# I'm off again.. Soon!.



## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Well it had to happen sooner or later, I have put my long trousers on for the first time since April as it has been shorts weather all the time.
We are still in Mequinenza Spain coming up to 2 months in the same spot wild camping, it feels like home and I am reluctant to move, but!..

Loke the birds it will soon be time to head South come the end of this month onto the bottom of Spain and into the Algarve Portugal for Christmas

We have evrything we need here, we can easily get rid of the grey water, there is a handy drain for the black waste and it is 10 trips on the scooter for water carrying two 10ltr watering cans on the scooter footwell, it is not potable but is fine for washing etc, and we go into Mwquinenza to the supermarket 10mins away where we get 5ltr bottles of water.

Where we are now at the side of the river and are now in the shade of an enormous cliff where there are 8 Griffin Vultures nesting, we only get the sun for about an hour a day so the solar panel is stuffed for making leccy, and the cliff is in the way of the sat dish so we haven't had any telly for two months.. Ah well it will be nice to see something familuar on the box when we move.

So the good bit, apart from 20 Euros a week for the fishing permit, it is totaly free to stay here so we have been able to build up the reserves for the next push down Sarf!..

Oh and I forgot to say I get free wifi for two and a half hours a day from the museum up the river a couple of miles, seems the signal travels well over the water :wink: .

ray.


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## motormouth (Jul 3, 2010)

Why are you putting yourselves through hell??
Get yourselves back home and enjoy the current rain, gales, frosts and general doom and gloom.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Sounds idyllic. We will soon be joining you darn souf. House on market but will leave in January no matter what!

Can I tempt anyone to a nice detached cottage standing in 3.2 acres of prime Norfolk land. Sunniest and driest region in England  (well most of the year)


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

Got home in the early hours this morning, now wearing socks for the first time in 3 months feels really weird , 
In 3,500 mls round Spain & Portugal had numerous roadworks where they just have a row of bollards to mark the dividing line and workmen at the side of the rd coming up from new haven last night in 150miles must have passed a dozen sets of roadworks on one center and outer lane both sides of the rd coned of so they could work. On the crash barrier , 4. Lanes worth???, and the M1 junction 19to20 closed completely don't know why May have had good reason but signage displayed for 75 miles beforehand almost every 4/5 miles


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## Scolds (Jul 26, 2010)

It sounds a wonderful place Ray, would you mind sending the exact location or pm me them.

Regards,

Robin


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Look in the fishing section some photos of where we are.

ray.


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## peaky (Jul 15, 2009)

hi ray, poss see you down Portugal way, only 6 weeks till my adventure, booked chicken run for a week at the end nov, if I like it I will stay a bit !!!


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## Kev1 (Apr 4, 2011)

Ray
I don't fish


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Kev1 said:


> Ray
> I don't fish


HI.

You would if you were hungry..

Ray.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Ray. Sounds like you have had the time of your lives (unlike the fish 8O )

No telly for two months! Bloody hell. What do you do all night?

Its been a trip and a half and Ive loved following it. 

Good luck with next stage and I hope your keeping a log of all these places as your clearly a freeloader like me so I might need them some day!

Cheers
BD


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Well we have moved on from Mequinenza and are now at a God for bid!, a site near Benidorm where my mate ("Rosewood" on MHF's) lives full time, it is nice seeing him again as we are on the plot at the back of his, you should have seen their faces when we turned up after promising to look in on them when we are down their way.
We are here for a week before we clear off South to the bottom of Spain, might even go to Gibralter as we have never been before and it can be ticked off the list. :roll: 

The weather is a lot warmer than the North of Spain, so we can top up the old sun tan again.


ray.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Don't try to drive into Gib as the Uk and Spanish are having a tiff and the border control are stopping and searching all vehicles.local news states ." Allow 4 to 5 hrs to get into Gib"


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

What on the scooter?.

ray.


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## hogan (Oct 31, 2006)

Even walking is a problem. Check local news as it may change for the better or worse.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Ray

Gib is crap. Dont go unless your passing and defo use the scooter.

You might enjoy it though if your missing any Brit stuff but I think I could safely leave this place and never come back or miss anything. The only thing I miss is fish and chips from the white horse in Northallerton but not that much.


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

barryd said:


> Ray
> 
> Gib is crap. Dont go unless your passing and defo use the scooter.
> 
> You might enjoy it though if your missing any Brit stuff but I think I could safely leave this place and never come back or miss anything. The only thing I miss is fish and chips from the white horse in Northallerton but not that much.


Hi.

Next time you go to Flambrough you might want to come and visit the Clampits in Aldbrough we will go and have fish and chips from "Whiteheads" chippy in Hornsea, we can take them down to the sea front to eat them and watch the sea, oh and have a gill or two in our site club house, they have a camping field with EHU and stuff just across the road...

Now you have done it, I want some fish and chips with curry sauce on now!............. :wink:

ray.


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.


Hello from Gibralter, we drove straight in it took seconds and going back into Spain the traffic was moving quickly through..

We are parked at Catalana ? Bay on a big free car park, we are directly at the base of the Rock which is lit up at night. We had a hike into the town this morning it was farther than I thought from where we are and I will get a taxi in tommorrow, I won't be going on the scooter they are barmy and we watched two near accidents with cars and scooters just walking in to town :roll: , but the prices of the stuff is unbelievable they are nearly giving whisky away, the cheap blended stuff about £4.00 quid, Jonny Walkers about £7.00 and good single malts around the £20/27 range.

Looking at an I pad at the moment the latest Apple 4G for £350 quid sir, hmmm temptation is all around us, and we don't want to blow the budget :lol: :lol: :lol: .

Plenty of water and two empty cassettes so might get 5 days here to explore, we still haven't been up the top of the rock to poke a monkey in the ribs, Sandra suffers from vertigo when high up I will see if I can get a picture of her hanging on to the side of the rock for you.


Oh and the weather windy but still hot during the day, but is cooling off now at 5 45 ish as the sun is the other side of the rock.
ray.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

rayrecrok said:


> Hi.
> 
> Hello from Gibralter, we drove straight in it took seconds and going back into Spain the traffic was moving quickly through..
> 
> ...


Fill the van up with Ipads and cheap booze then sell it to the French on the way back up. Or better still bring it all home for us!

At Flamborough again Ray.

Watch out for those Monkeys Ray. They nick stuff


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Well I spoke too soon :roll: .. A couple of hours after my post another van turned up and parked at the side of us which attracted a police van which invited us to bugger off in a nice english voice, very sorry sir but we have no facilitys in Gibralter for overnight camping and if you do not move I am sure my collegues will arrest you both when they come round tonight..

That's two days running we have been moved on, I might start to think that they know I post on here. 8O .

Ok it's only a bit after 8pm we will go back into Spain to a place I had been given an hour and half drive away.. So sat in 6 lanes wide of traffic a good hundred cars long each as the Spanish customs jerked everybody about as much as possible.. The only thing to break the monoteny was the cars doing a Mexican Wave on their horns ending in one big cresendo until some daft bugger started it again.. So 3 hours later we were through and nobody even looked at our passports or checked anything.. What did I say about it was easy getting off the rock :roll: .

So onto the wild camping spot we were given which was pants but any port in a storm at 1am, I was wide awake so Sandra made a cup of Horlicks courtesy of Ex Pats in Bennidorm then on with a DVD we swapped an english lad and his Swiss girlfriend when we stayed at a wild camp spot a few days back.. We got three quartes the way through and really got into it when the bloody thing went tits up and wouldn't go past that point.. What!... What a ****ty day we had so off to bed.

And the worst part I didn't even get any cheap whisky to drown my sorrows..

Ah well it's all part of the fun, onwards and upwardsm we are now in a camp site about 60 miles short of the Portuguese border and we will stay here for 4 days to re-group for the next on slaught in Portugal. :lol: :lol: :lol: .

It's a good job we always laugh stuff off..

ray.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

Ray

Sorry for your hassle yesterday.

Of course you can expect Barry to come on saying 'I warned you Gib was crap' 

I think I might have been inclined to point out to the nice policeman that you pay taxes in UK and that they go towards RN vessels visiting Gib and our Foreign Office representations to the Spanish whenever they kick-off over any dispute.  

Geoff


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

nicholsong said:


> Ray
> 
> Sorry for your hassle yesterday.
> 
> ...


Hi.

Or think I can't be arsed :roll: .

ray


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

'I warned you Gib was crap' ! :lol: 

What I am more concerned about is that you have gone to a campsite!

Whats that about? 8O 

Splitter! 

You drive all over Europe and end up getting moved on by the Brits! Typical.

Go to Morocco! Thats the place to be by all accounts this time of year. Addie went Sand dune surfing at Christmas there and sent us all a video. I want to see pics and vids of you and Fat Dog sand dune surfing!


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

barryd said:


> 'I warned you Gib was crap' ! :lol:
> 
> What I am more concerned about is that you have gone to a campsite!
> 
> ...


Ray

I told you he would :roll: :lol:

No solidarity, No sympathy you Yorkshiremen :roll: :lol:

Not like folk North of the Tees - Oh Sh*t I might have disturbed something in the weed-bed  :lol:

Geoff


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

barryd said:


> 'I warned you Gib was crap' ! :lol:
> 
> What I am more concerned about is that you have gone to a campsite!
> 
> ...


Hi.

Camp site....Respite laddie, respite!..... In my best Arnie voice "Oil be back".

And I will be chasing chickens at Crimble with fat dog, not poncing about sliding down dunes on a beer tray, I will be ballancing beer on one, the job it is designed to do while fat dog keeps my feet warm laying on them.

Anyway the family are flying out to us on Boxing day for a week so I do not know what we will be getting up to :wink: .

ray.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

rayrecrok said:


> barryd said:
> 
> 
> > 'I warned you Gib was crap' ! :lol:
> ...


Its been so cold in Flamborough today I think I might fly down and join you! 8O

Came back form Tescos in Brid on the bike (no gloves) and it took an hour before I could move my hands!

Keep enjoying that sunshine. Keep of the sites!


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

barryd said:


> rayrecrok said:
> 
> 
> > barryd said:
> ...


Hi.

Quarter to midnight and it's 19.6C.. But it feels bloooddy cold to us, we are aclimatised to hot weather now, it will be a shock when we get home in March, might turn straight round again..

I hope it is not freezing at the East Coast our Steve hasn't drained down the caravan yet, and he goes back up Scotland again on monday working above Aberdeen for 3 weeks, and he won't be coming home till the job is done.... I will see if he can go tommorow, he should get there have it drained down and back home in 3 hours..

ray.


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## andyandsue (Sep 7, 2008)

*i still owe you a pint*

i stilll owe you a pint for rec the smashing camping Markadia in Portugal.....we spent 2 month there rolling out of my bed and into my dingy most days

the carp must be missing you as they came up to my boat lovingly mouthing your name!!!!
were overwintering in Argentina(no van) at the mo
back in MAY!!!


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

rayrecrok said:


> barryd said:
> 
> 
> > rayrecrok said:
> ...


No. Down to 1c last night and the same tonight then getting a bit warmer. Feels like -20 on the bike though!


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey up.

Well it had to come, we are turning round as we are at the very bottom of Europe in the Algarve and will be heading North for a couple of hours this afternoon up to Markadia where we will stay fishing for a month or so, so this is the beginning of the two and a bit months of steady progress back home to get the ferry in Dunkirk 14th of March.

So a year on the road and so far 18 countries, would we do it again.

Well as I feel now no!, what I/we feel like when we have been back in blighty for a few months, will we get itchy feet and bugger off again, only time will tell we are not getting any younger and the staying power might diminish, as you do need stamina and staying power to live in a van, something rose colored glasses does not allow you to see.

The family coming out to the Chicken Run for the New Year was a definite plus for Sandra as she had not seen them for going on for 9 months, I did when I flew home just before Christmas to see to my Aunts funeral; so I had two weeks back home at my sons, it was so nice to see them all.

So now the beggining of the end has come.

ray.


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## catzontour (Mar 28, 2007)

I've only just caught up with this thread because we've been away from mhf for a while. 

Sounds amazing and the photos you've put in the fishing section are wonderful - no disputing the size of the fish you caught :lol: 

I particularly like the picture of you lying stretched out full length beside a fish that is, well, lying stretched out, full length.

Can't wait to get out on the road and do a bit of travelling again. It has whetted our appetite - thank you.

Catz


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