The wet weather continued into the weekend but with the six nations on TV at the bar, entertainment was available both days!
Monday we visited Vejer again, this time with Paul and Andrea – their first visit to El Calife – taking the bus from Conil to Vejer. It turned out Monday was some kind of “festive” holiday so a revised bus timetable was in place. Fortunately, our preferred buses were operating and we enjoyed another fab afternoon at this Moroccan restaurant.
Tuesday was the first dry day after a spell of wet weather and this was perfect for drying and taking down the awning. We BBQ’d with Paul and Andrea before our final quiz. A reasonable effort but no prizes this week.
An early start on Wednesday morning for what should have been an un-eventful drive North, turned out to be anything but. On the motorway near Cadiz, we heard an unfamiliar noise from the caravan and some passing workmen were gesturing at us to pull over onto the hard shoulder.
There we discovered the Jockey wheel had dropped and the tyre, wheel and rim were destroyed. We tidied up as best we could and headed off on our way again as fast as possible. Anyone familiar with Spanish motorways will know the hard shoulders aren’t much safer than our very own “smart” motorways! They are not wide enough for a large car and caravan!
Our next problem was Seville and the demonstrating farmers. The motorways south and north of Seville were blocked and this cost us a delay of several hours. Bang on two o’clock however, the protestors and tractors retreated back to the countryside for lunch and a siesta and that was the end of our hold-ups.
We arrived at Camping Olimpia, Salamanca about 7:30pm and ate at the campsite. Once we had located a new jockey wheel the following morning (Caravanas Sitmon near Salamanca were very helpful), we drove the short distance to Camping El Astral at Tordesillas. A wet afternoon curtailed our plans to walk into town.
Friday we drove to Santander and spent the afternoon at Virgen del Mar. The weather was glorious and we wiled away an hour or two at the local bar there. The campsite – Camping Virgen del mar – is very convenient for the Santander ferry but we felt didn’t justify the top tier ACSI price of 27 Euros. Cold water only at the washbasins, tight pitches and a dodgy electricity supply!
Our ferry departed Santander on time and we were blessed with another smooth crossing, arriving at Portsmouth on Sunday evening at 20:00. We were close to first off the boat and were pitched up at Morn Hill Caravan Club site before 21:00. An uneventful drive back to East Devon and a week of very wet weather awaited our arrival home.