The Road to Morocco (2022)

[Paul d]

So, where was I..? Oh yeah, Draa valley to Zagora... Draa valley is a nice drive. Good roads through interesting towns and villages, and palms. Thousands, maybe millions of palms... It appears to be the Date palm capital of the World. Lots of the palms have been cropped already (seemed to start early October) but there are still thick bunches of yellow/brown fruit hanging from many of them.
And dates for sale by the side of the roads everywhere... Some still attached to huge bunches and some in boxes, about £4 a kilo...
View attachment 300089

After 5 years of drought though, its obvious that some of the palm trees are not at their best, straggly and a bit brown, like Mrs Havisham's house plants...

On approaching Zagora in a landy or other overland vehicle you usually get ambushed by one or more moped-riding touts who try to get you to visit one of the garages that specialise in looking after these vehicles. There are two main ones, Garage Iriki (http://www.garageiriki.com/) and Alli Nassir (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054611731785) .
I've visited Alli before and the place has a nice vibe, although last time I was there and wanting a simple fix to a loose speaker box, Alli was out on a rescue mission and his grease monkeys took two hours, drilled the holes too big for the screws they had, and then asked me to come back next day (to fit a speaker!).
Needless to say I fixed it myself at the campsite and didnt go back, but Alli himself drives a Defender so I like him;

View attachment 300090
and he has a stack of spares (See below) and experience of prepping vehicles for desert travel.
Hes also been involved in supporting Paris Dakar and various other Rally Raid operations, so he probably knows almost as much as I do...

More ina min on Alli...

We arrived quite late so headed for the Camping Oasis Palmier;
View attachment 300073

like most of the campsites, not very busy so relatively quiet apart from the irrigation pump chugging away about 30 feet from where we stopped

but they brought us a tray of mint tea to our own little table on arrival and shut off the pump after a bit.

Made friends with the campsite cats
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Nowhere to eat in the camp (they didnt open the restaurant as there wasnt enough people) so we ventured out and right next door is a nice looking hotel so we asked if they had a restaurant. Yes!
That will do very nicely thank you very much. A quick look around to see if it was up to our standard...
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and we were told that the tables surrounding the pool were all booked, but that we could eat in the garden.. Oh OK then...
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Lovely meal, nice bottle of wine, water, etc about £40 for two... add another zero if it was in an equivalent place in the UK...

Back to a nice quiet campsite, brew and bed... very happy.

Next day, paid a visit to Alli. I didnt need anything doing but its rude not to and I need another sticker!
View attachment 300084

A selection of vehicles (and dutch people) outside
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Alli took me up a backstreet (fnar) and showed me his parts store... Bloody Aladdins cave more like (thats Alli in the pic)
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Sadly we couldnt stay and pillage his parts store or venture further South, so we headed back up towards Marakesh and found another souk on the way so stopped for a look
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Pair of 2nd hand skis..? anyone..?
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Got any buckets mate..?
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Some arrive by car, some by moped, some by donkey...
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Back into the Atlas mountains
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Then towards the top of one of the colls we did a quick detour to a 'view point'.
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And found a big beardy Belgian guy who was chatting to three Berber people selling trinkets, fossils and jewellery etc... He likes defenders and speaks very good English so we got along fine
Nice people, so we bought a few bits from them and moved on, stopping on the way down the mountain to buy some honey from these guys
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They are very happy because they have my money. I am very happy because the honey is lovely!

Coming out of the mountains, you hit Marrakesh before you realise. Its a bit of a shock to the system as the traffic, smells etc inflict all your senses at once. Dont get me wrong, its a great place and has a character all of its own that is different from anywhere else Ive been (Fes might be similar I believe, but we've only passed through).

We eventually found the Campsite, which is a literal oasis in the middle of nowhere.. If you follow the satnav, you honestly think its gone insane, but driving up narrow roads with overhanging cables that look like they go nowhere, then a track and across a wasteland eventually gets you there.
If Id not been before I probably would have given up, but eventually rolled into Le Relais at dusk

https://www.campercontact.com/en/mo...arrakesh/19026/camping-le-relais-de-marrakech

....

What a great write up ..now you no where all the stolen defenders go to …. ooops sorry .
How where the prices compared with over here ?
liked to of had a set of those sand tracks on the wall there . it’s amazing what people sell there’s some great stuff .
Vast country love to go there ..

 

[Redcoat]

Micheal palin would be proud , fantastic ,love it

 

[mikeau]

What a great write up ..now you no where all the stolen defenders go to …. ooops sorry .
How where the prices compared with over here ?
liked to of had a set of those sand tracks on the wall there . it’s amazing what people sell there’s some great stuff .
Vast country love to go there ..

Prices generally? Much lower for all essentials. Vehicles? Ive no idea.
There is some law here that an individual cannot own more than one vehicle (or is highly taxed or something). I dont know the details, but we came through customs with an English guy pulling a trailer with loads of kit on for him and his family to spend a few months there, amongst which he had an off-road motorbike for him to play on the dunes. The customs were giving him a very hard time and threatening him with a large amount of duty as it was a 'second vehicle'. They were also threatening to charge him duty on the three (well used) kayaks he had, on which he had already paid VAT on entering Spain (he wasnt in the slightest bit amused, and had rather negative views about brexit..).
We got released before him so no idea how he got on...

 

[mikeau]

Quick update on the oil leak...
The leak started at the same time as the engine brewing up in Chefchaouen. Ive no idea if the two are related but seems likely..

The leak was from the lower connection (oil hose from filter adapter to the radiator intercooler at the rad end) and I was very nervous about tightening it any more. The radiator was a new ally one I fitted just a few weeks ago, but the threads for the oil connectors (M20x1.5) are ally and seemed fragile from the start, so I suspected that I may have over-tightened or damaged them when the leak started...

I managed to slow the leak by applying loads of JB weld around it, but there was a steady leak until I got home and I left several nice little pools of oil various places. It looked worse than it was and I doubt I lost more than about 200-300ml in a week, and most of that would have been left behind in my wake on the road, but a small amount of oil looks like a lot when its on tarmac!

Anyway, once home I got the JB weld off and removed the lower oil pipe to find that the thread was almost completely gone and not worth salvaging.
Not wishing to fork out for another radiator(!) I came up with a cunning plan, not involving a single turnip.

I found some ally pipe in the garage that was about 20mm ID and 3-4mm wall thickness.
I visited the local tractor place and they had an M20x2.5 tap, and an M20 M-M connector for about £10 total. Ace!

Chopped a piece of the pipe and threaded it,

Tested the fit of the adapter

If fits!

then used some high strength epoxy and wound the pipe onto what was left of the ally thread on the rad (having thoroughly cleaned both surfaces using brake cleaner) and left it overnight...

Today I wound copious quantities of poofty tape around the M20 M-M to ensure as little friction as possible on the threads and wound it on, then re-attached the oil hose.

Then said a silent prayer and fired it up...

Et voila. My bodge Improvised Mechanical Repair is a good'un... Test driven and so far, so good!



On my list of things to do is fit a little sounder to the oil pressure light so I have some warning if I lose oil pressure and fail to see the light come on...
Not that I think this will fail, but Im now a bit nervous of something else happening...

 

[Paul d]

Prices generally? Much lower for all essentials. Vehicles? Ive no idea.
There is some law here that an individual cannot own more than one vehicle (or is highly taxed or something). I dont know the details, but we came through customs with an English guy pulling a trailer with loads of kit on for him and his family to spend a few months there, amongst which he had an off-road motorbike for him to play on the dunes. The customs were giving him a very hard time and threatening him with a large amount of duty as it was a 'second vehicle'. They were also threatening to charge him duty on the three (well used) kayaks he had, on which he had already paid VAT on entering Spain (he wasnt in the slightest bit amused, and had rather negative views about brexit..).
We got released before him so no idea how he got on...

Sounds crooked if you ask me so you go on holiday with a kayak and pay tax to get then into the country .how can that be right ..I’m surprised you didn’t pay more because you had a roof tent .

 

[mikeau]

Speak to someone from Morocco and if they ask you where you have visited and you answer Marrakesh, they will inevitably answer 'Marrakesh isnt Morocco!'..
and you cant argue because Marrakesh is not representative of the country, in a number of ways.
For starters, its one of the older and busier cities which has grown and developed its own character over a very long time, in much the way London has, and no-one would say that London is representative of the UK (would they?). It has a character of its own, refined from centuries of welcoming visitors and separating them from their money in the friendliest ways possible...

The campsite (once you've found it) is very nice and quite a few people seem to base themselves there, and leave their vehicles, presumably while they have to go places to do less interesting (but possibly more rewarding) things.

We arrived late and pitched close to where we had previously;

A nice meal in the restaurant sitting by the pool and bed...

Had a wonder around the next morning to inspect the neighbours

Not that Im impressed by size or feel inadequate or anything...

Some more familiar vehicles;

and a few campers

Some of the other occupants

We sorted ourselves out and ordered a taxi to near Jemar El Fnaa.

We have visited before so only wanted to have a wonder about and buy a few souvenirs/gifts.
If youve not seen Jemar El Fnaa square featured in every travel documentary then you must have been living under a rock. Im not posting yet more photos, but its exactly as youve seen it. Snake charmers, dancing monkeys, Henna tatouists, fruit stands, food stands, chancers and conmen, horse drawn Calesh mingling with donkey carts, pedestrians, cars, mopeds... and it was a Friday (Muslem holy day) so relatively quiet!

Coffee first (no thanks, I dont want to buy shirts, cigarettes, belts, tissues, bangles, no I dont want a Rolex, pair of RayBans etc etc. No thanks. No, really. No. )

Then into the Souks for a look around

Some of the streets looking quiet

Found a shop selling shoes, with a man sitting making them on the opposite side...
Bought some as gifts

Sat on the corner of a square and had a coffee and watched the world go by.
Tourists seem to outnumber locals, but maybe thats because half the male population are in the mosque...

Then a bit more walking about. Past the charcoal fired food stalls

And then we went back to our mate the shoe seller to buy a couple more pairs as we've found nothing else worth having to bring back as gifts
Happy man...

Cats are everywhere in Morocco.
They seem to live in a symbiotic relationship with people and not be owned by any particular person. Like collective pets.
They are certainly well tolerated and you regularly see people giving them tidbits of food etc.

I feel a book coming on, 'The Cats of Marrakesh'.
Make my next trip tax deductible...

One last look at Jemar El Fnaa which seems quite empty compared to previous visits.

The past all the Horse Kalesh, who seem to be suffering from a lack of tourists, as you dont usually see this many standing around.
The smell of decades of horse piss is overpowering

Then phoned Mohammed to come collect us back to the campsite. where we found a few more vehicles had arrived....

 

[mikeau]

Sounds crooked if you ask me so you go on holiday with a kayak and pay tax to get then into the country .how can that be right ..I’m surprised you didn’t pay more because you had a roof tent .

I think there is a lot of sour grapes in Europe following Brexit.
He was travelling on his own with the car and trailer and his family were flying down to meet him to save them the 5 days in the car, so I guess they though it suspicious that he was one person with three kayaks and intended selling them..?

 

[Paul d]

I think there is a lot of sour grapes in Europe following Brexit.
He was travelling on his own with the car and trailer and his family were flying down to meet him to save them the 5 days in the car, so I guess they though it suspicious that he was one person with three kayaks and intended selling them..?

That does sound plausible .

 

[mikeau]

Back at the Marrakesh campsite;

and spotted this tucked away in a corner of the site

Certainly has character

Has to be one of the nicer sites in Morocco

Dinner by the pool again and yet another cat

More local wildlife

Left Marrakesh and flogged it up the A5 to Chefchouan, as we were running a bit short on time and I wanted to spend at least a day there.
The western coast of Morocco is more populated, and much less picturesque then the rest.
The A5 hits the coast around Casablanca and runs up past Rabat (the capital) and its all coastal development in between with very few views of the coast.
Getting past Rabat, we turn inland on smaller roads that carry on getting smaller until you find yourself winding through foothills on sagging narrow tarmac and then on winding mountain roads that are receiving some investment, presumably to make them safer but with the downside that they are temporarily very dangerous.
By this time it was getting dark and raining spasmodically, all other traffic was in a rush to get where they were going at any cost to themselves or others and with hardly any road markings and no street lighting it was a 'challenging' drive. I had booked an inexpensive hotel on booking.com, so when arrived we tried following Google maps, but it wasnt getting us anywhere close so the OH was sent off to scout for it while I sat with the engine idling (no parking available) and waited... and waited...
Some time later she returned having found the hotel cleverly concealed up an alleyway and we found somewhere to park.
Chefchouarn is all hills, so negotiating into a small parking space, on a narrow hill in the dark requires low range and two people to guide you in. Fortunately you dant have to look far in Morocco for people eager to assist you, on the understanding that you are instantly their best friend and employer...
As I turned the engine off the OH said 'you're leaking'... yes, I was leaking. Id not been able to see the temperature gauge as the light wasnt working (was OK the last time I drove in the dark) and when I looked uaing the interior light it was reading 110. Yikes. Water was gushing like a Yellowstone geyser and washing oil down the hill with it. I made sure the rad fan switch was on and soon realised it was running. Feck! Engine off, bonnet open, and scrabbling for a fault by torchlight. Eventually found that the fuse supplying power to the fan relay had melted, and by the time I had rigged a bypass the engine had cooled quite a bit.
A quiet prayer to the LR Gods that Id not done something nasty, like warp the head or blow the gasket and left it. Had a meal and back to the hotel.

Next morning, a tidy up and made sure my rewiring was functional, but Ive got a decent oil leak from the lower rad oil intercooler pipe... Ive already documented this so wont go into detail again.
Then breakfast in the square.

Moroccan pancake with honey, apricot jam, butter and a kind of mild cream cheese... luvverly..

and an extra coffee and a day walking around one of my favourite places...

...

 

[mikeau]

Back at the Marrakesh campsite;
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and spotted this tucked away in a corner of the site
View attachment 300459
View attachment 300460
View attachment 300461
View attachment 300462
Certainly has character

Has to be one of the nicer sites in Morocco
View attachment 300463
View attachment 300465
Dinner by the pool again and yet another cat
View attachment 300464

More local wildlife
View attachment 300466

Left Marrakesh and flogged it up the A5 to Chefchouan, as we were running a bit short on time and I wanted to spend at least a day there.
The western coast of Morocco is more populated, and much less picturesque then the rest.
The A5 hits the coast around Casablanca and runs up past Rabat (the capital) and its all coastal development in between with very few views of the coast.
Getting past Rabat, we turn inland on smaller roads that carry on getting smaller until you find yourself winding through foothills on sagging narrow tarmac and then on winding mountain roads that are receiving some investment, presumably to make them safer but with the downside that they are temporarily very dangerous.
By this time it was getting dark and raining spasmodically, all other traffic was in a rush to get where they were going at any cost to themselves or others and with hardly any road markings and no street lighting it was a 'challenging' drive. I had booked an inexpensive hotel on booking.com, so when arrived we tried following Google maps, but it wasnt getting us anywhere close so the OH was sent off to scout for it while I sat with the engine idling (no parking available) and waited... and waited...
Some time later she returned having found the hotel cleverly concealed up an alleyway and we found somewhere to park.
Chefchouarn is all hills, so negotiating into a small parking space, on a narrow hill in the dark requires low range and two people to guide you in. Fortunately you dant have to look far in Morocco for people eager to assist you, on the understanding that you are instantly their best friend and employer...
As I turned the engine off the OH said 'you're leaking'... yes, I was leaking. Id not been able to see the temperature gauge as the light wasnt working (was OK the last time I drove in the dark) and when I looked uaing the interior light it was reading 110. Yikes. Water was gushing like a Yellowstone geyser and washing oil down the hill with it. I made sure the rad fan switch was on and soon realised it was running. Feck! Engine off, bonnet open, and scrabbling for a fault by torchlight. Eventually found that the fuse supplying power to the fan relay had melted, and by the time I had rigged a bypass the engine had cooled quite a bit.
A quiet prayer to the LR Gods that Id not done something nasty, like warp the head or blow the gasket and left it. Had a meal and back to the hotel.

Next morning, a tidy up and made sure my rewiring was functional, but Ive got a decent oil leak from the lower rad oil intercooler pipe... Ive already documented this so wont go into detail again,

 

[mikeau]

Chefchaouen

Another town owned by cats, who tolerate humans living among them...

View attachment 300479
and more photogenic than any place in North Africa ought to be

Who doesnt need one f these;

So we walked a lot, stopped a lot, shopped a bit and tried not to worry about the engine too much...

This was parked up near a posh hotel

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Swiss reg, twisted wheels etc...
I bet he didnt have overheating issues...

Sat watching people and had another coffee, and got entertained

The had a nice dinner and got entertained again

10/10 for effort boys...


and then next morning, a bit more walking around, another Defender, yet more cats and more shopping

"Get yer mousers 'ere, free for a parnd"

And then a nice 3-4 hr drive back to the Tanger campsite, where we found it recently revamped...

One of the houses (palaces?) on the opposite hillside is apparently one of the homes of the King.
Ive no idea which, its probably hidden by palm trees!

We went for a walk along the Corniche. It was a bit blowy and getting cooler...
Its a VERY steep slope up to the campsite (1st low to get the landy up!), so we walked down and then woossed out and got a taxi back.

The restaurant is a bit odd. Its on the campsite, but evidently gets used by some of the more well-healed locals as a place to take your date who you want to impress.
We had Tajine (again). I wasnt trying to impress anyone.

Next morning it was a quickish drive to Ceuta, had our passports checked about 6 times and the relevant documents stamped and back onto the ferry...

and back into Spain...

 

[mikeau]

Back at the Marrakesh campsite;
View attachment 300457
View attachment 300458

and spotted this tucked away in a corner of the site
View attachment 300459
View attachment 300460
View attachment 300461
View attachment 300462
Certainly has character

Has to be one of the nicer sites in Morocco
View attachment 300463
View attachment 300465
Dinner by the pool again and yet another cat
View attachment 300464

More local wildlife
View attachment 300466

Left Marrakesh and flogged it up the A5 to Chefchouan, as we were running a bit short on time and I wanted to spend at least a day there.
The western coast of Morocco is more populated, and much less picturesque then the rest.
The A5 hits the coast around Casablanca and runs up past Rabat (the capital) and its all coastal development in between with very few views of the coast.
Getting past Rabat, we turn inland on smaller roads that carry on getting smaller until you find yourself winding through foothills on sagging narrow tarmac and then on winding mountain roads that are receiving some investment, presumably to make them safer but with the downside that they are temporarily very dangerous.
By this time it was getting dark and raining spasmodically, all other traffic was in a rush to get where they were going at any cost to themselves or others and with hardly any road markings and no street lighting it was a 'challenging' drive. I had booked an inexpensive hotel on booking.com, so when arrived we tried following Google maps, but it wasnt getting us anywhere close so the OH was sent off to scout for it while I sat with the engine idling (no parking available) and waited... and waited...
Some time later she returned having found the hotel cleverly concealed up an alleyway and we found somewhere to park.
Chefchouarn is all hills, so negotiating into a small parking space, on a narrow hill in the dark requires low range and two people to guide you in. Fortunately you dant have to look far in Morocco for people eager to assist you, on the understanding that you are instantly their best friend and employer...
As I turned the engine off the OH said 'you're leaking'... yes, I was leaking. Id not been able to see the temperature gauge as the light wasnt working (was OK the last time I drove in the dark) and when I looked uaing the interior light it was reading 110. Yikes. Water was gushing like a Yellowstone geyser and washing oil down the hill with it. I made sure the rad fan switch was on and soon realised it was running. Feck! Engine off, bonnet open, and scrabbling for a fault by torchlight. Eventually found that the fuse supplying power to the fan relay had melted, and by the time I had rigged a bypass the engine had cooled quite a bit.
A quiet prayer to the LR Gods that Id not done something nasty, like warp the head or blow the gasket and left it. Had a meal and back to the hotel.

Next morning, a tidy up and made sure my rewiring was functional, but Ive got a decent oil leak from the lower rad oil intercooler pipe... Ive already documented this so wont go into detail again,

Some weird shit duplicate post thing going on...

 

[mikeau]

So, back into Spain and the campsite we used before travelling over, we even got the same pitch and were visited by the same gimpy cat.

Not much to tell on the way back really. As it (almost) says in the Haynes manuals, you just reverse the travel process. It was noticeably cooler on the way back. It was 'end of Summer' when we left and its now 'well into Autumn'.
Amazing how much can change in 4-5 weeks.
More shopping... 5 litres of extra virgin olive oil for €20 was a no-brainer and some olives and a few supplies for the journey back.
Its a lot longer driving back than it is going(!), but we were trying not to flog it and get home knackered so we had a day in hand.
After leaving the campsite near Gib, we drove up to Salamanca and found a nice hotel there. Can recommend it if anyone happens to travel that way.
Nice room, friendly staff, nice little restaurant and reasonably priced.

It shall henceforth be known as Nobby's Hotel.

Then next day to the campsite near San Sebastian. We had thought it would be too cool for camping, but its still comfortable temperatures this far South.
Finding it though was a major fecking headache! The old satnav threw an epi.

San Sebastian is on the coast but where the Pyrenees drop down to the Atlantic. Hills everywhere and several major roads interchange so there are flyovers and underpasses everywhere and if you take a wrong turning, you get stuck on that road for a few Ks until you can find an exit.
The satnav has no idea if you are on the flyover or the underpass (or any other road within 50 Metres) so keeps sending you the wrong way.

You can see from our GPS trail that we took a few wrong turns and dead ends!

We found it eventually by digging out a map and using brain power. Yeah, I know...

The campsite is quieter and we had to search for someone to book us in, and we were the only people eating in the resto that night, but the staff seemed grateful for something to keep them occupied!

Next day was heading to our favourite little stopover near Bordeaux. Nice little motel-type place just off the autoroute with comfortable rooms, its own safe parking and nice Pizzeria. We arrived early enough to get served this time, so happy days

While here we received an SMS from the ferry company that bad weather is likely to disrupt travel back to Jersey and are advised to contact them to change our booking. Poop.

Eventually changed our ferry sailing from a reasonable 1700 to 0700. bollocks.
Luckily we had allowed extra time or we would have been stuffed and probably stuck in France until the weathe cleared, so we booked an Ibis hotel near St Malo and hared back up to spend the night before getting up at 6AM (4AM GMT) and onto the ferry home.

Im still checking the fuel mileage. I keep a log, but need to check that Ive not missed an entry or got something wrong. So as near as I can work out now...
We did 4875 by the satnav, but that was leaving and arriving back with indeterminate amounts in the tank, so It appears that we did 4540 between full tanks and used 940.5 Litres which works out (if my maths is correct) 4.8272 Miles per Litre, or, 21.945 Miles per gallon... ish...

I was hoping to have done better, but we are hauling about 2.5T in a box with all the aerodynamics of a housebrick, and a great deal of that mileage was either doing 100kph or climbing mountains, so I suppose its not unreasonable...

Total cost for fuel while away? roughly £1,350 depending on what exchange rate you use...
Ferries cost about another £500 and I reckon hotels, campsites meals etc another 1-1.5 grand.?

So, five weeks holiday, visiting exotic interesting places and meeting some lovely people and making some great memories probably cost under £2k each...

One life...
Do it.

 

[Paul d]

So, back into Spain and the campsite we used before travelling over, we even got the same pitch and were visited by the same gimpy cat.

Not much to tell on the way back really. As it (almost) says in the Haynes manuals, you just reverse the travel process. It was noticeably cooler on the way back. It was 'end of Summer' when we left and its now 'well into Autumn'.
Amazing how much can change in 4-5 weeks.
More shopping... 5 litres of extra virgin olive oil for €20 was a no-brainer and some olives and a few supplies for the journey back.
Its a lot longer driving back than it is going(!), but we were trying not to flog it and get home knackered so we had a day in hand.
After leaving the campsite near Gib, we drove up to Salamanca and found a nice hotel there. Can recommend it if anyone happens to travel that way.
Nice room, friendly staff, nice little restaurant and reasonably priced.
View attachment 300697
It shall henceforth be known as Nobby's Hotel.

Then next day to the campsite near San Sebastian. We had thought it would be too cool for camping, but its still comfortable temperatures this far South.
Finding it though was a major fecking headache! The old satnav threw an epi.

San Sebastian is on the coast but where the Pyrenees drop down to the Atlantic. Hills everywhere and several major roads interchange so there are flyovers and underpasses everywhere and if you take a wrong turning, you get stuck on that road for a few Ks until you can find an exit.
The satnav has no idea if you are on the flyover or the underpass (or any other road within 50 Metres) so keeps sending you the wrong way.

You can see from our GPS trail that we took a few wrong turns and dead ends!
View attachment 300701

We found it eventually by digging out a map and using brain power. Yeah, I know...

The campsite is quieter and we had to search for someone to book us in, and we were the only people eating in the resto that night, but the staff seemed grateful for something to keep them occupied!

Next day was heading to our favourite little stopover near Bordeaux. Nice little motel-type place just off the autoroute with comfortable rooms, its own safe parking and nice Pizzeria. We arrived early enough to get served this time, so happy days
View attachment 300698

While here we received an SMS from the ferry company that bad weather is likely to disrupt travel back to Jersey and are advised to contact them to change our booking. Poop.

Eventually changed our ferry sailing from a reasonable 1700 to 0700. bollocks.
Luckily we had allowed extra time or we would have been stuffed and probably stuck in France until the weathe cleared, so we booked an Ibis hotel near St Malo and hared back up to spend the night before getting up at 6AM (4AM GMT) and onto the ferry home.

Im still checking the fuel mileage. I keep a log, but need to check that Ive not missed an entry or got something wrong. So as near as I can work out now...
We did 4875 by the satnav, but that was leaving and arriving back with indeterminate amounts in the tank, so It appears that we did 4540 between full tanks and used 940.5 Litres which works out (if my maths is correct) 4.8272 Miles per Litre, or, 21.945 Miles per gallon... ish...

I was hoping to have done better, but we are hauling about 2.5T in a box with all the aerodynamics of a housebrick, and a great deal of that mileage was either doing 100kph or climbing mountains, so I suppose its not unreasonable...

Total cost for fuel while away? roughly £1,350 depending on what exchange rate you use...
Ferries cost about another £500 and I reckon hotels, campsites meals etc another 1-1.5 grand.?

So, five weeks holiday, visiting exotic interesting places and meeting some lovely people and making some great memories probably cost under £2k each...

One life...
Do it.

You ain’t stopped feckin eating

 

[mikeau]

You ain’t stopped feckin eating

Im a growing lad and need refuelling...

 

[Redcoat]

Im a growing lad and need refuelling...

He’s on holiday

 

[mikeau]

Radiator fan needs rewiring following the brew-up and subsequent bush mods...

Ive fitted a new thermostatic switch (95c/83c);

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/setrab-usa-thermal-switch-with-1-8npt-thread-ts

I have a manual switch on the dash with integral lamp, so would like the lamp in the switch to illuminate whenever the fan is running (or more accurately when it has power) either activated by the thermostatic switch or the manual over-ride.

This is what Ive come up with;

Anyone seeing any flaws with this..?

 

[andy63]

Radiator fan needs rewiring following the brew-up and subsequent bush mods...

Ive fitted a new thermostatic switch (95c/83c);

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p/setrab-usa-thermal-switch-with-1-8npt-thread-ts

I have a manual switch on the dash with integral lamp, so would like the lamp in the switch to illuminate whenever the fan is running (or more accurately when it has power) either activated by the thermostatic switch or the manual over-ride.

This is what Ive come up with;

View attachment 301643

Anyone seeing any flaws with this..?

have you got it wired and working as per your dig...if it works then you can ignore this observation....
but when your relay closes you will have a 12v feed to each side of the relay coil and a direct short if you have the fan switched manually and or the thermostatic switch closes....

 

[mikeau]

Mmmmm....

It took me some looking at but I can see what you mean, but when the relay closes it will supply 12v to the fan and to one side of the indicator lamp.
The other side of the lamp (and the relay coil) will be earthed either via the thermostatic switch or the manual override...

I think...

 

[andy63]

Mmmmm....

It took me some looking at but I can see what you mean, but when the relay closes it will supply 12v to the fan and to one side of the indicator lamp.
The other side of the lamp (and the relay coil) will be earthed either via the thermostatic switch or the manual override...

I think...

if the thermostatic switch closes the relay operates... in doing so it will also supply 12v to one side of the switch light...which already has 12v on the other side... the light won't come on...
if you were to close the manual switch at that point that 12v supplied by the relay switching would be routed straight to negative with no load... thats what im seeing... but a quick try will prove it one way or other...