The Launder's big adventure

Saturday 11th November
We set up camp at our first site in Ainsa, Spain after a full day travelling. The kids were typically and understandably annoying - not yet at an age to understand how to be quiet and why it takes so long to get to one place.

The 493km (306 miles) journey itself was uneventful and boring until we came off the motorway. The scenery came alive and calmed the spirits of both Jon and myself, although the boys were engrossed in the Shrek 2 DVD and they could do no more than make a token glance out of the window at all the points of interest shown to them.

The beautiful rich colours of autumn were everywhere and the grape vines painted a pattern over the surrounding countryside, which was awesome to behold. We followed the Cinco River for some miles hoping to spot a vulture but none were in sight (of course putting the binoculars in storage was not a good idea!) However, what we did spot was a mountain in the sky. As we drove along surrounded by mist I noticed a peculiar cloud formation high in the sky, as I looked at it more it closely I realised it was the top of a mountain the bottom half obscured by cloud, it had a surreal appearance and was so far above the surrounding countryside it was quite dramatic.

Wednesday 15th November
We have spent a couple of days settling in, exploring the immediate surroundings and buying supplies and basically just chilling.

On Tuesday we finally got around to seeing the surrounding scenery. We drove to the local national park and climbed up a steep winding road to the top of the mountain. I have never been able to relax going up these narrow roads, perched precariously on the side of a mountain with only a flimsy barrier to protect you from certain death should you misjudge a corner or have an accident with a speeding Spaniard coming the other way.

Jon on the other hand seemed quite relaxed and as his comfort grew so did his speed which only resulted in me pushing my imaginary break pedal even harder.
Despite my raging heartbeat I was able to enjoy the breathtaking scenery with the wonderful colours of yellows, oranges and reds, reflected in the rocks as well as the abundant trees. We crossed many a flimsy bridge over great precipices with a clear mountain stream running through.

We drove on to the Odessa Valley in the national park. However, the area did not seem to catch the warming rays of the sun and the car park was covered in Frost at 1pm in the afternoon! We decided that it would be best to eat our packed lunch in the car after all and never mind about the mess! We luckily had our winter woollies stored in the roof box of the car and dressed ourselves for a cold winter day, complete contrast to yesterday when we enjoyed a picnic in the sun. We had a pleasant but typically slow walk for 2 hours but never did reach the waterfalls!

On the journey back we encountered the true rural nature of the area by coming across many small herds of cows being taken home along the roads, the cows had no desire whatsoever to get out of the way of the car despite the herders motioning for us to go past. However, the best part was seeing a black and tawny deer with short curved horns dart across the road in front of us.

Today we drove for miles to a place called Brabanto, we had a picnic in the local park and the boys played on the very squeaky equipment. We then drove back and took the boys swimming. A bit of a non-eventful day with lots of driving, umm I hope we don’t have too many more of those!

Tomorrow we head for Barcelona and having learned from the first day of travel the boys will be watching DVD’s all the way there!

Next update expected around 15th December.

We spent all of October frantically selling all our furniture going to car boot sales to basically give away the rest of the stuff and pack up a few boxes to send to my Dad’s for storage. We spent the last few days sleeping and sitting on the floor as the house was devoid of furniture. The boys thought the whole episode most exciting!

We moved into the Caravan on a site in Wareham forest. We managed to get told off by the warden before we’d even got onto the pitch properly for going onto the grass opposite whilst manoeuvring – not a good start! The temperature took a dramatic down turn the first morning to -1 when we took the boys to school. The low temperatures remained for most of our stay there. After a few days we managed to suss out the caravan heating system so the coats could come off and we could get warm!

The 8 days spent there were extremely busy, Jon’s sister, Sarah, got married on the Saturday, we had last minute equipment to buy, tying up of loose ends and a whole list of people wanting to visit to say goodbye and wish us well. We also had the school run as we kept the boys in school until the day before the ferry crossing. So, all in all, a very hectic week!

The ferry crossing was fairly uneventful, the sea was thankfully calm and although the facilities for children were meagre, the boys managed to be entertained and behaved quite well. The ferry crossing did highlight the fact to us that this may not be a tour of Europe so much as a tour of Europe’s toilets with a steady stream of “I need a wee” we seemed to spend most or our time inside one.

I’ve realised that no-one’s got any idea when this blog will be next updated. Therefore to save you all some frustration, I hope to update it again around November 15th so suggest checking after the 20th. The next update should include:

Moving out of our house in Wimborne and staying in Wareham forest.
The ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Bilbao.
Our first campsite in the Spanish Pyrenees.