In the early hours we would have passed close to Land's End but I had slept well and woke to see the NW coast of France slip by centred around Brest. A full English breakfast in view of the calm conditions was justified and good value but should have been served warmer and I then enjoyed the full fat WiFi package that covered the entire crossing for £20.
Bizarrely whilst walking the outer deck I spotted Paul from Porthmadog, a fellow MBA volunteer who was heading to Morocco for his first visit. He too was 'doglegging' via Ireland as the direct sailings were full. He'd bought some very expensive vehicle insurance but they'd not sent a Green Card so that was causing him some concern. I reassured him that he could get insurance on arrival at Tangier Med and that Green Cards are more or less a thing of the past and certainly no longer green. Like me he had obtained an IDP but he wouldn't need it and I gave him the blog details plus my contact details should he need further advice.
That evening I treated myself to the Azul restaurant's a la carte menu and enjoyed the shoulder of lamb, half a bottle of Bordeaux and a pavlova to finish.
A family with 3 unruly kids turned up and, to be honest if a little snooty, they really should have gone to the Taberna as the predictably indulgent parents asked if they could alter the menu choices so the kids could have pasta and tomato sauce or egg and chips. The kitchen duly obliged but it is a bugbear of mine that people are so picky....
Anyway after time on deck noticing the milder temperatures I retired for another night's kip only to be woken by various rumblings at 06.00. Not my meal but the ship pulling in at Bilbao two hours ahead of schedule, as it transpired for the purpose of refuelling as neither Rosslare (nor Portsmouth) have as yet put in the necessary infrastructure so the ships have to carry twice the amount needed. There is a similar nonsense on the West Coast of Scotland where again due to lack of infrastructure the LNG CalMac use for their new ferries is supplied by 40 tankers a week travelling up from Lincolnshire, and of course returning empty!
We disembarked at 08.00 and I ensured my passport was stamped (Irish passengers were of course exempt) and as expected on a quiet Sunday morning there was no diversion to complete the new EES biometric formalities that will lead to the ETIAS scheme later this year.
The quiet roads soon had me away from the city and within a couple of hours I was on a camper park up at Onati on the edge of the small town. It was cold again being inland and at altitude and I noticed the leisure battery wasn't charging so stuck the new panel out as clearly it had not been charging since leaving Brecon. I'd not noticed this as I'd been on hook up courtesy of Jan and the Pope but despite a prod of various wires under the bonnet I could not trace the issue, partly because it would require running the engine to the annoyance of my neighbours. I walked in to town where there is an old steam engine marking one end of the Via Verde cycle route and then headed back to the van to sort out things from the crossings.
On the Monday having filled up with water I stopped at the local agricultural co-op for Camping Gaz and propped up the tailgate whilst retrieving the three empty cylinders. Unfortunately whilst my back was turned the single pole I'd only used (STUPID) retracted in the warming sun and the heavy tailgate crashed back down : fortunately I had closed the gas cupboard door otherwise that would have been destroyed and there was no other damage, phew!
Unfortunately they didn't have any full cylinders anyway but a CEPSA forecourt a few miles away did and at almost a third of the UK price at £21 each.
I decided to stay at an aire en route to Pamplona as it had power available for 3 hours at a time but it turned out a jeton obtainable from local shops was needed and Spain being Spain it was siesta time. However further on the aire at Irutzun on the Plazaola Via Verde is usually in full sun so I parked up there and put the new 80w panel out. It was also quiet enough to have the engine running and I decided that with different voltages either side of the relay that it might be the culprit.
Down in the village I called at the cafe/bakery where Gary and I had caught up a couple of years ago and returned to the van and a slightly fuller battery. It was a bitterly cold night at first but snowfalls in the early hours raised the temperature to just below freezing but cancelled any thoughts of a bike ride or even a walk up to the old monastery.
I skidded down to the cafe again for a coffee but being Epiphany everywhere else was closed so I raided the deeper recesses of my store cupboard for the evening meal.
On departure the following morning the water outlets were frozen, as indeed was my water pump despite being inside so I headed away carefully down the icy hill and picked up the road east and past Pamplona. At sleepy Agoitz I finally managed to get some groceries before pulling in at the village aire whose water was turned off for the winter. I still had plenty of course but at this time of year it is important to fill up at every opportunity. Still my pump had thawed and again whilst the panel was in the sun I did some more testing of the split charge system.
Heading south next day I called at a couple of garages who didn't stock relays but one directed me to a ferreteria in nearby Sanguesa who produced the required 12v/70 Amp 4 pin relay. I popped this in at the car park but with no success so somewhat flummoxed headed on to Jaca for the night.
The aire in town was quite busy but again the water was off but an alternative out on a developing industrial estate had a working tap : if you provided a handy set of pliers to do the necessary. Back in town with good sun for the panel I began further investigations and by checking continuity and voltages decided the 70amp fuse which looked intact might be at fault. I removed one spade connector but the other was seized and took some freeing off and lo and behold was the source of the problem. A heavily oxidised terminal was soon shining again after the application of some wet and dry and the 25 year old system was restored to working order, much to my relief... it was a good learning curve and I now have the old relay as a spare and have a 70 amp fuse and holder put away with it. After tidying up my tools I wandered in to Jaca and bought a Digi mobile PAYG SIM to put in a spare phone to act as a hotspot, an arrangement which worked well across the Caucasus last year and will be the plan for this trip. €10 for 100Gb seemed a bargain but interestingly the new SIM was logged against my passport for counter terrorism purposes.
Back at the aire it had filled up but was a quiet place to spend the night and I moved on today with the split charge finally doing its job. I filled up with fuel having now only covered 250 miles to get to northern Spain from Brecon, fuel being about 20% cheaper over here and also returned to fill up with water before heading east and then north to the Ordesa National Park up in the snowy Pyrenees - Lourdes is some 30 miles due north across the mountain border.
A paid aire at Oto was my destination and I arrived after a long climb through heavy snowfall that brought me to one of Spain's many spectacular road tunnels. Emerging from this in to bright sunshine was surreal and I pulled up on a level field on the edge of tiny Oto with a sign asking you to pay via the TripStop app. €15 was asked for and would be OK if the water and loo/shower cabins were operational but as it's a National Park this is really the only sensible option. After lunch a friendly guy dropped by to say that the site was actually closed, despite the info on P4N and the app but he said I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted. When I said I'd settle up via the app he insisted there would be no charge and further insisted on refunding me in full - a really decent gesture.
Anyway the rain has eased off so I'm off out to look round Oto and then walk on to marginally larger Broto for a beer.
I've found before that getting going takes some adjusting and requires some administrative tasks but now feel ready to tackle the challenges ahead with vigour and enthusiasm and for those reasons alone will seek out a beer tonight.
No further pics this time.....
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