Glasto.2014

Glastonbury on Twitter
If you want to keep fully abreast of all Glastonbury-goings-on on Twitter:

@GuardianMusic – we’ll be posting and RTing lots of Glastonbury-related links, news, commentary and everything else you might expect

@GlastoFest – the official Glasto Twitter feed is pretty essential

@emilyeavis – Emily knows what’s going on

@glastolive – official account with various peope live-tweeting from around the festival

@glastoinfo – another official account striving to answer all your festival-related info needs

@bbcglasto – The Beeb at Glasto, obv

@worthyfm – Glastonbury Festival’s onsite radio station

@Policeatglasto – Avon and Somerset Police’s guide to staying safe at the Glastonbury Festival

@WestHoltsGlasto – Official West Holts twitter for band information, live updates and news

@glasto_weather – Your premier destination for tidings of meteorological misery and woe

Glastonbury Festival 2014

End of the Road. 15th June 2014

Short of anything interesting or amusing happening on the Ferry crossing or the journey up the M5 from Plymouth to Bristol, this will be the last Blog of the Journey.

I may well find it necessary to summarise things or, as is often the case, some thing unexpected turns up like a Speeding ticket (though with my Hymer thats very unlikely) in which case I might need to vent my Splee again.

Who would have thought at the start that I would produce over 200 Blogs and people All over the world would read them?

So I think I need to say a few thank you’s.

Can I thank everyone we’ve met on this incredible journey.

Our new friends, Davey and Kay, John and Jill, thanks for the company, look forward to seeing you again some time soon.

To Pete and Anita for meeting us in Newcastle, Australia and for being so kind.

The Tories, the Twats and the Tourist who have entertained, annoyed and frustrated me throughout. With out you this blog would have been very dull and I wouldn’t have missed a second of it.

The Spanish people who enchanted and frustrated me in equal measure, I love you and your Country and as Arnie said. “I’ll be back”.

The Dogs whose barking has been the back drop to the whole three months, you are now safe till next year.

The Brown Lab who spoilt my World Cup experience, get a bath.

To Leigh Redman for constantly giving me feed back and encouragement to keep on Blogging.

To all those who read the blog but couldn’t be ass’d to comment and to those who didn’t read it. Your loss!

To Alex, for keeping me amused with his Tweets but no more Tit and Bum stuff please and definitely no more F1.

To Georgia for taking off to Australia. If she hadn’t gone, we wouldn’t have been able to travel. You’ve made me proud and broken my heart in equal measure. Miss you.

To Kevin Herniman who provided the Campervan spice box without which our diet would have been very dull.

To John Magg’s for keeping me up to date with Fire Fighters Pension dispute and Bristol City FC.

To my sister Maria for saying she missed me. No one has ever said that before.

To the Camper Van for carrying us over 7000kilometres over treacherous roads without complaint or failure.

To ACSI for saving us a fortune.

To all those friends who travelled out to join us for long weekends, that was special.

To the bastard who hacked my bank account and stole my money, may you die a terrible death, preferably whilst watching ‘Strictly Come Dancing”.

To Lloyd’s bank who made making the fraud claim such an ordeal.

There are many more thank you’s I’m sure, from Australia which cost me three times our allotted budget to Thailand where I fell in love. I wish I could name you all.

But most importantly, to Jaki for allowing me to Live the dream. For putting up with the smelly socks, the wind and the ranting whilst confined in a shoe box. How you put up with it I’ll never know.

So a new life starts tomorrow. New opportunities and adventures. I already have so many ideas and plans, life won’t be boring that’s for sure.

Will we regret our decision. Will we regret the lost wages?

Perhaps, but in September last year I woke up for the first time in my working life and didn’t want to go to work. When that happens you know it’s time for a change

Next week it’s Glastonbury Festival, then WOMAD and then Tolpuddle, so plenty of summer still to come.

Nothing can stop us now!

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”

― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

The strange case of the Fat Dog at Midnight.

We ventured down to the Bar to watch the World Cup opening match, Brazil-v-Coatia which started at 2200 local time.

There was a good size flat screen TV on the wall but it had to be viewed from across the pool table and a table football machine so it was a good distance away. The only available seating was on hard backed metal chairs which are more suited to being used outside on the patio, but at least we got to see it.

The bar hadn’t up until this time been open so it wasn’t very well stocked. There was some wine, a few shorts but primarily Beer at €5 a pint, which matched Wembley prices.

There weren’t many Croatians staying on site and no Brazilians so the audience was primarily a few Irish, some Dutch and a couple of Brits which didn’t create much of an atmosphere.

However this changed dramatically when an English couple came in and sat next to us with a big fat, very smelly, brown Labrador.

They gave it a bowl of water which it proceeded to spill all over the floor before settling itself on my right foot, where it managed to dig one of its dirty great claws into my toe. I pushed it off my foot with my hand but every time I took a sip of my beer I could smell wet dog. I had to go to the toilet and wash my hands to get rid of the pong.

The smell was so strong I couldn’t go back to my seat so I signalled to Jaki that we were leaving and we abandoned the second half.

(The bar man is also the reception guy, who also cuts the grass. He must work 20 hours a day).

The next morning I cycled to the local Carrefore and bought bread and milk for breakfast. Then we went out on the bikes for a ride which inevitably ended up back on the beach for a swim.

That evening we went out to the local restaurant and treated ourselves to a meal.

Jaki chose the meal of the day, three courses, a fish stew to start, Salmon main and a baked Apple desert, all for €17.

I tried the Monk Fish which was served with vegetables including ‘Diced Turnip’ which was different but neither of us felt it was anything other than ‘Quite Nice’. It didn’t have a lot of taste (apart from Turnip) and with no sauce, it was a bit dull, if healthy.

Given we’ve agreed to do the ’30 Day Abb’s Challenge, we need to watch what we eat so fresh fish and vegetables is ideal. Unfortunately we missed two days so had to go back to day nine and start again. Were now on day ten (or maybe eleven) which consists of:-

50 sit ups
50 Crunchies
35 leg raises and a 38 second plank, which for those who don’t know, firms up the inner Abb’s and supports ‘core strength’.

We’ve been doing these straight off and the best we’ve achieved is 50 sit ups followed by 30 Crunchies, then 35 leg raises and the plank.

So we can’t as yet progress to day twelve as we can’t do enough exercises without crying!

This morning we had to say goodbye to this site which was really hard. We’ve loved it here and the surrounding environment is beautiful. It’s not as cheap as Spain so to stay for a long time you would need to be pretty self sufficient as food and drinks in supermarket are cheap enough but eating out can hurt.

I think of France and Spain as two Sisters. Spain the reckless teenager, experimenting and taking risks, France the older sibling, with a degree and a steady job. Both enjoyable in their own way but each offering a different type of experience.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any surprises.

Take the Tomatoes for instance.

Stocking up at the local Carrefore we put some Tomatoes in a bag and set off to weigh them. Once weighed, the machine gives you a ticket with the price on it which you stick on the bag.

The Tomatoes, were advertised with a huge sign saying (in French) Special Offer €.99 per kilo.

When we weighed them the ticket Said, €2.5 per Kilo?

I approached a shop assistant and explained our predicament. He told me to enter code 42 for the tomatoes, which I did and yet again they came up as €2.50 per Kilo.

I returned to the guy and showed him my new ticket and pointed to the advertised price on the sign above the Island full of Tomatoes.

“Ah, zat is the price for Radishes”. He told me.

“Where are the Radishes”? I asked.

“Over zer”. And he pointe to a lone bunch of radishes on a completely different counter!

Then we tried to get Diesel at Carrefore petrol station.

To cut a very long story short, as I’m sure your loosing the will to live by now, the petrol pumps were set up for self service. Insert your card, fill up with Diesel then go.

Trouble was, this wasn’t working so despite several attempts, putting card in, taking card out it was like a dried up North Sea Oil Rig.

Then a helpful French guy (there are some) told us it wasn’t working and you simply helped yourself and paid at the kiosk on the way out. However, when we got to the kiosk there was a lady sat behind the screen and the only contact she could have with customers was through a little flap in the wall.

I was looking at her face when this isolated ‘hand’ came out of the wall (like ‘Cousin ‘Thing’ from the Adams Family).

I leant out of the window and put my credit card trustingly into this hand and it reappeared with a little machine, on a wire, that given a good tug, was just long enough for me to tap in my PIN number. Once done the hand returned the card, the barrier went up and we were on our way without a word being exchanged!

We did have a similar experience at a toll booth on the Motorway where we put €5 change into the tray but despite all my efforts I couldn’t lean out of the window far enough to collect my change. So I lost 60 cents.

At the next toll we were 50 cents short and after turning the van up side down, couldn’t find another cent. I had to pay the 50 cents using my Credit card.

So even some where as sophisticate as France can still give us a laugh. It’s just that it cost us more!

Camping Du Poulquer. Benodet. France 11th June 2014

http://www.campingdupoulquer.com

We got another 300+ Kilometres under our belts but I was starting to fade so we abandoned our plan of reaching St Pol-de-Leon and instead headed for Benodet.

When we got into the village the Sat-Nav indicated the site was a few yards further on and seeing a sign for a campsite we pulled in to find the reception closed. We decided to go down to the Sea front which we could see wasn’t very far away and as we did we realised the Sat-Nav still wanted us to carry on another 50 metres.

We then spotted another site on our left and it was this one we had chosen from the ACSI book.

We checked in and were allocated a really nice, big plot within easy reach of all the facilities yet it was quiet and secluded enough to feel comfortable and with the ACSI Discount it was €16 including electricity and free wifi.

It was extremely hot despite the forecasts of rain and cloud we had been given by various on line weather stations, so we headed for the outdoor pool which we shared with one other couple for most of the afternoon.

Later families started to turn up but by then we were ready to leave.

We took a walk down to the front and followed a footpath along the coast, admiring the views out across the Atlantic and the beautiful houses set back from the road which had this fantastic vista from their balconies and windows.

We did a spot of ‘Rock pooling’ before heading off to find a glass of wine though the only place we passed was a restaurant with no customers, so we hoped the site bar might be open. Sadly it wasn’t.

So, back at the van we opened a cold French white wine from the fridge and both agreed it was horrible. We then opened a French red which Jaki liked and I didn’t but then I found a bottle of Spanish red which suited me fine.

Later we cooked steak on the BBQ , tinned dauphinoise potatoes in cream ( is that the right spelling, sorry) and tinned green beans. It was delicious.

On our way to the washing up point loaded with pots and pans we heard some music coming from a camper and stopped to listen. The English couple invited us to have a drink with them and we spent a great hour chatting. They were both retired bank managers, her HSBO, him LLoyds/TSB, though they assured us they were ‘Old School’ and got out before Banking became so toxic.

This morning when we woke up at 10am to a lovely sunny day so we rushed down to reception and booked another night, and I’m glad we did.

We set out on the bikes and followed the road to the right this time, past the Beach and on to the Harbour before picking up a cycle path that followed the estuary in land. The Harbour was full of boats and Mullet that left a jet stream of sandy water behind them as they swam up from the bottom. They were everywhere.

A local Lady who was fishing said they weren’t good to eat so I guess they are left alone, which might explain their numbers and size.

This is an extremely pretty area though perhaps not the best we’ve seen as it’s a bit modern, slightly clinical with plenty of holiday accommodation. But the other side of the estuary looks like the best of Devon or Dorset, there’s just a lot more of it.

It’s well worth a visit.

On the way back Jaki found a ‘Fixer Upper’ for about €150,000 in an Estate Agents Window and started dreaming about how I could live here whilst the renovations took place and she would come out to visit during school holidays?

We stopped at the Beach for a swim and the water was extremely bracing. This is not the ‘Med’ by any stretch though we ended up going in three or four times. It got easier each time.

Whilst we were there the Local Lifeboat crew put to sea in what we think was a training exercise involving a helicopter which lowered a crew member into the sea to collect something which they then had to place on the lifeboat deck. They did this maybe ten times and it was rather scary to see how low the chopper was to the water. Big boys toys?

i would love to be winched down on one of those lines.

Getting a bit hot and sun burnt we went back to the van and cooked a tin of Castelane stew , local sausage stew with Pork fat, though I added a few dried chillies for ‘Flavor’ which took Jaki by surprise when it hit her mouth a Ulcer!

Now were Chilling.

This evening the first match of the World Cup is being shown in the bar and though I suspect there are very few Brazilians here, they are expecting a crowd.

I’m rather looking forward to it even though it takes me one step closer to going home.

Some thing I really dread.

St Philbert de Grand Lieu. 10th June 2014

You’d think with a name like this the toilets would be lovely, they weren’t but they were good practice for Glastonbury.

We chose to stay on an Aire for a night, primarily because it was convenient to the motorway but also to save money.

We chose this one (number 132, green , Pays de Loire in the’Aires of France) because it was described as2 minutes to town centre, ancient Abbey with River Fishing. It sounded idyllic.

When we got arrived there were 5/6 motor homes already there but we managed to squeeze in between two though If people had parked a little better, we could have accommodated a couple more vans.b

We were in a lane, next to a broken hedge which allowed us to walk through into the adjacent field where there were picnic tables, the toilet block, a circular contraption with 3 toilet cubicles and a large lake.

The sun was shining as it had all day, and we set out some chairs and a small table and enjoyed the evening sun.

We had previously stopped at a supermarket and stocked up on supplies to we had steaks and duck breast ready to cook. However, with no electricity we would have to cook on Gas and we considered the different options available to us using the BBQ and the gas rings in the van. It all seemed very complicated.

So with the village centre 2 minutes away we decided to walk into town and find some where to eat.

One of our complaints about Aires is there is very little guidance available and here there was no map saying ‘you are here’ so we couldn’t plot a route. We walked back to the roundabout where we came in and took a turning off which looked like it might lead to the village centre but after a while it became obvious this wasn’t the right way so we turned around.

Back at the roundabout we settled for McDonalds, which was right on the junction. Against our better judgement we found ourselves in a Queue waiting to be served, and wait we did.

This outfit bore no resemblance to a fast food outlet.

It had a quick order facility where you used a touch screen to select your items and pay with a credit card but collection of your order still took ages and the queue there was just as long as the one we were in.

They had also changed the items, presumably to cater for French taste so we couldn’t find ‘Happy Meals’ or ‘Chicken Meals’ it seemed you had to order everything individually. Infact the whole menu was confusing, it was in French obviously but we didn’t recognise the options even where they had an accompanying picture.

When we got to the front of the queue Jaki gamely started to order in French but the girl behind the counter asked if we’d like her to speak English?

We ordered a chicken wrap, a Chicken Royal Sandwich, two portions of fries and two soft drinks, paid the €13+ and were given a tray with drinks and fries on it. Apparently the sandwich ‘wasn’t ready yet’.

At our table we sat and waited for our sandwiches whilst our fries grew colder and colder.

Eventually I went up to the counter, farming my way through the crowds of trendy young Frenchies who thought being in a McDonalds was very ‘Cool’ and tried to catch the attention of one of the servers.

When eventually I did, she threw two items at me as if I was a nuisance.

Returning with the bounty we sat and ate our meal including cold chips ( they tasted different to Mc Donald usual chips, or should I say Fries, and had no salt) whilst we used their wifi to catch up with Facebook and Twitter and plan the next days route.

I know what your saying. ‘Serves you right for eating in a McDonalds’ but needs must when your traveling and their wifi was the best we’ve come across in Months,methought their food was Crap.

Chez Gendron.Monday 9th June 2014

http://www.chezgendron.com
N45°18’52” – W0°36’10”

We drove up through France sticking to the Toll roads primarily for speed but also in the hope that the road surfaces would be better and they would do no more damage. The bike rack was by now held up by wire I’d bought to make my plastic bottle wind mills( see my You Tube site to experience them in all their glory).

We hadn’t banked on the number of charges (4 in total) and for some reason in France the Camper is a class 2 vehicle so is charged more than a car, unlike Spain where the charge was the same.

We had spent a long time before leaving looking to find a suitable venue.

Jaki was very keen to visit the Arcachon Basin and had selected a site there but we still have a 1000 Kilometres till Roscoff and Arcachon just wasn’t a long enough journey.

Were averaging about 80 KPH on the Motorways so three hours would give us about 250K, or just over 100 miles. So we looked for a site that was close to the main road (we didn’t want to add 60K by going off to the coast) and was about 3 hours drive.

We came up with Chez Gendron from the ACSI book, and in glad we did.bits advertised as a bit ‘Rustic’ but I really like it.

It’s tucked away in amongst miles of vineyards and was once a wine estate. It’s 6 acres in total but only has 50 pitches so there’s lots of countryside to explore.

When we arrived there was no one at reception but a note said find a pitch, set up and see us later, which we did.

It was extremely hot setting up so we were pleased to discover a small swimming pool just behind our pitch and we hurried up there to cool off. We spent a very pleasant afternoon there, listening to the silence broken only by occasional chatter of guests or the sound of The wild birds or the ducks and chickens that roam freely around the site.

Late afternoon the bar opened and the small flagstone terrace became very popular as guests ordered carafes of local wine.

Jaki and I joined an English couple who had spent the afternoon playing Boule and we soon learned they were in their late seventies and had up until this year been traveling in a Campervan ( they called it a Motorhome) but had this year swapped that for a caravan which they have put on this site permanently. They seem to love it here and knew the owners fairly well.

After a few drinks we, like most of the people on the Terrace moved in doors and ordered a meal, which was just as well because it started to rain just at this time and as there was an Amber Storm Warning in place a storm was expected.

We weren’t disappointed. We sat eating our meal (steak for me, Fish for Jaki, though both came with salad and cooked veg on the same plate but no sauce) watching the rain batter the now deserted pool whilst massive thunderclaps drove the ponies in the field next door into a frenzy.

We tried a Caraf of the local wine which tasted much better with food than it did on it’s own before making a dash for the van.

Once back it was extremely hot and humid so we opened the windows and sat reading whilst the rain fell on the roof and the trees around us. It was still light at about 10 pm but we must have fallen asleep as I woke in pitch darkness feeling very cold. I was too tired to close all the windows so just pulled a blanket over myself and snuggled down.

This morning it’s stopped raining though there is a blanket of cloud and no sign of the sun.

We need to decide wether to stay another night (there wouldn’t be any doubt if the weather was nice as this is a great place with lots of great cycling) or move on and get another 300K under our belts.

The down side is that the weather will presumably be worse the further north we go so with 5 days till we catch the ferry well probably not have anymore Sun.

Do I really want to go home?

France. 7th June 2014

We headed North through Pamplona (where they have the Bull Run) and on toward Biarritz and the French border. We used Toll roads which were extremely expensive in the hope of finding better road surfaces but we failed.

As well as the pot holes, which are frequent, the road surface (particularly in the slow lane) is covered in a badly patched mosaic of Tarmac of different heights which at best reduces your speed. However, there are many viaducts and bridges on this route and where each one joins the existing road there is a strip running right across the carriageway, presumably this is for drainage or expansion but they are very often 3-4 inches below the surface of the Tarmac so when you hit them at 100 KPH they do an awful lot of damage.

We found all the clothes in the wardrobe had come off the rails and several of the plastic hangers had snapped due to the jolting they had received.

The worst damage though is to the cycle rack on the back of the van. Where the weight of the bikes is supported on an ‘L’ shaped aluminium tube the bouncing around has dented the framework to the point where it has split and the bikes now hang at a precarious angle which I’ll have to support with wire till we get home.

@contact@camping-du-lac.fr

We chose a camp site north of Biarritz called Camping Du Lac. Number 1498 in the ACSI Book in ‘Ondres’ a pretty village with a Carrefore and a Sunday morning market.

It is a very pretty site, much greener than Spanish sites with grass pitches and lots of trees and shrubs. There’s a pool which is open, but it has the dopey French rules about only wearing ‘Speedo’ type swimming trunks and you have to leave your shoes outside the pool area on a rack and enter through a gate with a small foot washing area. Though most people seemed unable to grasp this and entered through the exit gate (wearing shoes) or exited through the entrance gate, trying to avoid standing in the foot wash.

The toilets and shower area is the usual confusing arrangement. On the map there are two areas, one by reception and one behind the pool. Thought the former is closed. The latter consists of two areas, one for showering which includes toilets and one separate toilets, though they are Unisex they cause an awful lot of frustration and embarrassment.

The washing up facilities are in this area though it’s a waste of time carrying pots and pans all the way there as there’s only cold water available, it’s quite dark and not very useful space.

Each plot appears to have a electricity a grey waste drain and a tap for fresh water but the tap is so low it’s difficult to get a watering can under it and you have to hold a button in which is back breaking.

The motorhome service point looks to require a token of some sort but has a tap for fresh water but no means of connecting a hose pipe so you would have to fill up with a watering can or bucket.

On the plus side, there’s a lake for fishing and a cycle track from the site that runs off road all the way to the beach, about a 15 minute cycle normally or half an hour if your with Jaki. There are cycle routes branching off through the woods clearly sign posted to other towns and villages, so plenty of good cycling.

At the beach there is an Aire for about 20 campers which was very popular. It’s €7 a night off peak and €12 peak season. (See All the Aires of France Book). There are several bars and restaurants and last night when we arrived at about 1930 there was live music and a great Buzz.

We sat on the beach which is huge and watched the Atlantic breakers coming in. These were pretty big waves and they had drawn quite a crowd. Plenty of people were in the sea diving into theses titans and a few hardy souls were trying to Surf or Body Board with limited success. There was also a 2 bed house for rent right on the beach.

There were two further camp sites on the road to the beach and a dozen more in and around this area so there’s plenty of choice.

The weather forecast for 7/8th was for rain but we’ve had two great days with temperatures around 27/28°. There has been some rain over night, but we can live with that.

So today we move on.

Jaki has targeted our next stop and it’s only six days till we go home.

The van has been brilliant but if we did this again I would want a bigger and newer van.

You have to cover huge distances so comfort whilst driving, some good music and cruise control are a must.

You need to be able to sit out a few days, or maybe even longer, of rain so a comfortable lounge with a TV set is ideal. Most long term travellers we’ve met have satellite TV .

You need a big garage where the comfortable chairs, even motor bikes can be stored making it easy to get around and explore rather than having to cycle everywhere. This comes into it’s own when you need some shopping.

But most importantly, you need comfortable beds.

Sleeping on the single (which is made up from the dining table) for the last 3 months is wearing. My hips hurt making it painful to lie on my side and I’ve developed a rash on each hip which is itchy and annoying. It would also be good if there were a door between Jaki and I to reduce the noise, allowing us both to get some sleep.the sky light is right above my bed so if it’s hot, it’s left open which means it gets light at 0500.

We’ve discussed the Pro’s and Cons of Camper versus Caravan and our conclusion is.

If you want to tour, use a camper. If your happy to stay some where long term, get a Caravan.

Or, rent a villa, they’re cheap as chips currently!

Leaving Calpe.6th June

Last night we indulged ourselves in the live entertainment provided free at the Bar and restaurant.

There was an English guy singing along to recorded backing tracks from the 50 & 60’s and to be fair, he wasn’t half bad. He had a few people out of their seats and up dancing, though for safety reasons this was only allowed if you had both your Hip’s.

I’m told they had a very good jitterbug session with mobility scooters and a Gentleman’s excuse me with Zimmer’s before we arrived so the place was a bit sweaty.

We were joined by Barbara and Colin some friends from Wigan who we met on site and spent the evening chatting about kids, music and traveling.

The next morning I felt like I had a hangover even though I’d only had a beer and a Pernod which is always helpful when you have to make up camp but by 12 mid day we had paid up and were ready to leave.

I spent the last few minutes on Twitter with ‘Young James’ my nephew who is handling the negotiations with Glastonbury Festival office over the change of Camper site (sending back our West pass and exchanging it for an East). Well he is a trainee solicitor so I’m in good hands.

We decided to head for Zaragoza which looked to be more than half way toward the north coast of Spain and the border with France but there was a lack of camp sites. The one in Zaragoza itself ‘camping Ciudad de Zaragoza (Caravan club book page 216) didn’t sound inviting.

“Possibly unclean low season and possible itinerants , unattractive”. Is the way it’s described in the book. We decided to give that a miss.

We decided to head for Camping Bardenas at Villafranca (page 461 ACSI book, site 2372) which is a new campsite with excellent facilities.

It was much further to travel as it was north of Zaragoza and in total we traveled about 700Kilometres.

We stopped for lunch in a funny little place just north of Teruel on the A23 where we filled up with fuel. We parked on the garage forecourt well away from the pumps with a view out across the fields to the hills almost obscured by black rain clouds which were clearly heading our way.

Whilst we sat and ate our pre made picnic lunch the wind started to buffet the van and swirls of dust chased across the concrete canopy. When the rain hit the noise was horrendous and the inside of the van grew very dark. It was shaking from side to side now with the force of the wind.

And just as suddenly, it stopped. When we looked out of the window we saw the wind had driven hundreds of plastic bottles against the hedge where they came to rest. Tons and tons of litter!

We got to Camping Bardenas at about 8.30 on the evening. It looked like a nice site with reception, bar, shop and restaurant all at the front, a pool which as yet had no water, behind and a toilet block that was indeed new. It also has a full Gymnasium on top of the toilet block which would be a useful addition to our 30 day Abb’s challenge. Were currently on day 7 .

However the overwhelming first impression was the smell of Pig Farming. It took me back to my days in Glastonbury when I stayed with Denise and Tom on their pig farm. Happy days.

I worked for a firm called ‘Skin Flair’ who made trendy sheepskin and leather clothes and my claim to fame (well one of them) was the outfit Roger Daltry of the WHO wore at Woodstock Festival was a Skin Flair item.

We connected up the electricity and went to the bar for a drink and to use the free wifi.

Jaki caught up on Facebook and I watched Bull Fighting on TV which had an audience of 6/8 Spanish guys who cheered the Matador but wailed when the Bull gored him badly and he was carted off to hospital with leg injuries.

Jaki was clearly on the side of the Bull.

Back at the van we rustled up a sausage stew with bits and pieces left in the fridge and substituted Lentils for Beans but it was still tasted very good eaten as it was with the door open watching yet another thunder and lightning storm as it raged over head.

The night was spoilt though when Jaki and I argued about who snored the most. She was adamant that I made more noise than she did but she sadly fell at the first hurdle as she started ‘Hunting fo Truffels’ snoring as soon as her head hit the pillow.

However before that, I opened an overhead locker, the contents fell out and knocked Jaki’s glass of red wine over. It would appear I either did this deliberately or I’m so stupid I don’t know how to open a cupboard properly!

No mention of filling the locker with inappropriate stuff that should really have been stored else where?

The final insult came when we got in bed and realised we had chosen a pitch right next to the communal BBQ area which is covered against the rain and has wooden tables and benches for about 30 people. The Spanish guests use this facility and the noise of voices laughing arguing and shouting at the children only stopped when the lights were switched off at 12 midnight

This morning though the sun is shining, I’ve had a nice cup of Tea and A trip to the new shower facilities that were a bit disappointing.

The cleaning regime needs a rethink as there were a lot of long established cobwebs about the place, the floor was dirty and the toilet seat in the cubicle I used had been sprayed by a small boy. The seating arrangements were far too intimate for my liking and the tap on one sink basin didn’t work.
The showers are press button type but they have a 3 second timer so the water was constantly shut off.

There were also several ceiling tiles missing which seems crazy in a new build.

Calpe. 4th June 2014

Today was the last day well be able to sit on a beach in Spain.

Tomorrow we head North toward Zaragoza and then toward Biarritz

We’ve had a great time in Spain, it far exceeded my expectations. We’ve had some fun, made some friends and enjoyed an adventure.

Now our conversations are more and more about ‘when we get home’.

Fortunately we have Glastonbury Festival to look forward to and we hope to be working at WOMAD a bit later on plus the whole of the Summer, though what that will be like remains to be seen.

I’m looking forward to getting out in the garden and getting some decking down, catching up with my Sister and I hope to see Alex at least to give him the Tobacco I purchased in Andorra though I think we may have a bit of a Star War’s theme coming on with us going to see the new film.

Once the Summers over, Jaki will be back to work and I’ll have to become a House Husband.

Were hoping Georgia will be home in December and we can have a Family Christmas with all the traditional festivities, but who knows with the kid, she’s got the travel bug and it will be harder for her to come home than it will for us.

But for now I’m enjoying the evening sun after an afternoon on the beach soaking up those last few moments.

The camp site has been buzzing today. There was a large Rat roaming about last night which has caused a bit of a stir. During the night though it managed to get on top of a neighbouring van and the lady woke to find it hanging on the insect netting of her skylight.she promptly gave it a wack with a shoe and it flew off but the thought of a Rat dropping through your skylight has certainly livened up the environment.

Yesterday was the hottest day since we’ve been in Spain and last night when we went to bed we left all the roof vents open as well as the windows so it couldn’t have been a worse night for a a Rat to be on the prowl. The insect netting may keep out a hungry Mozzie but is no match for a 5lb rat.

We visited a Belgian Restaurant last night which was recommended by people on the site. They offer 4/5 different set menu combinations at various prices and the menu is quite a change from the standard fare. When we got there it was very busy and we had been warned the service was slow, even by Spanish standards.

Unfortunately the place was quite dark and enclosed, they had no Air conditioning, no fans and only a few outside tables that were in effect in the road. It was extremely hot in there and the smell of cooking Fish combined to make me feel a bit nauseous and I had to keep going outside for some air, which was a shame as the food was really good and they had one or two really nice Belgian beers behind the bar.

There was a large group of ex pats seated behind me who prayed together before eating but then went on to be quite rude to one of the guys trying to sell a few fake watches. Not very Christian.

They were also guilty of a bit of Gluttony and as Jaki pointed out, you could see who was first in the queue for communion wine!

One lady obviously fancied herself as a bit of a dolly bird. The sort who would expect you to knock 20 years off her age. She wore a fancy frock, lots of jewellery, plenty of make up and a supercilious grin the whole evening. God she was a pain.

As we were entitled to a free bottle of wine with our meal, Jaki saw it as her Duty to finish the lot off as I couldn’t get a drop down me. I was however gagging for some water and bought a bottle which I drank on our way home. Back at the van I polished off a litre of Lemonade and realised that I probably hadn’t drunk enough throughout the day (spent entirely on a Sun Bed at the pool) and I think I was suffering from dehydration.

Not something I’ll experience when I get home.