Roadtrip!

I set off yesterday from Valencia to explore the coast south and beyond.  As always I join a few groups on Facebook at the towns im passing through to gather info and find places to park up for the night. I use a selection of apps and don’t always hit the jackpot as its often not a safe feeling or not pretty.  I do love a black!!

A fellow van dweller from Bristol, Marc, kindly recommended Xeraco a week earlier so I got in contact and he met me and showed me a great spot right by the beach. 

After a quiet night, (lets not talk about all the mossy bites that wake me often)  I woke early this morning to the sound of waves and set off in a previous failed mission of some sea caves along the coast from Denia called Cova Tallada (Cova is cave - geddit?).  Recently id showed up at 10am only to find it swamped with tourists, something ive been trying to avoid where possible.

I drove through the mountains in the early mists, orange groves for miles and small smoke plumes where the farmers were clearing debris. It was beautiful. The oranges are not yet ready im reliably informed and they are bitter as hell, they look so luscious and orange you just want to try them only to be bitterly disappointed (lol) Also I learn that if a field has no boundaries, subject to fair use like your internet package, you can help yourself.  Im not busy looking for pomegranate, butternut, orange, lemon, and all manner of goodies to fill my little rucksack!

Arriving at the nearest road to the caves I was one of only three cars, brilliant! 

Id read up on the hike, 45 mins and a little tricky, they weren’t wrong!  Narrow paths  up and down the cliffs sheer drops and chains to hang on to! Ive noticed on the last few hikes ive been feeling a small degree of vertigo, I hear its common in women of a certain age and it makes me quite disappointed and more determined to go on, that said im so glad I got new boots a few weeks ago, the grip is insane!

Reaching the caves I scrambled up the wet rocks - my t short was wet and it wasn’t the sea, more fear of slipping and the strenuous hike. A few pics and a drink and I trekked back to the van in a now almost full car park.

Back on the road I was already thinking about where I might park up this evening. Looking ahead I was going to pass Benidorm and Alicante, neither of which I fancied.  I prefer small towns and pretty little villages - but it was interesting to drive through the almost desolate tired tourist hotspots.  Very strange to see empty restaurants and quiet streets. 

After a couple of failed attempts at not so suitable spots I found talk of a peninsula online La Manga, with a spot right at the end.  It was a good hour out of my way but you have to work for the good stuff sometimes!! On I drove and I passed so many high towers like buildings, some hotels and some residences, many for sale and again empty streets, although it is out of season and only 24 deg! After what seemed like forever the road narrowed - I had the sea either side of me and it felt a big wave would wash you away! I was at the end finally and arrived almost on a little beach.   A couple of other vans were there and both not super friendly so i walked on the beach and made some food.  And this brings me to now.

A Spanish guy in a motorhome has just pulled up next to me, we’ve had a chat, Jose (oh please rolls eyes) has gone fishing - this is about all we can manage to work out as our command of each others language is so bad haha!! 

Anyway im going to sign off and enjoy a glass of wine and the cool breeze of the med.

Snapped!

We are still awaiting a repaired camper van from our lovely friends here in Hamilton, North Island.  Im pretty sure they are sick of the sight of us - nice as we.  It cant be good having two travellers invade your home and spend days out while you have to work. Days out in your car....Todays day out was a trip to Tauranga and Rotorua.  We set off in the drizzle with flip flops in the boot and a bunch of hope.  We knew we had arrived in Rotorua by the nasty rotten egg smell emanating from the steaming and impressively large Rotorua lake.  I jumped out of the tiny Roadster and immediately regretted my wardrobe decisions, shorts were really not the best idea in the cool drizzle.  Having the briefest touristy walkabout i returned to the safety of the soft top.  Lloyd jumped in and started the engine  - his comment 'the accelerator has disappeared' made me dissolve in giggles at the sheer stupidity of it, he pointed and also began laughing, i looked down, indeed the accelerator was no more, it had literally disappeared.  For some daft reason we were unable to compose ourselves for some time.
A deep breath and a good look with the torch on my phone and it appeared the pedal had completely snapped in half! Jeez this wasn't good.
I found a nearby garage on google maps and we managed to limp the car there with the use of hazard lights, lots of accelerator wiggling and some high gears.  A smiley local guy said he could weld it and we went off in search of the alleged 'best pie in New Zealand'. Now don't get me wrong, best anything is good but i see such claims daily across New Zealand, and indeed Aussie.  We found coffee and pies and they were indeed very good.
After a long walk the call came to say the car was fixed, a good job done at a fair price and we were back on the road to Tauranga, to meet Angry Garry.  Garry was a chap we had met previously and id nicknamed him (to his face and he agreed!) as he is a permanently cross chap.  His son was fun and we had a couple of drinks and a beer.
I sit here typing waiting to hear if the camper van has passed its WOF or Warrant of Fitness, same as an MOT but NZ.  If so it means we can finally head to Wellington.

In other news, i have decided to take December off and have arranged a house/pet sit in Vietnam for a small dog.  Yknow those fluffy white ones the Asians love to trim and use decoratively.  I hope he's good, i haven't much dog experience, apparently he's super hilled and even has his own Instagram page. Eeek.  December will be spent taking care of myself, reading, planning and exploring Vietnam. There's even a scooter with the job!
Quite excited.

North Island in a 20yr old sports car..

Ok im 51 and 3/4 and getting in and out of a sports car that is almost as low as the kerb has been great for my flexibility hehe.
Zooming around windy roads here in North Island has been great fun, although its super hard to hold a conversation as the soft top doesnt really have any sound protecting qualities (plus im deaf on the drivers side too)! So we point and gesture instead which seems to work.
Its a curious landscape here, i was expecting a million sheep  - yknow, New Zealand lamb and all that but what i mostly see are a million cows. Upon research i discover that most farmers have moved over to the more profitable dairy and beef industry.  Lloyd says the natural land looks 'raped' and i think i agree. Km after km of flat agricultural land is the norm, with some hills and mountains.  The real beauty shows itself when we hit the coasts and you see a myriad of islands and green hills, stunning.
We travelled all the way to Cape Reinga in the tip of the north and it was majestic, then back down to Doubtless Bay to stay in a nice little self-contained apartment on a hill for a night.  Dinner was overlooking the sea in a fish and chip place, veggie burger for me obvs.
Back at our hosts house we find another couple of visitors, Joy and Bruce and the six of us have a few nice eves with chatter and wine and food, Lloyd and i love cooking and entertaining for others so often commandeer a kitchen.  Our hosts Glen and Liz take us to Rangariri to see where the battle happened in 1863 (where 1500 British troops defeated about 500 Maori warriors) I felt a pang of guilt for being a Brit as i learned the story. We then visited some wetlands as NZ is a major wetland area and hosts the biggest collection of seabirds in the world, there was a cool shop with tons of stuffed birds and loads of books and info.  Then onto a Maori graveyard in Glens hometown, they bury their own dead rather than dealing with the local authorities and these graves were by the sea.  Bruce suddenly started playing the bagpipes as we perused the headstones, strangely eerie but kind of fitting.
Sunday brought a big family gathering and there was mass cooking, the numbers went from 7 to 15 in minutes and we all pulled together, it was a great laugh We have been here a week now and we think the camper van repair may be today.....
In other news i have secured a pet sit in Vietnam during December! More on this later.
Kia koa for now!

New Zealand

I was hesitant to leave Aussie and knew i could have spent years exploring more but my visa was up and the flight from Melbourne to Auckand awaited.

I leanred at check in in Melbourne there was a new visa requirement for NZ, shock! i had to apply online at the last few minutes before the desk closed, it was a close call! Just three and a half hours later i was walking through the departure area and meeting Sheridan, the lady who i was volunteering for over the next five or so days (Lloyd was still back in Melbourne so i got some volunteer work while i waited for him)

Sheridan greeted me with the biggest smile and i knew straight away we would get on well.  Arriving at the house in the hills above Auckland i could not believe my luck! WOW the house was incredible, perched high on the hills you could literally see everything right down to the sea and beyond. I am a lucky girl thats for sure! As soon as we walked in i met Sophie, 19 from Austria, also volunteering and had arrive a few days before, and Brian, Shers hubby who was a delight. armed with dinner and wine we sat and got accqainted. 

The next few days work were so rewarding, weeding in the garden alongside alpacas in the sunshine, cooking in the incredible kitchen, scrubbing the deck and clearing the winter debris from the pool. Sunday was Brians birthday and lots of family were coming so i made a classic victoria sponge and assisted with the cooking and clearing.  I was staying in a cool little camper van on the driveway which was a definate upgrade from my beloved tent in Aussie.

Lloyd arrived late a few days later into Auckland airport and my hosts kindly let me use the car to fetch him.  On the return i got pulled by the cops (apparently i went through a red light!) It was 2am and i was so nervous, i gave my details and the policeman popped them into his device, within seconds he knew all my flight details and immigration status! After a word and a quick breathalyser he let me go - without so much as a stern word. Phew.

Soon Lloyd and i were on the way to Hamilton on a coach and i write this sitting in the back garden of some friends of his who have let us use their campervan for a month - except the water pump is broken so we now have a Mazda sports car for a week and then will retun for the camper when its fixed. This should be interesting!!

Family and friends

Port Lincoln

Mikkira Station, Port Lincoln

Mikira was incredible, firstly because we were the only ones there and secondly you could camp under the trees and enjoy the koalas above, we also saw emus and there were hot showers! bliss


Probably one of my favourite stops so far, arriving one morning with a dew covered tent we stopped at a friendly looking cafe and draped the flysheet over the back of the ute to dry out.  We walked in to a warm welcome from the woman we now know as Megan (pronounced Meegan in Aussie!) She recognised Lloyds accent immediately and started chatting about  S Africa as she'd been three times, we all got on like a house on fire and by the time we had left Megan had invited us to stay at a caravan in her garden! Such kindness from a total stranger warmed our hearts. We turned up with a cheery smile and a bottle of wine later that evening to be told we were being upgraded to a bedroom.  We met Megans husband Rhidian and their two sons and had such a good time, we stayed three nights while we went to visit some tour operators

The most notable operator here was a guy called Matt who was running a shark cage diving operation with a difference, Matt had two USPs, one he was not using any form of chum or burley (operators usually use fish heads and parts to entice the shark) and two he had a submersible dry glass tank that anyone could sit in and watch proceedings whislt having a cuppa! This really opens out the experience to anyone regardless of ability, fantastic! Matt is a larger than life character who readily offered us a couple of trips out and we also swam with sea lions which i really enjoyed.


Adelaide was next on the itinerary and also the realisation that we needed to be in Hervey Bay in early October so we decided to ramp it up a bit.  We arrive late in the afternoon to a warm welcome from my cousin John, his wife Sarah and their daughter Rebecca.  Wonderful to see how well they are all doing and to meet them properly for the first time really (apart from when John and i were children many moons ago!)
We drank wine and had a lovely meal and were sadly on the way again the next morning.

One month on the road!

It’s been a while, mainly because I’ve had little connections and when I’ve had them I’ve been a guest in someone’s house so can’t really hide away and write.
Anyway, here’s a brief summary of the last month (how fast it’s gone!)
After being ripped off - and I may add too trusting) for one set of Fleetwood Mac tickets to the tune of 150aud (gutted) I didn’t let it put me off and managed to find us tickets, Mac were pretty damn good and we had a fabulous evening.
Back to serious stuff the next day and we headed to visit some SA friends of Lloyd’s in Perth - Craig and Theresa and their really cool daughter Demi, they kindly took us on their boat to Rottnest Island for a day trip but sadly the gearbox  decided to play up, this resulted in a first for all of us- a sea rescue! (we were actually rescued from the island but you get my drift)
We then spent some time with some of Lloyd’s extended family Christine and her chap Jacque and soon we were ready to hit the road properly. Heading north towards Exmouth we were full of excitement and looking forward to warmer climes. We slept on beaches and in bush and built fires for cooking, watched sunsets and not so often sunrises. We saw few animals apart from the odd bird and dead roo by the roadside. The black tarmac ribbon road flagged by red soil seems endless some days.
Highlights were the stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, the incredible Pinnacles and the Pink Lake plus Coral Beach where the entire beach was made of tiny shells. We stopped at Shark Bay and saw dolphins on the beach, whales in the distance and huge pelicans.
The weather was glorious and when not driving we enjoyed sunny lunches with our feet in the sand.
Camping each night is always different- we avoid the commercial sites and usually wild camp- much more fun.
In Exmouth we met with Janine who arranged a room at a friend’s house for us, a bed really feels like luxury after a few nights on a camping mattress. Sandra - Janina’s friend has a 14mth old Dalmatian pup who was a lot of fun.
We were lucky enough to take a few boat trips and see whales and other marine life, even snorkelling with giant manta rays and turtles and seeing the colourful fish on Ningaloo reef.
After meetings with all the connections we made we headed back to Perth and regroup before the big trip east.
A night at Maria’s and more time with Craig and family were very welcome, we were back out on his boat and saw river dolphins in the centre of Perth fishing around the shoreline.
A few problems with our vehicle saw us being given a brand new one - brilliant as I can now play all my favourite music and the fuel economy is fantastic.
We began the journey east with some good experience under our belts and mindful of the cooler weather.
We stopped in Bunbury and Dunsborough and started making contacts with people. We met a fantastic few characters there Brodee a beautiful up and coming marine biologist and the bonkers Dundee and his lovely wife Dee who let us camp in their garden.
As I write we are in Albany and Lloyd is presenting his ideas to Kirsty - the local marine biologist and I’m charging everything we own and looking for a place to stay tonight and somewhere to shower!
You get used to life on the road and my mantras are ‘power and shower’ when we hit civilisation.
It’s amazing how little we have and how we manage - I’m learning so much.

The Nullabor Plains are famous in Australia, for a few reasons but primarily for being a flat endless treeless arid land in South Australia. Its supposed to be a challenging crossing where you have to be well prepared to take on 1675km of driving with little access to shops and provisions. In preparation we shopped for food and made sure we had plenty of water and fuel  and approached our task with trepidaiton. Usually drivers would start the drive at Norseman, however we were near the coast in Esperance...i found a diagonal off road route that would get us on the Nullabor quicker - across land to Balladonia, 200km off road would be interesting too! We set off and it was so bumpy you had to stop to take a drink for fear of spilling it all down your front, convesations were funny and all eyes were on the parched red ground looking out for big holes and of course kangaroos.  
About three hours later we arrived in Balldonia on one piece, boy was it a releif to get on a normal tarmacced road!
We camped a couple of times hitting rain and sleeping in the cab when the tent didnt quite deal with the deluge (to be fair we hadnt even pegged it down as we were so used to good weather!)
We both thought the warnings were a little over rated and found it barren but prefectly fine and no big task to cross the plains.
Arriving in Ceduna we had to rid the car of any raw fruit and vegetables for infection control from one state to another - so we sat at the roadside cooking everything we had! (I didnt want the fruit police getting us)


A good search of Wikicamps brings up 'Tozers Bush Camp' not free but in the right direction and looks interesting. We find it in the bush and i immediately recognise Tozer, a sixty-something dreadlocked ruddy-faced guy with a wry smile.  He's an ex-farmer who wasn't really making any money from his farm and one night with a beer watching the sunset he was considering quitting it all when he suddenly hit upon the idea of sharing the wonderful bushland that surrounded him, so he built a camp kitchen and marked out sites and now he has one of the biggest selections of orchids and some incredible birdlife and bush vegetation hes doing well, selling orchid tours and has interested parties visiting from all over the world. We had a nice evening and made a fire outside.

Soon we were back on the road headed for another tour operator in Fowlers Bay, Fowlers is a stunning small seaside location in WA, white sands and only a handful of shops.  We met up with Rod who runs whale watching tours in the bay.  Rod was very welcoming and we spent some time at his lovely beachside house talking shop before going out on a whale-watching trip.  The bay was like a whale nursery, everywhere you turned there were mums and calves curiously looking at us.  After a fantastic day Rod offered to let us stay on the stretch of beach outside his house, invited some friends over and we had a nice big fire and some food. Bliss!

Next stop was to visit Rods father Allan in  Baird Bay, not too far away. Again this was a small town with no shops or real amenities but I did find a small campsite.  We met Allan briefly and he kindly offered to take us out the following day.
To kill some time we took the ute down to the beach for a drive, as we reached the end of curve we found a small boy crying by a Landcruiser which was firmly stuck in the sand by the back wheels. Unravelling the story it appeared he had permission to drive but he was seriously worried about how to get out of the mess he was in!
We drove him to find dad who was having a beer after a hard day shearing.  Dad was Jack a local farmer, tall and weathered with hand slike spades he found the whole story highly amusing! Jack asked us to wait while he went and sorted the stuck 4x4 .
We nervously stood with the other farmers at the diesel heater outside the huge shed full of all sorts of kit.  Jack returned and thanked us and we had a couple of beers and got chatting.  We were then invited to go and see his farm and land the next day, which we gladly agreed to, its always nice to spend time with locals away from the tourist trail.
The next morning out with Allan we were extremely fortunate to see sea lions and dolphins playing with us, they each had names given to them and Allan had been the only operator there for decades, its as though they knew him!
After a fantastic morning Jack came to get us and he drove us all around his farm showing us the land and animals, then onto his shed area where there were stacks of machines and vehicles in various states of decay, his dad's old tractor, etc.  Ive seen this kind of thing everywhere where as there is no. demand for scrap metal so it just gets left.  Jack kindly let us camp on his beach area and joined us for a fire in the evening bringing   fresh farm eggs, lamb and firewood, such a kind man! We chatted and drank beers till late - a brilliant evening.

An African man and an Englishwoman

I left Marias and headed to Scarboro to collect the ute.  They gave me the keys and didnt even check my identity! Strange driving here, not unlike home and i am enjoying automatic gears, been a while!
I collected a very weary Lloyd from Perth airport at 11pm and headed to a nearby hotel.  Two nights here was enough and Lloyd started making connections with potential people in the trade and i began searching for camping gear and anything needed to kit us out for a long road trip.  Facebook marketplace and Gumtree Australia was awesome. I managed to find nearly everything we needed within the area so we did a big loop and collected it all, even meeting four French people on a car park to pick some gear up, dodgy as it sounds it worked like a charm! About 220 AUD later and we had more than we needed. Id also heard Fleetwood Mac were playing in town and we both adore them so i was looking out for tickets too.