Sunday, 28 July 2019

Green Green Grass of Home

To use the title of one of Tom's best hits and by coincidence, one of Mum's favourite songs, its time to go return to the 'Green Green Grass of Home'
And we are ready....


So first night en route back is spent like last year in Teruel only occupying more space of course...

Later in the day and after driving in the high 30's we discover both wheel hub covers are missing to the tune of approx £200.00 in replacement costs. We put it down to the extreme heat expanding the hub assembly and losing both caps in transit but I'm not sure as there's also the possibility that they now adorn some Spanish kid's bedroom wall
I'm sure they are on in this early morning photo though
Next time here I'll take them off before retiring to be sure....


The drive up through France is quite pleasant and the route avoiding tolls is actually easy going and the RV behaves impeccably
Our last night is spent at Bergues and a wander in to town is the order of the day to sample a few Belgian beers...


Wow, check the bill here..
Where's my yellow vest?


A short stroll through the previously unexplored part of town sees us stumbling upon a Craft Beers outlet with some very sensible pricing structuring


Poor Nina had this lot on her lap in the chair all the way back to the site


A hop and a skip after the ferry and we are back near Emilja & Richard's at Thurston on the very nice Dell Touring Park and we get to RV with the family


A few days later we are taken to visit the wedding venue at hedingham Castle where they will be married next June


Huge excitement for everyone especially the girls of course



The ceremony will take place in the huge tower behind


Hopefully on the day Nina will proudly walk up the spiral stone staircase and avoid her now customary bum shuffle technique


She make it though and we are bowled over by the beauty of the place



Back in the Manor the pianist gets the practice done


I say "Croquet anyone"


The layout and ambience is excellent and we all leave with high hopes for a great day next year


A random picture of a guy with an adventure bike...not really
Let me explain...

To my amazement and very shortly after her op back in December last year Nina gave me the nod to start researching a replacement for Max as he'd been written off by the insurance company
So a deposit was laid down in early April and collection from Reiten Motorrad was made soon after our arrival back in Blighty
We went with a new BMW R1250 GS TE Exclusive...Ta Da!
We both have very expensive full suits with matching laminate suits to boot all to Level 2 protection standards. The bike accessories were all obtained from Touratech in Alicante at a far cheaper cost than the UK equivalent
This procurement took many visits in Spain to the suppliers so we were kept busy over there which made time pass too thankfully


Nina with 'Gus'
(Well he needs a name doesn't he!)


A few days later I have a twin Innov K2 camera system fitted to Gus to capture the antics of the Muppets out there on the road


A leap of faith with the installer removing lots of gear and panels from the bike but its worth it

The plan when Nina is online is to travel as before but also tour on the bike from the RV staying overnight for several days enabling us to see the countries at length and enjoy the freedom of the open road. 

I have my courageous wife to thank for getting us this far.....







Friday, 12 July 2019

Pat & Jane come to stay...

Yes its been a while hasn't it?

Apologies for not keeping up with the blog but we've been kinda busy of late.....

Looking back over the past two months it really is a blur tbh with us spending most of our time on physio visits (three times a week at the end), walking around the locality as much as possible to build up Nina's leg strength and prepping for the housesit and the arrival of Chums Pat & Jane

We discover that its become a bit of a slog really in the mid thirties heat out here in Spain. All great fun of course when you are passing through or are active and out and about discovering new places. The reality of the almost daily trip in a non air conditioned car to either the dentists or physio takes it toll and we are left tired and very very hot!

The thought that our friends are coming to see us and the weekly improvements with Nina makes the time pass rather quickly and before we know it they are here!


Welcome to the heat!


Pat & Jane have come to Casa Rudo for 6 nights which fall smack in the middle of our house sit for Rudy & Dorine
We have the car and are able to get out during the evenings when its cooling down


He's waited long enough for it and its devoured with aplomb...



Our days are spent relaxing by the pool and just chilling (more like overheating) but we venture out to Elche one late afternoon to combine Tapas with a physio session with Raul (not at the same time of course)



Its a long way from the parking lot and we elected to keep to the wheelchair method of transportation to make things easier 
Jane does a fine job taking over from F1 driver Pat....
Nina is relieved (especially as he later confesses to having tipped out some unfortunate wheelchair bound guy many years ago)



Tapas in the square and a chance to ridicule my mate

We drove out to Santa Pola one evening and had a really nice stroll around the town and Marina area of course taking in a few bars then back for a few beers for the driver..


We have the cooking nailed down during our sojourn with Paella from yours truly one evening and...


One of Jane's finest creations, Salmon & Prawn Pasta washed down with several beers that Pat brought with him for us to share


I think this shot may belong to Pat but it conveys the atmos perfectly

We had a great time with our Chums who came a long way and it was a welcome distraction for us at the end of a three month stay at Casa Rudo
Far too long really but we were there for the Physio and the rehab and under different circumstances perhaps it would have been more enjoyable for us
We had the pool, supportive friends around us, and the blue skies above our heads
A perfect setting really to make the progress required


Our time with Raul sadly comes to an end as its time to start our journey home
He's happy with Nina's progress and we thank him for his expertise, his charm and his sense of humour. We promise to 'walk through the door' when next we are in Elche