29. Oct, 2021

29. Oct, 2021

FRIDAY 29-10-21

Thankfully the boiler came back to life later yesterday evening. Whatever the problem is it certainly is annoying and we really can't trust it. Thankfully we are now at the end of this trip.

We were bounced around quite a bit in the night as the wind increased. So much so that in the end I had to close the only skylight window we had open for fear it may get damaged.

This being half term in Spain we have three Spanish motorhome families who look to be together parked fairly close to us. In typically Spanish style they were up and making a bit of noise until midnight, but I'm going home so I just didn't care. We certainly won't miss Spanish campers, especially those who come out at weekends. On the evolutionary ladder of international campers, I'm afraid the Spanish are still cave dwellers.

As the boiler had come back to life yesterday evening I switched it on this morning to heat the water to 60°C and we were able to enjoy a lovely hot shower, with little restriction on the amount of water we could use as there is a fresh water tap just a short walk across the road. We felt so much better for having had it, especially as we'd had to miss one the past two days whilst out on the road.

We had a little light rain on and off first thing, but nothing could daunt us on this our last full day of this our worst trip ever.

Backpack an macs on we set of for a walk to the other side of the town where the church, castle and port were. It was all rather nice around there. Sadly the low cloud and poor light did nothing to enhance the quality of the photographs.

We must have walked a few miles today, but it has been a pleasure as this is a nice place. I wouldn't choose to come here for a holiday but it has a certain amount of elegance and could be used as a stop off point to or from Santander and Bilbao ports, which is exactly why we are here.

There were so many backstreet bars and restaurants in town and it was a nightmare to choose what to eat for lunch. Our starting point was to grab a 'Burger King' meal, just to play it safe re possible shellfish contamination, but when we checked out their branch here it was closed, as in closed, closed. In the end we played it safe. I said to The Chef having come this far there is no way that I am taking any risk regarding food whatsoever, no risk, whatever it may be that will stop us getting on that ferry tomorrow.

So in the end we bought a pack of sandwiches each and a bag of crisps and sat on a bench seat, on a plastic carrier bag I was carrying in my backpack where we sat and ate them. I won't say enjoy them as that would be stretching it a bit far.

That done we walked over to a cafe and bought a pastry which we shared as The Chef didn't fancy one herself, and a coffee each. We sat there quite a while reflecting on the trip and some memories from previous ones.

Then it was up and at 'em as we climbed to visit the church and castle. The castle, said to have been built by the Knights Templar's (possibly suggested by their tourist office) was closed. I think perhaps it was siesta time, and maybe it would reopen again later, but we certainly weren't going to hang around for it to do so. Next door was the church, a proper decrepit building, the real deal - and that was also closed, though in this case there was no obvious main entrance, signage or opening times.

It was time to make our way 'home', stopping off to buy a couple of little foodie presents for Rosina's sister Dot and our ninety-one year old next door neighbour Eileen, who very sadly lost her husband Eric back in February. They were an inspiration to us in the way they would walk in to town regularly before this damned pandemic struck.

This evening we shall attempt to complete and send off our Passenger Locator Forms (PLF) and then print them off. We can't do that until 21:00 this evening, 48 hours before our arrival time in the UK. From what I have seen on the form thus far it's a complete waste of time. Thus far they haven't even asked us to give them our reference numbers to show we have pre-booked and paid for our lateral flow tests on day two after our arrival back in the UK. What pee's me off more than anything is that Brittany Ferries, a company owned by French fishermen which really does rub salt in to the woiunds, say that if all the paperwork is not properly completed we could risk being refused passage onboard the ferry, yet all those ILLEGAL migrants can easily cross the English Channel under the noses of the French authorities, aided and abetted by our so-called Border Force and the RNLI without carrying one shred of ID or paperwork and nobody turns them around. Instead they're taken to four star hotels and live like lords at our expense, probably for the rest of their lives, unless of course they are terrorists who are taking the easiest route imaginable to enter our country, ready to blow the sh*t out of us one day in the future.

Aren't Human Rights wonderful? I do long for the day when the honest person in the street who obeys the law and pays their taxes gets to enjoy even some of the rights that criminals have.

I shall make an entry on the blog tomorrow before we sail just to share our experience of what is involved in trying to get back home.

28. Oct, 2021

28. Oct, 2021

28. Oct, 2021