Category Archives: Vehicle

Onward We Go!

Keeping posts coming with the regularity that you, our valued readers, deserve can be quite difficult at times. In my defense (Rebecca), we’ve been on the road consistently for the last few weeks and have been drinking and relaxing on the Med with friends, which is quite taxing! As such, the rigors of travel haven’t provided me with the space and time needed to dictate my thoughts and hence this post will be a long one to get things up to date! But I have included an intermission!!

Boo Hoo I hear you say!! Swanning around Europe and can’t find the time to keep your extended family of followers in the loop! Fair comment – but Jen takes an awful lot of looking after! So here goes….

We were keen on spending some time travelling west through the Alps but first on the list was a stop at Berchtesgaden – the home of Hitler’s “Eagles Nest” and it afforded us a lovely drive into these incredible mountains.

Hitler’s 50th Birthday present was built in 3 years atop a mountain precipice with jaw dropping views across the Alps and, on a clear day, as far as Salzburg.

Eagles Nest

Left untouched by the Allied bombing campaign, the only real damage was inflicted by the troops liberating the country after the fall of the Nazi Regime. Chunks of a red marble fireplace installed in the building as a gift from megalomaniac Mussolini to his megalomaniac associate were popular souvenirs.

Mussolini”s Marble Fireplace

It’s a rather simple almost unimpressive structure not exuding the level of grandeur you might expect. Certainly an incredible feat of engineering, the building now finds itself purposed as a restaurant and although I’d expected more of a museum experience with the usual dissection of Nazi ideals, the structure has been given a new life beyond it’s dark reasons for existing which in many ways have saved it from being another example of tyranny.

The 80mtr tunnel to the Brass Elevator

Hitler”s Brass Elevator

Eagles Nest Restaurant

Making west, it’s easy to find your jaw hurting a little as every road and km really provides splendid jaw dropping scenery.

Lovely Alpine Architecture

Crossing into Italy, the Dolomites made an appearance on the GPS screen and I expected to see a continuation of the same type of mountain topography as that throughout Austria. Singularly unique, the Dolomites certainly have their very own character – colours, formations and appeal, placing themselves well apart from the Alps in character almost as if they want to be different.

Dolomites Scenery

Dolomites Driving

Dolomites Pass

This whole region is as visually stunning as anywhere else that I’ve had the fortune to visit. An autumn visit also has it’s positives – great hiking trails and a lack of closed roads along with the missing tourists that would no doubt patronise this area during ski season.

The Stelvio Pass is a mandatory drive with its 48 hairpin turns up and 40 hairpin turns down depending on your direction of travel. You can share the drive with Ferrari’s and Porsche’s and every kind of motorbike sporting want-to-be Casey Stoners perched on them. Some of them may have actually been stoners given their lack of adherence to any form of road rules. They seem to feel a sense of entitlement when on these powerful machines and get angry at the fact they have to share the road! Following a heavy Nissan Patrol wasn’t what they had in mind when they plastered on their saddle cream and strapped on their leathers in anticipation of a record fast ascent to boast about over a pizza and beer later that day.

48 Switchbacks up…

And 40 Switchbacks down

Pizza and Beer!

Let’s also not forget the supercars that hammer up the straights only to find they need to take the hairpin corners slower than we do! When the hairpins are close together as with Stelvio, it would seem that “made in Japan” and a top speed of 140km an hour down hill with a tail wind is just as fast on hill climbs as all of those stallions!!

That Patrol is still behind me!!!!

I found it all rather amusing really!

Out of Italy and through Saint Moritz in Switzerland, it was the first time we’d encountered a re-activated border checkpoint within the Eurozone. Later we discovered that most Schengen borders were now, once again, manned in an attempt to stem the Syrian Refugee flow, along with the sudden exodus of people from Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia and so on, in search of a slice of Germany’s economic generosity whilst Mrs. Merkel remains at the helm and in charge of the cheque book.

Back into Italy and a look at the famous Lake Como but unfortunately it rained incessantly all day. Views of the lake were still lovely but gloomy and with a distinct lack of visibility and complete loss of vibrancy.

Lake Como

The wet theme continued as we travelled via Lake Lugano, venturing back into Switzerland before once again entering Italy on our way to France. You’ll need a map to follow that lot!

Lugano, Switzerland

Trippy Tunnel!!

Bormio, Italy

Beautiful Bormio by night

Montiglio Monferrato, Italy

San Lorenzo Church dating from the 12 century

Village Scenery enroute

A night spent in the French town of Sospel deserves a mention – a classic example of a French village, as the pictures will display. Nestled amongst large mountains and sporting beautiful scenery along with character loaded buildings hundreds of years old, it’s affordable and a real taste of village life in France, yet your only 20km from Monaco!

Sospel

Historic Bridge in Sospel

More Sospel

We’d had a date booked in for some time to meet up with friends from Perth who were staying near Saint Tropez as guests for a wedding.

So onward through Nice, as we thought it would be good to have a look at the area and see if any memories were jogged as we’d stayed there in 2005. In the end, it was worth the detour but the traffic was diabolical and slowed us down to a snails pace. We managed our rendezvous though, after submitting to the use of French toll roads in order to pick up the pace.

Friends Mick and Sue met us as we entered the village of Cogolin and Sue’s brother Chris led us out of the town via small roads and tracks to the place he calls home with wife Julie.

One minute you’re in the hustle and bustle that is life on the Med and a mere 10 minutes later, it’s peace and quite amongst vineyards and cork trees interspersed with sporadic dwellings – such a contrast.

St Tropez - Home of the Beautiful People!!

St Tropez – Home of the Plastic People!!

St Tropez

St Tropez Boats v Buildings

With such a relaxing, peaceful location away from the hustle and bustle but with such convenient access to the sparkle and glitter of Saint Tropez and the beautiful haven of Port Grimaud, it was easy to see the appeal.

Market Day, Port Grimaud

Ample supplies of beer and wine left over from Chris and Julie’s daughter’s wedding just days earlier, made our stay even more enjoyable! The stun juice flowed endlessly and it seemed a shame to let it go to waste!

Drinks with old and new friends!

With Chris displaying exemplary skills in both fire making and BBQ techniques combined with Julie’s continuous supply of tasty treats we left indebted to these great people and hope to see them again should our paths cross.

Chris’s Swedish Candle?

Catching up With Mick and Sue was a great distraction from life on the road. So nice to meet up with friends from home and speak some Australian for a few days.

Intermission – Time to grab a coffee or go back to work!!

Pernes les Fontaines was the town in our sights now after an invitation arrived in our inbox from Philip and Bianca (whom we’d been so fortunate to spend time with in Germany) to join them for dinner. On offer was a restaurant with a highly regarded menu of quality produce, a waiting list for reservations and overnight camper van parking! “Would we be able to join them as a space could be made available for us?”

Well, we like our food and it can be a real challenge finding a venue that will live up to your expectations and budget when you have very limited language skills. Wow! It was worth the effort! Outstanding food along with emotive and full-bodied conversation, we’d had yet another sensational interlude with 2 of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. It was over all too quickly for my liking. The following morning with hopeful plans of future interludes in place, we departed in opposite directions.

Pont du Gard, Avignon, France

Sommieres

Sommieres Architecture

Sommieres River

A poignant reminder…

Roman ruins and ancient villages rolling by, we found our way a few days later to Narbonne in the South of France. Back in Turkey, we’d met some avid travellers who had invited us to visit en-route to Morocco along with offering the use of their factory should we need to perform any maintenance. Not just a factory, but a 4×4 specialist camper building facility! Being on the same page as these guys made life very easy for me.

Globe Camper

Mecca Engineering and Globe Camper combine to build custom camper units along with all of the upgrades to the 4×4 that you could ever require. Skander and Dave have one of those unique working relationships that just works, not to mention Skander’s wife Veronique TIG welding in the background whilst Dave’s wife Monica fits a Webasto heater and plumbs it up. 2 great couples combining to build high quality campers ready for Morocco’s High Atlas or anywhere else you’d like to venture sums these dynamos up.

Skander and Veronique at work

From the moment we entered the factory it was like being with family! Nothing was too much trouble and work was instantly put on hold to provide us with what ever we needed.

First on the agenda were replacement tyres! At the end of this post there is a little more about the tyre situation for those who are interested.

With tyres ordered, I now had time to service the Patrol whilst Jen tinted the passenger’s side window! The replacement window that I’d fitted after it was shot with an air rifle in the UK wasn’t tinted and she was complaining of getting burnt – the little petal!

Over the next couple of days we ticked off numerous other little jobs that we hadn’t had the time or a suitable venue to sort out. It was incredibly nice having a fully functioning factory to perform such tasks as opposed to what had become the standard – a paddock or car park! I cannot over-emphasise how grateful we were to have unlimited use of their factory, equipment and knowledge. Big THANKS guys!!!

Being treated to a lovely Tapas lunch in Narbonne was totally unexpected especially since we knew these guys were under pressure to get a camper delivered in a couple of days but still they made time to ensure our stay was outstanding.

We did eventually leave them to get back on with their lives but not before they’d made sure we had track files for the Pyrenees and Morocco and anything else we required had been taken care of. Cant’ thank them enough! Hopefully we can convince them to join us for a tour of WA sometime in the future.

Our friends at Globe Campers and Mecca Engineering

With days slipping by it was into the Pyrenees via the unusual little country of Andorra with its tax-free cigarettes and alcohol along with much cheaper fuel. It is an odd little place full of fancy ski resorts and not overly appealing other than the standard mountain views that are always welcome. It does however have some great off road trails meandering thorough its countryside.

Carcassone, France, enroute to Andorra

Andorra

We managed to depart Andorra via a well-known trail aptly called the Smuggler’s Route due to the trafficking of tax-free goods over the mountains and into Spain. It must be fact, as after a long low range descent and now finding ourselves within Spain’s’ borders, we were stopped for a cursory check and questioning as to whether we were carrying any of those cheap Andorran products via the local Police! Another visit to the Pyrenees without the time pressure of a dwindling Schengen Visa would be welcome as without doubt these lovely mountains offer some great camping and off road driving.

Smuggler’s Route Terrain

Great Pyrenees Scenery

We pretty much hit the highway at this point and put in 1100km over the next 2 days. We did manage a few side detours and interesting visits along the way however, probably one of the most notable being Toledo.

Toledo, Spain

Jen had visited previously and remembered it to be worth the effort! It all went a bit pear shaped as we decided that we would break our own rule and drive near to the centre rather than a long walk, as time was an issue.

Passing the maximum width 2m sign, I already knew I’d made a mistake. I’ve been caught before but it would seem I’m a slow learner. (PS. We are exactly 2 mtrs wide!)

Well about 20 minutes of extremely stressful navigation amongst throngs of goggle eyed tourists along cobbled very narrow lane ways ensued! Wing mirrors grazing buildings as you idle by and tourists gasping as you just miss historic brickwork in order to make ridiculously tight corners is a give away that you shouldn’t be there! I even had to park up for a while after it was all over to settle the nerves! But the town was pretty nice!!!

Anyway it’s all on the car camera so I’ll see how it looks and put it up for all to see and as a warning to others! PARK OUTSIDE the CENTRE and walk in rather than thinking it’ll be OK!

The Spanish countryside along the South East is rather dull and uninteresting with km after km of flat and uninteresting terrain reminiscent of central Queensland I thought. The odd visit to a village made the journey seem less rushed and broke the monotony of the highway.

Castles and windmills in Spain

Gibraltar appeared and we arranged our ferry tickets from an agent in Algeciras recommended by Dave from Globe Camper. Good thing too as it was much cheaper than the internet and others!! A quick stock up with shopping including a reasonable selection of alcoholic beverages and it was onto the ferry. We hit the North African coast at the port of Tanger Med.

Ferry to Morocco

Stay tuned for the next instalment!

Cheers – Justin.

Tyre Update for those interested.

We’ve had a few problems with the Cooper ST MAXX tyres as some of you may know but were hopeful of continuing on the current set through to the USA as Cooper Australia had indicated to me some time ago that they may be able to sort something out with Cooper Head Office in the USA for our onward journey – an offer of which I am very appreciative.

As such, with intermittent visits to tire shops for rebalancing as best they could and one tyre losing air via splitting around the bead I was left with only 1 reliable spare but I’d still persisted with the vision of stretching their lifespan a little longer.

It had come to the point however that I felt the possibility of a blowout or other high-speed incident was likely with really bad splits developing around the beads and a lot of delamination between the white lettering and black rubber.

Delamination

The prospect of thousands of kms of harsh terrain in Morocco made the decision for me – they had to come off.

I’ve had numerous sets of Cooper STT’s prior to this version and found them to be a thoroughly reliable tyre, albeit with a low km lifespan as expected from a mud profile tyre. The ST MAXX’s have now travelled an admirable 56000km with plenty of tread remaining and if it weren’t for the presence of these faults, would have met the task required of them and fulfilled their life expectancy.

Still plenty of tread

Uneven wear

Vertical splits on the sidewall and lateral splitting around the bead however, of which there are many reports on the Internet, would seem to be an issue with this version. Maybe they’ve sorted it out with newer models but I can only go on my own experience. With 2 complete failures and all the others indicating similar areas of concern, it was an easy decision.

Vertical Sidewall split replaced in Russia

Reluctant to find myself in the same situation again, I replaced them with BFG Ko2’s, which are BFGoodrich’s latest offering and competitor to the Cooper ST MAXX. I’ll see how these go over the next months and hopefully report back with all positives.

New Boots!

Morocco

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Our European counterparts may not have as easy access to unpopulated lands as the Australian local, but WOW! – With Morocco just over that narrow gap of sea between continents, they do have outstanding opportunities to test their cultural comfort zone!

A few hours drive and a car ferry and you could well be on Mars! Such a contrast in lifestyle and culture…

Can’t recall the last time I camped whilst Bedouin nomads lit a fire within metres of our camp and spent the evening observing us like we were an episode of “Neighbours”, before hinting that we could unburden ourselves of anything we didn’t need in their direction, including our dinner! Returning at dawn, they sat amongst the dunes for one final episode and with some fossils and trinkets to sell, they made some cash before the entertainment disappeared through the sand dunes with a puff of black smoke.

Nomad Family watching “Neighbours”

You can see them sitting just behind the cars waiting for us to wake up.

It’s an odd experience! You may well be on Mars, but to these locals you’re the Martian!

So for the European 4×4 enthusiast it’s no surprise that Morocco is their “Mecca” and beckons their return time and time again.

Now for Morocco!

90 minutes on the ferry and Spain slips away! With Gibraltar hazily visible on the horizon, the first challenge is negotiating customs! It was weirdly refreshing to once again dodge scam artists around the port and receive mixed instructions from officials without much in the way of a streamlined process!

Gibraltar across the narrow sea

“You don’t have the right signature!” (Well I think that is what he said!) “Go back that way somewhere” is suggested with a wave through 90 degrees of the hand to get the extra signature. As expected there was no one back in that general direction to provide any form of mark on the confusing piece of paper! No wait – there he is, he wasn’t at his control station because he was hungry/tired/angry just as the ferry arrived!

To be honest though, Morocco was the height of efficiency compared to many of the Central Asian border crossings…

I expected it to take a little time readjusting to life beyond Europe but was comfortably surprised to feel quite at home from the off!

Whilst Morocco has it’s share of modern town infrastructure with golf courses and the like, they are certainly aimed squarely at the tourist and very, very few and far between.

Within metres of leaving these towns, you’ll not see anything remotely touristy, it’s back to mud huts, donkeys for transport, poor quality infrastructure and butchers with the day’s carcass swinging in the breeze on the sidewalk.

Shopping Moroccan Style

The iconic blue buildings of Chefchaouen

Combined people and animal transport

This was one of the better ones!

Cities such as Fes and Marrakech absolutely ooze Moroccan character with the medinas (old town) and souks (markets) virtually unchanged after hundreds of years (except maybe for the infiltration of Chinese plastic goods!) Particularly so in the case of Fes – the medina and souk there contain the famous tannery that literally oozes not to mention the marvellous miasma of fumes that tends to emanate from such places. You can actually pass out whilst walking and wake up a few metres further on without breaking step so I discovered!

The Souk in Fes

If you could bottle it, you’d surely outsell pepper spray as a personal deterrent!

Good way of hiding mobile phone infrastructure!

Following some GPS track files passed on to us by our friends back at Globe Camper in Narbonne, we found our way easily and quickly into areas of Central Morocco that were wonderfully eye catching with friendly people and terrain loaded with perfect camping opportunities. We wasted a few days just wandering the landscape enjoying the sensation of wild camping by ourselves again. One day we only moved 8kms!!

Great camping terrain

Low mountains in the mid north of the country are loaded with interesting outcrops of granite interspersed with wonderfully attractive forests of cedar trees. These give way to the Middle then High Atlas Mountains, still with a smattering of snow in Autumn – lovely scenery that reminded me why we love to travel.

Huge Cedar Trees

Diverse terrain

Interesting Villages

Heading south the mountains began to relinquish their hold as the atrophy of millennia has ground away the geography to create stunning river canyons before dissipating into the stark beauty that is the Sahara Desert.

The entrance to Dades Gorge

Todra Gorge

Beautiful date palm valleys

and special tourists….

As the track files ran out, we gravitated back to our usual style of route finding. Morocco is loaded with off road tracks so it’s not at all difficult to plan a journey to suit.

Came across a wedding celebration

Not sure why they needed a rifle!!!

Travelling through the Atlas however was a little bitter sweet. One of my most memorable interactions with the locals north of the Atlas, was a farmer and his family stopping their tractor in order to welcome us to Morocco and provide us with a swag of delicious fruit they had just harvested. Once in the midst of the Atlas however, I was close to being put off the country completely!

Local Farmer welcoming us to Morocco

Of all of the countries, people, customs and practices that we’ve experienced during our travels, this was the first time we’ve had rocks thrown at the Patrol, Jen hissed at by devout women for not being completely covered as we drove by and horses ushered across the road in an attempt to force us to stop. Large rocks rolled in front of us whilst under way, groups of young boys on hilltops with rock laden slingshots aimed at us and being abused as you travel thorough a village slowly so as not to either run over someone or cover them in mud.

I’ve no doubt this behaviour is as a result of well meaning tourists travelling the backcountry in and out of relatively poor villages handing out swathes of first world stuff such as lollies, cheap souvenirs and probably the odd cash/coin hand out as well! Possibly feeling they have descended on the tribe as the missionaries of an era gone by, they broach the differences and befriend the indigenous folk with trinkets from the north, thus providing themselves with a warm glow and tales of the exotic beyond the seas to tell late into the night upon their return.

However, this behaviour only instills in the children that the distinctive foreign vehicle is a source of easy income and goods for a family living off the land and suddenly schooling is abandoned (along with any future that it may provide) in favour of begging and ambushing tourists. So it goes without saying that when you travel through one of these villages without spewing forth such items, you are then the target of their anger and frustration and the aforementioned rock throwing begins!

As it’s becomes worse, no doubt some travellers may fold to the pressure in order to avoid the friction, dents and broken windows that may ensue but ultimately that will encourage the behaviour, as children will pursue what yields results!

The lower agricultural lands have an obviously higher standard of income and far less, if any, begging was experienced. The problems encountered were only in a localized section of the Atlas Mountains and a few hours driving saw us clear to engage and enjoy local hospitality once again!

Buying potatoes from a local farmer whose wife then suggested I should give her my Seiko watch! The potatoes weren’t that good!!!!

Our nights meal being prepared

Evening entertainment

A bit of dancing!

We did cross this area again on our return northwards with similar behaviour experienced but we were a bit more proactive the second time, thanks to some sound advice from a French overlander. Slamming on the brakes and pulling out the camera in order to mug shot the perpetrators proved remarkably effective in dissuading rock throwing.

Yes, you will be punished if you’re caught on film with such intention and Jen leaping from the car, camera in hand, to leg it after the culprits also proved to be a hilarious deterrent!!

One of the culprits!

No doubt, tourism is the big earner for Morocco and stopping for any length of time, and on occasion even when camped in secure compounds, your subjected to the usual barrage!

“You want to see Sahara my friend?”

“You must have me as guide! I can do this for you!”

“What do you mean? “no – you don’t need a guide!””

“You can’t drive the Sahara alone!! You will die without my skills!“

“OK OK! Maybe you want buy genuine Berbere carpet (for a ridiculously exorbitant amount of money!) or jewellery maybe? My uncle he makes himself!”

Yada yada yada…

It’s continual and predictable, but easily overcome!

Another Moroccan oddity is the Bedouin! Nomadic and wandering every nook and cranny all over southern Morocco, it’s almost impossible to expect a night of solitude.

At some point, just as you relax into your calming beverage, the sound of approaching goats lets you know they are on their way. You will be visited and eventually met with a request for food, clothes or other, again most likely driven by their past experiences with tourists doling out their discards. Generally speaking, these people were not necessarily poor by Moroccan standards, more so opportunistic, but in a way that was not confronting or off putting. They would eventually wave and wander off with a smile to relocate their herd of goats!

On quite a few occasions, souvenir sellers would suggest whisky or wine as a universal currency able to be traded at substantially more than its face value for nearly anything, which surprised me considerably given the non drinking religious status of the locals!

For a people that don’t drink they certainly produce a lot of wine!

We felt that the more remote nomads to the southeast had a better handle on the tourist. In the middle of nowhere, rather than beg, on many an occasion they would have a little trestle with some homemade camel souvenirs or maybe a collection of locally found fossils for sale. They were not pushy or aggressive and as a result we purchased quite a few items from such enterprising locals, frequently children. We can only hope these lessons spread further to the north and penetrate the thinking there for I fear it won’t be long before some areas within the Atlas region will find themselves devoid of tourists and the cash injection they bring to the community in general.

Buying locally made toy camels

Fossils for sale

Enroute to the Saharan dunes of Erg Chebbi, we met up with a Swedish family travelling solo and, as we were heading in the same direction, ended up spending a week together before parting company! It was nice chatting away into the evening with other independent travellers with there own interesting stories.

Fredrik and Cathrin

Fredrik and Cathrin’s GQ Patrol having a swim

Over extremely harsh, rocky tyre smashing terrain we descended off the plateau and into a more Saharan landscape and discovered our first true Saharan Oasis! The stunning backdrop of shifting dunes overlooking a grove of date palms loaded with yellow fruit and a Bedouin pulling water from a hole was really just as you would expect it look!

Saharan Oasis Camp

The dunes of Erg Chebbi really are stunning and sunset is when the colour palate expands and the red sand becomes a canvas on some huge imaginary easel. The striking scenes change within seconds as darkness descends and the desert night sky reveals its bright pin pricks of light from horizon to horizon. It’s so encompassing that you could be forgiven for ducking your head to avoid colliding with a star!

View from camp

With tyre pressures lowered, we just had to sample the great dunes, however, I’ve no doubt that with an uncontrolled spike in adrenalin you could find yourself quickly on your lid amongst these grand sandy peaks.

Fredrik got a bit excited!

Satellite imagery for navigation around the back of the dunes

Across the border into Algeria, the Erg (sand sea) and palm tree spectacle continues for another 1000km or so… However, setting foot into the Algerian Sahara comes with it’s own risks; not returning with your head attached being one of them!

Along Morocco’s southern border with Algeria we travelled in and out of sporadic villages whilst picking up clouds of bull dust (locally called “feche feche”) as heavy as anything I’ve ever encountered in Australia. Hence, we were very happy that dust sealing had been such a high priority in our camper design – without that feature, it would have been the same powder dust experience inside as out without doubt!

With a strong military presence along the border we found ourselves being stopped consistently for passport checks. It’s all a little “Keystone Cops” really as checkpoints are many km’s apart and you can roam in any direction without ever being spotted! It was made all the more humorous when, within site of one outpost, we wandered north into Moroccan territory for a few km’s, very slowly in low range, with the aim of looking around some small valleys that looked rather interesting – something we’d been doing all along this route.

Moroccan Army

All the while we were clearly visible to our military protectors until the last 50 or so metres when we parked in a small valley! Ten minutes later and there they were, camouflage uniforms, flip-flop sandals and a custom LandCruiser that rarely touched mother earth, it was going so fast!

Honestly, I think they were just bored and looking for some excitement, as they seemed disappointed when we were just tourists! Radio calls were made to report back the results of their scramble to action and every checkpoint after knew that we were the “Australians” on the radio!!!

Anyway it was nice to have them looking out for us!

We ended up camping just outside a small military compound that night. One of the troops provided us with some vegies for dinner with the obvious ulterior motive of engaging Jen in what bordered on inappropriate conversation! Sick of having goats to keep them warm at night I guess! Nonetheless it was an experience!

Military outpost

Turning northwards, we visited Ait Ben Haddou and its famous Ksar then headed via Tata and Tafraoute where we experienced some of the most stunning drives we encountered in Morocco before we popped out on the Atlantic Coast near Agadir.

The Ksar at Ait Ben Haddou - famous film location

The Ksar at Ait Ben Haddou – a famous film location over the years

Moroccan Aerospace development

Not really sure how this found its way to Morocco

Or how I even begin to explain this…

The beautiful scenery of Tafraoute

Locals swimming near Agadir

Camel and Donkey ploughing fields

Our beach camp overlooking the Atlantic

Making our way north, we visited Essaouira and it’s famous fish market! The town although rather touristy, still managed to charm us with a great vibe, narrow streets and interesting views along with a wind whipped sea crashing into the old town’s sea wall!

The fish market was the second time I managed to pass out whilst walking, only this time I think I managed a 100-metre wander before coming to!

Not sure if Justin is conscious…

From there it was finally to Marrakech and despite some mixed opinions from other travellers, we really enjoyed the souk experience and wandering around the old medina. We were expecting to be harassed by relentless touts offering to be our guide and stifling crowds, but instead found it to be a much more pleasant experience. I suppose it all depends on your expectations and the extremities of your comfort zone.

Koutoubia Mosque – Marrakech

The Souk – Marrakech

A slow doddle north via a mix of geography including another stint in the High Atlas, the Roman archaeological site of Volubilis and a few more days relaxing on the sea, we arrived back where we’d started at the Port of Tanger Med. Nearly 5000km of Morocco behind us we crossed back to Algeciras and straight into a Lidl Supermarket! Ahhhh it’s amazing the things you miss…

Imi-n-Ifri Natural Bridge

Volubilis Roman Ruins

Intricate Roman Mosaics

The harbour at Moulay Bousselham

Not so sure about the quality of the electrical supply in the campground but I'm sure there was an RCD somewhere??? We actually used this!

Not so sure about the quality of the electrical supply in the campground but I’m sure there was an RCD somewhere??? We were actually expected to use this!!!

Gibraltar, Spain and the dash across Portugal next time!

Justin.

Time for a rest

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Firstly, Jen and I both hope that all have experienced a wonderfully relaxing Christmas and New Year and we sincerely hope that you are as excited about the year ahead as we are.

So it’s been a while since we last posted an update but we didn’t want to intrude on our valued friends Christmas and New Year celebrations with incoherent ramblings from the other side of the Globe!

I hear you scoffing at that little white lie! It’s true – I’ve been pretty slack!

Or maybe it was a case of writers block as has been suggested to me in a pleasant email that I just received! Thanks for that Bec… Just the motivation I needed!

It was time to leave Morocco behind and begin the journey toward the UK for a rest and refresh before the next leg!

A quick check of the ferry timetable and the decision was taken to make an early start for the final 100km’s back to Tanger Med Port for the 11am departure! Arriving on time it was nice to hear that the 11am ferry would not be running providing us with plenty of time to relax in the car park before the 2pm ferry –Yaaaayh!

European Mainland within Sight!

The rock of Gibraltar really is quite striking as you approach from the straights!

Off the ferry and firmly back on European soil in Algeciras, it was only a short drive around the coast to where our Camper Contact App (best €6 we’ve ever spent!) once again provided us with a great location to park up for the night.

View by Night

View at Dawn

The following day, we found ourselves wandering across a border and airstrip into what really is an unusual little enclave that has remained firmly in the possession of the United Kingdom for decades – Gibraltar. Even someone completely devoid of any knowledge of military tactics would, I’m sure, with one gaze across the narrow straight separating Europe from Africa, realise why being in possession of the Rock of Gibraltar is such an obvious tactical coup.

The small community south of the Spanish border really does provide the illusion that your back in Britain with numerous little English pubs displaying lunch boards with that ubiquitous English favourite, Fish and Chips!

Main Street, Gibraltar

Moorish Castle

Wandering amongst heritage buildings bordered by a lovely waterfront that sports apartments, restaurants and hotels all sitting snuggly with the backdrop of the white sandstone rock, the whole area does have a nice vibe about it. Certainly not for the budgeting traveller however, it was easy to see why there is an exodus north into Spain for anything from accommodation to food once you start noticing the prices!

Floating Hotel

An example for you! – There was a Burger King sign displaying a special XXL Bacon Cheese burger with fries and a drink for the very XXL tariff of £8 .10 which for those Aussies on the slipping $AUD equates to just under $17! Ouch… The same billboard a couple of hundred metres to the north back in Spain provided the same Burger King meal for €7.15 or $11AUD…..

Beautiful Coastal Vistas

Through numerous towns and small roads we wandered north-enjoying Spanish highlights such as Seville, with its lovely historic buildings set amongst swathe’s of lovely parklands. It’s rapidly back to tourist reality however, with strings of huge tour coaches and people moving in every direction like ants! I’d have to admit I wasn’t all that sorry to see it in the rear view mirror!

We made a detour west in order to have a little taste of Portugal along with the fact that your allowed to free camp alongside reservoirs in Portugal – numerous opportunities were presenting on the map and, along with our handy Camper Contact App, we found ourselves relaxing on the shores of a pretty lake with that lovely feeling of being far away from the pressures of life. Had it not been for the ever-present time limit attached to the Schengen zone we ‘d have stayed a lot longer – Alas…

Nature camping at its best

Friendly Dutchman Emile and his trusty travelling companion

We spent a couple more days wandering north via Portugal before heading back into Spain.

Harvested Cork Tree

Small Portuguese villages

Not the recommended way to level your camper!!!

Camped beneath the castle walls in Bragança, Portugal

We endeavoured to find the largest Carrefour shopping centre that we could in order to load up on drinks priced in Euro’s rather than Pounds for our upcoming stay back in England. We have never seen duty free alcohol limits the likes of the UK!!! (with the caveat of “Personal Use Only”)a pallet load of Alcohol (I’m exaggerating of course) loaded into the Patrol, we boarded the Ferry from Santander late in the afternoon for an overnight sailing to Portsmouth!

Yes – that’s Litres!!!!

Departing Santander

Sunset on board…

The cruise was quite relaxing with a mix of entertainment on board but it did become quite rough during the wee hours to the point where we began to wonder if our vehicle would still be where we left it when we went down to retrieve it at journeys end!

Portsmouth

Arriving back in Littlehampton was strangely like returning home! Familiar faces and another stint enjoying the fantastic house we’ve been lucky to ride out 2 winters in to date! Jen wandered into a local bookshop that we’d patronized the previous year and was recognized immediately – “you’re the Australian girl staying here in Littlehampton!” Followed by an invite to join them after hours along with some of their other select customers to enjoy some pre-Christmas snacks, drinks and live music! We might even miss Littlehampton…!!

Justin And Gerry

Another couple of local stalwarts, Gerry and Margaret, kindly offered us a space where we would be able park the Patrol on the hardstand at the rear of there home, which was eagerly accepted!

Parking around the UK is a real nightmare. The moment you drive off, your street parking space is gone and you end up lapping the neighborhood numerous times in the hunt for a new one. So with off street parking sorted, we’ve been able to start preparing the Patrol for it’s next sojourn.

We have spent quite a few hours high pressure spraying and cleaning the vehicle and camper in preparation for a customs and quarantine inspection upon its arrival into North America. Removing the seats and much of the interior ended up being part of the process. Dead bugs, grass and dirt seems to find its way into every nook and cranny, but we are now confident that we’ve managed to clean it to an acceptable standard.

Another important task on our to do list was to apply for our US Visa’s. As we plan to stay in the US longer than 90 days, we needed to apply for a full B1/B2 non-resident tourist visa instead of the usual electronic authorisation.

Getting Visa Photos – No Smiling

After filling out the requisite forms with our life and financial history, and of course paying the required fee, we needed to schedule an interview appointment at the nearest US Embassy, which of course was in London! After shipping and flights, visas would have to be one of the most expensive parts of this sort of travel!

It had been 10years since our last visit to London so we were due a visit to refresh our memory.

After 2 hours inside the US Embassy, (along with hundreds of other hopefuls), we left with the knowledge that our visa’s had been approved and it was on to sightseeing before our return to Littlehampton. Surprisingly, we had better weather this time in winter than we did on our last visit in the middle of summer! Who can pick the British weather…

A greater armed presence…

Number 10 Downing Street

Picadilly Circus

Big Ben

Houses of Parliament, Westminster

Christmas Eve heralded the arrival of some travelling companions that we were keen to catch up with. Land Cruiser packed, Erik and Mieke departed Holland after 1pm with half a days work already behind them and after several hours driving and a ferry ride that, according to Erik, was something akin to a Rollercoaster, they arrived at 10pm to enjoy Christmas with us.

Erik and Justin

Mieke and Jen

We weren’t surprised by the description of the ferry crossing as the sea had been a boiling mess of windy white-capped fury all day from our balcony view…

We enjoyed a festive week of drinking, cooking and eating. Not just simple cooking either – Eric basted and cooked Peking Duck on one occasion and Jen cooked the full Traditional Christmas Dinner – examples of the tuff times that we had to endure over the Christmas period.

Christmas Feast

Highlights of our time with them included freezing walks along the coast, a day trip to both Arundel and Brighton and a couple of days rest in the middle (allowing our swollen livers to resume normal function) whilst our guests ventured into London for their own memory refresher.

Brighton Royal Pavillion – Could be forgiven for thinking you were in India!

Not really the weather for swimming!

Another highlight was our own personal sky-show! Unlike our home island where you have to protect stupid people from themselves, it does seem the Brits are considerably more liberal in this regard.

And I have to say that $60 AUD worth of exploding pyrotechnics that lasted about 2 minutes would have to be some of the best fun I’ve had in a long time.

I will really miss setting off rockets!

In the coming weeks, we will depart Littlehampton heading for Belgium where we will drop off our trusty Patrol for it’s cruise across the Atlantic! We will spend some time back in Holland before departing Europe one last time for Orlando in Florida.

A week later, which will be roughly the end of March, we should be reunited with our vehicle and begin our North American adventures.

Stay with us as we journey across, up and down the Americas and hopefully tick off our own version of the Pan-American drive….

Cheers

Justin

Well that was good wasn’t it…

2 Replies

Truthfully, it’s been a struggle finding my way back to the keyboard, partly due to the realisation that when I finish typing on this occasion, it will be the final post of our journey. Another reason for the struggle relates to the previous post in which I mentioned our hope that the return of the Patrol to Australia would not see us subjected to the type of behaviour that various other travellers returning vehicles to Australia have spoken of.

It would appear that I’d been somewhat delusional in that thought process for, without doubt, you’d think I was kidding if I were to relay just how badly it went. Being on the receiving end of such unprofessional behaviour and overpriced maritime services at the hands of our fellow Australians left us with a bill of almost $AUD2800 before the vehicle would be released. That’s 3 times the amount we paid clearing the vehicle in Russia and 5 times the amount we paid in the US after shipping in from Europe. Packing the vehicle and shipping it all the way to Perth from the US was a quite reasonable $AUD3400 but with such exorbitant clearing charges added on at the Australian end it does leave quite a sour taste in your mouth. An official complaint to Quarantine about the conduct of the officer concerned and a little vehicle damage from the unnecessary cleaning all made for a wonderful welcome home.

Invoice for inbound handling from the shipping company

More fees from everyone else that glanced at the container!!..None of these includes the shipping!!!! That was the cheap bit by comparison.

The Next Bill…

I’m not sure how it will all pan out moving forward, with aspirations of further overland travel still bubbling around the blood stream. The thought of returning a vehicle to Australia again is currently less appealing to me than a dose of dysentery in a Bombay food market!

Ok – so with the negative stuff out of the way, it’s time to take all of our readers with us to the finishing gate!

There was no chance that we’d be making the long transit home to Perth flying right by the beautiful Hawaiian Islands without dropping in for a dose of the Aloha spirit. The “Big Island” was our main focus on this visit with the Kilauea Volcano the dominant draw card.

Some of the Aloha Spirit!!

Arriving late into Kona, we went to collect our pre-booked hire car and, with an unexpected free upgrade, it would seem that fate might actually exist. What better way to end the final stage of our overland journey in a Nissan Patrol than finishing the drive in a Nissan Armada!

The Nissan Armada

Kona Coast

Our accommodation for the next few days sat perched on the slopes of a hillside about half an hour south of Kona with panoramic views of the west coast. Beautiful tropical temperatures beckoned us to explore…

Our accommodation high above Kealakekua Bay

A Visitor to our accommodation

Colourful wildlife

Colourful Cardinal

From our home base we headed off for about a one-hour downhill hike through wooded terrain interspersed with farmland before we arrived at the idyllic Kealakekua Bay. Its crystal clear turquoise water was made even more inviting by the film of sweat that covered us by the time we got there! The moment we descended below the cool surface of the water and our eyes adjusted, beautiful tropical fish surrounded us!

Fish..

Fish…

and more fish!

Not a Spinner Dolphin!!

Really stunning but unfortunately, a few other tourists knew about it as well! Most of them arrive by boat so there is the odd moment of relative peace between boat departures and arrivals but aside from the magnificent snorkelling and frequent visits from spinner dolphins, the other main reason not to miss this spectacular bay is that it’s also the site of Captain James Cook’s demise at the hands of the Hawaiian Islanders in 1779. With Cook’s amazing achievements in his short life, I wonder how different the geographic boundaries that underpin our maps and atlases of today would appear, if not for his death here.

Kealakekua Bay and the Captain Cook Monument

Inscription

With places of interest that appealed to us marked on our map, we headed off for a lap of the island over the next week.

Stark and gnarly, the harsh black volcanic rock rises from the Pacific Ocean to give both form and life to the island. Where the aqua blue ocean meets the cold remnants of the once flowing lava, gritty beaches have formed through tidal erosion over millennia, ranging in colour from green to black giving the whole place a wonderful vibrancy.

Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

Totems at Pu’uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park

St Benedict’s Painted Church south of Kona

The southernmost tip of the "Big Island" - South Point

The southernmost tip of the “Big Island” – cleverly named “South Point”

Appropriate dress for hiking to Green Sand Beach???

Green Sand Beach was easier reached by a local truck ride.

We chose to reach Green Sand Beach by a local truck ride instead of the gruelling hike.

Green Sand Beach caused by the presence of Olivine

Green Sand Beach caused by the presence of Volcanic Olivine

Olivine Green Sand

Black Sand Beach south of Hilo

Turtles on Black Sand Beach

Known for its range of climatic zones, the island contains arid desert regions, tropical rain forest and even alpine tundra. From the balmy warmth at sea level, a couple of hours drive in the car will see you at the 14,000ft peak of Mauna Kea with snow covered peaks and an altitude induced headache if your not careful! One of the only places in the world where you can experience several climatic zones in the same day!

From Sea to Summit – Hilo to Mauna Kea Summit at 14,000ft

Mt Kilauea Volcano sits on the southeastern side of the island and is stunning. The caldera, which is the cauldron of bubbling molten lava within the rim of the volcano, is about a mile from the Jaggar Museum Observation Centre and it is truly amazing and probably a little humbling. We were lucky that Kilauea had been experiencing a period of heightened activity resulting in an elevated level of lava within the crater, making viewing much easier and particularly spectacular at night.

Kilauea Caldera

Lava Lake as evening descends at the Jaggar Museum Overlook

The lava lake in the Kilauea Caldera

We’ve all watched documentaries on the power of volcanoes and the forces below the earth’s surface but to witness, first hand, boiling rock forced into the inky night sky as it’s forced out of the planet like water from a hose, really brings home the power contained within the Earth.

Erupting lava

From the caldera, the lava makes it’s way through underground fissures and tubes like a network of pipes before eventually, with the help of gravity, finding its way to the ocean and continuing the seemingly never ending task of increasing the size of the island.

Given the lava is always on the move, the best locations to view the lava meeting the ocean are also constantly moving. At the time of our visit, approaching from the east of the current lava field provided the best viewing and with bicycle hire available from just outside the National Park, made the journey from the closest car park to the lava field much less daunting than a long hike in the heat. The western side, within the National Park, only has access via a long extremely hot arduous hike of approximately 12kms but does have some other interesting points of interest en-route.

Road consumed by lava

Petroglyphs

Lava Field

We hired bikes on the eastern side of the Lava field to make the 5km journey to the latest outbreak of molten rock as the roads are closed to cars.

Our “Tour de Hawaii”

Entering the Park from the East on Bicycle

Another bizarre observation, although I found this one less astounding than the lava, was the strange approach of the National Parks Department. In these days of litigation and the fact that we now have to walk as slow as the slowest person in order to protect us from ourselves, I found myself smirking at the temporary viewing area a little later that evening.

After parking our bikes with the multitude of other volcano visitors, a plastic barrier and a couple of uninformed rangers guided us down the 100metres or so to the ocean where we strained to see an amazing lava hose pipe spewing it’s fiery contents into the sea. Plumes of superheated seawater burst upward as the lava boils the sea on contact before it hardens to form Hawaii’s newest piece of land. It’s quite a way off but the sight is quite astounding and, of course, with the propensity of the lava to breakthrough at any location along the coast, a level of safety must exist.

Liquid Lava Meets Ocean

New land being created…

We had heard there were areas where it was possible to see the lava up close and personal and had packed torches, spare batteries, water and so on in anticipation of a trek in the darkness to observe the glowing magma.

Once back up to the bicycle area, we asked the rangers if and where it was possible to see lava, but their clueless response suggested that we should just aimlessly walk off into the lava field and try our luck! “Just walk that way (a vague swing of the arm covering 90degrees) about 45 minutes and you might find some.” That instruction was the reason I found myself smirking. Fences and rangers with signs restricting everything you do at the initial viewing area but after that you can wander off and fall into the lava if you like! Who knows how these crowd control policies are conceived.

The aimless pursuit of lava

The once fluid rock…

So up the hillside we ventured, backpack on and head torches at the ready. As the daylight waned we headed out across the expanse of freshly hardened lava and generally aimed for some distant people and a string of steam vents. Cutting to the chase, we zigzagged all over the place and at one point were rather concerned that the earth may just open up beneath us as the heat from the molten rock flowing under the surface and hence our feet made the temperature like that of an oven!! Just as we prepared to abandon the venture as hopeless, we spotted a group of people that seemed engaged in something interesting and finally achieved our goal – lava!!

Target Acquired!!!

I guess you’d expect it to be hot in such a situation and if I said I could toast a ham and cheese sandwich from 10ft away I wouldn’t be overstating the radiating heat.

As close as the heat would allow…

Once our appetite for viewing the slowly creeping lava was satiated, darkness had engulfed us completely and it was head torches on as we began the long trek back to our bikes. The moment we illuminated the lava field surface, it was like a metamorphosis had occurred right in front of us. The surface now looked for lack of a better description like it had been dusted with sparkling diamonds. Just amazing and hopefully we have caught the effect with the camera. Truly one of the most amazing sights I’ve ever observed and equally worth seeing!!! We are so glad that we persevered – many others gave up!!

The Sparkling Lava Field – photos just can’t do it justice!

Sparkling Lava Rock

The following day we made for the backbone of The Big Island, snow covered peaks appeared and we achieved our first view of Mauna Kea Summit and it’s collection of international astronomical observatories.

The Onizuka Visitor Centre has been constructed conveniently at an altitude of 9,200ft where visitors are requested to spend half an hour acclimatising before the last few thousand feet are ascended to reach the observatories perched around the summit. The crystal clear cold air, altitude and lack of light pollution make it the ideal location for celestial viewing and you could be forgiven for forgetting you are in the middle of the Hawaiian Islands!

Atop Mauna Kea complete with snow!

Sunset at Mauna Kea

The road to the visitor centre is sealed but beyond it to the summit is 5 miles of steep graded gravel road with quite a few switchbacks and is only suited to true 4WD vehicles with low range. I only mention it, as there are some signs at the visitor centre telling tourists continuing on to the summit to use low gear on the return descent, particularly as nearly all of the cars in the USA are automatics. Of course, a long descent down very steep roads in a high gear using the brakes instead of the gearing to slow the vehicle will see brakes overheat and fail; a photo board on display at the visitor centre depicts the carnage and multiple fatalities that have occurred as a result. As it happened, a Nissan SUV had careered past the visitor centre just the previous day with it’s doomed passengers screaming before leaving the road and sadly killing one of those onboard – how bloody awful.

Note the wheels on fire in the image!

On our descent from the summit, it was easy to see why Mauna Kea has a reputation for people killing themselves on the drive down. You would have thought it was a rally event give the way many of the thrill seekers were driving. I can only imagine the fatality rate if any of these fools were confronted with a road that was actually challenging.

We had a couple of days up our sleeve before we needed to be back at the airport so after some sightseeing around Hilo, we headed up the east coast and around the north of the island.

Downtown Hilo

Coastal Rockpools

Houses built on the lava beds

More sea turtles

A new friend

Olivine still captured in the lava

Steep Descent into Waipio Valley

Climbing back out of Waipio Valley

It was now time to say goodbye to The Big Island and hello to Oahu and Waikiki Beach for a couple of nights.

Flying over Diamond Head before arriving at Honolulu Airport

Waikiki Beach and the iconic “Royal Hawaiian Hotel”

Waikiki Beach

Longboards at Waikiki

Waikiki and the famous Diamond Head

Cool Pooch!

Famous Banyan tree in the International Marketplace Shopping Centre, Waikiki

Hawaiian Hula Dancing School Students

Yep it’s kitschy and loaded with tourists, but Waikiki always seems to have a nice atmosphere about it and it was a nice way to organise our thoughts before returning to Australia.

Sydney Airport

Some weeks later our car arrived home…

Our car is in there!!

Welcome Home

Footnote: Although Jen and I set out in the hope of managing at least a year and maybe two years travelling, in the end the clock stopped at 3 years. I’m quite proud of that effort and although I don’t believe it is in any way a competition regarding the length of time spent travelling, for us the duration provided the disconnect that we were in pursuit of and for that I’ll be forever grateful. The old cliché, “time seems to have flown by” certainly comes to mind at the moment however.

It’s not all been silk and roses and this journey has provided us with a few very stressful moments but also so many amazing ones. Every challenge overcome served only to inspire us further and the experiences gained enriched our lives. The people we met are without doubt the highlight.

To our avid readers, thank you for taking the time to come with us, and thank you for being the inspiration I needed to keep my fingers tapping on the keyboard. There were times, as with any journal I suppose, that it can seem quite a chore, but the rewards are well worth the effort. Reading through our blog now, I am amazed at both how much I’ve forgotten and also how vividly I am able to relive the experiences with the aid of our blog. In many ways, I think that I now have more of an appreciation for how it must feel for anyone reading along, for It does feel a little as if I’m following another travellers tales from the road rather than my personal experience.

Jen and I intend keeping the Globatrol website active with the odd update from time to time and South America and Southern Africa are still in our sights for the future but for now…

Cheers and Thank you

Justin and Jennifer.

Camped back under the Southern Cross…

Linda on Well that was good wasn’t it…So amazing Justin and Jen. You guys are awesome. Living the dream. Xx
Bruce on Well that was good wasn’t it…Thanks Jen and Justin, what a pleasure it has been to follow the trek over the last few years. Looking forward to the next installment! Bruce
Geordie on The CountdownHi Justin and Jen, great to read your travels, I have only just got back on line to see your finally coming back to Aus. Rose and I have been travelling off and on for most of the past two years not quite as adventurous as you guys but we managed a full lap of Australia and then a full lap of New Zealand. Canada is next on our list but have to get back to work for a while before that. Hope you are both well after your long travels and getting back into the swing of things back in Ausie. Cheers, Geordie
Stephen & Denise on The CountdownHi Justin & Jen This has been a fantastic story of what can be achieved when you put your mind to it. I have really enjoyed your writings, although they are sometimes a bit far apart. but never the less this has been a great read for us & I am sure a fantastic adventure for yourselves. Regards Steve & Denise.
Bruce on The CountdownDear Jen and Jus, Thank you very much for sharing the photos and story of your wonderful journey. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every post and wish you a safe return to the sunburnt country. Bruce
Rod Lyons on The CountdownThanks for the adventure Jus & Jen, its time you came home I need some work done on the OKAHOME