I’m sitting here looking out the window at pouring rain, the puddles are forming into small
lakes and we are housebound. Lawrence is ready to get the gin out! We’ve had
rain on and off over the last month but enough sunny days to keep us off the
gin, mostly. Today however is AWFUL!
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| Our newly installed swimming pool |
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| Lawrence exposes his lilly whites to the sun - sent the neighbours rushing for their sunglasses. |
Anway, enough
griping. Since we last spoke, Lawrence has been to Australia in a quest to
source the perfect vehicle for our long journey home. Yes, he does seem to have
a habit of flying around the world to buy 4WD vehicles. The latest is a
Landcruiser 79 series of which we will keep the body and chassis, do all sorts
of ‘things’ to it (L will fill you in at some stage) and then bimobil will build a wonderful camper
body onto it in Munich. This will be the last gasp in 4WD campers – we hope.
Hilda will be
for sale in September and we have some interest in her already. The new vehicle
should be ready in October and then we start the next adventure. The current plan is Slovenia, Croatia,
Italy, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Mongolia and across Russia to Vladivostok. I can see you all rushing
off to consult Google maps and exclaiming “they must be mad”. Quite possibly,
but what the hell, we could be dead.
Whilst Lawrence
was rushing around Oz sorting out registration, insurance, banks, shipping etc,
I stayed in sunny Spain and entertained my lovely Irish friend, Ruth. We had
glorious weather and spent our 5 days cycling about seeking out sunny lunch
spots, sipping sherry and munching olives whilst contemplating yet another
menu.
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| Favourite lunch spot |
On the homeward journey, Lawrence was
flying into Malaga from Sydney (via HK and Amsterdam) and I was chauffeured
there by our Dutch mates, Henk and Patrick, to meet him. We took the coast road
via Marbella and Torremolinos. Oh boy, I had wanted to see the Costa Del Sol
just to see how bad it really is and I wasn’t disappointed. Words fail me
really, but ghastly, hideous, hell etc, spring to mind. It is truly awful.
Malaga was
slightly better as the old town is nice enough to potter about, but one hour
was enough. We hired a car, stayed overnight and drove home through the hills
and had lunch in our favourite pueblo
blanco (white town) Grazalema.
It's been festival season in Cadiz, with El Puerto de Santa Maria hosting a mini version last weekend. The usually quiet, conservative locals really let their hair down and we joined in the fun.
We like
Grazalema and the sierra region so much that we are going up that way for a few
days and do some walking in the hills. Weather is forecast to improve.
The sun has
just come out, but we are surrounded by water. The wellies will be well used today.
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| Lunch in nearby Jerez with the neighbours. |
