Home again and summing up

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Geo: 52.757, -1.93461

After 95 nights away, we walked through the door of home last Friday (14th</sup>😉 after the worst journey during our trip. What would usually take 3 hours towing time, took 4½ hours due to motorway closures and holdups on the M42 and M6 – it's little wonder that European tourists are so reluctant to come over here. Even with driving on the right-hand side, we never encountered such stressful traffic volumes and road works like this.

Anyhow, we left Potes in the Picos de Europa on Monday (10th</sup>😉 just after 8am so as to negotiate the long and winding road back to the Autovia that would take us on our final Spanish transfer to Santander. Thankfully there was little traffic at that time of the morning, and well before the tourist coaches bound for the Fuente De cable car and Santo Toribio monastery (just up the hill from the campsite), but care was still needed to negotiate the gorge with its rocky overhangs and tight bends. After stopping at the services to buy a baguette for lunch and have a delayed breakfast of cereal and juice, we decided to make straight for the ferry terminal despite it being some hours before the required check-in deadline.

At the docks, parked up in line ready to board (we were not the first to arrive), with time to kill we decided to have a walk into Santander where David got a much needed haircut, and we had a coffee, before returning to the caravan to make a bit of lunch, by which time the inbound ‘Pont Aven' had arrived and passengers disembarking. The cupboards were rather bare and the fridge practically empty (there's no means of powering it during a 24-hour crossing) but we managed a sandwich, fruit and the final pot of yoghurt from the leftovers!

Once on the ferry, with car and caravan parked up on the vehicle deck, we made our way to one of the public areas to await departure and see if we were successful in securing an upgrade from an inside cabin. No go, but as it turns out, it was perfectly adequate having bunks and a wet room (shower, loo and basin). Who needs a small porthole when you are asleep anyway?

With 24 hours to kill, we used the restaurant for two disappointing meals – dinner and breakfast (and I told them so, much to David's surprise) – browsed the shops, read, and puzzled, before the coastline of southern England came into view on the horizon. After rounding the Isle of Wight, the ferry made its final approach into Portsmouth, passing numerous sea-going vessels before entering the berth. On hearing the announcement over the tannoy, we returned to the car and caravan and were third off and soon in the queue for passport control followed by the motorway. Half an hour later we were checking in at Rookesbury Park Caravan Club site where our holiday had started three months ago.

We like the site for a number of reasons - near to our daughter and son-in-law, handy for the ferry terminal at Portsmouth, and a jolly relaxing place to spend a day or two with some of the best caravan facilities you could wish for. With a day to spare, we opted to have a run out to Chichester which although we had visited before, is still a pleasant place to explore with a good mix of both familiar and independent shops, not that we had much to shop for. However, we had coffee and scones in the Cathedral tea room and later lunch in a superb veggie cafe.

We spent welcome time catching up with Louise and Olley, wining and dining as well, before we headed north on the last leg of our journey to home, and reunited with the other part of the family - Christopher and girlfriend, Alex.

A week on, the laundry sorted, the car successfully through its MOT, the caravan at the dealership for warranty work, there is now time to take stock of what we have done over the last three months. Whilst there are bloggers who meticulously keep records of distances covered, amounts spent and places visited, I am simply going to highlight a few facts, figures and feelings for those who are interested:

- 3,100 miles towing;
- 20 times pitching the caravan;
- €1.44/£1 was the best exchange rate;
- €1.40/£1 was the average exchange rate:
- €1.24 (£0.88) the typical price per litre for fuel;
- Quinta Chave Grande, Casfreires (Portugal) the favourite site;
- barbecue night at Quinta Chave Grande the most enjoyable meal;
- memorable sights include sunset at Cape St. Vincent (Algarve), Picos de Europa (Cantabria), Monastery of Batalha (Portugal) and the Dali Theatre-Museum, Figueres (Spain);
- memorable people, too many to mention and we shall probably never meet up with any of them again, but we enjoyed their company if only for a few days or hours, making priceless memories that you just cannot plan for.

What next? We haven't ruled out another extended tour, but having deliberated about Scandinavia that may be eliminated on the grounds of the distances involved to reach the places we would really like to see in the extreme north, the relatively short tourist season given the latitude, the high cost of Norway, plus I have read accounts of problems with midges - now that really would give me some grief! Another possibility is to revisit Italy which is a particular favourite of ours with still more to see and do. Perhaps the delightful Italian family who had lunch next to us in Cudillero as we were discussing 2016 was an omen. We shall wait and see what the winter months bring and how strong the feelings of wanderlust become.

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Photos

Abraham Lincoln or a naked woman?
One of the illusion paintings at the Dali Theatre-Museum, Figueres