We are still trying to figure out Spain, and not doing so well.

I can’t believe we’ve been travelling for 3 weeks already!

We left our lovely campsite and kept heading west, taking the back roads. We drove up to the top of a mountain and there were lots of car parks, so we thought there must be something good there. That is the level of research we do. Anyway, it turns out there are a lot of hikes, so we chose a short one before it got too hot, although it was already too hot!

Thankfully the walk was in the shade and it was really pleasant. There were large rocky outcrops on the edge of the path and a few rock climbers, plus a quirky stone tunnel and beautiful views. Just a pleasant 1 hour walk as it was too hot for any longer.

We continued driving, just enjoying the scenery and magnificent views. We drove up to a sanctuary on top of a hill, but it wasn’t anywhere near as cool as the 1,000-year-old monastery we saw yesterday. The drive up was beautiful though.

We found another town car park to camp in and the views over the mountains were incredible., But it was in full sun, and it was way too hot to stay in the van. So we took a walk into town to look for food.

We walked through the town lined by old buildings with faded shutters and tiny balconies. Then the street opened out into a lively little square filled with bars, outdoor tables, and groups of people sitting around drinking and chatting in the evening heat. We thought, this looks promising. But no-one was eating.

We know it’s impossible trying to find somewhere to eat before 7:30 pm, so we found a nice air-conditioned bar to sit in while we waited. But that bar didn’t do food.

It was way too hot to cook in the van, and we were out of anything that could make even a wrap interesting without cooking.

So at 8 pm we took another walk into town. But nope, still nobody eating. Just loads of people sitting around drinking. It seems like nobody eats in Spain!

So we gave up and went back to the van. By this time the sun had gone behind some trees and it was marginally cooler.

I took our cooker outside and we made some scrambled eggs and assembled them in a wrap with some salad and aioli, and it was really nice. And the view from our camp is incredible — a giant mountain right in front of us. Not bad for a car park in a town.

At about 9:30 pm it finally started cooling down, so we opened all the doors of the van to let the cool air inside, and this worked really well. By 10:30 it was cool enough to go inside!

Wow, what a day.

This morning, we left our campground at 10:30am and mucked around trying to avoid the main road, while Google Maps repeatedly tried to send us down a narrow bike track.

After the third suspicious-looking turn-off and a 1000-point turn, we gave up and did the sensible thing for once and drove the 5km on the main road instead.

Then we were able to turn off and follow the squiggly roads we like. But first, a supermarket stop to get some supplies. And then came the usual ritual of trying to find the things we want in a new country, while also trying to remember what language I’m speaking.

The drive through the Pyrenees today was unbelievable. Windy mountain roads, thick forests, little villages clinging to the hillsides, and huge views across the mountains. And every time we thought the scenery had peaked, it just got better.

Eventually the roads got steeper and narrower, winding through dense beech forests where the sunlight barely made it through the trees. Then suddenly we popped out at the top of the mountain and the views were insane. Proper 360-degree views across the Pyrenees.

And sitting right on top of it all was a 1,000-year-old monastery. There was a huge car park, but it was empty. We were all alone there.

We wandered into the monastery. Inside the massive stone walls, the temperature dropped instantly. Like walking into a fridge. After being outside in the heat all morning, it was refreshing.

The church was dark and quiet, with barely any light. You could hear every little footstep echo around the room. It was kind of creepy. If someone had appeared slowly from a doorway wearing a robe, I probably would have gasped.

We had lunch overlooking the mountains afterwards, mesmerised by the view. Then we took a short walk on a rocky outcrop. Way down below was an unusually shaped giant rock. Mike said it looked like a steamed pudding sliced in half. 

Then I noticed a tiny winding road down near it. I asked Mike if we’d be driving on it.

“No,” he said. “That’s just a footpath. The GR282 hiking trail comes through here.”

Anyway.

When it was time to leave, we turned onto a concrete road which looked suspiciously like a footpath. But both Google Maps and the sat nav insisted this was the way down, so off we went.

It was one of those roads where you try not to look too closely at the edge because there’s nothing between you and the valley below. Sheer drop-offs, tiny corners, no barriers. Beautiful though.

Then we spotted the unusual steamed pudding rock we’d been admiring from the monastery at the top.

And realised we were driving down the “footpath”.

Turns out it actually is a road. Technically.

About halfway down, we came around a corner and found a giant eagle standing in the middle of the road.

Even as a baby, this thing was HUGE.

The poor thing looked exhausted and was struggling to fly, stomping around on his massive feet trying to work out what to do. We sat there for a while to give him space and watched him attempt a few take-offs, but he just couldn’t quite manage it.

Meanwhile his parents circled overhead, keeping a very close eye on us. I wasn’t getting out of the van.

Eventually we drove slowly past and left him alone, but it was such an amazing thing to see.

And somehow the day still got better.

I’ve been pretty nervous about accommodation in Spain because of some of the comments on the app I use for park-ups.

In France, the complaints are things like “no toilets” or “no water”. Meanwhile in Spain people are writing things like “they tried to steal our bikes”, “someone shook our van in the night”, or “they threw rocks at us”. And these aren’t isolated comments either. It seems to be a recurring theme all over.

So I’d already resigned myself to paying for campgrounds most nights.

But at the bottom of the mountain we found a special campervan area in this little town. And it’s free until June.

Driving through the town was slightly concerning because there was graffiti absolutely everywhere, but the actual park-up was just outside town and completely different. Surrounded by rocky mountains, farmland, and a few other campervans already parked up, which always makes things feel a bit safer.

So we stopped there for the afternoon and melted into the heat.

It’s still ridiculously hot, although slightly better up in the mountains. I’m actually enjoying it as long as I don’t have to move too much.

Later we walked 15 minutes into town for supplies and treated ourselves to a Magnum for the walk home.

And beer, obviously.

We’ve embraced the Spanish way of eating late without even trying. I mean, it’s just too hot to eat anyway, so we don’t even start thinking about dinner until about 7:30pm.

Tonight we settled for chicken and salad wraps because it was too hot to cook. And we had to wait until about 10pm before it seemed cool enough to go inside the van.

I do love these long days though.

Today we’re going to Spain!

Mike finally got to go to his fancy beach this morning. We cycled in and down a steep hill (the right one this time), locked up our bikes, and it was just a short walk to the all-over tan section. It was a gorgeous morning, and I actually considered a swim. But I didn’t.

Then we trudged back up the steep hill and packed up the van to head on. We’ve decided to go inland because the coast is very busy. I took Mike up the windiest road I could find to get us up into the Pyrenees. And when we crossed into Spain, I couldn’t believe what I saw!

Diesel was 40 cents per litre cheaper! (That’s 80c NZD.) So I’m very glad we didn’t fuel up before leaving France.

The road continued winding up into the Pyrenees, and it was a gorgeous drive with heaps of hairpin turns. Except something kept rattling around in the back. We pulled over to secure a rogue gas cylinder, but when we tried to drive again there was a steady stream of traffic and motorbikes. So much for choosing the quiet roads!

The first town we got to was Bera, and it was amazing how quickly the architecture changed from France. The houses were much more mountain-style and reminded me of walking through little villages on the Camino. But we’re very glad we’re not walking today because it’s so hot — mid-30s!

Then Google wanted to take us on a main-ish road. We decided to outsmart him by navigating our own route. But this did not go to plan. It was a beautiful drive along narrow roads and I was busy congratulating myself when the road just… stopped. There was no way through the mountains! So we had to backtrack all the way to the main road.

But we weren’t on it for long before turning off again to hunt for camping. There’s a real lack of campgrounds in Spain and they all seem very expensive. But we found one in the town of Sunbilla with a beautiful view over the Pyrenees, and it was only 24 euros for the night.

No pool though.

But not only are there toilet seats AND toilet paper, there is also HAND SOAP! Can you believe it? And that’s not all. There were even paper towels to dry your hands. This is unheard of in France!

And there were a few cycle tourists here too. Looking at them all set up with their tents and cooking their meals on the ground seemed so adventurous. It feels like a lifetime ago that this was us. But I’m very glad we’re not cycling in this heat.

It’s crazy hot, and humid too. We sat outside until 10:30pm waiting for it to cool down enough to go to bed. But the bugs were biting, so we scurried inside anyway. At least we have two roof vents, one of them being a fan to suck the hot air out.

We decided to stay a third night at the camping ground in Hendaye. The campground is pretty nice. It has toilets with seats AND toilet paper. Still no soap though. The toilet paper situation makes me wonder if the French always carry a roll with them.

It was a bit cooler today so I managed to get my video finished and uploaded. In the afternoon we took a ride down to one of Mike’s fancy beaches where he can get an all over tan. But we went the wrong way down a steep hill, and when we got to the beach it was stinking hot and crowded. 

So we struggled back up the hill. By this point I’d decided I’d had enough, so we headed back to camp for a swim in the pool instead. We’ll try the beach again in the morning.

It was actually a nice relaxing day (apart from the bike ride).

It’s HOT! We decided to stay put at the campground and get a walk in before the heat really kicked in. At 9:30 we headed out, following a beautiful path through the trees and along the clifftops, with views over the little coves and the Atlantic Ocean, which was incredibly calm today. Every so often we’d come across old bunkers scattered along the coastline. Even that early, the heat was already building.

At one point we had to step aside to let a couple of girls on horses pass. We stepped well out of the way. Both of us are very wary of horses, always expecting them to casually throw in a little kick as they go by.

As we neared the beach we’d planned to walk down to, the sight below changed our minds. Scattered along the beachfront were ghastly high-rises. Not quite Surfers Paradise large, but big enough to completely take away from the wild, natural feel of the coastline. It was probably just as well, as by then it was becoming seriously hot.

On the way back we crossed paths with the horses again, only this time on a narrow section of track. Nope! not getting that close to a horse. So we backtracked until we found a clearing where we could step safely off the path and let them pass.

1.5 hours later, we got back to camp a hot and sweaty mess. And the pool doesn’t open until 2pm! Thankfully we are parked in a shady spot and we have our faithful awning.

At 2pm, we went to the pool and found a comfortable lounger in the shade, and a slight breeze to keep us cool. This pool area is so beautiful, and feels like being in a 5 star resort, and at only 25 eruos ($50) is seems like a bargain. So we spent the afternoon lounging, reading our books and dipping in the pool to keep cool.

As it’s Friday night, the camp restaurant was open and we decided to eat out. And my favourite was on the menu. Confit de canard (sorry Donny). So we both ordered the same and it was delicious. Not sure we plan to leave this place anytime soon.

We decided to spend another night at our campground and go for a bike ride. Finally the weather is wonderful and warm.

But as Mike was setting up the bikes, I decided to shut the rear doors. You know how the bike rack now overhangs both doors? We’ll I’d forgotten about that and proceeded to slam the bike rack on my back. It hurt. I swore. So after that I didn’t feel like a bike ride.

I had a lot of trouble choosing coffee in the supermarket. For all our time travelling in France, nothing was familiar. Then I realised when we did our cycle tour, we never bought coffee here (we went to the little ole man bars for coffee in the mornings.)

So when I made coffee this morning the stuff I had chosen was disgusting. Thankfully there was a Spar next door to the camp and after some googling, we found something we would like. And a stale baguette.

We just spent the rest of the day lazing around. I worked on my movie, and we sat outside in the sun. Mike is feeling a lot better. Thankfully he didn’t get it as bad as I did.

It’s quite a nice campground, but as per usual, there is no toilet seats, hand soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms. So when you are walking to the toilets with your toilet paper in hand, EVERYONE knows what you’re doing.

For dinner we had a sort of fried rice. Sort of meaning, the gas ran out before we got a chance to fry the rice. So it was boiled rice, bacon, garlic and egg.

Today started with an early morning mission: find a toilet in town.

And when we found it, It wasn’t just any ole toilet. It was one of those futuristic self-cleaning boxes. The kind where the door locks behind you, the toilet seat folds itself down, and you just trust the process. I must admit, with my claustrophobia I was a little nervous I might get locked in there.

When you’re done, there’s no flush button or anything. You press the exit button and the entire room gives itself a full clean. Slightly terrifying, and a little creepy.

Our next mission was to find somewhere to dump our wees. I navigated us to a dump station beside a lake, and we both had a flashback to 2011. Mike got a flat tyre in this exact same spot! Funny how random places can unlock memories like that.

After some lunch and a short walk, we headed on again, deciding to find somewhere to camp for the night.

We found a free place to stay for the night. It was one of those campervan-only spots where you can park for 24 hours. It looked perfectly fine. Other people were staying there. But for the first time on this trip, something just felt… off. It didn’t have the vibe.

I didn’t say anything at first because Mike was tired and ready to stop, so we climbed in the back for a nap.

A few minutes later Mike said, “I don’t like this place.”

Instant relief. So it wasn’t just me.

Neither of us could explain why, but the vibe felt weird, so we decided to trust our gut and move on. We figured it was probably time for a proper campground anyway. We needed showers and to do laundry.

We ended up finding a lovely campsite near the beach for only 16 euros, which felt like a bargain. I’ve seen camping car places charge more than that and not even include showers!

So we settled in for the afternoon. The sun finally came out, and so did the awning. After all the cold weather we’ve been having, it felt so good just sitting outside soaking up the warmth.

The beach nearby was long and sandy, but the sea was wild and rough. In the distance we could see the Pyrenees.

We’re only about two hours drive from Spain now… although in campervan time, who really knows how long that means.

I was feeling much better today, but Mike is now a snotty mess. We left our lovely forest camp fairly early and headed towards Europe’s largest sand dune. Somehow, completely by accident, we found the back way in. We ended up on a quiet residential street with a little gate leading straight onto the dune.

We climbed about halfway up and could see a long trail of people marching along the ridge at the top, looking like tiny ants in the distance. We’d already been to the top before, so decided we didn’t need to join the procession this time.

As we drove past the main entrance later, there were hundreds of cars lined up and a huge paid car park packed with people. We were very glad we’d stumbled across the sneaky local entrance instead.

Then I finally found somewhere to have my moules frites (mussels and chips). The restaurant was right by the beach overlooking the ocean, which made it even better. We ordered one pot of moules to share, but when the waiter brought them out, they’d split it into two smaller pots so we could each have our own. I thought that was really sweet. Even then, I still couldn’t finish mine.

After lunch we continued down the coast and eventually stopped in Biscarrosse, where there’s a free car park in town just for RVs.

By tea time we were still full from our late lunch, so dinner ended up being mango and yoghurt.

Today I woke up with a vicious headache. It seems this cold/covid/whatever is taking ages to go away. I’m a bit grumpy as there have been so many gorgeous places to ride our bikes but haven’t been feeling up to it.

I managed to upload my video via our starlink today as we haven’t seen anywhere else. Then we took a drive down to Cape Ferret, which is like a spit. 

At the end was a cool view looking out at the largest sand dunes in Europe which were on the other side of the water. But to get to them you have to drive all the way around. We climbed up them 15 years ago when we cycled here, but we might skip them this time.

The spit was an in and out road, and so we decided to go back to our pine forest free camp for the night. By this time I was feeling much better, so went for an hours walk through the pines.

It was nice to have a relaxing day. 

Today we continued further down the coast and took Bertie on a ferry! We could either drive for 3 hours via Bordeaux or take a 20 minute ferry ride for 50 euros, so we opted for the ferry as we wanted to avoid Bordeaux.

Neither of us are still feeling well and I’m starting to wonder if we have covid. Just when I start to feel right, I go backwards again.

So, we’ll just keep taking it slow, taking in the new sights.

We stopped the night near Lege Cap Ferret, and found a nice freedom camp under the pine trees.