Ah the UK, its good to be home... well nearly home.

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Well the last four days have been unbelievable nightmare. As you know Dads had an over heating issue all holiday, but it was especially bad in Europe due to the terrain and the high mileage. Well this time we allotted over 4 days to get home, which for the first 5 minutes worked well.

We got up and out by 8am with the intention ofcathcing the 10am ferry in to Spain. But once we reached the port we were told the area for larger vehicles was full, though I think this could have been a bit of a miss communication as I believe they thought we had campers or caravans. But they told us that we could catch the ferry from Cueta, and being only 20 miles or so further round the coast we took that option. Unfortunately when we arrived at the entrance to Cueta the queue to get in was a mile long and hardly moving and to add to the problem the toutes were all around us, constantly trying to sell us the forms we already had, and that they had picked up for free from customs.

Eventually the queue started to move and we finally entered Cueta. Once through the border Dads engine went straight into the red and stayed there till we arrived at the port. As the next ferry was not for a couple of hours we set about refilling the coolant and have a sandwich. By the time we actually drove on board the ferry, in hindsight, we probably should have waited for the next ferry in Tangier-Med.

We drove off the ferry in Spain at 4 O’clock with 200 miles still to do and with an unpredictable engine, but we managed it and arrived at the camp site just before 10pm. Next morning we had a good start and were out by 8am with the intention of reaching Burgos, some 400 miles away. Again we achieved it but it had taken us the best part of 12 hours. The next day we only aimed to reach a campsite below Bordeaux, with a maximum distance of 300 miles, which again took over 10 hours to complete. Plus when we reached Bordeaux, the sat nav coordinates were out by a good 3 miles so finding the place was almost as hard as the drive.

That night none of us got much sleep due to a massive storm. Now normally I love storms with the lightning and thunder and counting the seconds between to work out how far away. But when you’re lying in a thin tent on top of a metal object, and there is no time to count between the lightning and thunder, plus the camp site is lit up like its day time, you get worried. It was at this point I decided I wont gamble on being hit, while lying on the the truck, so I grabbed the essentials (my pillows) and dived into the passenger seat, with the intention of sleeping there. As it was, 20 minutes later and all the lightning was far in the distance, which just left the heavy rain. 450ml dropped that night, I know this because the measuring jug was left on the table, in the rain overnight.

Up till this point the most we had need to do was top up the water in the engine and not exceed 55mph, which was painfully slow but achievable. Then in the middle of Bordeaux on a dual carriage way, Dad lost power steering, so we pull over on the hard shoulder. But when we opened the bonnet we realised that the water pump had exploded, so while Dad wondered off in search of water, I began stripping the front of the engine and removed the pump. With a new pump in and the water replenished we began again.

Unfortunately there must have been an air lock, because a bit further down the road, the internal heaters went cold and the temp guage shot up, so we parked up and bleed the system. This worked until further on steam appeared from under the bonnet, this time it was a little clip plastic clip that holds the pipe away from the fan belt had been left off and the pipe had a hole from rubbing on the pulley. Even though I had a new pipe in the back, it was the main pipe meaning we would lose too much water, so I taped it up with the intention of dealing with it at the campsite. This worked fine until we stopped for fuel, and the moment Dad switched the engine off the pressure popped the tape.

Luckily the leak wasn’t too bad and could be stopped with a pinch but I didn’t want to ride on the front of dads truck holding the pipe, so I found a jubilee clip and clamped it up. That evening the sat nav did its usual and told us we had reached the campsite, when we were actually stopped at a cross road with no signs of a camp site, in any direction. When we did find one it was closed to tents, and was only open to people in their static caravans, so we tried the next. At 8pm we found a Municipal Campsite, with excellent facilities including hot showers, that was free!



Today should have been easier, and in a way it has been, as there was only 210 miles to reach the port, but as usual The engine decided to play up. If it wasn’t getting hot on the hills it was giving out cold air inside the truck, making us think it was out of water again when it wasn’t. But I really don’t care in the slightest as I am now parked awaiting the ferry and in a couple of hours I will be back in the UK, and if it plays up there, I’ll just attach a tow rope and drag it to the nearest cliff.

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