Sunday 6th, Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th

Did I tell you about the hotel room that felt like heaven? We got the cleanest we had been in weeks and slept like logs! Bliss! When we finally awoke the following morning, we opened the blinds to a great view of the port of Algeciras and the rock of Gibraltar.We managed to tear ourselves away at 11am and set off for Seville where we would spend 2 nights, making use of the extra night gained form leaving Morocco early. We drove about 130 miles to the campsite which is the closest one to the City.It was lovely, we were camping amongst orange trees and it was hot and sunny. We washed yet more stuff, in fact we have used washing machines a lot more than our little scrubba bag which I was so excited about at the beginning of the trip.

On Monday we caught a local bus into the centre of Seville and spent the day in the city. What a great place.We bought a tourist hop on hop off bus ticket for the main attractions and stayed on for the whole loop.Then we got off at the spectacular cathedral  and wandered around the narrow side streets for a while.Seville has the oldest bull fighting ring in Spain and whilst I fundamentally disagree with bull fighting, decided to book a short tour to learn a bit more as it is clearly part of the culture of this area, as most souvenirs either had a bull or a flamenco dancer on them. It was very informative, the bull ring held 12,000 people and the season finishes this weekend.I would never go and watch a bull fight but could understand how exciting some people might find it.

On Tuesday, we drove around 180 miles to Cacares.Tomorrow it is a long one, around 300 miles to Aguilar de Campoo before the shortish hop on Thursday morning to Bilbao where we catch the ferry back to Blighty at 3pm Thursday.Spain is lovely to drive through, the roads are easy and the weather is still in the mid 20s here.But it definitely feels that it is last round up and that our adventure is coming to an end.

We have had a blast. We have driven 3,540 miles to date and will have done well over 4,000 by the time we reach Leeds. Gav  has learnt that we don`t need so much stuff with us and that there are places to buy stuff from wherever you are! He has also learnt that it is possible to fix your own vehicle when the RAC or AA are not on hand to help you when you break down.

Jen has learnt not to take so much stuff, eg her RAB jacket which goes down to minus 28 degrees (it has not even hit single figures overnight and it has been in the 30s and 40 for most of the trip); that she is confident in driving the landy anywhere,including the madness of cities such as Marrakesh and up steep and windy mountain pistes and it has reinforced that people are the most important part of places and people are friendly and good hearted. Speaking Arabic has also been really good and has helped to connect with people and have a few laughs with them.

We both agree that we have probably tried to cram too much in and needed a few less miles!

So what has been useful in terms of our gear?

We both love the fridge/freezer in the landy. We are sitting here drinking ice cold beer and have been able to keep food really cold and fresh throughout the whole trip.Similarly the inbuilt water tank, water filter and tap have been invaluable.We have always had safe water wherever we have been, as the filter ensures that all the harmful stuff does not get through.The wolf packing boxes have also been great, we have been able to access our stuff fairly easily throughout the trip, even when the bits we have needed have been in the very back behind everything else. We will do a more thorough list when we get back as there are so many other things we have found useful and others not so!

So life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming "Wow, what a ride!"

Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th October

I am writing this from a 40 euro hotel in Spain that feels like heaven! We are 2 days early in Spain so let me back track. Moulay Bouesselham was lovely and we spent yesterday catching up on washing and generally just chilling out.The site is on the lagoon so we got our binoculars out and saw some oyster catchers and we planned to get a boat and see the flamingos tomorrow. The camp was next to the little harbour and we watched the local fishermen prepare their boats for fishing nd then return with their catch.We went into the little village in the evening to eat, it is full of small restaurants selling the days catch and frequented mostly by local people.It is a popular place for Moroccan tourists in the Summer when the population swells from about 1,000 to 95,000.

So all was going well and we were looking forward to the boat trip to see the flamingos and Gav had also sorted out a 3 hour fishing trip with one of the fishermen on his little boat. That was until last night. Egypt has the Pharoes revenge, India has Delhil belly.Morocco has Moroccan misery and it hit me full force last night. Without going into too much detail, I had to visit the bathroom about 8 times during the night which involves unzipping the tent and climbing down the ladder, then rushing over to the campsite bathroom which has a variety of insects in it, all by head torch! I ended up taking a heavy duty bin bag up into the roof tent just in case, much to Gav`s disgust, thankfully it was not needed.We both woke up on Saturday morning like broken people! Exhausted, mosquito bitten and me with a dicky tummy. Gav suggested that we get the ferry today and head back to Spain a couple of days early.OK!

We packed up and headed off the 70 miles or so to Tanger port  from where the ferry returns to Algeciras. We got to the port, did all the paperwork and had our passports checked by an official whom I greeted with "Salaam alakyum". "Is that all the Arabic you know", he challenged? I proceeded to recite the 30 or so words/phrases I had learnt and been using the last few weeks in Morocco, he was delighted! Except I have been going around saying "I am an Englishman" for the past few weeks, using the masculine rather than feminine version of the word! We just missed the 1.00pm ferry, and saw it slowly sailing away as we drove onto the dock.We had to wait another 3 hours before the next one and then it didn`t sail for another hour.Spain was 2 hours ahead so we would arrive about 9pm. And then Gav made the suggestion that we book a hotel in Algeciras to get a good nights sleep, a proper shower and loo and some food. Well I did a little jig in delight.Whilst I love our landy and sleeping in the roof tent, I was a broken woman from last night (!) and I never thought a hotel room would be so appealing! So we found one near to the port and here we are grinning like Cheshire cats!

OK, so the intrepid travelers have buckled a little, left Morocco a little early and booked into a hotel but it feels good! So on Sunday we will drive to Seville and spend a couple of nights there, visiting the city on one of the days.Then it will be full speed ahead with a couple of days to get to Bilbao on Thursday for the ferry back to England.

Tuesday 1st, Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd October

The good news is that we are still mobile! The temporary repairs on Ruby have held out and on Tuesday morning we left Marrakesh and headed towards Essaouira on the Atlantic coast. Sadly as we were leaving, an ambulance was being called as one of the British motor homers had had a stroke.

We drove 110 miles to Essaouira, a fishing town with fortified walls,a fishing harbour and a long expanse of beach which is popular with surfers, and kite surfers because of the wind and fabulous waves.There are also camels and horses on the beach which you can hire for a ride.We parked up in the harbour and had a wander around,it really is a great little place.We started at the harbour and the small fishing boats were coming in with their catches, wow what catches they had! We saw all sorts including a giant tuna, octopus,swordfish, huge crabs and sharks.Everyone had their job to do, the fishermen unloaded the fish, someone else washed them and loaded them onto carts, they were wheeled away and then sold immediately either on the small stalls set up daily at the harbour or in the fish hall just a bit further down the road.In beween all the action huge seagulls feasted on the left overs.Essaouira also has a lovely Medina, with narrow alleyways selling a variety of stuff and numerous small restaurants selling the fish which was caught earlier in the day.

After a good wander, we went to the campsite about a mile out of town and got our roof tent out.It was in a great location but not so great facilities.The loos and showers had cockroaches the size of small mice running around inside them.It was a very quick dash to the loo and I have not showered for 2 days!

The following day, I woke up with a cold so decided to stay put at the campsite whilst Gav took his rod and went off to the beach to fish.He returned a few hours later with no fish and soaked up to his waist! He had got cut off by the tide and had to wade through a channel to get back! We returned to the harbour and Medina late afternoon and it was really atmospheric as dusk fell.

So after 2 days in Essaouira, we drove along the coast road today and covered about 350 miles reaching Moulay Bousselham by early evening.Moulay Bousselham is a little fishing village with a sweeping beach, great little fish restaurants and an internationally important bird reserve.The camp site is on the edge of the blue lagoon which is part of the Merja  Zerga national park which attracts thousands of migrant birds including wildfowl, flamingos and waders making it one of Morocco`s prime bird watching spots.The local fishermen double up as guides and will take you out on their boat for a tour, so that`s what we shall do tomorrow or the following day.