The African odyssey has begun. It’s 6.15pm and we are camped in the dry at last, in a lovely camp close to Moulay Idriss. Which is about 20k’s from Meknes. If you have read ‘White Gold’ Giles Milton, Meknes is where many of the Europeans were enslaved, Snatched from their…
Friday 5th Yesterday was spent sorting out shipping arrangements to Morocco. There are two Spanish ports serving the Morocco trade. Both within 24k’s of each other. One from Tarifa, where we are camped. The second, in the bigger city of Algeciras, 24k’s away. There are also two ports in Morocco…
The idea this morning, sightseeing in Seville. There appears to be a mixture of quite modern and historic architecture.That was the plan but during the night it had poured and rain was lingering. After a hearty breakfast of….porridge..:) the decision was to find parking in the city and wander. Well,…
Jen mentioned our interaction with a Moroccan shopkeeper, when buying a money belt. After deciding which belt would be best, he nominated €25. I pulled a €20 note out of my wallet and waved it in front of his nose. €23 he countered, still the €20 note waving, €21 then…
Calatanazor to San Pablo de los Montes – Central Spain By 3.30pm this afternoon and driving past a ‘Camping’ sign. A hasty screech to a halt and back up to the entrance. But it looks abandoned. Not just from last summer, but for several years. What the hell, we are…
Our last two nights have been in Ibis hotels. The first a ‘shoe box’ in Niort, but totally adequate. Last night’s Bordeaux room was more spacious. Driving has mainly been on motorways in atrocious weather. TomTom has us avoiding toll booths. It doesn’t stop us enjoying the roads but avoiding…
Following on from the last blog entry ;- Late in the afternoon Thursday we got a message, Poki’s ready to collect. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotions trying to source information and new parts for her. John, the Gumtree owner, suggested we should take a spare potentiometer (electronic…
With 6 days till departure, what could go wrong? After arriving back to the UK it’s full steam ahead to get ready for a 15th December departure. We received Poki back from Gumtree with the Maxtrax (sand/mud recovery planks) nicely fitted to the roof-rack, and a solid 6mm aluminium steering…
On the happy side, we are back home in Rotorua. But only just. A 4am rising in the UK for the taxi ride to Heathrow and a 10.15am flight. We nearly never made the flight! When checking in for our Vancouver destination, the clerk seemed to be taking an inordinate…
Preparations for Africa are proceeding at pace. The biggest step forward in preparations, has been the reconstruction of Poki. Over the month of August, Gumtree 4X4 of Ditching, West Sussex, have installed a second, stainless steel water tank, in the space behind the nearside rear wheel. It will be fed…