All revved up with no place to go

 

After weeks of delays getting parts shipped from the US, UK, Europe and China I've finally got Campalot to a point where it is technically useable. We have windows, working hot water and drainage, a shower tray, a working fridge/freezer and cool box and, as my bolts finally got delivered by the Spanish post office this week, a working staircase...

Unfortunately we now have nowhere to go. We had originally aimed to visit back to the UK around now as a test run, probably taking a scenic route back via Johnmill in the Netherlands and possible the Seatters in Switzerland, but there is no way we can practically meet the quarantine requirements in the UK unless we pay to rent somewhere for 2 weeks to sit and be miserable, and most of the family we hoped to visit are now all in tier 3 lockdown so we wouldn't have been able to visit them anyway. And the UK government seems so unpredictable in bringing in changes at such short notice there is no way we are going to risk getting caught up in a total lockdown.

So we will stay on the balcony. I'll keep plodding on with fitting out the camper cupboards and making it all pretty inside, we will explore some more of Catalonia as day trips as and when local restrictions allow, hope that Johnmill is able to join us for Christmas, and that the spring brings some relief and we can hit the road for the summer....

On the balcony - Month 1

The coronavirus pandemic is on the news around the world and everyone is handling it differently. To be honest, we've had 8 years of training so this really isn't too difficult for us. Catching up with friends and family through electronic media has increased somewhat.

We are now into our 5^th week of lockdown and so glad we're not travelling at the moment. We have a spacious house and garden here in Spain and if Mark didn't have his camper project to keep him busy I think we'd definitely go stir crazy in an apartment. We do miss being able to go for a walk either down to the beach and for me, a daily wander to the shops for fresh bread or produce. People here could only go out for essentials (food, medicine, fuel, essential workers, etc) or to walk their dog. I'd heard stories of people renting out their dogs so others could go for a walk. It has relaxed a little this week as some non-essential workers (construction, cleaners, etc) have been allowed to go back to work.

The virus spread so quickly here because the Prime Minister announced late on the Friday night (March 13th) that the lockdown would commence on the Monday, so everyone in Madrid, Barcelona and other large cities headed for their holiday homes along the coast, bringing the germs with them. I went shopping on that Saturday and it was like a plague of locusts had been through the supermarkets and local greengrocer. No fresh produce or meat left on the shelves and no rice or beans to be found anywhere. The locals were going mad as all these 'holiday makers' had descended on us and bought up everything. By the Monday, shops were back to normal with most produce back on the shelves. The only difference was the health precautions being taken. Security personnel on the doors with hand sanitiser and plastic gloves, keeping everyone at least 1m (3ft) apart (it's now 3m/6ft). Queuing and social distancing doesn't come naturally to Spaniards but they seem to be obeying it so far here. Everyone was calm and no panic buying (apart from the first Saturday prior) or riots that I've seen on the news happening elsewhere. When the virus started to emerge in Italy in February, Mark said he thought it would be a good idea if I got a few extra store cupboard items, as he could see it spreading across the rest of Europe. Canned foods are really good here and pulses come in jars so I can re-use them. I now only go shopping once a week and walk to the bakers every so often for fresh bread. I even wipe down the car door handles before I get in and between shops if I need to visit more than one supermarket. Coat, scarf and shoes stay in a room downstairs and hands washed before, during and after putting shopping away. We are in lockdown until April 26^th, and the hope is that the rules will then be relaxed with more shops being allowed to open. There is talk that the Prime Minister will ask for another extension until May 10^th. We shall see.

Mark is starting to get frustrated as he can't finish jobs on the camper as he's waiting for stuff to be delivered. We've seen the postman again a few times now so hopefully the packets will start to arrive. Plumbing, electrics, fixings and vehicle lighting are all waiting on parts. We did end up buying an awning from a place near San Diego and it cost almost as much again to ship it. Mark even looked at flights to LA as it was almost as cheap to fly across and bring it back himself, but not very green. Unfortunately, no one here sells anything that would have worked on the back of the camper, as its too narrow.

As everyone is staying at home we are missing our Spanish conversation classes too. I've started doing online learning each day, which is helping, although I have noticed they use different words for some things (it's an American based course). When everything gets back to normal I'll need to ask our locals for their opinions. Also, no choir for me either but a number of online groups have formed in the UK which I've joined. It's all good fun, and even though we can't hear each other because of the time lag, we can all hear the teacher. Singing my head off in the bedroom is very uplifting, and I don't need to worry if I hit a wrong note as no-one can hear me :-)

Oh well, back to the balcony...

Year two off the road

It's now 12 months since we first came down to Spain and got our temporary residency paperwork, so we are 20% of the way to getting to permanent status - technically I could now apply for citizenship based on my family connections, but that doesn't affect Maria's status directly and opens up a whole bunch of questions on taxation, pensions and state healthcare that are just too complex to even try to think about until the long term relationship between the UK and EU is fully agreed and documented. So we will take the slow road

We have been getting into the community a little with a local language club where we help people to practice their english and in turn they help us with our spanish, and we had just arranged introductions to a couple more local people this weekend but the virus lockdown might have put paid to those.

Ditto who knows if and when we will have more visitors - Lee was booked in for a couple of weeks time but that is now looking unlikely. But we are planning on being here all spring and summer at least - our house rental is until at least the end of July - and we're not planning on moving this year. Hopefully we will have Campalot ready for a few outings after peak summer season to give him a shakedown and work out what still needs to be carried before we plan any big trips like a lap of the Baltic....maybe next year

Another year, another carnival

Having been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnaval in Mexico a few years ago and in Rio last year, we decided to take a look at how they celebrate here in Spain. Our expectations weren't great as a few local people had told us that it had declined over the years and not many participants made an effort to dress up to be in the parade. We were pleasantly surprised as there were about 40 floats with troops of dancers all in costume following their floats with rehearsed and choreographed routines. It was very much like Rio but on a much smaller and modest scale and budget but still impressive for the small town of Calafell. It was a chilly evening and I'm sure some of the dancers must have been freezing, apart from the Vikings wearing furs :-) The carnaval in Sitges is supposed to be quite spectacular and the one to see, but at least we could walk the 8 kilometres back home from Calafell at 5am. Maybe next year...

Here are a few photos from last night.

Needed a holiday

6 months looking at the Mediterranean from the balcony was getting a bit much for me, and I felt like I needed a change of scenery. Actually, one of the reasons we chose the Costa D'Orada to stay in was so that we could drive up to Andorra to ski if the conditions were good. Storm Gloria that went through last week dumped about 1.5m of fresh snow in the pyrenees, followed by a few days of not too warm or sunny weather, so it was time to put the theory into practice. We got a last minute deal on an apartment in Soldeu for 4 nights midweek and drove up on Sunday afternoon after getting Campalot back in its mooring place, and so far its been great - snow is in really good condition and isn't doing the melt/freeze thing to form the ice that Andorra is so famous for, well groomed and being midweek its quite quiet on the lifts so not too much queueing.

I'll ski thursday morning then we will drive home again - should be about 3 1/2 hours and less than a tank of fuel for the round trip. I was last here in 1991 with Gary and it has changed a bit since then. Hopefully i'll be back again sooner than that if we get another batch of snow and good weather in the next couple of months...

She rides

We managed to launch Campalot down the drive and get it on the back of the truck yesterday, so today I finished tweaking the tie downs and we took it out for a spin. We took it about 30km up to speeds of 105kph which is probably as fast as I ever want to take it when overtaking. It felt pretty stable without any side to side rocking or lifting of the nosecone at speed, but the front does bounce quite well on rough roads  - I think it is rocking against the rear tie downs so I may need to beef those up a bit.

So overall I think we have a successful build that fits on the truck and works as expected. So now I can really start phase 2 and spending lots of money on things like windows and water heaters....and Maria can decide how high she wants the kitchenette counter....

Thar she blows....

No, its not a beached whale washed up in our front garden. Campalot has finally transformed from being only a model and an airfix kit to taking up a huge amount of the available space.....

Johnmill visited us for xmas and kindly agreed to stay on for a few days through new year to help me and put up with more of Maria's cooking, we were extremely lucky with the weather and the longest calm spell I can remember since coming here, so we managed to get the side, rear and roof panels glued together onto the frame in 2 days, then as a bonus we also managed to get the cabover panel and nosecone in place before he headed back to work.

The old boy did well - he's 65 you know - and only got confused when given a choice of two directions (Up. UP ! THE OTHER UP!!!!) and this time we didn't do his back in or try to poison him with chorizo....not to mention Maria's contributions lifting and propping up panels, womanning winches and generally looking after us. And i contributed my usual bad language and I think I actually broke with tradition and managed to get more of the glue on the panels than on myself....all round a good team effort.

I still have a few weeks of work sealing up the floor and other holes that were left open to allow for clamps and access, and fitting and fettling the leg jacks before we can move it out onto the road and onto the back of the truck for a test drive. Then I can start on the really expensive part of fitting it out and buying windows and other bits and pieces - not spending any more money on it until i know it works.

And yes, i know this is not a post about travelling and where we are, but it is relevant in that this is how we will get back on the road again once it is ready and we are secure in our Spanish residency post Brexit....