It was clearly time to come home when we woke up to a dull, cloudy sky on Saturday, October 10. We had only an hour’s drive through the mountains from Bermeo to Bilbao. The car park/aire we had stayed in was perfect as it was quiet, had waste disposal so we could empty everything before getting on the ferry and was on hard standing so didn’t need to worry if it rained. The only downside had been that it was yet another app that needed to be downloaded before you could arrive as you have to reserve your space ahead of time. Being Spain, you also have to enter all the relevant information about yourselves as well, assuming you have good enough reception! Whilst in France, we only needed the previously downloaded France Passion and Camping-Car Park although we did download Qipeo as it had been recommended but we didn’t use it in the end. Previously, in Spain we had just used Park4Night but found we needed new apps like PVerde and TripStop as towns have now regulated their park ups more and realise there is money to be recouped for the investment in facilities.

Anyway, back to Saturday morning. Whilst having breakfast, we were entertained by the number of cars who came up to the barrier thinking it was the car park next door. They would then quickly reverse and go down the road to the height restricted entrance. However, two cars in a row managed to slam, at speed, straight back into a lamppost they hadn’t seen behind them. The first car couldn’t believe it as there was much wringing of hands and choice words. The second one was so embarrassed that he drove off despite his rear light hanging off which then fell to the ground.

We left around 10.15 and had a lovely drive through the countryside to the ferry port. We had set our sat nav to “No Toll Roads” at the beginning of the trip and it has meant that we have seen lots of wonderful countryside as well as lovely villages. Generally, it’s added maybe 30-60 minutes on a longish journey but well worth it. We arrived at the port around 2 hours ahead of the sailing time of 13.00 but we literally didn’t drive on until 12.50. We aren’t quite the last but pretty close. However, our friends, Sue and Sheila were one of the first on so they had nabbed seats at the front of the Commodore’s Lounge for us. As it was an overnight crossing, we had booked a cabin and, on their advice, the lounge. It was brilliant as there was plenty of seating, drinks and food all day just like an airport lounge. Given we would have had to buy our own food and drink for the 28 hour crossing, it pretty much paid for itself and was also a very pleasant environment. It also had the added advantage of being an excellent place to spot dolphins which we did on Sunday morning.

It was probably just as well we had paid for the lounge as our arrival time was delayed by over 6 hours due to engine trouble. We finally arrived at Portsmouth at midnight so got home at 02.30 and to bed at 03.30. Exhausted but happy to be home.

We drove over 2,600 miles, visited 5 different countries excluding the U.K. in just short of 6 weeks. We used over 430 litres of fuel costing us nearly €900 so perhaps it wasn’t the best time to go on a road trip. The Netherlands was the most expensive at €2.46 per litre and Andorra the cheapest at €1.73. We spent 18 nights in proper campsites (11 of those were in Holland where they don’t really offer aires). We ate out 10 times in total over the 41 days. We had a great time visiting places we had not been to before as well as returning to old favourites. Dora will now be put to bed for the winter but, who knows, maybe we will take her out for a cheeky little trip over the coming months.

Miles since last blog: 118

Miles this trip: 2,661

Our road trip courtesy of Travel Boast and Wildertrips.