometres and with the township in our sights - just have to go over there and up those steps - we were pulled up short by an inlet cutting between the 2 beaches which was totally impassable. Turning back we headed for home, deciding to drown our sorrows at a wine bar we had noticed on our way to "town impossible to get to" ........ And that is where we met Alex and Dave and a dog makes three!!!!!!

We have met some amazing people on this journey and Alex and Dave are up there with the best. We sat there drinking wine and beer for several hours, on what turned out to be a very warm, sunny day, giving the waiter at least something to do whilst he was open (very quiet on this coast at this time of year). Every now and then he, the waiter, would come out with a big grin on his face and produce different plates of tapas for us - all put together by himself. He was so proud and we were so grateful. Once again it is these special moments that make the memories. The conversation was good, the tapas was free and the drinks so, so cheap. That evening we joined each other in the camp restaurant - only ones here as well - for a lovely meal and more conversation. Oh yes......and more wine!! We were able to give them some tips for their upcoming trip to NZ and they for our upcoming trip through the Algarve. Sweet.

Saying our goodbyes the following morning we headed into our 4 hour drive to Muros in Galicia, Northern Spain. This was not a pleasant journey through the mountains with high winds, strong wind gusts, torrential rain, long high viaducts like I have never seen before, low cloud and fog. It was a crazy journey which, unbeknown to us, was about to become even crazier.

Bypassing A Coruna and having just left a motorway, we are faced with this enormously long, slow, uphill climb. Apologising to Molly we start our ascent and "BANG" judder, judder Molly throws herself into a fullblown spasm. "What's happened?" says I. "Puncture" says Gary. Well these Spanish roads go on for miles with no pull over areas but it just so happened that there was a very small turn off to a very small village to our right that Gary was able to coax Molly in to. The fact we were blocking the road selfishly did not concern us. Jumping out........our tyre was shredded!!!!!!

Flouro vests on, triangles out front and back, jack, tyre lever, umbrella (yes it was still pouring) etc etc and Gary set to the job in hand. An hour later and realising there is no way on this earth he was ever going to dislodge the spare tyre after it being in situ for all of Molly's 20 years he swallowed his pride and I dialled 112 for assistance. Now this may sound dramatic but think about it rationally. We are stuck half way up a massive hill, partially blocking a turnoff for residents to reach their village, it is pouring with rain, we have no local sim card, speak very little of the language and we have a puncture!!!!

As it happens it was a great decision. The police got an interpreter on the phone in a 3 way conversation and sent out 2 policemen who couldn't release the spare either. They contacted our breakdown insurance company who sent out a breakdown truck with a mechanic on board. A few hours later we were on the road again but sadly the mechanic took a hammer and chisel to the spare tyre holder and also had to cut the wire holding the spare tyre in place. A few kilometres further on we came to a small town which seemed to specialise in tyres (few and far between on this journey) and now Molly is the proud owner of two new back tyres. Upside of the story - could have been much worse and downside - we currently have to carry the spare inside Molly when we travel. The wonderous thing about all of this is the outcome being achieved with no one, except the interpreter, speaking English and us not speaking Spanish.

It is now getting very dark and very late but we finally roll into the cute little seaside village of Muros and the rain has stopped. Our campsite is supposed to be just outside of this village but it is much further than that and the campsite is awful. It is closing in 3 days time and the owners have virtually abandoned it although they hot foot it to take our registration. The rain starts again in ernest during the night and will continue all through the following day and night as well. We are totally Molly bound and we do not even get to see the sea as the morning we are due to leave we have, once again, very high winds. As we head out of the campsite we stop to pay and the office is closed. We ring the bell, wander the campsite looking for them - maybe they are cleaning the sanitary block which has not been cleaned since we arrived - go to their accommodation but no-one is to be found - they truly have abandoned us. We fix a note of explanation against the door with our UK cell number on it and leave. The wind is getting stronger and we are keen to get on our way - we have wasted half an hour trying to find them. We feel guilty but we go. To this day we have not heard from them and wonder if we ever will.

Relieved to leave this awful place behind we are going to try a camperstop with electricity for just one night but once again we have to travel through mountains, which obviously involves more viaducts to get there along the Xunta-de-Galicia, stopping at a rural supermarket to stock up "Spanish style" where the fresh meat was hacked off a block and very cheap. Our supplies were getting dangerously low but alas still no hummus and when we came out?.........yep it was raining again. Stopping for a "menu of the day" lunch, which is cheap, involves many courses and stops us from eating in the evening, I decide it is time to harden up and try the local fish!!!!!! Putting aside its presentation, tail in mouth, it was actually very delicious and it has set me on a "fish course" much to Gary's delight.

Finally arriving at our Camperstop we discover it no longer exists and we decide to freedom camp in a Sports centre car park in Sanxenxo, watching the wind and kite surfers, for the night - something we said we would never do in Spain - and as we were joined by another camper at about midnight we spend a peaceful night feeling very safe and cosy. The wind and rain subside overnight, it is dark until at least 9am (no daylight saving in Spain) so we enjoy a well deserved lie in.

Tomorrow we head South for Portugal where we hope the weather will be better.

Such are the joys of travel - wouldn't be right without an adventure or two thrown in!!!!!!

Spain - 1st Edition

First stop in Spain - Pamplona!!!!! Yep where the young run with the bulls.

It is quite a mysterious place with soooo much history and amazing architecture in the Old City but firstly we had to get there. Out came our trusty bikes for an 11km jaunt along the river - have to admit getting there was not too bad although not quite as flat as we had been led to believe -and we arrived at about 11am.

Following the route the bulls actually run we wandered around finally arriving at the bull ring just outside the city walls. Deciding we needed some fuel in the form of lunch we opted for a 3 course set lunch with water, wine and bread included for 10.50 euro each. Now, when you cannot speak the language anything goes when trying to figure if you are about to eat something unmentionable and the waiter and I were reduced to making "Old McDonald Farm" noises to distinguish whether the meat was pig (oink oink from me) and (neigh neigh from him) - OMG horse!!!!!!! And the flapping of wings and cock crowing for chicken (him not me). Next was a waving hand motion gliding through the air with a wierd shjutsh, shjutsh sound which we assumed was fish quickly sizzled on either side - Gary ordered this - and low and behold I had ordered - what??? Next came a whole bottle of red wine with an order from the waiter to "drink it down to the bottom" with much hand gesticulation included. All this was done with an absolutely straight face whilst most of the restaurant - us included - were laughing our heads off. The meal and wine were great, although Gary's squid (the fish) was too squidlike for me to even look at, and my chicken was delicious. We have had some wierd meals in Spain but find if we eat healthily at lunchtime we do not need food until breakfast the next morning. Seems better than stuffing yourself late at night and going to bed on a full stomach - cheaper too!!!!!

Finishing our meal we left the restaurant after many handshakes, walked out into the streets of Pamplona and everything had changed. All the shops were closed, the streets were dead - it was a ghost town -it was siesta time and nothing would reopen until 5pm. It was just 1.30pm so we decided to hightail it back to Molly. This time though with a full belly and half a bottle of wine in each of us it really was a mission. Losing our way didn't help either adding at least an extra two kms to the trip!!!!! Arriving back at Molly the heavens opened - home just in time which seems to happen a lot for us.

Our next intended stop was to be Burgos which we had been told was very nice. Travelling through small villages once again - this is such a nice way to see the grass roots of the country - through Arakil, Vitoria, Careterra, Monastario, we came within 3kms of our campsite and the road was closed. Seeing Burgos was just another big city, we were rerouted through it by Kate the GPS, we decided to move on to what was to be our alternate destination in Castrojeriz. What a smart move that was.

We really enjoyed our stay here at Camping Camino de Santiago. The weather was good, the camp was great as were the owners, the village of Castrojeriz so, so unique and pretty and we met some wonderful people from GB there. Papa (the owner) was very knowledgable about local birdlife and had some amazing pics on his amazing camera. We were spellbound for at least two hours just looking at photos. For those of you following us on Facebook this is where we went to the Castillo straight up the side of a mountain, through fir trees and rocky terrain, but it was well worth it. This was built firstly in the 9 century (Roma) and then expanded in the 14th century (Medieval) and there was "no charge" to enter.

Meandering through the village was delightful along the Pilgrim route and amongst this small village's many churches. Old houses built deeply into the hillsides (possibly just plain cave like dwellings originally where families had their animals sleeping inside with them) were being renovated. Windows, doors and electricity were being added and small chimneys stuck out through the top of the hillside which formed the roof. Just little Hobbit houses really. Having lunch at a peaceful Pilgrim cafe where a huge potato omelette costs a mere 2 euro we were suddenly inundated by an Asian tour group, the first we have seen in ages. They were not too bad and the young lady behind the counter coped really well - giving us a high five when it was all over.

Walking home we happened across "The hospital of the Heart" - a private Spanish house opened up to anyone who wishes to enter, food and drinks for Pilgrims laid out in the kitchen, books to read, art to ruminate over, poignant messages of hope and love attached to the most wonderful, natural photographs. A tranquil garden to sit in out of the sun and just muse. The owners were not there, they were in the village, such is their generosity and trust to and for their fellow man. We loved it - so simple - but this is exactly what our journey is about and we will always hold happy memories for Castrojeriz, a dilapidated village in the middle of nowhere with such a big heart and so much to give.

Here we spent a lovely evening with Lucy and Mal and Dave and Helen having dinner together and being spoiled by Papa with Grappa?? Well Gary was - I hate the stuff!!!!

Waving goodbye to lovely Lucy and Mal, the next morning we headed for Santillana del Mar heading over the mountains ranges (Europa Mataporquera), through lots of little picturesque villages, over rolling barren hills and into Cantabria Province. The scenery through Cantabria is breathtaking - mountains, viaducts and tunnels abound - and we rumble on through, or past, Polencia, Rio Izarilla, Santa Cruz, Barros, Tannos to our campsite in Santilla del Mar which is awful - there isn't a flat site in sight and when we do find a flatish area it is like the OK Coral. We eat dinner in the restaurant, multi course, and are presented with chicken swimming in a greasy gravy and an iceblock for desert!!!! Only in Spain!!!! Next morning we are woken to the sound of gunfire - a cannon salute or something? - which sets all the dogs in the immediate vicinity barking. This seems to go on forever and we later find out "it is only a bird scarer"!! The village of Santillana made up for it though as it is rather quaint. Many original buildings still stand and are in excellent condition or have been renovated and, of course, the architecture and history is something that we, in NZ, do not have.

We leave early, obviously, from the campsite. We have a long journey today to A Agolada, it is raining and we know we have to tackle the road through the Pico's d'Europa (the Peaks of Europe) a forboding trip for our Molly. The road becomes coastal at Vidlago and then mountainous at Hontaria and then we are on this brand new road whizzing along through the Peaks of Europe, over sky high viaducts (slight exaggeration here but felt and looked like it), through tunnel after tunnel (have I mentioned befor I have a tunnel phobia?) through Bones, Venta, Villvaciosa, San Miguel, Gijeon (large town), Aviles (huge town), on through farming communities divided by the viaducts, past Cortina and La Caridad to our second most wonderful campsite on the Spanish northern, rocky, rugged coast - Camping Gaivota - near Barreiros.

We are happy again.

France - 3rd Edition

Travelling through amazing countryside, rolling hills and farms - from the Mid Pyrenees into the High Pyrenees - and passing through many small and isolated French villages we realised how lucky we were weatherwise. The day was fantastically sunny and the journey long and very, very interesting. Many of the minor roads, which we tend to travel as opposed to motorways, are lined with very old, proud Plane trees which have been planted very close to the edge of the road - either that or the road has been widened to meet modern traffic volumes - which give the sense that the trees are literally jumping out at you as you drive through. It can be very disconcerting as you drive along seeing these majestic, gnarled, elderly trees, a little bruised here and there, especially with the overhang that Molly has!!!!! We are on our way to a campsite at Plage de Vieux Boucau near Port d'Albret and as we pass through Thermes Magnoac, Castelnau Magnoac, Puntous, Trie-ser-Baise, Castex Mielan and Tillac we come to the magical town of Marciac which actually encourages campervans to stop by providing a special parking area to do so. We are just to the South of Bordeaux and although we feel we are in the middle of nowhere we are surrounded by vineyards and even a Circus School????? The autumn colours are stunning.

There is little traffic, we have passed one camper during the last 100kms, and at St.Germè we see our first centre pivot (Rob and Rach)!!!!!!

We bypass Tasque (too big) and hit Villeneuve where obviously they are celebrating something because everyone has a dead pinetree at their gate decorated with white, scrunched up paper balls!!!! If anyone can throw a light on this strange tradition we would love to hear from you otherwise we will just remain ignorant.

Travelling on through Artasenx and back out into the countryside we find a "Vietnamese Restaurant" literally in the middle of nowhere. My, this is certainly some adventure today.

Anyway after hitting a few kilometres of heavy fog - on a beautiful sunny day? - we arrive at Plage de Viuex Boucau, just outside of Soustons. Having looked at 2 overcrowded Camperstops, where revolving campers go "out" and back "in" to overcome the 3 day maximum stay because it is a cheap French family holiday, we opt for the campsite at the base of the sand dunes on a surfer beach. Magic.

From here we can bike to the little town, walk along the beach, visit the Saturday market for local produce, relax and have fun. We spend 3 wonderful days here but the whole place will soon close down for the season. We are finding this a lot.

Next stop St. Jean de Luz just South of Biarritz where we sat on the rocks watching the roaring waves and the surfies trying to catch that "special one", and then yes - the French leg of our journey is over, until next time, for tomorrow we arrive in Spain.

France 2nd edition

Contrary to the previous blog we did not move on??? We were enticed to stay at the mention of amazing Roman ruins within walking distance of Saint Remy - they are a combined passion so there was no doubt we would be heading that way.

Walking the kms back into the township and through the other side we were amazed at how different the atmosphere was compared to Sunday - it was so very, very empty and quiet and many shops were not open. We however trudged on, up the hill to the ruins, in the sunshine - the day was beautiful - to find the gates closed!!!!!! A notice stated that on this one particular day there was an "exceptional closure"??????? Mmmm.

Not to be beaten we found a track across a donkey meadow and up another hill which took us round to the back of the ruins where we could look down on the whole archeological site albeit through a high fence. So all was not lost and we were 15 Euro better off!!!!! To add to this we also discovered the much neglected quarry site where they chipped out the large blocks of stone to build their structures. Bonuses all round.

That night the couple from Australia - Sandy and Donald - invited us over for pre dinner drinks and conversation. Donald is like Neil - a mine of information - and they have been travelling for 3 years so their help was invaluable. It is great when you meet like minded people and hopefully we will stay in touch. During our conversations it was mentioned that there was a market in the town the next morning so we decided to stay yet another day. This is the beauty of the way we travel - free spirits!!! During the night though the weather turned and rain set in. We said our farewells and hightailed it out of there, packing up in the wet, heading for the South West French coast and hopefully more sunshine. There will be another market in another place that we can peruse.

So the GPS is set for Marseillan just outside of Agde and the rain is following us. We pass by Arles, seeing its Old Town, but it is just another big city really. We whip through St.Gilles where boats look rather bleak lined up along the Petite Rhine bobbing around in the pouring rain. Le Galat, Lunel, Lunel Veil, Ballargues are all places which would have been much nicer to see in the sunshine. We drive through "uncared for looking" vineyards, the vines laden with ripening fruit. We drive through huge Industrial areas and wonder where we are going and why? We drive along a peninsular and the vineyards slowly start to improve in appearance and the sky begins to clear as the rain has stopped. Eventually we arrive at the Marseillan campsite and finally the sun emerges. A very late lunch and a glass of wine under the awning - all is good.

Planning on staying here at least 4 nights as the forcast is sooo good we have plenty of time to explore the region and mainly on foot. Marseillan is small and is obviously a seasonal town. Most shops, including fresh food shops are either closed or closing and have some amazing bargains to be had - if you need anything that is. Freshly rotissoried, absolutely delightful chickens, with enough french fries to feed an army, are available for 11 Euro - believe me that is cheap here - and that equates to two meals for us. Wine is cheap, especially if you are around when a shop is closing. 3litres = 5 euro and I have found the best Mielle Fuilles since Bath!!!!!

We are actually having a lot of fun here. The camp closes, along with everything else, on Tuesday so it is not very busy but all its facilities are still up and running including the big outdoor heated swimming pool with waterslide, whirl pool and anything else you might need. Everywhere is fresh and immaculate with plenty of loungers poolside plus 1 hour free wifi per day in the pool area. Nowhere is crowded and there is plenty of room to spare.

The beautiful sandy beach is across the road which stretches for miles and the sea is still warm. Yesterday we walked left along the beach to a pretty harbour and today we walked to the right - hoping to walk to Agde. Tripping along the waters edge, absolutely awesome, with Crocs in hand, the sky blue and the sun shining, we saw notices saying we were leaving Marseillan Beach but with Agde in our sites we floated on chatting away. Suddenly Gary's jaw dropped and he mumbled "has that girl got anything on?" "Course she has Gary - don't be silly" I say, squinting into the sunlight for a better look. Next thing 2 male joggers flopped past - totally naked! Next thing a man further ahead suddenly stopped and bent over to examine a shell in the sand - totally naked and not a nice look either! The beach was becoming more densly populated by the minute and everyone was starkers!!!!!! I have to say at this point that there were some amazing bodies on that beach but most were gross and secondly, if you are not already aware, there are so many different types, shapes, lengths, positions and sizes of men's penis - it is truly astounding. I have never seen, firstly, so many limp penis flopping from one leg to the other as they are marched up and down the beach and, secondly, so many men playing with themselves!!!!!! Why do both men and women, of all ages I might add, choose to lie on a beach, legs splayed, displaying their genitals to all and sundry and risk sunburn to boot? The pendulous breasts, the sagging tums, the enormous waistlines no longer seem so bad after todays excursion but there was one naturist I really did respect. A woman - tall, brown, slim maybe late 50's - with just one breast and one mastectomy scar. In my mind that was courageous.

This beach went on for at least 2kms and abruptly stopped at the entrance to a harbour. Phew we thought - over it! Nah - the harbour was Naturist and so was the surrounding massive village, with highrises and houses, shops and restaurants. All in all the beach and land complex would easily have covered 5km if not more. We desperately tried to find our way out of this "sight assault" but an hour later in the scorching sun we were still stuck inside this never ending village. Have to mention here we were not the only ones walking around clothed but we were definitely very much in the minority. Mustering our combined strength and eyes firmly fixed above waistline height we bravely walked into a restaurant and had a drink. My goodness we needed the fortification because we had just realised there was no way back to Molly other than retracing our steps along the beach. Another 2km of................!

To put the record straight we have nothing against nakedness, nor the male female body form but this was almost sleazy by some. If there had been another route for us to take we definitely would have. Maybe a notice or two on the beach? If nothing else it would have saved us at least 5kms worth of Croc wear and my rose tinted glasses would not have been shattered. Hey ho - just another adventure!!!!!!

So our 4 nights are up and the time has arrived for us to move on again as we slowly head towards Spain. We are travelling to Montolieu today with a stopover in Carcassonne to explore the Medieval city and its beautiful 12th century Chateau. Finding some sort of parking spot is a mission in itself but eventually we plump for one off the road and outside an apartment complex. Molly fits well in the space but I am sure it was not meant for her????? 15 mins later we are at the gate of the Old City walls on top of the hill. This place is magic and if you let your imagination roam free you can visulise medieval people gracefully walking through the streets and the hub bub of then daily life. Now, as you walk the well worn cobbles, the streets are filled with souvenir shops and expensive restaurants but the architecture, the buildings, the amazing way in which they were all constructed so many centuries ago is mind blowing. We could have stayed there a lot longer but the day was getting late and we needed to get to our campsite. This place was well worth the visit.

Arriving in Montolieu at a very nice campsite for only 10 Euro a night we realised we had arrived at a village that purely associates itself with books and maybe a bit of printing history thrown in as well and is otherwise known as "the Village of books". So next day we amble, once again to the top of a hill, into the village to explore these "libraries". Today is Monday and throughout most of France Monday is another day off and most things are closed - that is if you can find much open in the first place. The streets were sooooo quiet but we did find a few second hand bookshops (libraries) open to rummage around in. They also have a great tradition of leaving books on windowsills and other shelfy places for you to exchange for free with one instruction - that when you have finished reading the book you leave it elsewhere for someone else to enjoy. This town used to be fortified and stretches out on a rocky bluff between two steep valleys. It was very picturesque and rugged and we even found a Boulangerie open for bread and a cafe for coffee but there was nothing else to stay here for.

Unfortunately that night it poured torrentially and next day we were informed that the surrounding areas were flooded so we relaxed there for another day before setting off for a campsite in Cassagnabere-Tournes.

This was a very pleasant pretty journey mainly through vineyards and fields of sunflowers and as we drove west through sleepy villages (Moussoulens: Alzonne: Castelnaudary: Avignonet) we drove into sunshine. Knowing our penchant for driving the wrong way down one way streets, during our search for an ATM, we did just that in VilleFranche .......again! Safely getting out of that one........again, we carried on through Neuloux, skirted around Auterive (very large city) finally coming to a stop in St Silpice-sur-? after Gary spied an ATM. Here we got some money, bought our first piece of Rocqforte cheese from a market, met a lady in a Boulangerie who sold amazing Mille Fuilles and was totally obsessed with Ritchie McCaw, won 5Euro to spend at the local supermarket so bought 2 bottles of wine, had our card refused at the petrol station and had to pay 50cents to use the air machine for Mollys tyres which incidentally didn't work!!!!!! We shall not forget this village in a hurry but on we travelled once more through Boussens: Le Frechet and on to Aurignac where we stopped again mainly because this was a village with some interesting looking ramparts, archways and churches. We were not disappointed either as we wandered the streets, once more alone, uphill and down dale. There seem to be no shops in these villages......where do people buy their food and where do all the people go? The villages have so much history attached to them and are so gorgeous but they are empty!!!!!

So now we here in Cassagnabere-Tournes and it is hot. We are staying in an Eco campsite and there are just 3 campervans here. We are immediately adopted by a very pretty cat and are welcomed to the site by a delightful English couple, Russell and Daphne, who we spend a very enjoyable first evening with.....yes drinking plenty of wine and eating good food. Unfortunately the next morning they leave along with the other campervan so we are the only ones in the whole of the campsite - although it sounds as though someone else is here now.

After waving goodbye to Russell and Daphne we head into the village. Mmmmmm............what is with these villages. They are beautiful but there is no sign of life! There is not one shop in this place but there is a closed post office. Up a side street a few men are doing some roadworks, but it is hot and there seems little forward momentum. We do hear children laughing - there is obviously a small school somewhere - and there is a cock crowing and a hen rushing around in a yard with three baby chicks. We are just thinking there is nothing special in this place when we come across a restaurant and boy this place was special. We ate and drank so much good French food and wine, all for a fixed price, we had to lie down when we finally got back to Molly so very little has been done today.

Tomorrow we move on again and slowly but surely we are moving closer to Spain.

France - 1st edition

So, up at OUR crack of dawn and after our amazing Italian coffee/croissant experience, we head off to quit Italy driving around the Southern Italian coastline which is extremely pretty. It is quite hard to get the GPS to stay on the coastline because it is difficult terrain with rocky overhangs but the struggle is definitely worth it. Cruising along we hit San Remo, centrum again, on a Saturday and slap bang in the middle of their market day which just happens to line the main street. Add a few hundred scooters and people and it was chaos. Gary loved it but I was too scared to even get a decent photo. People were just coming from everywhere, jumping in front of Molly, on or off crossings and as we finally exited the centrum Gary said "Can I open my eyes now?"!!!!!!!!

Ventimiglia, another crazy, congested township: Latte and then Grimaldi where we finally crossed the border into France.

Still trying to stick to the coastal road to Nice through Monte Carlo, Monaco and Eze we somehow got lost firstly in the back of Menton and then in the back of Monaco. Remembering these places have very steep, narrow, extremely pretty, winding roads this makes for an extreme experience with a campervan. Following Kate(GPS) we turned left at her instruction straight into a hotel carpark!!!! Jumping out to guide Gary and Molly forward a YOUNG man strolled over asking me what we were doing? Explaining the best I could in broken French there was no way he would allow us to turn round in the carpark - Private Property!!!!!! The situation forcing Gary to reverse I firstly had to stop 2 fast flowing lanes of French traffic, coming up on to the brow of a hill. Feeling very embarrassed and being watched by this young man I promptly walked out, stuck up my hand, everyone came to a halt and, guiding Gary backwards out on to the main road, I managed to thank them profusely, jump in the cab, give the fingers to the young man and Gary drove away.........job done. We finally arrived at our amazing campsite -Campsite Colombier in Cagnes-sur-mer - settled in and started exploring.

High above Cagnes-sur-mer, sitting on a mountain top is the medieval village and castle - Haute-de-Cagnes and that's where we headed. It was undescribably amazing as those who have seen the facebook photos will confirm. We spent hours there then walked down to the township proper mainly to try to buy data for our phones. Do not be ungrateful for our NZ cell system and pre paid price structure - it is great. 50Euro each was what we were expected to pay just for 1GB of data, nothing else, for 1month. Sadly we were not prepared to do that but in France Wifi is not too bad so we should be OK.

Next day we walked to Cagnes-sur-mer beach - a bit like a mini Nice - sunbathed on beach (the weather has been awesome), found an Irish pub with good beer, lunch and free wifi, strolled along the front with an icecream then walked the 5km back to the campsite. Whenever we needed wifi we would stand in front of the Irish pub - it didn't open that often - hook up, send a few texts, download the current NZ news and then head home.

Next day we cycled to Antibbe - that was a pretty tough 12km ride, the wind in our face and the weather was looking a trifle doubtful. We took our togs though just in case. Arriving in Antibbe we discovered a place we had no idea was sooo gorgeous and the sun came out on cue. Antibbe is cute, quirky and a delight to visit. The harbour of course is home to the most amazing boats which can create a little envy. My love, but huge respect, of the sea is getting stronger and stronger and we would love to own something less lavish but as safe as some of the smaller boats. So we explore, have a bite to eat with a glass of French wine and decide to have a swim on the teensy, weensy beach there. (Well we were going to toe test the water whatever). Just as we walked through the archway the heavens opened and we had 12kms to bike back!!!!!! The torrential rain did not let up till the following morning so the rest can be left to your imagination. Exhaustion is what I recall.

But, gluttons for punishment, the following day we cycled to Nice - 13.5kms each way. This time though we were prepared - we took our raincoats with us but no togs. It was an easier ride as the cycle ways are continuous but as we biked it got hotter and hotter. That day we definitely neeeded the togs not the raincoats - foiled again!!!!! We had a lovely day in Nice - once again just strolling along the promenade and around the old city finding a fabulous authentic French restaurant for lunch - with Free Wifi of course - stopping on the way home at the infamous Irish pub for a beer and yes.......free wifi!!!!!! The day was sooo hot that all the dye came out of my M&S dress as I cycled my little heart out. Going home was better though because Gary let me lead?????? There is nothing more despondent than seeing your cycling mate trucking off into the distance with graceful ease whilst you lag further and further behind!!!!!!!

That evening we spent with an English couple on the camp, Jane and Mike, discussing Spain, amongst other things, till the wee small hours.

Next day we headed for Castallane via Grasse (famous perfume producers), Escrenolles and St Vollier du Thei along the Route Napolean. This route is very high and once again very windy but not half as bad as we had been through in the backblocks of Monaco and Monte Carlo. Gary is a great driver and Molly is a great campervan so we manage most things.

Castallane was a place where we recouped. We were both pretty tired - not getting any younger - caught up on blogs, rested, relaxed but we did walk into the village which was rather a surprise. Once again it was cute and quirky with lots of narrow streets, high buildings, blue shutters and geraniums - oh and plenty of high price restaurants filled with tourists. 2hours was all that was needed here - the tourist information centre was closed and the church on the top of the mountain (literally) was way out of reach. Hiking the 3km home again we came across a restaurant with a Formulae lunch for 8.50Euro. We enjoyed the first steak we have had for months followed by Creme Brulee and a jug of rose wine. It all came to a little more than 17Euro but it was yummy - we love French cooking.

Settling down for an afternoon of blogging and planning we had a visitor to our campsite - a little Alpine Shrew and only a youngster. Protecting this Shrew from man and campervan became my focal point for the rest of the afternoon - I mean where were his parents for goodness sake?

This little Shrew caused us to meet another GB couple - Margaret and Phil - who we hope to stay in contact with as well. We enjoyed our time in that campsite, small, typically French, but great.

Next day we head for Dauphin just outside of Manosque to hopefully meet up with Calum and Jane - good friends who we first met in Split last year. We are heading west to the camperstop they are heading East. We are travelling there through the Gorges du Verdon - Frances answer too the Grand Canyon - and we are a trifle disconcerted by tales we have been told. Bravely we travel forward! We spend a spectaular day travelling through the Gorge, stopping to take breathtaking pictures by the side of the road. We are sooooo high and we are sooooo proud of Molly who doesn't miss a beat. Coming out of the gorge we pass through Riez, through fields and fields, acres and acres of lavender - unfortunately not in bloom as this would have been spectacular - and our pot of gold at the end of this rainbow? Our friends Calum and Jane who we always have an amazing time catching up with.

Arriving within half an hour of each other and after a "cup of tea" I get to work cooking an easy curry. Another van arrives, Jen and Glynn - GB as well, and we all get together eat curry and drink wine till 1am. Have to say saying farewell again the next morning was hard but recovering from the night before was even harder!!!!!!! See you around March time Calum and Jane.x

Moving on from our free night at the camperstop we head for St Remy. Love it, love it, love it. It is hot and sunny and great.We have arrive on a weekend where everything cultural in France is Free so we head into the village to take advantage of this. Van Gogh is here as well as many other artists. We were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a Van Gogh at a very reasonable price as it was in this town that he painted 160 paintings whilst in hospital with bi-polar disorder. It will look nice on the wall in the Lodge. Natural museums explain how the land use has changed over the years around here. There are lectures on the archaelogical aspects of the area etc etc. We are spoiled with a free Jazz session in the square as the sun is burning hot and we share Pizza at an Italian restaurant in France and drink Rose wine. We are replete and happy.

Today we catch up on house stuff and of course the blog. The washing is drying in the sunshine, Molly has had her mudguards sanded and painted and her rust medicated - she tells me she is feeling good, for tomorrow we expect more of her as we move on.

And finally the blog is 100% up to date - phew! Till tomorrow that is!!!!!!

Bye for now xx

Italy - second attempt

From Switzerland we decide to make our way to Italy. Now in previous blogs we have said we would never return but.......return we did, lured by good weather and recommendations to give it another go!!!

So from Locarno we headed South down the East side of Lake Maggiore to Occimiano. The trip down was extremely hazardous as the roads were very narrow, hilly and bendy but it was definitely worth the stress for the sheer beauty of the small villages, the continuous tunnels and the breathtaking views. Somewhere along the way we crossed the Swiss Italian border where border booths were still attended but, without looking up from his cellphone, the policeman waved his arm for us to continue on. (Seriously we could have had a dozen illegal immigrants in Molly for all he cared!!) Continuing down but now on the Italian portion of the lake, the roads immediately deteriorate, becoming narrower and unkempt. The road patching seems random, the potholes huge and then, on a narrow right hand bend with a huge, solid cliff-face to our right, we come face to face with a massive tourist bus. We both come to an immediate halt, as does all the traffic behind each of us, the female bus driver hangs out the window gesticulating wildly and we can only assume she is staying right where she is and we have to sort it out!!!! OK so we have solid rock to our right, we are going uphill and we have traffic backed up behind us? Yep..... The only way is forward. Slowly, inch by inch Gary creeps forward. We are a quarter of an inch away from the cliff on my side, the motorbiker behind the tourist bus is pulling a face as though to say "you are never going to make that" and the female bus driver is shaking her head.....why we have no idea. Molly takes a big breath in and we squeeze through, give everyone a happy wave and continue on. I no longer need reminding why we said we would not return to Italy!!!!!

We make it to our free Camperstop, with electricity, in Occimiano which is absolutely lovely. The village has done a great job of setting up an area with lighting, a seating area, electricity etc but the downside is?........it is on a small island in the middle of the road where 3 maybe 4 roads converge........and it is no longer free????? That is OK though - it is still cheap - so the bikes come off and we cycle into the village to pay our money at the local pub. This is when the church bells start ringing and ringing and ringing..............and then the cockrells start crowing and crowing and crowing! Bellringing practice and Alzheimer cockrells (this is late afternoon after all)?.......we jump on our bikes and cycle out of town to hopefully a village a short distance away which is a little quieter, leaving Molly to soak up the atmosphere at the camperstop.

But we never get there!!!! The roads are soooooo bad that a screw in Gary's pedal keeps being shaken undone and he is having to stop every few minutes otherwise his pedal will fall off. After a few kilometres of this we give up and return to Molly where we are joined by 2 French couples and enjoy a lovely evening chatting over a few glasses of wine.

Italy is just not for us!!!!! Next day we decide to head towards Nice, France and there is a tunnel on a border which will eliminate us having to go over the Alps but give us some great low mountain scenery through picturesque villages. This is good. GPS set....off we go.

We skirt around Cuneo, travel through the lovely ski-ing town of Limone Piemontè, zig zagging our way up the lower mountain roads as we do so, reaching the tunnel maybe two and a half hours later..........CLOSED!!!!! Everyone is bought to a halt at a set of traffic lights, on red, which never change!! In the distance 2 men can be seen chatting, leaning on road works barricades, oblivious to peoples distress (or ignoring it) - they seemingly, really, just don't care! If they did they would have pulled the plug on that road down in the Valley or at least set up some diversions. We are, once again, on a narrow road, on an up hill with nowhere to go. Big lorries and tankers in front of us are trapped. Once a stream of traffic appears from nowhere heading towards us. There is a road over the Alps apparantly but we are advised, by very definite headshaking from other travellers not to go. Cars and motorbikes, behind us in the queue, begin to pass us and travel to the roadworks site, turn around and head back down the hill. This is what we must do too - we have lost hours of travel time, we have to find another route over a different border which is not mountainous and we realise we will have to spend another night in Italy!!!!! Mmmmmm........once again I need no reminder of why we and Italy do not agree.

So we set off for Imperia - south-east of our intended direction skirting the base of the mountains via Mondovia, past Vicofort Sancturio and through Ormea. It is actually a very nice journey, beautiful scenery, not much rubbish, only 3 prostitutes on display and those oh-so-nice little villages. We wonder how they feel or cope with the huge trucks and sheer volume of traffic rumbling through their once peaceful villages.

We finally arrive in Imperia on rush hour and Kate (GPS) takes us directly into the City Centre, thru the middle and spits us out the other side. This is a large, major city with plenty of traffic and crazy Italian drivers and it is hot! Safely out the other side and close to our campsite she instructs us to "turn left"...... Straight into the sea?????? Really have to question that choice Kate! So, missing our campsite, and not being able to do a U-turn on such a narrow, winding road we are forced to head back up into the hills again. Spying another campsite we investigate that as an alternative option even though it is nowhere near the beach and directly underneath a motorway flyover. 30Euro a night???? Get real!!!!! Think they saw us coming.

Anyway if nothing else we had the opportunity to turn around here and recalculate Kate - taking us back, correctly this time, to our original campsite. It has been a long and arduous day and we sleep like babies.

This campsite is awful - but this is Italy after all - the take it or leave it attitude we have grown to understand. There are no toilet seats, no loo paper, no handwash and filthy, but hot, showers. We make do knowing this is our absolutely last day in Italy - we need no more reminders, we will not be back.

Irony is, next morning, before we left for the French border we walked along the beachfront, over the expressway and under the railway line, opposite our campsite. We discovered a cute cafe with a lovely, charming, Italian waitress where we bought fabulous coffees and scrummy Italian choc au pain (best I ever tasted anyway) and had FREE wifi for as long as we liked. I would say a very positive ending to Italy - wouldn't you? This, however, was not the end of Italy but that all comes in the next blog.

Love to all - hope you enjoy and understand travelling, the way we are, is not all stars and roses!!!!!!

Switzerland

Heading for Zurich we pass through firstly the German border into Austria, then back into Germany and finally into Switzerland - firstly stopping off at Winterthur in a lovely pub carpark to cut Gary's hair and have lunch, in that order. Gary sitting on the step of Molly, without his T shirt on as I cut his hair, caused quite a stir from passing motorists (we were at a major junction) some tooting, some giving the thumbs up - it was quite a spectacle to behold.

Making sure we were at least mildly presentable we headed off to Huntwangen Switzerland, just outside of Zurich, to stay a few delightful days with Markus and Livia. We were only intending to stay two nights but that slowly increased to four, with some help from Livia, and we so enjoyed ourselves spending time with them. The first evening we had a fabulous dinner with Livia's mother and father, sister and new brother-in-law, their friends Reudi and Nadine and a couple of rogue policemen - one of whom was Markus. Livia put on a fantastic meal in a beautiful setting and it was very special reconnecting with everyone almost one year to the day of our first meeting. We spent a lot of time being lazy, chatting and generally getting caught up - hugging Pepo and Sydney was high on the list as well. Gary did lots of good long, uphill walks with Markus and the dogs and Livia and I did short ones. The weather was hot with plenty of sunshine. This was just what we needed - good company, plenty of laughter, warm sunshine, relaxation and good wine. Oh yes and plenty of Grappa for Gary!!!!!!!!

Our next treat was a visit to a Japanese restaurant in a cute little village in Germany. Here the German border is possibly only 5 minutes away but unfortunately i cannot remember the name of either the restaurant or the village. It was "all you can eat" for a fixed price but you do not face the food train you are side on to it so the two people closest to this revolving food heaven are at the beck and call of the two people sitting beside them. Now this is OK but..........the food train whizzes round really fast, you then have to open two sliding doors and deftly grab the requested plate. Markus has this down to a T (obviously he has been many times before) but me? Nah! Also the food is coming round towards Markus - he can see it coming miles away - but I have my back to it which is a definite disadvantage. By the time it registers that Gary has seen and has then asked for a specific dish it has gone past and is just out of reach. Solution? Grab as much as you can, when you can, and surround yourself with little plates of food you can both share.....easy! OMG though it looked sooooo greedy! Once icecream started coming round I knew Gary would be happy?????? It was a great evening and a place I would love to go back to.

Our time went quickly with our two happy friends and once again it was time for us to say goodbye and head off into the sunset. This was quite hard for both of us as we are unsure when we might see them again. Thank you once again Markus, Livia, your wonderful family and friends for such an amazing few days. Next time New Zealand?????

From Huntwangen we drove to Locarno, Lake Maggiore close to the Swiss Italian border driving through a 17km tunnel to get there. Strolling around the Old town that evening we discussed, over a glass of wine of course, giving Italy another go. We did not enjoy Italy last time round but driving around the lake and down the west side of it into Italy seemed a good compromise and hopefully a better outcome. We will let you know in due course.

Austria

Leaving Czech we head for Vienna but not before being warned, once again, about the antics of Romanians by the Camp owner. This story goes like so: "Be very careful the Romanians lie in wait by the side of the road and when you stop they jump out, spike your tyre and then when you are distracted jump in the campervan and steal things" ???? Romanians obviously leave nothing to the imagination creating huge fear among travellers. We hear different stories so often some just have to be true. In my world though....... I prefer the rose tinted lenses.

Closing in on the border we decide to stock up Molly at the last Lidls store in the Czech Republic. Gin is NZ$6 bottle, wine is NZ$5.60 for 1.50litre bottle. Oh yes, food is very cheap too! We have our Vinette for Austria - a must that we bought at the Polish/Czech border (possibly from scammers but we are still not sure) - so we are all ready and prepared for our border crossing.

This we do and straight into a traffic jam. It takes us 1hour 30mins to travel 5kms and guess what? It is raining again!!!!! The holdup is because of a bottleneck through this charming little village which also has a sculpture of a naked lady leaning on and looking over the bridge in the middle of the village. Could she have had something to do with the holdup????

Finally arriving in Klosteneuburg, still in torrential rain which we will experience for the next 72 hours, we next morning brave the elements to visit the village and it's majestic castle. It is a really cute village, not much happening because of the rain I guess, but the castle is magnificent and has been restored over several decades by the current owners who are winemakers. Best find though?........ a Japanese Restaurant buzzing with life where we actually ate Thai/Chinese food in the warmth for our late lunch early dinner. Vienna tomorrow with a hopeful improvement in the weather.

Alas this was not to be although breaks in the rain were sporadic. Vienna was a disappointment - maybe it was the weather I am unsure - but the journey from campsite to the metropolis was definitely not.

Firstly the bus = perfect. Secondly the Underground = not so cool. I figure going up an escalator not down should have been our first clue and as we climbed the moving staircase I whispered in Garys ear..."are you sure about this Gary?" Armed with cellphone, google maps, underground map and various other paper maps....yes he was certain. Ok onto waiting train. Second clue should have come when we remained on the surface of the earth not once venturing underground!!!! End of the line = Hutteldorf = totally wrong direction, totally wrong train, and totally wrong service line.

VIENNA. Yes there were some beautiful buildings steeped in history: some lovely parks but nothing particularly memorable for us. The Danube was brown not blue and everything and everyone seemed to pack up early and disappear??? Vienna was without a heart - just a rambling, sprawling city. I had always wanted to visit Vienna - my rose tinted glasses threw up idylic visions of waltzes and violin music in picturesque squares but no, nothing like that. To stave off disappointment we decided to take a boat trip along the Danube only to be told that the last one had left for the day but one was leaving at 5pm from a different destination. Cool it didn't look that far away on the map so off we trotted feeling at least we would get something out of this very expensive city. An hour and a half later, and not at a slow pace either, we arrived at the harbour and, getting to within 100yards of the boat, we watched in horror as it pulled away from the shore!!!!! Finding the closest underground station, regardless of our ticket zone, we headed back to Molly putting Vienna behind us.

Up early the next morning we decided, before departing for Salzburg, to take a bike ride along the Danube. Although the bike ride was good the Danube was not.....but I am fed up with being negative about Vienna so shall say no more.

Travelling to Salzburg we made a detour to Lake Mondsee where the sun was shining. This is such a cute, pretty place with a community feel about it. Everyone was friendly and helpful and our spirits lifted. Arriving at our camp which was also lovely, the bikes came off Molly and we headed into the town which was 5km into the Centrum. Cycling a fair distance uphills and over dales and looking at a cluster of buildings still on the distant horizon we finally came upon a sign. This indicated that Centrum was in the opposite direction!!!!!!! Cycling back the 6km to the camp we ditched the bikes, jumped on the bus and had a thoroughly perfect day in Salzburg. If you come to Austria forget Vienna, Salzburg is the place. There is so much to see and appreciate. It is easy to navigate and as a large town makes sense for some reason.The castle was standing proud in the sunshine - it was an amazing day. We finished the perfect day off with an Asian buffet - fabulous choices and loads of it - meeting a couple of Australian people, Maggie and Richard from Perth, who came and sat beside us. Time slipped by as we happily chatted and we still had a fair walk and a bus ride back to Molly to do. Unsure when the last bus was we were lucky to catch the last one for the night exposing ourselves to arguing Romanians and drunk elderly ?Russians.

Managing to find the correct bus stop to get off, in the dark, up in the hills along a very narrow winding road we happily made our way back to Molly. Suddenly Gary exploded in fits of laughter - he still had his bicycle clip around his jean trouser leg and neither of us had noticed - all day!! I like to think we didn't notice because we were captivated by Salzburg - we really do love this place.

We are making our way to Zurich so next stop is a campingplatz in Izny, Germany. To our surprise it was based at the Dethleff factory and they had made a very nice set up there for overnighting. Electricity, showers, toilets etc and all for 8 Euro. Off came the bikes again and we biked into the very small but cute village, had a beer in the sunshine and then prepared for our final trip to Zurich to meet up again with Markus and Livia, Pepo and Sydney. We are so looking forward to spending time with them again.

Czech Republic and Poland

So here we are having crossed the border, as such, into the Czech republic and we have decided to go briefly to visit Loket. It is a beautiful sunny day and Loket matches our expectations. The streets are narrow and cobbled, there is the customary square in the middle of which stands a bronze statue surrounded by parked cars which is a shame. We have come here for the castle though and we are not disappointed - Hrad Loket is steeped in history and is amongst the oldest in the Czech Republic. It is over 800 years old and has been many things in it's time including a prison and a place of torture. We spent hours wandering around this place but sadly we needed to move on as we wished to reach our campsite in Prague before dark and what a good job we did.

Kate, our GPS not me although we probably have a lot in common, took us straight through the centre of Prague (Praha) which was quite nerve racking in many respects especially as it was rush hour. It is a vast city dotted with the usual road works which always sends Kate into a spin, and the roads are terrible. Eventually we were spat out the other side and arrived at our campsite. Parking beside the pool - quiet because it was too cold for even the children to swim - we were entertained that night by a band with a female singer playing in the restaurant - it was rather lovely. Alongside the restaurant the children were entertained by a couple of exuberant young girls and the whole welcome and feel of the camp was quite special.

Prague (Praha)! What to say? We loved this city. As you all know we are not big city people but this place is very special. Firstly we had to get there though. A brisk walk to the station worked out well but do you think we could find out how to get onto the platform? No! This is just a small country station, trains whizzed through incessantly without stopping, but we were lucky enough to find a nice young man sitting in his car who spoke a little English and voila the puzzle was unravelled. We do not think we would have ever found the entrance if we had not asked. Unbeknowingly we then travelled first class to Prague and decided to spend our day just wandering.

So much to do and see: Charles Bridge, Prague Castle, the Old Town Square, St. Vitus Cathedral, Wenceslas Square, lunch on the river - you name it we did it and both were foot weary at the end of the day. Every time we turned a new corner or went down a new narrow cobbled street there was another amazing "something" to take our breath away.

As I say we wandered all day but something happened in Prague that Gary and I still find absolutely amazing. We have only met one other couple from NZ on this trip but in Prague we met 2 more. A lady was calling out to her friends saying she had no idea what the food was she had just purchased and Gary explained to her it was sweet bread rolled in cinnamon sugar. This of course started a conversation which would have lasted at least an hour. They all came from Whitby in Wellington which is where I lived for four years and where I started the Carols by Candlelight around the lake, at least 29 years ago, which still run to this day. (Very much like Nelson) They knew where I lived, they knew the same people as me, their children went to school with my children - it was bizarre. Somewhere our paths would have crossed but.......it was a long time ago.

Prague we both thought was the best large city we have visited and if you have not been and get the opportunity you have to go. The architecture alone is out of this world and the history - well it is something NZ just doesn't have.

Moving on we travelled through Czech, through magnificent hopfields to Zemberk on the Czech Polish border. Czech Republic is very clean, although a little dilapidated, and along almost every road we travelled apple and pear trees grew by the side of the road. They were abundant with fruit but as they are left to their own devices the fruit was very small. They also like to dress the round hay bales up as people which is quite effective.As I said earlier the roads are very poor - even the motorways - but worse are the communal showers which neither of us could bring ourselves to use.

Next stop Auchwitz or Oświęcim - now the shower issue has probably become clear to all.

We have crossed the border into Poland and are camped just 10 minutes walk away from Auchwitz 1 - it is raining but somehow it seems ok for it to be raining here. Sunny would be wrong. We are in a fabulous campsite attached to this huge hotel and have met a wonderful family from Holland. Mama is a ceramic potter who sells her creations all over the world and very good they are too. Daughter in law is a singer and a jeweller - both are very talented and it was nice to spend the evening (our last sunny evening) chatting whilst the sun went down.

Our day in Auchwitz 1 and Auchwitz 2 was sobering. Putting the crowds aside and just being in our own personal space taking it all in was, I believe, lifechanging. The sheer volume of people murdered, tortured, humiliated, separated, exterminated, abused, starved and kept in overcrowded cruel conditions because of one mans gene fault is entirely overwhelming. There are no birds and apart from the tourists it is deathly quiet. The "shower block" and the "crematorium are still standing as are the rooms where those who were destined for the gas chambers were made to undress.These would have been Jewish women, children, the elderly and the ones with disabilities: those with brown eyes and darkhair and those who were of no value for medical experimentation - in fact everyone who had no value to the Nazis. When visiting the site you have to have a tour guide and you keep moving pretty quickly. You pass through rooms filled with shoes (mens, womens and childrens), toothbrushes, suitcases, clothes, shaving brushes and worst of all hair - removed before or after death. Standing there in the same spot where all these atrocities happened............was very emotional and very overwhelming.

I will always be reminded of Auchwitz not only for what I saw but because I decided to buy a necklace here made by Jeske as a lasting memory of this place but also for a reminder that life still goes on.

The next day we drove to the Salt Mines in Wieliczka which dates back to the thirteenth century. Here too you can only take a tour with a guide and it is 3 hours long. You walk through amazing caverns on tiles made of salt. See monuments sculpted from salt, chandeliers of salt crystal and experience how salt extraction has changed over the centuries. There are underground churches where the salt miners prayed for their safety and the mine runs for kilometres horizontally and is very deep - it took us 300 steps to get to the first level. It no longer extracts rock salt as the remaining salt layer is now too thin and closed production in 1999. It was a good day and a different experience.

From here we continued on to Krakow. This was to be our last stop in Poland as the country, to be honest didn't really inspire us. This was before we ventured into Krakow old city which has a wonderful feel about it - it also was a sunny day with brilliant blue sky.....to begin with anyway!!!! Catching a bus a short walking distance from our camp we wandered along the river Wista to the Castle of Krakow, spending hours taking in the history, architecture and gardens then moved on to the Main Market Square to find the Underground museum which lies directly beneath the Market Square. It is like another civilisation has lived down there and I suppose they did over 600years ago. Archaeologists uncoverd the old roads and old trading sites under the square and it has been turned into this very modern interactive museum.......very enjoyable.

Having eaten a very nice Polish BLT with an egg on top and the most delicious indulgence of some huge chocolate icecream desert whilst people watching in the square, we headed home. The clouds were rolling in, the weather was on the change.

Sourcing the return bus home......no problem. Getting back to the campsite.......very different. "We need to cross the road and turn left and left again" my trusty human GPS announced. "You sure about that?" I proclaimed. Let me tell you now he has the eye roll down to a tee so I trustingly followed. Three quarters of an hour later we were back to where we started from. "Oh! We should just turned right and right........". Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!! Anyway we arrived back in the nick of time just as the heavens opened. To be honest they haven't closed yet and the rain has been continuous for days.

Krakow was a good high to leave Poland on. We are pleased we have done it but have no desire to return.

So next day we head back over the Polish border to Frydeck- Mistek in Czech Republic where we once again camped by a lake. We managed to bike around this lake too, along with dozens of in-line skaters, but were not able to have a shower that night because the receptionist left at 6pm and she held the key????? We were treated to a free firework display that night but there was nothing else to keep us there so next day we headed for Bojkovice close to the Slovakian border. This is where Kate (the GPS remember) decides to play a game with us and takes us the mountainous route. Well we travel up hill and down dale upteen times and often in first gear, bikers wave merrily to us on route, which kind of makes our day because they are struggling more than us, the destination flag appears, disappears, reappears and the disappears again from view on Kate and we wonder where the hell we are going to land up but..........true to form it is right at the gate of the correct campsite.

We have a break in the rain so we set off to the village on foot to look around but this is the weekend and everything is closed, it is as dead as a doornail - even the castle jeering at us atop the hill is closed. The only thing open is a smelly museum where the receptionist is soooo pleased to see someone we cannot stop her talking and thrusting paperwork in our hands. We cannot understand a word she is saying so politely accept all that is offered, shake her hand and leave. At least we know we have made her day. The white castle is the reason we have come here but never mind the Czechs have retained their family weekend and we are very pleased for them. We arrive back at Molly just as the rain restarts and decide a shower is in order. Here you can only have a shower after 5pm or before 9am???? So we are OK. If you have facebook you will have seen the now famous shower experience Gary had....what a drama....for those who haven't heard here is a copy.

DRAMA IN THE SHOWER.

Camping near the Slovakian border in Czech Republich I thought I would have a shower before tea. Well what a palarva! Entered a cubicle and stripped off. Put my soap and shampoo in the tray and threw my undies in to wash. It was now that I noticed that the shower head was broken. I opened the door and made two trips (in the nude) to the next cubicle transferring all my clothes, shampoo, soap, towel and shoes. I felt like Gollum! Checked the shower head.......not gunna fall for that again, and shut the door. Bugger, no lock and the door kept swinging open. Gollum checked out all the cubicles and the only one with a lock and a functioning shower head was flooded! No choice but to use that one. All good. Hung up the clothes, put the towel on the stool and climbed in a small tub behind a plastic curtain. Now I have been in a few showers in my time and know that you take the shower head down and get the temperature right first so you don't get sprayed in the face with cold water. Well the hot water took its time coming so I increased the volume a tad. 400 degree water shot out on my feet under pressure which made Gollum immediately stand on the sides of the tub while bending down to adjust the taps. This took quite a while. The cold tap pressure couldn't get past the hot tap pressure until I turned down the hot. Several scalding seconds later I had a nice temperature coming out of the shower. I put the head back in the holder and it immediately swung to the right and gave me a face full before finding a gap in the curtain and flooded the floor. I rammed it solidly into the holder and eventually had a nice shower.

Now I had to dry and get dressed! No problem as I normally dry most of my bits before getting out. Job done, i reached for my T-shirt......damn it's still in the second cubicle. Just as well, as the shower now proceeded to drip cold water down my back. I fetched fresh undies off the hook and standing on one leg tried to put them on. My toe caught the crutch and off balanced me so I stepped on the shower bottom in the wet with clean undies underneath. Another cold drip down my back straightened me up before I fell face first outof the shower. Eventually I was dressed, except for the T-shirt, and squished back to the camper in wet shoes. At least the water was hot.

So you see all this tripping around the world is not as luxurious as some people think! It is hard work.

Penned by Gary.

Relating this to me back in Molly....well we couldn't stop laughing.

Next day we headed for a campsite just outside the larger City of Brno in the very small village of Veverska Bityska. It is Sunday!!!!!! There is an electric boat that takes an hour to cross the lake in the general direction of Brno but it is cash only, as is the campsite, so we need an ATM. Off came the bikes again and off we go in search of it. There is definitely an ATM in the village but we never found it and of the few people we happened across no one spoke English - not even a little. We did however find an amazing place to eat in the garage of a house????? The Czech food we had was wholesome, delicious and cheap - the beer was cold and refreshing. NZ$13 in total. Yum.

Heading back to the campsite, just before the rain started once again we were treated here to a spectacular thunder and lightning display accompanied by torrential rain for many hours. Half way through this a car and caravan arrived and pulled up on the grass to wait out the storm. When the storm finally abated we realised it was a lovely Dutch couple we had met at the campsite in Krakow and whom Gary had helped with his GPS - Coby and Gerard. Neither of us knew that we would meet up again, let alone so soon, needless to say a lovely evening was had chatting over a bottle of wine till the early hours.

Saying farewell again the next day we headed for the Austrian border with Vienna in sight.

That is where we will see you next - hopefully with some sunshine to report.