Portugal – we came, we saw, we ate Chicken Piri-Piri
We pushed on through Portugal, spending only thirteen nights there before emerging into Northern Spain. Not much to say except:
Jerez Feria – a true spectacle!!
We were lucky to be in Jerez visiting friends at the time of the annual Jerez Feria del Caballo. It lasts a week and is very Spanish. We joined our friends, Douglas and Carol, at Carrefour’s caseta to watch people, fireworks and the ceremonial switching on of the illuminations. It was a late night! The next day we visited during […]
A Moroccan Tbourida – What an Experience!!
Mark White, an old Moroccan hand, whom we met whilst camping in Tinghir, advised us that, should we ever get the chance, we should attend a Moroccan Tbourida (or Fantasia). We did our research and saw that an inter-regional competition was scheduled for April 27 & 28 in Meknes. We were camping nearby in Azrou and so we arranged for […]
Back on the Piste… Dades to Todra Gorge
Rather than taking the conventional ‘Route National’ between the Dades and Todra gorges, we decided instead to take the long way around and head up the Dades gorge, into the mountains, visit Agoudal, and then back down the Todra gorge. It turned out to be a spectacular journey with some magnificent wild camping at high altitude with stunning views. Our […]
Merzouga to Tagounite – on the piste!
Our Moroccan trip was always intended to be our shakedown trip and this included assessing Big Bertha’s off road credentials. With that in mind we set of on one of Morocco’s classic off road overland routes: Merzouga to – Tagounite – a 244km 4 day/3 night adventure. Almost immediately we had our doubts – guys on motorcycles kept stopping us […]
Initial Impressions of Morocco
First time in Morocco for me (Francine was here in the early 90’s) and it has not disappointed. Aside from the reasonably priced fuel (75p/litre for diesel, compared to 135p/litre in the UK), food costs are not at a huge discount to Europe, and there is certainly nowhere near the choice compared to a Spanish hypermarket. Although Francine thinks there […]
Reflections on Spain
The Picos de Europa was definitely the highlight of our Spanish trip for me. The weather, scenery and roads were just stunning. The plains from there to Madrid were boring in comparison. We both liked Madrid – the Xmas atmosphere was lovely. The South East coast is very competitive when it comes to finding camping spots, and wild camping is […]
It’s -6⁰C outside, but….
It’s a comfortable 24⁰c inside Big Bertha. Never mind that it’s cold outside, our truck has been designed by Bocklet to cope! Our defences start with a thermally insulated cabin structure – the walls are 65mm thick and are composed of GRP outer layer, then foam, then 10mm plywood and then a GRP inner layer. Along with all windows being […]
Traversing the Caminito del Rey (or ‘Spain’s most dangerous hike’)
We learnt of the Caminito del Rey from fellow campers on Sunday and immediately decided to change our plans and make a detour. We parked up nearby and bought our tickets online for Tuesday. It’s a 2.7km hike through a tunnel and forest to the start at the ‘North Access’ and then a 3km hike through the Desfiladero de los […]
Big Bertha is having surgery
We bought Big Bertha with a known problem… the front axle wheel hubs had a small oil leak. This required David to periodically top up the front hubs with oil, but unfortunately this has disturbed a second gasket and has caused a more severe leak. Our options were to replace these outer gaskets (cheap) and continue periodic top up, or […]