Winter data summary TBC

The final leg - Payrac to Dieppe - and some reflections on winter camping...

 

The pea-souper fog we thought we’d left behind near Toulouse had in fact stalked us overnight. Thinking we were waking to a bright day as the sun popped its head up over the tree line at about 8.30, the thin wintery light quickly disappeared to be replaced by one of those cold, foggy, damp days we know and love in England – perfect acclimatisation for our penultimate day!

With two days to do the remainder of the drive north, we’d decided to get the bulk of the distance done today – partly to take advantage of the free and fast A20 between Brive-le-Gaillard and Vierzon, and partly to leave us a nice easy final day. As we stashed the miles away, the weather improved briefly, only to be replaced by heavy rain as darkness fell and we joined what seemed like an endless HGV convoy heading toward the coast. Stuck behind so many HGVs whilst waiting to overtake, we were struck by what seems to be a clear hierarchy of national ‘who tows whose trailers’ – something we’d noticed more on this trip and was very visible on this long march north. German trailers seem to be towed by Dutch tractor units; the Dutch by the Spanish; the Spanish by the Bulgarians and Romanians, who, along with the Portuguese, Poles, Czechs, Slovenes, Estonians and Macedonians also towed themselves – perhaps an indication of the relative wealth of different EU countries. We weren’t sure what to read into the fact we only saw one UK HGV in the entire trip…

And to add to the fun, we were also navigating our way (Mr B’s idea…) to an Aire we’d never used before at Brezolles, near Dreux. Described as being set in a pretty location in a picnic area, near a lake and church, we eventually found it tucked away behind a wall adjacent to the busy main road, watched over by Baby Jesus and chums in a very French and brightly illuminated nativity scene. Of course, the coolant warning light that had been flashing at us for the final hour simply added to the mix, but could wait for an investigation in the daylight…

Wondering how much sleep we might get because of road noise, but too tired to contemplate driving any further, we settled down for the night serenaded by the gentle rumble of trucks whizzing past, and the church bells, apparently on speed - we gave up counting after about 50 chimes – which pealed across our rustic hide-away. Luckily, the bells stopped at 7.00pm and the lorries not long after, allowing us an unexpected break until about 4.00am when the convoys started again, followed by the bells at 7.00am. Checking the coolant level before we set off, it seemed that we had indeed lost some fluid – not too much though and a job for England, having topped up under the watchful eye of Baby Jesus.

Arriving at Dieppe by early afternoon, and after the obligatory shop-a-thon at Auchan, we went off to explore the re-vamped Aire on the beach. We’d used it in its previous incarnation and had been underwhelmed by the cheek-by-jowl parking and noise of the ferry arriving at night, but having suffered HGV noise last night instead, we thought we’d have another look for a future visit. The new Aire is not cheap - €12 for 24hrs, but it does have decent sized bays, good chemical toilet dump points and fresh water taps, and free electric included (1 hour per van as there are only about 12 points for about 30 vans, but there were fewer vans than points when we visited and they probably weren’t going to be unplugging after an hour…) For another winter trip we’d likely give this a go, especially with 230v available.

As we took a walk along the prom, we saw our boat arriving and noticed just how filthy the van had got on our final day’s drive – as good an indication as any of the change in the weather!

So, our short trip of five weeks has come to an end, in which we’ve teased out some of the joys and challenges of travelling by campervan in the winter. It’s been great fun and here are some of our thoughts on the pros and cons for subsequent winter expeditions…

Pros

A feeling of an almost ‘endless summer’ for some of the daytime in the south; shorts/T shirts and BBQs included;

dipping into longer term communities of peeps making a conscious decision to get away from the cold weather of northern Europe and into the warmth and light further south;

stepping away from the life we live in the UK for a bit;

lots of time outdoors – and a feeling of leading a much healthier lifestyle.  We walked and/or cycled somewhere pretty much every day;

a sense of adventure in exploring new places, meeting new people, jabbering in other languages;

visiting places we probably wouldn’t have explored in hotter weather;

the fun of shopping and cooking with winter ingredients that are unusual or hard to get/expensive in the UK;

making the most of more indoor living than we’re used to with our summer trips, including watching DVDs (we’ve caned almost two seasons of House of Cards on this trip!) listening to music, reading and playing board games.

Cons

Keep an open mind – and lots of costume changes for varying weather conditions;

the colder nights need careful planning for – reliable heating is essential and ours wasn’t – something we will be reviewing;

shorter days force more time indoors – our van is not hugely comfortable for long periods sat indoors – something else we will be reviewing;

fewer sites are open (especially ACSI), leading to some pretty dense populations of happy campers in the warmer climes and a distinct lack of sites in northern France;

some sites are not that well equipped for very cold weather, when showers can become tepid, and getting dressed an exercise in speedy dexterity!

Overall

It’s a great escape for sure – but if you want proper warmth and sun, go at least as far as southern Spain, with probably October/November delivering better and more reliable weather.

S&J.

Homeward bound stage 2 - of Cathars and Cahors

 

Leaving Torre la Sal in bright sunlight, we headed off on the last part of the journey through Spain, intending to stop in France at a wine-producing region we love in the Cathar country. Sated with campsite luxury for a bit, we aimed for an Aire de Camping Cars near the town of Maury, in an area that makes some of our favourite wines. Last time, we’d stayed in an Aire nestled under a mountain with a Cathar castle above; Duilhac-sous-Peyrepertuse, which had been shrouded in a mysterious mist. We arrived just as darkness fell, under clear skies, very much hoping to catch sight of the castle above in the morning.

As we were settling in for the night we heard a knock at the door – pretty unusual, so armed with our hefty Maglite torch, I opened the door, to be greeted by Glawdys from the nearby Pizza joint touting her wares! Taking a menu from her, and remembering that she had leafleted campervans when we were here before, we decided to give it a try. Just 200m from the van, and based in an old Peugeot van jacked up on bricks in Glawdys and Franck’s back garden, was an amazing wood fired pizza oven serving take-away customers.

Open only on Fridays, we chuckled at our good luck in only being here twice and both times on a Friday, and ordered a ‘Royale’ to go. Watching Franck assemble and then cook in the pretty small but very efficient oven was as close to food poetry as I’ve been in a while, and before long, the delightful aroma of pizza ‘au feu de bois’ was wafting around the van as we tucked in. Probably the best pizza we’ve had outside Sicily, we settled in for a very quiet and cold night, with the temperature dropping to 3c overnight.

Luckily, our diesel heater didn’t let us down this time, and we woke to a misty morning, bemoaning the fact that yet again we’d miss a view of the castle!  However, benefitting from not being the most speedy of campers to get ready and depart, just as we were about to leave, the mist burned off and we were treated to some amazing views of the castle and the scenery as we wound our way down the mountain to the winery we had come to visit. It’s amazing how quickly the weather can change up here, as you can see in the first two photos, about 5 minutes apart!

Unfortunately, the winery was closed (just like last time) and although we tried telephoning the owners, after getting just an answerphone, we headed off to the nearby cooperative that had filled our wine space last time we were here, with some lush and great value local wines.

After stocking up, we headed off to a site we had chosen north of Montauban, hoping to arrive in daylight with time to explore the local village of Septfonds. The weather had other ideas however, and as we left Toulouse, a proper old pea-souper drifted in and we made very slow progress, arriving at the campsite in the dark. Greeted by the friendly Dutch owner who told us to pitch wherever we fancied and do the paperwork in the morning, we plugged in and prepared for what we could see was going to be a cold night, glad we could use our little electric greenhouse heater to stay warm! And indeed it was a cold night outside, dropping below 0c and only warming to 5c by the time we left at midday, heading for Cahors for a wander, having been rained off last time we passed through. The campsite, Bois de Redon was a classic quiet, rural and well spaced out site and at €17 plus €1 tax, one we’re sure to return to.

Arriving at the same Aire we had used on the journey down, where the diesel heater had failed and the incessant rain postponed a visit to Cahors, we were chuffed to begin our walk in dry and pleasant weather. Not having a huge amount of time before we needed to get back on the road to get to our next stop near Payrac, we strolled along the river to the famous Pont Valentré, built in the 14c and still sporting its defensive towers. Although the sky had turned cloudy by the time we got there, the bridge remained both impressive and photogenic. Wandering over it and appreciating its mediaeval dimensions, we were amazed to read that it had only been closed to traffic in 1995!

We couldn’t resist the temptation to visit the city’s drinking water pumping station on the other side of the river either, which draws water from a spring, even though it is adjacent to the river. Marvelling at the clarity of the water and the recent discovery of Roman coins from the Augustan period in the spring, we headed off to explore the older historic quarter of the city, saving the larger centre itself for another visit.

We loved the approach to Xmas decorations in this quarter, where there was no sign of the more glitzy civic street lighting and instead, a quirky approach that combined recycled plastic containers and home made ‘presents’ that set an alternative feel.

Stopping briefly to admire the Cahors water clock on the way back to the van, we decided to head off after a late lunch to Camping Panoramic, another Dutch-run site that we had visited a few years back, opting for a leisurely Sunday and saving the longer drive for Monday instead – a much more fun way to amble northwards toward la Manche and our ferry, now only 48 hours away…

S.

Homeward bound - stage 1 - Almeria to Torre la Sal

Well, this is clearly not the year we’ll be spending much time in Oliva then! As the blue skies of Almería gave way to stormy skies over the Costa Azahar, we bailed out and headed further north to what has become a favourite transit freecamp overlooking the sea at Alcossebre – complete with my flat rock hopefully still stashed in the bushes that we use to level the van…

The weather here had been equally wet, but we had some miles under our belts and were happy to sleep up and see what the next day would bring.  The road to our spot had been closed due to flooding but undeterred, we drove past the signs, confident we could reach our stop, and parked up, complete with flat rock still in place! And, with the sound of a raging sea crashing against the beach we were parked on, we settled in for a wild night…

Morning brought calmer weather and a promise of sun later, so we headed off to the campsite at Torre la Sal for a couple of days of sunny weather before the next leg across the border into France. As the sun shone and the disappointment of the weather in Oliva faded into the background, we decided to use the morning to explore some ruins up the coast that we’d not had time to go to earlier in the trip, and to treat ourselves to lunch.

Passing the Torre in sunshine this time, we wandered up to the start of the local nature park where the ruins were signposted as a couple of km away. After what seemed like a lot longer than 2km, we stopped and asked a local couple on the beach whether the small outcrop we could see in the distance might be the ruins, to which the bloke replied whilst laughing – ‘yes – but they are only about four bricks!’  Thinking I may have lost something in translation we pressed on to find that whilst four might have been an exaggeration, there really wasn’t much to the ruins as you can see in these photos. The ‘cuartel de los carabineros’ seems to have been a barracks for an early version of the Spanish coast guard, set up in 1829. We couldn’t find out whether the sea had always been this close or not, nor when the buildings were last used, but the sea is clearly working away to reduce what little is left.

Enjoying our walk nonetheless under a clear blue sky and with an onshore breeze to assist our return, we made our way back to the hamlet of Torre la Sal to see if we could get a bite to eat at the restaurant that looks out over the beach. Our luck was in and after the special ‘weekend menu’ (as it was a festival day) was offered, we tucked in to lamb stew/salad starters followed by steak and sauce/ salt cod and mash – both, unusually in Spain, with veg! Washed down with a pitcher of wine/beer and topped off by dessert (all for €12 each), we waddled our way back to the site to have a snooze in the last of the afternoon sun, knowing that we would be heading off to la belle France in the morning…

S.

Run to the sun - Oliva (Valencia) and Roquetas de Mar (Andalusia)

 

After a couple of soaking wet days in Valencia we were pleased to see that the weather looked to be set fair in Oliva – a favourite stop if we’re in the area as the place where we used to have our holiday home. Although we arrived in the sun we could see that heavy rain had not long since visited – and may be coming back! The skies over the sea were both unusual and pretty threatening.

Having camped up within earshot of the sea, we were pleased to wake up the next day on our very autumnal pitch, to clear skies. So, as is our wont when in Oliva on a Friday, we cycled off the 6km to the weekly market to treat ourselves to some goodies – which this time included toasted whole almonds in their shells, fresh Galician clams, and a few bottles of an amazingly good value Priorat at just under €4 and a local white (Bahia de Denia) at just under €5 – also incredibly good value!

After enjoying some fresh fried Valencian padrones (little peppers with the odd spicy one) and a lush clam and prawn fideu (a Valencian pasta version of a paella) rustled up by Mrs B later that night, we were looking forward to a few days zoned out and enjoying the amazing beach that out site backed onto.

By Sunday however the weather had turned and we were treated to a deluge lasting 36 hours. Having endured similar relentless downpours in Oliva on far too many occasions in the past at the house, we checked the weather further south and decided to cut our stay short and head off to the Andalusian coast near Almería. We’d stayed previously in the beautiful Cabo de Gata-Nijar natural park, so decided to try a little further west at a place called Roquetas de Mar.

Choosing another ACSI campsite near the beach, we arrived in sun and 19c – a great improvement! Access to the site is via a small road past the ubiquitous poly tunnels; this whole area, even around the Cabo de Gata-Nijar nature reserve is covered, one could say blighted by them, but look beyond to the mountains and the sea and you can almost forget they’re there, and those tomatoes we buy at home in the winter have to be grown somewhere I guess!

This campsite (Camping Roquetas) was an unusual choice for us – gone were the small-ish, mainly picturesque sites we’d normally choose, and instead we had entered an enormous and very busy over-winterer hot-spot with peeps from all over northern Europe clearly settling down for the long haul through the dark nights. Although not pretty to look at (unless you love row upon row of motorhomes and caravans with their nut-brown owners), you do get a double pitch in the winter that allows loads of space to set up camp and follow the sun around during its low winter orbit. We’d missed the bit about pitch size at reception but luckily our new German neighbours (Klaus and Sylvia) explained and kindly moved their car off what we thought was another pitch but turned out to be ours! This conversation was in German and proved just how useful my schoolboy German still is… even though my reports used to say, ‘could do better’…

The last day of November brought winds gusting to 70kmph and although it was largely sunny and sheltered on our pitch, our exploratory trek into nearby Aguadulce along the beach blew more than the cobwebs away and we returned to the site a few hours later feeling thoroughly salted and dried!

Luckily the weather improved the next day and after getting an overdue load of washing on, we set off on the bikes to the nearby port town of Roquetas. This turned out to be a real treat on a number of levels compared to our walk to Aguadulce. First was the provision of a proper ‘carril bici’ or cycle path just outside the campsite.

This led (at times on an elevated boardwalk) through a small nature reserve where we saw black-winged stilts wading… then on past ever improving views as we left the poly tunnels behind and could see more of the Sierra Gador (the foothills of the Alpujarras) that back onto the coastal plain hereabouts… and then eventually into Roquetas itself.

Not sure what to expect here, we were pleasantly surprised to find a good few beach-side cafes and restaurants open, with a mix of locals and northern Europeans clearly making it worthwhile to stay open in December. The town is fringed on its northern side by holiday developments (as well as a popular free camping area on some wasteground) with the original and much older part radiating out around the port, where we also discovered the well restored castle and naval museum.

The cycle path ran on past the castle and continued to head past increasingly larger and well pisted beaches, backed by some enormous villas that then became smaller as the beach and cycle path carried on…and on…and on! In fact we could have carried on no doubt for miles had we not chosen a chiringuito on the north side of town where we fancied lunch and needed to get back to.

We’ve not come across such brilliant provision for bikes in Spain outside of the Via Verde network before – and what a great investment the Spanish authorities have made. In this particular stretch, not only are there dedicated cycle paths, but also running/jogging paths and regular footpaths.

We made it back to Chiringuito/Restaurante Cabaña just in time for the sun to cast a shadow over the lovely sea-view terrace that had tempted us as we cycled past… and when we said to the waiter we fancied a table in the sun, he quickly offered to set up a table on the other side of the building. OK it was on the footpath and in the carpark, but we had the sun and the views to ourselves – perfect! And the food was lush too – a homemade lentil and pork broth for Mrs B and grilled cuttlefish for me – yum! And with the food came a lesson in Spanish that made me realise how much of what I’ve learned in-country has been influenced by spending so much time in areas with Catalan/Valencian inspired food – so although I asked for ‘sepia a la plancha’ which I thought was universal (along with ‘choco’), down here in Andalusia it also translates to ‘jibia’!

Realising we were enjoying the site more than we expected, certainly compared to our initial impressions, we set about analysing why. In essence, it seemed to boil down to a combination of a very efficient and well resourced site, with a very friendly vibe (most pitch residents shouting cheery ‘hallos’ as we wandered by, admiring the variety of Xmas decorations), good shopping close by, a decent sized pitch and excellent walking and cycling straight out of the gate, all bathed in fabulous Andalusian sun in the day and with very mild night-time temperatures of around 15c. We did half wonder, as we cycled past some very warm poly tunnels on our way to the shops, whether the balmy night-time temperatures were in part due to a storage heater effect from the surrounding agricultural land. It was even warm enough to have breakfast outside fairly early in the mornings! So, whilst enormous, anodyne to look at and not in an especially picturesque location, for a winter stop it was a winner and an area we’ll return to.

After a few more days of mixed sun and cloud – and a passing rainstorm one night, we reached the day we’d decided was the turning point to start heading home. Ironically, the day we left it was clear skies and 22c before lunch – a reminder that this coastline in Andalusia really does seem to benefit from warmer winter sun than further north – and is definitely worth more exploration on another trip. So, next stop, Oliva again, to see whether we can tempt some sunshine to spend a bit of time there with us!

S.

Making good use of Wifi when travelling - in praise of Motorhome Wifi

In praise of Motorhome Wifi!

A short entry this – both to extol the virtues of a bit of technical kit – and the company behind it!

As many peeps travelling in vans know, having good access to reliable Wifi can be a real boon – especially if the weather should turn pants and those fun outdoor activities seem like a distant memory… For some, having a 3G/4G SIM arrangement for euro-roaming is the answer, and for others, making use of paid-for or free access to Wifi is the way to go. We’re in the latter group and have, over the years, got used to variable (often poor) quality or expensive access prices that have driven us to look at options for improvement.

So, after a bit of hunting around we opted for the iBoost D8 from Motorhome Wifi – a small company set up by a couple of van travellers whose blog we used to follow as they travelled round Europe and Morocco. They also offer a 3G/4G SIM solution but here’s a bit of info about what we went for – a gadget that improves the signal strength of the Wifi you are accessing (often finding unsecure ones you can piggy back) which then links to a small router in the van that shares the signal with as many devices as you want (with the signal shared between them). You can see the small aerial on top of the van is this pic:

Where this is particularly good, is at locations where access is limited to one device logged on at a time (whether paid or free) – the iBoost is ‘seen’ as the single device and then shares a strengthened signal via a small router. So, if Mrs B and I both want access to the web at the same time, we can now do it – and if it’s paid for access, we only pay for one access code. As the antenna (directional in our case) can pick up signals from a good distance, this also means that a ‘local’ signal such as free Wifi at campsite reception, or a car park near a Maccy Ds, can be accessed.

The kit is not cheap (we paid £160), but it is very easy to set up and use and, having experienced a hitch at a site in Spain, I have to say the technical support is outstanding. Having failed to access our paid-for Wifi on a site we wanted to stay at for a few days, I decided to try the support page on Motorhome Wifi’s website. Easy to follow and very sensible (it suggests you send some screen captures of the iBoost monitoring screens) I got an immediate response from Adam, one of the founders, and my problem was sorted in under 10 minutes. And this late on a Friday afternoon as well!

Would I recommend this bit of kit to others? Yes I would! For tech savvy peeps there might be cheaper ways of doing it, but the iBoost is a doddle to get up and running straight out of the box – and with support like I have experienced so far, I have great faith in its continuing use as we travel in our home on wheels. As I write this we’re just coming to the end of our five week sojourn this winter and the iBoost has made a big improvement in our Wifi experience – so much so that we have really enjoyed regular face-time natters with our lovely granddaughter Ada (aka La Nieta) – a great boon when she is growing and changing so quickly!

So – a big thankyou to the team at Motorhome Wifi for their great technical product development, and excellent customer service! If you want to find out more, look here!

S.