Morocco and Back (almost!)

We woke early in the morning and started to gather our things ready for the journey back to the UK. We loaded our belongings into the van and then went up to the kitchen in the barn for a cup of tea and to say goodbye to Paul. We had

This is the route we travelled. It is not exact as the roads obviously meander and we got lost a couple of times and went to places for day trips etc. I might try to make a map of all my phone photo locations and plot that as it would

When we woke up it was really rainy. We had decided to go to Le Mont St. Michel and Paul had recommended a good parking spot from where we could walk along the river. The weather was looking rough for a couple of hours however so we decided to flip

We woke up and ventured upstairs. Sue(Boss) and Paul were doing their regular 1km swimming in their pool whereas Sue (wife) and I lolled about having a cup of tea and a bit of toast. This mornings activity was to go for a walk in the local woods of Le

We woke up, after making 2 cups of tea from the last tea bag, decided to go for a walk along the river Mayenne which was right next to the campsite. It was very pleasant and we wandered along for about 30 minutes and then strolled back to the campsite.

We packed up the van and drove up the hill to the castle. There was a great view down across the river. Inside, it was divided into several exhibition areas. The castle itself had at one point being used as a prison and eventually converted into a museum. First we

We had hoped to visit the castle in Saumur. Once we realised it was shut on a Monday we did a bit of research about what else to do. To our surprise, we saw that there was a mushroom museum nearby. That sounded like a must-see for us! 🤣 It

After the walk the night before we slept through till 9 o’clock. We packed the van and had a bit of breakfast and a final chat with Fran and Dave then headed off to our next destination. We had had a lovely few days there and they were fantastic hosts

Dave and I did a bit of planning in the morning to decide where our next campsite stop would be then helped with a bit of weeding. We had a coffee and croissant for breakfast. I popped on a final load of laundry, which would see us through to the

We had a fairly quiet morning in the campsite with Dave and I helping Dave S with some weeding while Fran finished moving into the summer kitchen. I also did a little bit of embroidery. Weather was fairly overcast but improved as the day went on. Once it was clearer

We woke to the sound of rain but it soon stopped and the garden got a good water! Fran and I had a good stroll around as she checked on the new plants and trained them in the right direction. Dave G did some website work in the morning. Fran,

Having put a wash around yesterday, I pegged out a line of washing – one of my favourite activities of course!!! It was great to have the weather and the space for it instead of saving up coins for campsite dryers! We headed off to the weekly market in Piégut-Pluviers.

At dawn, Dave got up to take some photographs of the fantastic sunrise over the vines. We headed away from the wine region, zigzagging past fields of vines, farm machinery, teams of people pruning and a huge tonnellerie (barrel making factory). There were piles and piles of wooden slats waiting

We travelled to a vineyard near St. Emilion which we’d found on the park4night app. It was called Château la rose Côtes Rol estate. When we got there it was 28 degrees with no wind!!! We had a strawberry tart for lunch which we’d got on the way in a

We headed off for France aiming to stop at Saint Jean de Luz. We had to make a quick stop to bag this photo. Literally 2 Km from the campsite. When we arrived at St Jean de Luz we got a great space near the harbour and the parking was

We had decided to have a day of doing very little. Dave did an hours web design work in the morning while Sue went for a long walk on the beach and listened to her audiobook. The weather was really lovely and it was the first time for the whole

We popped by the farm to say goodbye to our host and then drove to Dave and Ann’s house nearby to stock up with beer. We had a peep at the brewery room, the centre of operations! We had to guard the van closely to make sure none of their

We hadn’t quite decided whether to go into Ribadeo or just stay put on the farm, so were waiting to see what the weather would do. It seemed to be threatening more rain, so we thought a trip to the town would be the best bet! We’d learnt the previous

Today we had planned to do part of the Ruta de Los Miradores along the north coast of Galicia. It rained a lot in the night, and another van turned up.In the morning it was extremely foggy, so not the best conditions to visit a lot of viewpoints!! Fortunately, things

After a good nights sleep, a nice soapy bath for Sue (at any opportunity!!) and a breakfast of croissant, we set off to our next stop. As Mondays tend to be planning days, we’d decided to head to the beach. We drove to Playa de Pantin, which was about an

The 1st of May is a big day in Spain. Not only is it Labour Day and Mother’s Day, but also because it is May Day you will see garlands of mimosa everywhere to herald the new month. It is also Granny Gibson’s birthday. We packed our bags ready to

We had a nice slow start to the day, Aberu went to catch the train home for Mother’s Day, we met Eva’s friend Vega in the nearby chemist for a chat and then wandered off for breakfast in a nearby café, La Piada. The café opens at 11 (for breakfast,

After a good night’s s rest we got up and started to get the van ready. Sue went and paid for last night’s lovely meal and for the bread for breakfast. We sat out in front of the van looking at the view and ate the bread with honey on

After a good nights sleep Dave popped into reception for the bread that we had pre-ordered the day before. Breakfast was that with more honey and was delicious. We managed to set off at about 9 o’clock which is quite good going for us! The first part of our day

We settled our bill ready to head off and had a nice breakfast of toast with the mountain honey that we had bought in the market yesterday. Dave was keen to take the scenic route across to the Douro region of Portugal, especially because the next stretch of our journey

We were very happy with the new campsite which seemed to have been refurbished since the last reviews were written. We had a good night’s sleep apart from a few wild dogs barking in the neighbourhood. We had a fairly gentle start to the day and both had one of

We had a really great night’s sleep at Peña de Hierro. There were two other vans in the end and it was incredibly peaceful. All we could hear when we woke up was beautiful bird song. We had a fairly early start because we had a long journey ahead to

This was our first night free camping and we got a good night’s sleep. I (Dave) was awake about 4:30 am and I could hear the Spanish still singing in the local bar, however, they seemed to be having a good time. We got back to sleep and slept through

We had a really good night’s sleep despite the rain pounding down onto the van. Sue went to enquire about the other facilities as we hadn’t received any information on our arrival the previous day. We weren’t sure where to wash dishes, fill up with water or dispose of toilet

We set the alarm for 6:30 so we had plenty of time to get ready before our 7.30 hotel breakfast. The breakfast had very good reviews so we decided to have it today so we wouldn’t need to eat until much later. We had a big cooked breakfast, yoghurt and

There seem to be very few pictures of me, so I though I would start with this one. After a very good night’s sleep we had a slow start and ambled out to a nearby bar where we had some toast with avocado and a café con leche.We then went

Despite a colourful dawn, the wind was still very strong and blowing directly into the gap in the in the breakwaters so there was a lot of swell hitting the boat. Marco was a little concerned about the strain on the ropes as everything was driving us off the pontoon.

Our plan from Gibraltar onwards was to sail east and get as far as ALMERIMAR. This would have taken us five more days of sailing.At this point, we were going to leave the boat and head back to the van in Faro, via Granada And Seville. Today, however, the weather

Marco and Dave went across to Gibraltar for a massive fry up breakfast. (Dave here) To get to Gibraltar we had to have our passports checked by Spanish customs and British customs and after that we walked towards the airport runway that you have to cross to get to Gibraltar.

We had decided to spend the morning in Ceuta so Dave and I headed off into the town while Marco caught up on some paperwork. We grabbed some chocolate and churros for breakfast , up near the dragon house, and then walked over to the other side, down a quaint

We left the marina at just after nine as we had a long journey ahead through the straits of Gibraltar to Ceuta in Africa. It was great to sail past Spain to our left and see Africa to our right. In order to sail this route we needed to make

We had a fairly early start start for the trip from Caidz to Barbate. The sea was very calm and there was no wind so we needed to motor all the way. It took about six hours. When we got there we could see loads of tuna nets as this

Dave and I headed off early into the city to go up the tower, Torre Tavira, and get a panoramic view across Cadiz. It doesn’t open until 10 so we found a nearby bar and saw a very long queue nearby which turned out to be for churros and hot

We woke up early as we wanted to be off by 8 o’clock. We had a quick breakfast and prepared the boat ready for sailing. Sue took the marina cards and electric adapter back to get a refund on the deposit, but she didn’t have the receipt for the cards

This morning was a planning morning for Marco planning out the rest of the sailing trip. Dave took a work call for a whole hour and Sue went to the supermarket, in the rain,  for the days provisions and the tourist office to find out details of buses for the

Bit of a slow day today. We knew that the weather was going to be bad today and it certainly lived up to expectations. It was really rainy all day so we used it to do some chores. Sue batch- cooked some chilli which we put in the freezer. Marco

We got up in a leisurely fashion today as there was no rush to be out. We had a nice breakfast and then did some yoga on the pontoon. We had decided to head to Huelva today to try to see the Palm Sunday processions. We pre-booked a taxi to

We had a fairly noisy but relatively good night’s sleep apart from the fact that there was a leak on Dave’s side of the bed on his head which he discovered at 3:30 in the morning ( we think it was condensation, but we haven’t managed to work it out

We hoped to get away as soon as possible before the tide got too low as we had discovered that there was a very shallow part of the approach to the marina. Luckily, there was a Facebook page with some very handy hints from other sailors and we also gleaned

So, I (Dave!) awoke in the morning with an urge and had to walk very quickly to the toilet which was empty, as it was 6.30 in the morning. When I got back I made some tea and we all got up and had some breakfast. We then had our

After a breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and strawberries, Dave and Marco did a yoga sun salutation and Sue did a bit of body Fx belly dance on the boat. Today was the day the man was coming to put the sails back on the boat so Marco had to hang

We all drove to Faro airport as we needed to park up the van before we set sail in a couple of days. Lukas had recommended a place ten minutes walk from the airport which was half the price of the official airport car park, so that was pretty handy

We got up quite early and, as planned , moved the boat into Lagos Marina as soon as we could at 9 o’clock while the weather was good and the water was still calm. We left our holding bay in Sopramar and set off on our 200 meter voyage into

We had a good night’s sleep followed by scrambled eggs on sourdough for breakfast. Because there are no sails on the boat currently (getting put in on Wednesday), the bar in the mast that holds the mainsail,  knocks against the mast when the boat moves which is very annoying. So

We packed up the van and headed off towards Portugal, stopping en route for a quick coffee and pastry before arriving at the marina in Lagos at just after 11. We called Marco and then went to look around the chandlery and, lo and behold, there was Marco in the

We set the alarm for 6:30 but woke sooner and packed up the van for our trip to HUELVA. The start of our trip coincided with the sunrise and there was some gorgeous scenery on the way https://blog.davidgibson.website/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/IMG_1550.mov . After a couple of hours on the road we stopped for

So we had a fantastic nights sleep probably because we avoided the vino tinto last night. We got up in a leisurely fashion had a cup of tea I did 15 minutes of yoga outside the van in the early morning sun. Sue made a lovely breakfast or scrambled egg

We were woken by the ship’s announcement system gently playing us a lovely tune at 5:45 am. We got up, packed everything and then there was an announcement for breakfast being served in the cafeteria so we wandered along and checked it out but couldn’t be bothered so came back

Today was extremely chilled and passed by in a flash. The crossing was very gentle and we started the day with a nice continental breakfast.  I did some research and got us booked in to a campsite in Caceres for two nights. Apart from that we read, walked around the

Day one: Monday the 28th of March has finally arrived!! Having first planned to take the van to France in 2020, then postponing it twice due to Covid, we were finally ready to go! We got up pretty early and started to organise our packing. This involved working out what

So this trip has been a while in the making. The ferry tickets were bought back in 2020 before the pandemic hit. Thanks to Brittany Ferries for making it so easy to change and rebook! The original ticket was booked as a return from Portsmouth to St. Malo, but as