Back in Evora

 Tuesday 13/07/21

Every time we return to Portugal we wonder if we'll like it as much as we did last time and every time, we do!  We don't what it is, when you cross the border from Spain very little seems to change yet every time, we feel a strange feeling of coming home. We really love it here.

Some old street art

And some new - outside the library

We had a walk around Badajoz this morning; it was very quiet and, as the old city streets are so narrow, it is also difficult to get a feel for the place (or any good photos).  We walked back over the river and had a coffee overlooking the river watching the city come back to life.  We then got chatting to another Brit in the aire who was on his way back to France so we swapped travel stories before we headed off.  We topped up Bokkie's diesel tank as the fuel is significantly cheaper in Spain and managed to get it at less than a pound per litre.

We were in Portugal so quickly we didn't even have time to photograph the welcome sign, and popped into nearby Elvas for some food shopping.  We love seeing what local fare is on offer in each of the countries. 

We then headed off to Evora where we stayed a couple of nights last time we were here. We waited out the worst heat of the day and went for a stroll through the town in the evening, and enjoyed some local beer and snacks in the square.  It's lovely to be back here in the summertime, as we remember it being very cold last time.

Tomorrow we'll spend the last night in Bokkie before our 6-week house-sit.

Badajoz

 Monday 12/07/21

We both had a good night's sleep (no, we didn't stay up to watch the football, luckily) and set off early under grey skies.  It soon started drizzling but was only forecast to last until we got more inland and, as expected, when we stopped in Burgos to do some food shopping, it cleared up.  

The iconic Spanish landmarks along the route

We found we were making very good time on the open Spanish roads so decided that, rather than stop for the night where we had planned, we would push on through most of our Spanish leg.

Our lunch spot was a lovely tranquil spot next to a reservoir

We had a fantastic drive, the scenery is so similar to many regions in South Africa and the weather is wonderful - sunny and hot.  It really took us both back to childhood trips in summer, windows wound down and warm air blowing through Bokkie.

The ancient bridge to the city is right behind our parking area

Although Bokkie's immediate view is a little bleak, she can see the ancient city in the distance

We've stopped in the medieval Spanish city of Badajos only a few kilometres from the Portuguese border.  We'll go and explore the old-town in the cooler morning air and then head over to Portugal tomorrow.

Bonus pic...

It's a little intimidating when you keep looking ahead to see a truck seemingly heading towards Bokkie on the highway.....luckily it was on a transporter so going the same way as us!

Nanclares de la Oca

 Sunday 11/07/21

Hola!  

Bokkie is back in Spain!  It's hard to believe we have been away for more then two years - time certainly flies. 

Strangely, it feels like we are now on holiday; we've become so Francophile that the UK and France both seem like home so it's weird to be outside our comfort zone again. We manage our way around France quite comfortably now even though we have not mastered the language by any means but here we are completely lost.  It's even worse in the Basque country where the alphabet even looks different.

We spotted this beauty on the road, a stretched version of a 2CV

We decided to take the toll road down from Bordeaux as it offers a massive time saving and were pleased that we did - the traffic was very heavy.  There are masses of holidaymakers heading for the coast and the French roads were very busy even though most of the trucks don't travel on Sundays.

We did quite well into Spain though, then filled up with very cheap Spanish diesel and promptly headed off in the wrong direction.  In fairness, we just missed one split in the highway and it would have take 10km before we could turn around so we simply made a new plan.  It turned out to be a lucky detour and we were treated to the most fantastic drive through the mountains.  

It is baking here: 30°C, which is wilting our soft UK bodies, but should cool down from tomorrow making it the perfect timing to cross the Spanish interior.  We've got all our screens up, fans running and are waiting for it to cool down before we go for a walk around the village.

Bokkie in the aire with the San Jose Apostolic college in the background

Roullet

Saturday 10/07/21

The French summer holidays have definitely started as the motorhomes piled into the aire last night; I counted 17 this morning.  The advantage of having arrived at a decent time is that we weren't caught in the scramble to squeeze into every available space for the night.

We slept well, motorhomers are usually quite a quiet lot and we were so tired we would probably have slept through anything.

A typical sleepy village on a Saturday morning

We set off at around 08:00 and were soon driving through the forecast rain which lasted most of the morning.  The first half of the day was village to village driving (we try and avoid the toll roads, the routes are usually more scenic but progress is much slower) but after we crossed the Loire, it was mostly motorway driving.

Just to prove there are some straight roads in France

Crossing the Loire - taken through the side window so not brilliant quality

Sunflowers as far as the eye can see

Giant turbine dwarfing the wheat 

We arrived at the aire at 15h30 so not a lot of distance (395km) for a day's driving but that's the nature of travelling the way we do.

The Saint-Cybard church in Roullet

We're keeping to our schedule quite well so far and should get into Spain tomorrow afternoon. Now it's time for a Bokkie-shower, some supper and then sleep!

Montagne-au-Perche

 Friday 09/07/21

Bokkie is on the road again!  

While we were in the Bealings sit, we were contacted by the Portugal house-sit owner to see if there was any way we could move our dates forward by a week.  Recent changed to the German rules meant he will have to quarantine before his holiday so he wanted to leave the property on the 16'th as opposed to the 23'rd.

Bokkie is amongst friends, nestled in a lovely aire

It's been a mad scramble to get bookings changed, Covid tests done and everything packed but we set off yesterday from Baldock in our bid to get onto the mainland.  Travel out of the UK is still technically not allowed but the French are happy to allow vaccinated and tested non-EU residents to enter so we gathered all our paperwork and tried our luck. 

Our route was a mix of good motorways and town driving so we made quite good time - for Bokkie!

We drove to Folkestone on Thursday afternoon and stayed in a nearby campsite, hoping to get a good night's sleep as we had to get up very early.  At 03:30 the alarm woke us up and we headed off to the Eurotunnel station.  All our paperwork was acceptable, in fact, most of it drew only a cursory glance from officials, so it wasn't too long before we were boarding.  Less than an hour later we were driving onto French roads, absolute bliss after the mania of the M25 yesterday.

Our lunchtime view - French meadow

With Brexit in full force, we aren't allowed to bring any dairy or animal products over so we had to stop along the way to do some shopping.  Buying French cheese isn't that much of a chore, luckily. (just a bit stinky in Bokkie's fridge!) 

We made our way along a fairly familiar route down to Rouen and then headed south as opposed to our usual way to Brittany.  it's lovely to drive through new areas and we have found a very pretty, quiet spot for the night. We've had a long day and are looking forward to a good, and longer, night's sleep.

The lovely fishing lake below our aire

We're planning on getting to the Beja district in Portugal by Thursday for a handover, so this will be a quick dash through France and Spain.

Little Bealings, Suffolk

 Friday 25/06/21

Bokkie is currently nestled at a house-sit near Ipswich, on the East coast.  As usual, it took us and the animals a couple of days to get used to the new arrangements but now we have settled into a nice routine.

We have two Border collies, Ruby and Charley and two young cats, Dolly and Garth, and all are an absolute pleasure.  The dogs are real personalities with Charley determined to herd anything she can find; cats, balls, brooms and the watering can are some of the things that set her off.  We always know when there is a cat approaching as Charley heads off, crouches in the grass or behind a bush and escorts the cat through the house.  They don't seem to mind the attention and even offer Charley the occasional cuddle, something sheep don't usually do.

Charley keeping a close eye on Garth, who could not care less.

Charley, daring the ball to move out of formation; Ruby not quite so committed.

It's a lovely part of the world and close enough to Baldock that Charmaine popped in to spend the weekend with us.  We took a short trip to visit Felixstowe and had a lovely stroll along the beach (in spite of the weather) and looked at some of the stunning gardens in the area.

A more appropriately sized bench

I am managing to get some much-needed work done on Bokkie as the MOT highlighted the state of some of her electrics.  All the original Fiat lighting circuits were extended to the modified Hymer bumper and lights and the connectors are failing one by one.  Salty spray from the roads has caused the terminals to corrode badly and, after 20 years of operation, it was time to replace them all.  Access problems meant the bumper had to come off but this certainly is making the job a lot easier.

Luckily Toni has been keeping my strength up with some fantastic cooking and baking.

Bokkie showing her ankles

We're also trying to find a suitable replacement seal for the fridge door which has deteriorated to the point that it needed replacing.  The main issue is they don't sell them as spare parts and have stopped selling the complete doors as well.  One of the biggest problems of owning an older motor-home is always availability of parts but it keeps it interesting for me - always trying to find new solutions to solve problems.

We're here for another  week and need to start finalising when and how we are going to travel to Portugal for our next sit.

Bonus pics:-

Toni checked with the cats to see if they also wanted to play ball...

lol

rotflol

Hebden Bridge

 Saturday 12/06/21

We're back in Baldock after a short trip into Yorkshire.  

Bokkie needed a new exhaust system and, after some research, we settled on a stainless steel system which should last for life.  I had read good reviews of an installer in Leeds so decided the 180 mile trip would be worth the effort and we could stay somewhere local to explore the area at the same time.

We drove up on Monday to settle in before an early start on Tuesday, quietly sneaking out of the campsite at 06:30 to make our appointment in Leeds.  We dropped off Bokkie (it's terrifying leaving her in someone else's care) and headed off into Leeds on our bikes.  We had a lovely morning; Leeds centre is quite pretty but reasonably empty, almost like London without the tourists.

Northern-speak

Before we knew it, we got the call that Bokkie was finished, so we hopped on our bikes and headed out to the workshop.  We're very pleased with the result; Bokkie looks happier, sounds great and drives very smoothly.  Money well-spent!

We spent the rest of the week enjoying the area, our first time staying in Yorkshire.  Hebden Bridge village was a three mile walk away along the canal and we also did some lovely walks in the countryside.

Hebden Bridge

All in all, a lovely trip!

Beatrix welcoming us to Baldock

Bonus pic: Beatrix in defensive mode