A last drive in the Joint.

And so we say goodbye to the Joint, our little home and transportation for the last three months. The final drive was from Deeping St James to Hull, but not until Rachel, Bex and Tash had spent the day before emptying, cleaning and fixing her up. Screwing and gluing back on all the bits and pieces that had fallen off during the journey.
Fairly uneventful drive back to Hull followed by a fundamentally uninteresting bus-train-train ride back to Peterborough. Interesting observation, I am convinced that a big reason why there is so much traffic on the roads in England is because the public transport is so expensive. There is a lot of it around and it is generally comfortable and ontime enough, but it is just ludicrously expensive having caught trains too and from London and Peterborough and now down from Hull.
Fortunately the drive to Hull was just long enough to get through to the end of Around the World in 80 Days (he made it, but I guess you all knew that).Even had a chance to listen to the opening of Paradise Lost (which inspired the triology from Philip Pullman - the Northern Lights etc.).

The ferry trip

We chose the ferry over the French motorways for a number of reasons:
1. Cost = the ferry was cheaper when you add in the cost of the French tolls and having to get French diesel)
2. Ivan wanted a break from driving
3. We thought it would be fun, something different
4. Could get some work done.
5. Sleep
Well, we achieved 1, 2 a bit of 3, none of 4 and at odds times 5. The first 20 hours we were going through a huge swell and some of us (name no names) paid a few visits to the porcelain alter. The last 15 hours were lovely and smooth. I think it was worth it in the end though. Tasha learnt a magic trick, we meet an NZ family doing a similar gaunt but on a different route (ideas for the future), did get quite a bit of sleep in the end and made a change.
And so we are now back in the UK. Thanks to Ananth for looking after the car (anybody looking to buy a Scenic with 100k miles but going well) and Lynn and family for again letting us dump our stuff on them (see you next weekend).
Tomorrow I do the last drive back to Hull, hopefully will get to the end of the talking book of 80 days around the world (talking books are great in a campervan, big recommendation), need to find out if Fogg and Paspertoo make it.
We will all have to say something about our experience, suffice it to say we spent much of the last couple of weeks thinking about where else we could go next, so must have been pretty good all around.

Swimming in the Atlantic

I am writing this entry from the train between Brussels and Waterloo – where is the campervan, where are the campsites, cathedrals, historic monuments… fading away but very slowly. The journey is over and the joint goes back to Hull in the morning, but there are still a few events to recount.
After leaving Pau (thanks to Gill, Jane and clan for the lovely hospitality) we headed for Biaritiz, well just south on a recommendation from Jane. We stayed in the first camp site we have encountered with a swimming pool that was open, heated and covered… Bex and Tasha were in seventh heaven. After the evening there we spent the following morning in Biaritz. Quite an interesting town – one can imagine it heaving in summer, but in autumn (well winter really) it is a sleepy place. Highlights of the morning were some fantastic rocks sculptured by the thundering waves and relentless swell of the Atlantic. Out on one of the rocky outcrops was a statue of the virgin Mary and on another a cross. From there we drove about 10k north to the one of the first towns on the stretch of beach that runs from here to Bordeaux (and maybe beyond, not sure about that). And what a fantastic beach, great sand, warm sun and enormous surf. Tasha and Bex would not venture beyond their knees, but I braved a quick dip. It was cold, but the thing that you noticed was the size of the waves and the swell… really BIG!
That evening was our last altogether in the campervan, so we celebrated the evening with spag’ bol’ (nah not really a celebration, more of a staple), but we did have pancakes for breakfast (another of the regulars on our menu). Side note on the menu, Rachel is going to note down our wonderful campervan recipes, from mountain macaroni to various fritters.
The next day was raining, making us all feel a lot better about ending the journey. We still had to get to Bilbao by 9pm and had hoped to stop in San Sebastian (a Guy suggestion) for a bit on the way. But the rain and the difficulty finding a park kept us going but a glimpse at the town (lovely waterfront and beautiful bridges) suggested there is much to explore on later journeys. We drove down the Spanish coast most of the way to Bilbao, although the weather was not great it was brilliant drive with the enormity of the Atlantic, some great rock formations and secluded little bays along the way.
We got to Bilbao by about 6pm and had our last dinner while waiting in the queue for the ferry (a variation on spag bol without the tomatoes and spag’).