Thanks for the photo tour of your journey and lovely to see the kids travelling as well!
Reminds me of another amazing article about a young family touring the world for the last 11 years in a 1928 Paige I saw recently that you might be interested in:-
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42381709
Another amazing journey!
The buSdrivEr's RoAdTRiP adVEntUres
Moderators: warb, Rawdyn, Leroy, byronbus, Tonz Magonz, dmb
-
matara
- Admin
- Posts: 1472
- Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 11:34 pm
- Location: Wahroonga, Sydney
- Contact:
-
Ian 68
- DSKer
- Posts: 1373
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 9:58 pm
- Location: Caloundra, QLD
-
Shayno
- DSKer
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:03 pm
- Location: South West WA
-
the bus driver
- DSKer
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:36 pm
Wow that's a very cool family, that's exactly what we would like to do but you have to have funds to do that..matara wrote:Thanks for the photo tour of your journey and lovely to see the kids travelling as well!
Reminds me of another amazing article about a young family touring the world for the last 11 years in a 1928 Paige I saw recently that you might be interested in:-
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42381709
Another amazing journey!
And thx for offering me a space on your driveway to guys!!
A bad day at surf always beats a good day at work
-
D-Train
- DSKer
- Posts: 3510
- Joined: Mon Nov 28, 2005 3:03 pm
- Location: coffs harbour
-
Dutchy
- DSKer
- Posts: 1801
- Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:59 pm
- Location: Dural 2158
-
the bus driver
- DSKer
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:36 pm
rOadTrIP SoUth: tHe bREakDoWn eDItiOn
Drugs, sex, alcohol, traveling .. they all have got one thing in common...
it's addictive and you want more..
I also experienced that.. and with a full time job it's not easy to get what you want but after a few weeks stalking my boss I ended up with getting a months holiday.. as mentioned you always want more and so there were 2 route options for this years roadtrip .. it would be France-Spain-Portugal-Spain-Morocco-Spain-France with a big tour in Morocco, going to the desert, through the Atlas mountains all the way down south to the coast and then surf our way up north .. or.. it would be .. a future roadtrip
Because both of us have never been to Morocco and the culture/vibe of this country sounded really interesting, our decision was made.. As usuall we didn't plan anything except for a rough route and it was not until the week before we left, when a fellow bus friend said "dude, are you actually insured for Morocco?.. what if you breakdown huh??"
As some of you have noticed, this gave me a quite a bit off stress because I am insured but there's no recovery company (apart from 1) that supports getting your vehicle back out of Morocco.. they do have the service for people tho.. A few funny cigars later.. I got more relaxed and we decided to go with a good recovery insurance for us and if the van would breakdown we would sort it out there.. besides I read on a few forums that they can repair your car often better and cheaper there than in most garages here, knowing they replace rather than repair nowadays..
Anyway, we left heavily loaded on friday august 11.. not long after we left we nearly had an awful accident, we took the access road onto the 'ring of Antwerp' before we were actually on it we were passed by 2 big lorry's and all of a sudden the van started swerving really badly from left to right ( we were only going 55 mph)it was that bad that if she would swing one more time we would be on our side.. because of my quick response with countersteering and putting my foot hard on the break we stopped on the hard shoulder and were luckily left with only a shock..
Obviously i took the first exit off home as i wasn't driving thousands of miles like this.., it was because i changed my wheel setup specially for this trip and so i got some more meaty tyres but the combo was far from good for my needs.. when changing the wheels i noticed another bolt gone funny.. great.. what a start !! it was about 9pm.. , i called Lesley my mechanic and he was stil in his workshop.. it was like he was waiting untill i was definitely gone..
At the garage we redrilled all the holes of the spacer for bigger longer bolts and it must've been about 23pm before we were all set to go.. a few hours later we stopped somewhere just after Paris for a well earned night of sleep.
The next day we set route to the boarder of Spain, opposite to last year where we left in the same period we now experienced a lot of traffic jams and long stop/start queues, and as a result we arrived quite late in Hondarriba for our 2nd night..
The next morning we were up early for, guess what, another full day of driving, our goal is to reach beautiful Portugal, tired but happy we arrive around 9pm near to Coïmbra looking for food we end up in this road resto/pub where there's quite a few people so we decide to go in and get something nice.. unfortunately .. I ordered a burger and fries ( i didn't understand the rest of the menu and they didn't understood me either
) and received a piece of meat with congealed fat and cold fries, doubting the quality of my dish but being very hungry i started to chew but after the second bite my mouth and tummy were heavily protesting.. i tried to explain that my dish was far from nice but the communication between us was similar to a dog talking with a fish.. after about 5mins a girl showed up who spoke a bit of English and to shorten a long story my dish was sent back and i ended up with the same piece of meat and new fries that tasted like fat sticks.. :pukeleft: after that my appetite was gone.
The next day we were up early, what'd you expect with a happy chap in the hammock.. we'd like to do the part we skipped last year, going south from Ericeira on the coast line to Lisboa, my intention was to surf in Ericeira but seeing the rocky sea bottom compared to my level of surfing it was smart thing to leave it as is.. it was quite impressive to see the locals at work on a very short wave, and dive back, before crashing on a big rock.. the nice weather was out there but because there's some kind of a microclimate here you often get a very big low cloud as we experienced... In the late afternoon we found a very cosy field surrounded with bamboo next to the beach that seemed to be quite popular with other campers as well, we very soon got reminded to how crazy the Portugess are about Old Splitty's..
The next day we drove a little further where I finally could try out my new board, after a good 45 min fighting with the waves i'm satisfied and so we set off again, direction Lisboa, on our way we stop again by the sea so Lowie can have his first 'swim' in the cold Atlantic ocean , a bit later we took off again and passed Lisboa on our way to Coast Caparica were we're going to meet up again with Matt. After a bit of a search we end up on a very nice and quiet spot on the beach, set light to the BBQ, put Lowie in bed and load our selfs up with some beers .. life is great !!
The next day we got a rendez vous in the morning with Antonio, as per coincidence i noticed the day before something was not right with the front right brake flexible, it seemed that the wheel setup i installed for this trip made the front tyre rub against the flexible.. and it was very badly damaged.. knowing I had driven like this for almost 2300km gives you a very scary feeling..!:icon_shaking: Luckily Antionio had a few spare ones that he took off another van the day before and were still in good condition! Problem solved. After a great lunch we had a good nose around Antonio's fresh customised Crewcab, took some pics and left to Matt's. Later on that day we visited Matt's new place that was still under going some refurbs and had a very nice BBQ in the dark .. then it was time to say goodby and drive direction Algarve..
In the morning there was still a bit of driving before we entered Tavira, Antonio adviced this place as you can take a tiny ferry which drops you of on a small isle, a bit to touristy for us and i spotted a small place far away with only a few cars, a little bit of searching brought us on this great ideally spot! After a nice chill out day we left of to Moncarapacho were Wintertrail pilots/friends Piet&Katrien invited us on there great Farm in the middle of an orange plantation, it didn't take long before we noticed the big swimming pool and only a few seconds later we were chill'n in the pool with a cold beer.. ooh yeah!!
Later that night we had a nice (but slightly burned, excuses for that ) BBQ and of course some local beers, thx again P&K!! the next day we left but it was not untill the late afternoon as we were waiting for the weather to cool down a little which didn't happen in the end
It's friday and the plan is to be on the boat tomorrow before lunch time, after a long and very hot drive we pass Sevilla and decide somewhere near Jerez to call it night.
Andalucia, also known for the high rate of suicide, because of the strong wind which is out here continuesly ( people get fed up) , and we experienced it very good!! the whole night it seemed like we were on a storm on the sea, it's hard to imagine but compare it to 4 strong guys that are shaking your van the whole night, even going for a wee in the middle of the night was quite a job ..
Up early as we had more or less 65 miles to go before we would arrive on the ferry to Morocco, making coffee was impossible because of the wind, quite prominent was the fact that it was still as hot as last night and that didn't give me a good feeling, knowing we all ready had a few more stops because Stella was having a hard time with these temperatures.. As we drove on to the highway the very strong wind ( approx 8/9 Bft) was all up front.. not good.. I took it easy but even that was a difficult task with a very heavy highroof in these hot conditions, we're driving about half an hour when we're passed by a big lorry . I thought this is my shot to go behind it and slipstream so i can spare Stella a bit.. unfortunately the truck is too fast and there's also a little hill ahead .. as we're going up hill i can feel Stella is losing power, I quickly switch into 3rd gear but it's too late, I look back in the mirror and see nothing else but white smoke .. ouchh.. I turn on the hard shoulder and let her spin for another minute before I switch her off.. I look at Lucy who gives me a sad speachless look and say the party is over...
After 10 minutes the shock is slightly passed and I try to start the engine again.. it still works.. far away I see an exit (Medina-Sidonia) and decide to slowly run up there and park our selves safely off the highway, I can feel the engine is fu**ed and feels like she's running on 3 legs, a quick nose in the engine bay tells me nothing apart from the breatherbox that's covered in oil, my oil must've been cooking.. aiaiaia.. not good.. and who said a temp gauge only causes an extra bit of stress in the cab.. :-"
Calling with my mechanic, he also thinks the combo 'heavily loaded-wind up front-very hot ' has killed the engine and probably burned or melted something inside which also explained the white smoke and the very low oil level..
In the next hour i make a bunch of calls with the question to look for possible VW garages/shops/fellow owners but they seem to be very rare in this area.. i then decide to call the recovery assistance.. it takes a while before we see a recovery truck but he's picking up another stranded car near us.. the driver makes a sign and i run up to him, a minute later i'm speaking on his phone to my assistance telling me it took them a while but they finally found a company and there's somebody on there way..
We have been here now for 5 hours under a baking hot sun in the middle of nowhere (luckily we check our food stock daily and so there's enough water/food on board), finally a truck shows up, the driver is softly said an @$$hole that doesn't care about classic cars and is swearing at my lowered van which causes frustration on both parts, eventually he calls another recovery truck which arrives an hour later and with a fair bit of scraping Stella finally gets on the truck.. another hour later we get dropped off by some poor hotel in a small local town .. 60€/night??!!.. for a room with spots/tears and holes in the sheets and carpet, 1 loo roll for 3 days... breakfast is 3€/pers (additional) and you get a coffee, a few cups of butter and jam and a piece of bread from the day before which has been toasted by the cleaning lady who was just cleaning the floor with her filthy paws.. and if you want another coffee or toast you pay another 3€.. long live tourism..? because it's saturday we're stuck here until at least monday.. but.. we are still happy..
It's a small town built on a little hill, in the time we've been here we were quite disgusted as we noticed that people here are very disrespectful to everything that involves nature, theres dog poo everywhere, it's dirty and on top of that they just dump all there sh*t across the street..?? it was terrible when we found dogs chained in remote places with nothing at all, Cats that were literally dieing on the street and more of this misery .. all very sad and we remain with a very negative feeling about these people..
They say "bad luck comes in three" and so i've experieced it.. we brake down, a day later I crack the same tooth as on a roadtrip a few years ago and so my face turns into a smiling pirate (captain Toothpick is what Lucy called me) and a bit later i also found out i lost my paper driving license... mmm.. but we were still in a good mood
With the engine not working properly anymore we asked ourselves .. what's next ..?? since we still had 3 more weeks of holiday there was NO WAY we were going back home.. Meanwhile there were a few options running..
It was quite noticable that for such a small town there were loads of Landrovers and look a likes (Santana), since we really like these cars the idea grow that we would buy a 'landy', order a A-frame towbar and continue our trip with our house being towed but considering it's illegal in a lot of countries (also Belgium) and there's a weight limit we pulled out of this idea.. unfortunately.. as after a few conversations in spanish/french/flemish/english sign language we understood they were quite cheap..
A few calls later we were in contact with some more local people, there was one guy in Cadiz who owned a small workshop with a few V dubs but unfortunately he was out on holiday, a guy in Sevilla who had a classic car rental business but he couldn't help us out with parts (he did want to rent us a bus tho .. ) and we spoke with someone who was running a business with VW parts in Malaga, this guy was quite honest on the phone and wanted to help us out, however he did say that if there's damage inside the engine and parts needed some machining he wouldn't know any company's nearby who could sort us out and since we were not sure how long this was going to take we didn't want to take that risk since we then had to stay in Malaga for a while which we weren't looking forward to.. so I called Antonio from Portugal to ask if he didn't had a spare engine or could source one for us..
A few hours later there was finally some better news, first we got offered a refurbed 1600 DP all new engine but at 2000€ it was too pricey for our budget and a NO GO but a little later a 1300 SP was found which was used in a shop as a spare engine to keep other VW's going .. It was not cheap but it would get us back on the road with a little help from the flinstones
A few calls later we got everything sorted, transport back to Portugal and the engine would be shipped..
The drive back to Lisboa was a nightmare on it's own, the guy showed up 5hrs later than we were told with the tiniest recovery vehicle ever with about 1,5 space in the cabin... ?? frustration all over since we count 3 people.. ? The driver looked like he had seen better days and eventually we decided that Lucy and Lowie would go in Stella and i would sit in the cab next to the driver, i made it very clear that i wasn't happy with this situation and that he had to drive extremely careful with my family in the back.. !
Once driving i noticed he was a bit exhausted from the drive up and he also started swerving with eyes half shut, i got pissed and made it very clear that he needed to stop on the first service station or we would end up having major problems in the cab.. Fortunately after a break and some caffeine it went a lot better and so we arrived late and tired in Lisboa..
When we walked into the workshop in the morning they were already busy finishing off an engine in a gaywindow pickup before we could start on Stella.. in the late afternoon Matt arranged an appointment at his dentist to sort captain toothpick, what a great service, in and out in 35 mins with a brand new tooth, i couldn't stop smiling ..
When we arrived back in the workshop Stella was all ready to go, Antonio moved the 1745 onto the roofrack and they installed a new carb as the other one was no good, they also fixed the dent in the rear without me asking for it.. (thx again guys!!) after a little test drive it seemed the clutch was no good and so we were back the next day replacing it with a new one, we ended the day with a nice dinner at Matt's.
Being independent again and Stella all cleaned up we left south again with a fresh start, because the new tiny engine and the heavily loaded bus (now with extra engine on top) we decided to take the highway as little as possible, and do the Algarve again and seeing as much as possible off the seaside.. se we took a little ferry in Setubal which took us straight to the start of the algarve on the coast, i remembered a conversation with a surfer back in Ericeira and he mentioned Sines so that was out first destination.
Once we arrived this was everything we didn't want .. an industrial area.. but driving a bit further we arrived in Porto Covo where we parked right at the beach again, it didn't take long before we had a massive row with the 'neighbours' because they thought we parked too close (approx 2,5 mtrs!) to their van and took away their view off the ocean,even though everybody was parked like sardines in a tin.. ?? anyway we didn't stay here too long and drove a bit further..
Fortunately as only half an hour further we stumbled on this amazing spot, heaven on earth.. you know a spot you wish you could stay and not leave .. we parked ourselves on top of a cliff and have a beautiful view on a tiny bay with a naturally created swimming pool.. really really nice.. we decide to camp out here and obviously the BBQ comes out! The next morning we went straight down like early birds for a nice walk on the beach, Lucy can't hold herself back and takes a 'skinny dip' in the water we enjoy this amazing place and after a few hours we say goodbye.. we continue our trip and a little local road which all of a sudden becomes a very steep little dusty road with large holes, not ideal with my bus but the Wintertrail experience gets us down safe and easy , we pass another very local quiet beach unfortunately we can't stop everywhere but you can't be disappointed as after a few miles we run into a few very nice locations again.. we find a very nice remote spot right on a cliff were we spend another lovely evening.. what a beautiful place!!
The next day we decide to drive a fair bit, we're somewhere south in Portugal and our mission is still Morocco, because our top speed is about 45 mph and 4th gear became a luxury option every mile seemed twice as long.. we stop at lunch time for a break by the beach near to the very touristy place called Albufeira it's hot and Stella needs a rest.
A bit later we move on and try the highway, we manage to use the 4th gear on the downhill parts and top speed reaches 60mph after a long tiring drive we stop in Bonares near Sevilla and find a spot to sleep..
The next day we continue but i don't want to go through Sevilla by highway as there's a massive bridge and i'd like to avoid that so we drive through small villages. While we are looking for a bridge we end up at a tiny old school ferry boat that brings us to the other side, eventually we get back on to the motorway and arrive in Chipiona a little after lunch. A bit of searching takes us on to a small dusty road to a local beach, a great location and of course out comes the BBQ again and cold beers, many bottles later we're running naked on the beach oh dear, can life be anymore beautiful
Because we're really close to the most southern point of mainland Europe we decide to leave, and a little later we arrive in one of Europe's most popular kite/windsurf locations, Tarifa. We park right at the beach and see Morocco.. we discuss what we're going to do, knowing that we have a booked flight on saturday to fly Lowie back from Malaga to granny in the UK and its Tuesday, does not give us much time.. the rest of the day turns out very stressful, we drive over the hill to Algeciras to compare tickets and eventually around 7pm we're back in Tarifa in a ticket office, about to pay but our card doesn't work.. we would have to go back to the centre, take out some cash and return but i had enough off it, we were all tired, it was hot and obviously Lowie was about to jump out of skin so we parked up at the beach and called it a night..
After a good night of sleep we get up and decide to leave Morocco as is, we would only have 2 days to travel and that's not what we planned, besides we already did a lot of traveling (at very low speed in hot temps) and so a little rest and relax is well earned.. meanwhile another Belgian bloke parked next to me, Filip, a diehard (kite)surfer who's together here with his lovely dog Jenni, he plans to stay here for a few months before he goes to Portugal for the winter season (me very envy), the next days are very relaxed and we meet a lot of other likewise travelers and eventually i gave in to kitesurfing, i had always avoided this sport knowing i would like this alot and being an expensive one would'nt make life easier
On Friday we leave to Malaga, on our way we decide to go passed Gibraltar but because of the long queues to get through customs we leave it and head off to the awful busy Costa del Sol. The next day i drop Lucy and Lowie off on the airport and kill my time with giving Stella a proper clean, do some alcohol shoping and a powernap on the filthy beach of Torremolinos, in the evening i pick up Lucy again and we set course back to Tarifa
In the last week we make a very important decision, to not travel home with Stella, i have the feeling it's not a good idea for the hard working 1300 also the gearbox is whining a bit more and i'm not looking forward to 4 full days of driving at 45 mph.. what follows is a mountain of phone calls, a trip to the local garage and everything is sorted.. a flight for us and Stella get's a ride back home!! woop woop this means we can spend our last days here..
In those last days we meet more nice people, we all laugh our heads off with the amount of people taking pictures and even think about the idea to put a sign in front of the van that reads "1€ for a picture" so could we gain some money back from the engine.. but we never got that far .. a few BBQ's and party's make an end on this amazing adventure..
Friday they pick up the van and we take the taxi to Malaga were we fly back home, tired but satisfied we arrive in Antwerp, unfortunately without Stella..
It was another great adventure and unfortunately we never made Morocco but nevertheless our trip took another ride and made new friends and we have a new sport we're going to practice..
I'd like to thank my mechanic Lesley for helping me out on the last minute before we left and keeping up with all my phone calls, Patrick for the advice regarding the recovery service, Arnold & Matt to help me out looking for VW garages and Antonio to get us back on the road!
And al of you who read the full story
Right time for some pictures!
All packed
A true belgian always takes his beer
mrs busdriver @ work
1st night stop
hey Dad, it can still go lower..
where's the sun.. ?..
Stretching legs
Aahh the temperature gets better..
time for coffee ..
cruisin..
Lowie's tea time
2nd night spot in Hondarribia
and continue our trip through the basque country
i'd rather go straight .. :-s
found a lovely lunch spot..
and back on the road, my little boy dreaming about building (smashin) sand castles
the lady sits nice and comfy in the back
124km untill we reach beautiful Portugal..
taking a break as it's getting warmer
same road, same bus, same beer, different year
endless driving..
3rd night stop somewhere near Coimbra
the happy early bird
that went back to sleep quick once driving
Arriving in Ericeira and as mentioned before there's a massive cloud but you can feel the sun bringing onto it
and defintely warm enough to build sand castles and have a beer on the beach
Locals surfin there spot, too dangerous for me
different spot, great view
in the late afternoon we set out camp here and so we light up the BBQ and crack some beers
breakfast
making fun
1 of only 2 splittys we came across
Lowie meets the ocean for the first time this year
a bit later we found the perfect spot with a great sunset
Lonely @ the beach
after a good night of sleep comes a nice walk on the beach
as mentioned, per coincidence i noticed something wasn't right with the brake flexible and with a closer inspection it needed replacing straight away!
Antonio's customised crewcab
great BBQ at Matt's new place!
wake up lonely at a service station
cruisin down to the Algarve
mmm.. mummie making a chocolate sandwich
Tavira centre..
Small streets sometimes end up in difficult situations
we found a great quiet spot
Yihaaaa !!
Lowie's favorite place (± 2,5h/day )
safaris!! what a great invention!!
@ Piet & Katrien's cool farm
the next day late in the afternoon, on our way to Morocco
the incessant heat causes more and longer breaks for Stella
Gooooodmorning everybody!!
a place we won't forget quickly as it felt like a storm on the sea (very windy)
Then it happened .. the heat, the wind, and being heavily loaded killed the engine..
Nothing noticeable apart from oil that overflowed out of the breatherbox
this beauty came by to give the van a technical inspection RRrrrrr 
but after a closer look she said it was done :p
waiting makes you hungry
waiting..
more waiting..
and more waiting.. pfff
pfff.. play hide and seek..
finally, the recovery truck arrives but there's no way Stella get's on it..
an hour later his colleague arrives with a slightly different truck
connecting the winch..
and with some scraping we manage to get Stella on it
Lowie had a great time in the playground
seeing so many landy's in this tiny village we got the idea of buying one and towing the bus.. fortunately it stayed with the idea as in most countries it's not allowed ..
we liked this Santana model as well
you know what i mean when i say, a town in the middle of nowhere ..
Alcala de los gazules, we won't forget the name of this village, being shocked of their disrespectful behavior against nature ..
eventually we got Stella out of the garage and waited of our transport to Portugal
Very happy Stella didn't end up like this
back to where we came from, familiar bridge huh..
next morning, we're busy working on the engine swap
1745 comes out
this little 1300 goes in
eventually the engine comes out again to fit a new clutch but it drives good, very slow tho..
new engine means we can continue roadtrippin again and so Stella get's a clean
that evening we get a nice meal at Matt's and we sleep on the street
Matt told us about the ferry in Setubal..
looks very good so far
Full length roof rack is what you need .. huh??
wish that was my house on the beach..
found a bit of shade, coffee time..
Lowie loves driving with safaris open
the arrival at Sines looks promising..
but we expected something slightly different..
a bit further was Porto Covo and more what we've been looking for..
but didn't stay here long thx to our great neigbours ??
fortunately tho as we arrived on this beautiful spot.. :love4:
with the natural created swimming pool
obviously BBQ time
and another beautiful sunset..
enjoying life with ...
wake up with a fantastic view.. :love5:
a quick breakfast
continued with an early walk on this lovely beach..
skinny dippin !!
our little lion
who's becoming a true bird watcher :laughing11:
unfortunately all good things end and we continue our trip..
along the sea
and little villages
until we arrive at a fantastic spot again
we set camp on a romantic beautiful spot..
what a view huh ..
shower under a sunset.. we finally went from water bottle to a solarshower :tongue3:
happy times
you could get used to it .. no ?
coffee time.. we'd like to move on too Sevilla today..
so after a while driving we take a break on a very busy beach near Albufeira..
a bit later we cruised to some small villages looking for a bite and afterwards we head off to Spain (again)
it took us a while but we did manage to find a spot to sleep somewhere in Bonares
a break on our way to Chipiona, oranges grow here in the wild..
this local old school ferry still worked full time..
lunch spot
the never ending road
In chipiona and the rest of south Spain you need to be careful on the massive speedbumps
after a bit of searching we find this local dusty road
and with a little map orientation..
we get where we want to be..
babe on the beach :love7:
daddy and his little boy
what you expect.. BBQ time, this time i found a nice chicken which i marinated properly..
mmm with a delicious new (potential wintertrail) recipe .. mmm
great view again..
the next day we drive straight down to Tarifa we see the 2nd split on our holiday, the driver knows my bus as he's seen it when it was found together with all the splitty's.. cool!
stopped at the beach and seeing the ferry's to Morroco we discuss the options of going
over the hill to Algeciras to compare tickets
ever since Lowie knows 'pain au chocolat' you can't hide them any longer
funny signs
at last our day ands up very stressful and we decided to leave it for what it is and park up at the beach
Tanger @ night
Stella @ night
Marokko... mmm not this year..
Stranded at the beach .. :glasses2:
Lowie showing his driving skills at the neighbours
father&son moment
we had a great time here in Tarifa and when we left to Malaga we got a tiny bit of rain
as mentioned there were loads of paparazzi moments and while taking a picture of the rock of Gibraltar
i noticed this police car making a u turn, i thought they were going to moan about me parked up where I shouldn't be but instead they came over to take a picture. ? :laughing11:
Malaga/torremolinos was not our cup of tea and finding a place to slep wasn't easy but eventually we parked up next to this cool Unimog!!
we like a lot!! lots of potential! do they come in a split screen model ..?
breakfast at the beach
dropped of Lucy and Lowie at the airport wHere the temptation for this big factory was difficult to let go
back in Tarifa..
this is Filip who will stay here for a while
another beautiful sunset..
no comments!
spaghetti party with the italians..
great life @ the beach.. shower is on the beach
chillin with a sunset
and party hardy at night !! :occasion14: :occasion16:
we took the opportunity the learn kitesurfin
Life @ the beach when you're sixty :laughing11: :laughing11:
the kite feeling is definitely there, the week before we more or less had a bet with an instructor who's record was 3.45u to get somebody on his board..
i'm at 3u here.. :headbang:
it's quite exhausting when you're still learning..
a bit later back in the water, put the kite in position..
and off we go, what a blast!! it's different from wake boarding as you get a massive freedom feeling and the power of the kite is enormous..
also Lucy made progress fast and we'll definitely continue this sport
unfortunately all good things end, as well as this roadtrip..
as mentioned before we arranged transport for Stella back home
and so we left her here
We did a fair amount of miles again, the purchase of the engine was quite expensive but well worth!!.. for those who claim a 1.3 is hopeless in a heavy bus with a straight axle kit..
well they are right .. but it can be done
it's addictive and you want more..
I also experienced that.. and with a full time job it's not easy to get what you want but after a few weeks stalking my boss I ended up with getting a months holiday.. as mentioned you always want more and so there were 2 route options for this years roadtrip .. it would be France-Spain-Portugal-Spain-Morocco-Spain-France with a big tour in Morocco, going to the desert, through the Atlas mountains all the way down south to the coast and then surf our way up north .. or.. it would be .. a future roadtrip
Because both of us have never been to Morocco and the culture/vibe of this country sounded really interesting, our decision was made.. As usuall we didn't plan anything except for a rough route and it was not until the week before we left, when a fellow bus friend said "dude, are you actually insured for Morocco?.. what if you breakdown huh??"
As some of you have noticed, this gave me a quite a bit off stress because I am insured but there's no recovery company (apart from 1) that supports getting your vehicle back out of Morocco.. they do have the service for people tho.. A few funny cigars
later.. I got more relaxed and we decided to go with a good recovery insurance for us and if the van would breakdown we would sort it out there.. besides I read on a few forums that they can repair your car often better and cheaper there than in most garages here, knowing they replace rather than repair nowadays..Anyway, we left heavily loaded on friday august 11.. not long after we left we nearly had an awful accident, we took the access road onto the 'ring of Antwerp' before we were actually on it we were passed by 2 big lorry's and all of a sudden the van started swerving really badly from left to right ( we were only going 55 mph)it was that bad that if she would swing one more time we would be on our side.. because of my quick response with countersteering and putting my foot hard on the break we stopped on the hard shoulder and were luckily left with only a shock..
Obviously i took the first exit off home as i wasn't driving thousands of miles like this.., it was because i changed my wheel setup specially for this trip and so i got some more meaty tyres but the combo was far from good for my needs.. when changing the wheels i noticed another bolt gone funny.. great.. what a start !! it was about 9pm.. , i called Lesley my mechanic and he was stil in his workshop.. it was like he was waiting untill i was definitely gone..
At the garage we redrilled all the holes of the spacer for bigger longer bolts and it must've been about 23pm before we were all set to go.. a few hours later we stopped somewhere just after Paris for a well earned night of sleep.
The next day we set route to the boarder of Spain, opposite to last year where we left in the same period we now experienced a lot of traffic jams and long stop/start queues, and as a result we arrived quite late in Hondarriba for our 2nd night..
The next morning we were up early for, guess what, another full day of driving, our goal is to reach beautiful Portugal, tired but happy we arrive around 9pm near to Coïmbra looking for food we end up in this road resto/pub where there's quite a few people so we decide to go in and get something nice.. unfortunately .. I ordered a burger and fries ( i didn't understand the rest of the menu and they didn't understood me either
) and received a piece of meat with congealed fat and cold fries, doubting the quality of my dish but being very hungry i started to chew but after the second bite my mouth and tummy were heavily protesting.. i tried to explain that my dish was far from nice but the communication between us was similar to a dog talking with a fish.. after about 5mins a girl showed up who spoke a bit of English and to shorten a long story my dish was sent back and i ended up with the same piece of meat and new fries that tasted like fat sticks.. :pukeleft: after that my appetite was gone.The next day we were up early, what'd you expect with a happy chap in the hammock..
we'd like to do the part we skipped last year, going south from Ericeira on the coast line to Lisboa, my intention was to surf in Ericeira but seeing the rocky sea bottom compared to my level of surfing it was smart thing to leave it as is.. it was quite impressive to see the locals at work on a very short wave, and dive back, before crashing on a big rock.. the nice weather was out there but because there's some kind of a microclimate here you often get a very big low cloud as we experienced... In the late afternoon we found a very cosy field surrounded with bamboo next to the beach that seemed to be quite popular with other campers as well, we very soon got reminded to how crazy the Portugess are about Old Splitty's.. The next day we drove a little further where I finally could try out my new board, after a good 45 min fighting with the waves i'm satisfied and so we set off again, direction Lisboa, on our way we stop again by the sea so Lowie can have his first 'swim' in the cold Atlantic ocean
, a bit later we took off again and passed Lisboa on our way to Coast Caparica were we're going to meet up again with Matt. After a bit of a search we end up on a very nice and quiet spot on the beach, set light to the BBQ, put Lowie in bed and load our selfs up with some beers .. life is great !! The next day we got a rendez vous in the morning with Antonio, as per coincidence i noticed the day before something was not right with the front right brake flexible, it seemed that the wheel setup i installed for this trip made the front tyre rub against the flexible.. and it was very badly damaged.. knowing I had driven like this for almost 2300km gives you a very scary feeling..!:icon_shaking: Luckily Antionio had a few spare ones that he took off another van the day before and were still in good condition! Problem solved. After a great lunch we had a good nose around Antonio's fresh customised Crewcab, took some pics and left to Matt's. Later on that day we visited Matt's new place that was still under going some refurbs and had a very nice BBQ in the dark
.. then it was time to say goodby and drive direction Algarve..In the morning there was still a bit of driving before we entered Tavira, Antonio adviced this place as you can take a tiny ferry which drops you of on a small isle, a bit to touristy for us and i spotted a small place far away with only a few cars, a little bit of searching brought us on this great ideally spot! After a nice chill out day we left of to Moncarapacho were Wintertrail pilots/friends Piet&Katrien invited us on there great Farm in the middle of an orange plantation, it didn't take long before we noticed the big swimming pool and only a few seconds later we were chill'n in the pool with a cold beer.. ooh yeah!!
Later that night we had a nice (but slightly burned, excuses for that
) BBQ and of course some local beers, thx again P&K!! the next day we left but it was not untill the late afternoon as we were waiting for the weather to cool down a little which didn't happen in the end It's friday and the plan is to be on the boat tomorrow before lunch time, after a long and very hot drive we pass Sevilla and decide somewhere near Jerez to call it night.
Andalucia, also known for the high rate of suicide, because of the strong wind which is out here continuesly ( people get fed up) , and we experienced it very good!! the whole night it seemed like we were on a storm on the sea, it's hard to imagine but compare it to 4 strong guys that are shaking your van the whole night, even going for a wee in the middle of the night was quite a job
..Up early as we had more or less 65 miles to go before we would arrive on the ferry to Morocco, making coffee was impossible because of the wind, quite prominent was the fact that it was still as hot as last night and that didn't give me a good feeling, knowing we all ready had a few more stops because Stella was having a hard time with these temperatures.. As we drove on to the highway the very strong wind ( approx 8/9 Bft) was all up front.. not good.. I took it easy but even that was a difficult task with a very heavy highroof in these hot conditions, we're driving about half an hour when we're passed by a big lorry . I thought this is my shot to go behind it and slipstream so i can spare Stella a bit.. unfortunately the truck is too fast and there's also a little hill ahead .. as we're going up hill i can feel Stella is losing power, I quickly switch into 3rd gear but it's too late, I look back in the mirror and see nothing else but white smoke .. ouchh.. I turn on the hard shoulder and let her spin for another minute before I switch her off.. I look at Lucy who gives me a sad speachless look and say the party is over...
After 10 minutes the shock is slightly passed and I try to start the engine again.. it still works.. far away I see an exit (Medina-Sidonia) and decide to slowly run up there and park our selves safely off the highway, I can feel the engine is fu**ed and feels like she's running on 3 legs, a quick nose in the engine bay tells me nothing apart from the breatherbox that's covered in oil, my oil must've been cooking.. aiaiaia.. not good.. and who said a temp gauge only causes an extra bit of stress in the cab.. :-"
Calling with my mechanic, he also thinks the combo 'heavily loaded-wind up front-very hot ' has killed the engine and probably burned or melted something inside which also explained the white smoke and the very low oil level..
In the next hour i make a bunch of calls with the question to look for possible VW garages/shops/fellow owners but they seem to be very rare in this area.. i then decide to call the recovery assistance.. it takes a while before we see a recovery truck but he's picking up another stranded car near us.. the driver makes a sign and i run up to him, a minute later i'm speaking on his phone to my assistance telling me it took them a while but they finally found a company and there's somebody on there way..
We have been here now for 5 hours under a baking hot sun in the middle of nowhere (luckily we check our food stock daily and so there's enough water/food on board), finally a truck shows up, the driver is softly said an @$$hole that doesn't care about classic cars and is swearing at my lowered van which causes frustration on both parts, eventually he calls another recovery truck which arrives an hour later and with a fair bit of scraping Stella finally gets on the truck.. another hour later we get dropped off by some poor hotel in a small local town .. 60€/night??!!.. for a room with spots/tears and holes in the sheets and carpet, 1 loo roll for 3 days... breakfast is 3€/pers (additional) and you get a coffee, a few cups of butter and jam and a piece of bread from the day before which has been toasted by the cleaning lady who was just cleaning the floor with her filthy paws.. and if you want another coffee or toast you pay another 3€.. long live tourism..? because it's saturday we're stuck here until at least monday.. but.. we are still happy..
It's a small town built on a little hill, in the time we've been here we were quite disgusted as we noticed that people here are very disrespectful to everything that involves nature, theres dog poo everywhere, it's dirty and on top of that they just dump all there sh*t across the street..?? it was terrible when we found dogs chained in remote places with nothing at all, Cats that were literally dieing on the street
and more of this misery .. all very sad and we remain with a very negative feeling about these people.. They say "bad luck comes in three" and so i've experieced it.. we brake down, a day later I crack the same tooth as on a roadtrip a few years ago and so my face turns into a smiling pirate
(captain Toothpick is what Lucy called me) and a bit later i also found out i lost my paper driving license... mmm.. but we were still in a good mood With the engine not working properly anymore we asked ourselves .. what's next ..?? since we still had 3 more weeks of holiday there was NO WAY we were going back home.. Meanwhile there were a few options running..
It was quite noticable that for such a small town there were loads of Landrovers and look a likes (Santana), since we really like these cars the idea grow that we would buy a 'landy', order a A-frame towbar and continue our trip with our house being towed
but considering it's illegal in a lot of countries (also Belgium) and there's a weight limit we pulled out of this idea.. unfortunately.. as after a few conversations in spanish/french/flemish/english sign language we understood they were quite cheap.. A few calls later we were in contact with some more local people, there was one guy in Cadiz who owned a small workshop with a few V dubs but unfortunately he was out on holiday, a guy in Sevilla who had a classic car rental business but he couldn't help us out with parts (he did want to rent us a bus tho ..
) and we spoke with someone who was running a business with VW parts in Malaga, this guy was quite honest on the phone and wanted to help us out, however he did say that if there's damage inside the engine and parts needed some machining he wouldn't know any company's nearby who could sort us out and since we were not sure how long this was going to take we didn't want to take that risk since we then had to stay in Malaga for a while which we weren't looking forward to.. so I called Antonio from Portugal to ask if he didn't had a spare engine or could source one for us..A few hours later there was finally some better news, first we got offered a refurbed 1600 DP all new engine but at 2000€ it was too pricey for our budget and a NO GO but a little later a 1300 SP was found which was used in a shop as a spare engine to keep other VW's going .. It was not cheap but it would get us back on the road with a little help from the flinstones
A few calls later we got everything sorted, transport back to Portugal and the engine would be shipped..
The drive back to Lisboa was a nightmare on it's own, the guy showed up 5hrs later than we were told with the tiniest recovery vehicle ever with about 1,5 space in the cabin... ?? frustration all over since we count 3 people.. ? The driver looked like he had seen better days and eventually we decided that Lucy and Lowie would go in Stella and i would sit in the cab next to the driver, i made it very clear that i wasn't happy with this situation and that he had to drive extremely careful with my family in the back.. !
Once driving i noticed he was a bit exhausted from the drive up and he also started swerving with eyes half shut, i got pissed and made it very clear that he needed to stop on the first service station or we would end up having major problems in the cab.. Fortunately after a break and some caffeine it went a lot better and so we arrived late and tired in Lisboa..
When we walked into the workshop in the morning they were already busy finishing off an engine in a gaywindow pickup before we could start on Stella.. in the late afternoon Matt arranged an appointment at his dentist to sort captain toothpick
, what a great service, in and out in 35 mins with a brand new tooth, i couldn't stop smiling .. When we arrived back in the workshop Stella was all ready to go, Antonio moved the 1745 onto the roofrack and they installed a new carb as the other one was no good, they also fixed the dent in the rear without me asking for it.. (thx again guys!!) after a little test drive it seemed the clutch was no good and so we were back the next day replacing it with a new one, we ended the day with a nice dinner at Matt's.
Being independent again and Stella all cleaned up we left south again with a fresh start, because the new tiny engine and the heavily loaded bus (now with extra engine on top) we decided to take the highway as little as possible, and do the Algarve again and seeing as much as possible off the seaside.. se we took a little ferry in Setubal which took us straight to the start of the algarve on the coast, i remembered a conversation with a surfer back in Ericeira and he mentioned Sines so that was out first destination.
Once we arrived this was everything we didn't want .. an industrial area.. but driving a bit further we arrived in Porto Covo where we parked right at the beach again, it didn't take long before we had a massive row with the 'neighbours' because they thought we parked too close (approx 2,5 mtrs!) to their van and took away their view off the ocean,even though everybody was parked like sardines in a tin.. ?? anyway we didn't stay here too long and drove a bit further..
Fortunately as only half an hour further we stumbled on this amazing spot, heaven on earth.. you know a spot you wish you could stay and not leave .. we parked ourselves on top of a cliff and have a beautiful view on a tiny bay with a naturally created swimming pool.. really really nice.. we decide to camp out here and obviously the BBQ comes out! The next morning we went straight down like early birds for a nice walk on the beach, Lucy can't hold herself back and takes a 'skinny dip' in the water
we enjoy this amazing place and after a few hours we say goodbye.. we continue our trip and a little local road which all of a sudden becomes a very steep little dusty road with large holes, not ideal with my bus but the Wintertrail experience gets us down safe and easy , we pass another very local quiet beach unfortunately we can't stop everywhere but you can't be disappointed as after a few miles we run into a few very nice locations again.. we find a very nice remote spot right on a cliff were we spend another lovely evening.. what a beautiful place!!The next day we decide to drive a fair bit, we're somewhere south in Portugal and our mission is still Morocco, because our top speed is about 45 mph and 4th gear became a luxury option every mile seemed twice as long.. we stop at lunch time for a break by the beach near to the very touristy place called Albufeira it's hot and Stella needs a rest.
A bit later we move on and try the highway, we manage to use the 4th gear on the downhill parts and top speed reaches 60mph
after a long tiring drive we stop in Bonares near Sevilla and find a spot to sleep..The next day we continue but i don't want to go through Sevilla by highway as there's a massive bridge and i'd like to avoid that so we drive through small villages. While we are looking for a bridge we end up at a tiny old school ferry boat that brings us to the other side, eventually we get back on to the motorway and arrive in Chipiona a little after lunch. A bit of searching takes us on to a small dusty road to a local beach, a great location and of course out comes the BBQ again and cold beers, many bottles later we're running naked on the beach
oh dear, can life be anymore beautiful Because we're really close to the most southern point of mainland Europe we decide to leave, and a little later we arrive in one of Europe's most popular kite/windsurf locations, Tarifa. We park right at the beach and see Morocco.. we discuss what we're going to do, knowing that we have a booked flight on saturday to fly Lowie back from Malaga to granny in the UK and its Tuesday, does not give us much time.. the rest of the day turns out very stressful, we drive over the hill to Algeciras to compare tickets and eventually around 7pm we're back in Tarifa in a ticket office, about to pay but our card doesn't work.. we would have to go back to the centre, take out some cash and return but i had enough off it, we were all tired, it was hot and obviously Lowie was about to jump out of skin so we parked up at the beach and called it a night..
After a good night of sleep we get up and decide to leave Morocco as is, we would only have 2 days to travel and that's not what we planned, besides we already did a lot of traveling (at very low speed in hot temps) and so a little rest and relax is well earned.. meanwhile another Belgian bloke parked next to me, Filip, a diehard (kite)surfer who's together here with his lovely dog Jenni, he plans to stay here for a few months before he goes to Portugal for the winter season (me very envy), the next days are very relaxed and we meet a lot of other likewise travelers and eventually i gave in to kitesurfing, i had always avoided this sport knowing i would like this alot and being an expensive one would'nt make life easier
On Friday we leave to Malaga, on our way we decide to go passed Gibraltar but because of the long queues to get through customs we leave it and head off to the awful busy Costa del Sol. The next day i drop Lucy and Lowie off on the airport and kill my time with giving Stella a proper clean, do some alcohol shoping and a powernap on the filthy beach of Torremolinos, in the evening i pick up Lucy again and we set course back to Tarifa
In the last week we make a very important decision, to not travel home with Stella, i have the feeling it's not a good idea for the hard working 1300 also the gearbox is whining a bit more and i'm not looking forward to 4 full days of driving at 45 mph.. what follows is a mountain of phone calls, a trip to the local garage and everything is sorted.. a flight for us and Stella get's a ride back home!! woop woop
this means we can spend our last days here..In those last days we meet more nice people, we all laugh our heads off with the amount of people taking pictures and even think about the idea to put a sign in front of the van that reads "1€ for a picture" so could we gain some money back from the engine.. but we never got that far ..
a few BBQ's and party's make an end on this amazing adventure..Friday they pick up the van and we take the taxi to Malaga were we fly back home, tired but satisfied we arrive in Antwerp, unfortunately without Stella..
It was another great adventure and unfortunately we never made Morocco but nevertheless our trip took another ride and made new friends and we have a new sport we're going to practice..
I'd like to thank my mechanic Lesley for helping me out on the last minute before we left and keeping up with all my phone calls, Patrick for the advice regarding the recovery service, Arnold & Matt to help me out looking for VW garages and Antonio to get us back on the road!
And al of you who read the full story
Right time for some pictures!
All packed
A true belgian always takes his beer
mrs busdriver @ work
1st night stop
hey Dad, it can still go lower..
where's the sun.. ?..
Stretching legs
Aahh the temperature gets better..
time for coffee ..
cruisin..
Lowie's tea time
2nd night spot in Hondarribia
and continue our trip through the basque country
i'd rather go straight .. :-s
found a lovely lunch spot..
and back on the road, my little boy dreaming about building (smashin) sand castles
the lady sits nice and comfy in the back
124km untill we reach beautiful Portugal..
taking a break as it's getting warmer
same road, same bus, same beer, different year
endless driving..
3rd night stop somewhere near Coimbra
the happy early bird
that went back to sleep quick once driving
Arriving in Ericeira and as mentioned before there's a massive cloud but you can feel the sun bringing onto it
and defintely warm enough to build sand castles and have a beer on the beach
Locals surfin there spot, too dangerous for me
different spot, great view
in the late afternoon we set out camp here and so we light up the BBQ and crack some beers
breakfast
making fun
1 of only 2 splittys we came across
Lowie meets the ocean for the first time this year
a bit later we found the perfect spot with a great sunset
Lonely @ the beach
after a good night of sleep comes a nice walk on the beach
as mentioned, per coincidence i noticed something wasn't right with the brake flexible and with a closer inspection it needed replacing straight away!
Antonio's customised crewcab
great BBQ at Matt's new place!
wake up lonely at a service station
cruisin down to the Algarve
mmm.. mummie making a chocolate sandwich
Tavira centre..
Small streets sometimes end up in difficult situations
we found a great quiet spot
Yihaaaa !!
Lowie's favorite place (± 2,5h/day
)safaris!! what a great invention!!
@ Piet & Katrien's cool farm
the next day late in the afternoon, on our way to Morocco
the incessant heat causes more and longer breaks for Stella
Gooooodmorning everybody!!
a place we won't forget quickly as it felt like a storm on the sea (very windy)
Then it happened .. the heat, the wind, and being heavily loaded killed the engine..
Nothing noticeable apart from oil that overflowed out of the breatherbox
this beauty came by to give the van a technical inspection
RRrrrrr but after a closer look she said it was done :p
waiting makes you hungry
waiting..
more waiting..
and more waiting.. pfff
pfff.. play hide and seek..
finally, the recovery truck arrives but there's no way Stella get's on it..
an hour later his colleague arrives with a slightly different truck
connecting the winch..
and with some scraping we manage to get Stella on it
Lowie had a great time in the playground
seeing so many landy's in this tiny village we got the idea of buying one and towing the bus.. fortunately it stayed with the idea as in most countries it's not allowed ..
we liked this Santana model as well
you know what i mean when i say, a town in the middle of nowhere ..
Alcala de los gazules, we won't forget the name of this village, being shocked of their disrespectful behavior against nature ..
eventually we got Stella out of the garage and waited of our transport to Portugal
Very happy Stella didn't end up like this
back to where we came from, familiar bridge huh..
next morning, we're busy working on the engine swap
1745 comes out
this little 1300 goes in
eventually the engine comes out again to fit a new clutch but it drives good, very slow tho..
new engine means we can continue roadtrippin again and so Stella get's a clean
that evening we get a nice meal at Matt's and we sleep on the street
Matt told us about the ferry in Setubal..
looks very good so far
Full length roof rack is what you need .. huh??
wish that was my house on the beach..
found a bit of shade, coffee time..
Lowie loves driving with safaris open
the arrival at Sines looks promising..
but we expected something slightly different..
a bit further was Porto Covo and more what we've been looking for..
but didn't stay here long thx to our great neigbours ??
fortunately tho as we arrived on this beautiful spot.. :love4:
with the natural created swimming pool
obviously BBQ time
and another beautiful sunset..
enjoying life with ...
wake up with a fantastic view.. :love5:
a quick breakfast
continued with an early walk on this lovely beach..
skinny dippin !!
our little lion
who's becoming a true bird watcher :laughing11:
unfortunately all good things end and we continue our trip..
along the sea
and little villages
until we arrive at a fantastic spot again
we set camp on a romantic beautiful spot..
what a view huh ..
shower under a sunset..
we finally went from water bottle to a solarshower :tongue3: happy times
you could get used to it .. no ?
coffee time.. we'd like to move on too Sevilla today..
so after a while driving we take a break on a very busy beach near Albufeira..
a bit later we cruised to some small villages looking for a bite and afterwards we head off to Spain (again)
it took us a while but we did manage to find a spot to sleep somewhere in Bonares
a break on our way to Chipiona, oranges grow here in the wild..
this local old school ferry still worked full time..
lunch spot
the never ending road
In chipiona and the rest of south Spain you need to be careful on the massive speedbumps
after a bit of searching we find this local dusty road
and with a little map orientation..
we get where we want to be..
babe on the beach :love7:
daddy and his little boy
what you expect.. BBQ time, this time i found a nice chicken which i marinated properly..
mmm with a delicious new (potential wintertrail) recipe .. mmm
great view again..
the next day we drive straight down to Tarifa we see the 2nd split on our holiday, the driver knows my bus as he's seen it when it was found together with all the splitty's.. cool!
stopped at the beach and seeing the ferry's to Morroco we discuss the options of going
over the hill to Algeciras to compare tickets
ever since Lowie knows 'pain au chocolat' you can't hide them any longer
funny signs
at last our day ands up very stressful and we decided to leave it for what it is and park up at the beach
Tanger @ night
Stella @ night
Marokko... mmm not this year..
Stranded at the beach .. :glasses2:
Lowie showing his driving skills at the neighbours
father&son moment
we had a great time here in Tarifa and when we left to Malaga we got a tiny bit of rain
as mentioned there were loads of paparazzi
moments and while taking a picture of the rock of Gibraltar i noticed this police car making a u turn, i thought they were going to moan about me parked up where I shouldn't be but instead they came over to take a picture. ?
:laughing11:Malaga/torremolinos was not our cup of tea and finding a place to slep wasn't easy but eventually we parked up next to this cool Unimog!!
we like a lot!! lots of potential! do they come in a split screen model ..?
breakfast at the beach
dropped of Lucy and Lowie at the airport wHere the temptation for this big factory was difficult to let go
back in Tarifa..
this is Filip who will stay here for a while
another beautiful sunset..
no comments!
spaghetti party with the italians..
great life @ the beach.. shower is on the beach
chillin with a sunset
and party hardy at night !! :occasion14: :occasion16:
we took the opportunity the learn kitesurfin
Life @ the beach when you're sixty :laughing11: :laughing11:
the kite feeling is definitely there, the week before we more or less had a bet with an instructor who's record was 3.45u to get somebody on his board..
i'm at 3u here.. :headbang:
it's quite exhausting when you're still learning..
a bit later back in the water, put the kite in position..
and off we go, what a blast!! it's different from wake boarding as you get a massive freedom feeling and the power of the kite is enormous..
also Lucy made progress fast and we'll definitely continue this sport
unfortunately all good things end, as well as this roadtrip..
as mentioned before we arranged transport for Stella back home
and so we left her here
We did a fair amount of miles again, the purchase of the engine was quite expensive but well worth!!.. for those who claim a 1.3 is hopeless in a heavy bus with a straight axle kit..
well they are right
.. but it can be done A bad day at surf always beats a good day at work
-
spl65t
- DSKer
- Posts: 1747
- Joined: Wed May 27, 2009 8:18 pm
- Location: Hills Area - Sydney
-
kombi_maniac
- DSKer
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:22 pm
- Location: Goldcoast
-
cassa
- DSKer
- Posts: 1393
- Joined: Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:33 am
- Location: Sydney, Australia
-
the bus driver
- DSKer
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:36 pm
-
Shayno
- DSKer
- Posts: 89
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:03 pm
- Location: South West WA
Cool thread. You've inspired me to get safari's.
In the photo above the police pic.....the mountain looks like a dog
like this one
http://www.about-australia.com/travel-g ... /dog-rock/
In the photo above the police pic.....the mountain looks like a dog
like this one
http://www.about-australia.com/travel-g ... /dog-rock/
-
the bus driver
- DSKer
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:36 pm
-
Ian 68
- DSKer
- Posts: 1373
- Joined: Sat May 02, 2009 9:58 pm
- Location: Caloundra, QLD
