Barcelona to Basildon

Spot the Barcelona Olympics 'relic' we found near our camp at Montserrat.

Those crafty Romans.. They managed to build this aqueduct in Segovia (about 80km NW of Madrid) nearly 2000 years ago, and it's still carrying water. They also built it without using any cement or mortar.

This was a nice spot to park up for our supper - the Alcazar, also in Segovia. No computer aided photography - honest.


Segovia was one stop on our (ill-fated as it turned out) foray into WWOOFing (volunteering on organic farms). We found a place in Galacia to visit, the little-known wet NW corner of Spain. The idea was to speak Spanish, see an organic farm in action, and to meet some real Spaniards. Sounds good, eh.

Well, in theory yes. However we arrived to discover far too much organic matter in the living quarters (courtesy of the multiple cats and kittens, and the lack of any cleaning for a significant period), as well as a less than primitive plumbing arrangement. Kate and I have lived fairly rough/simply in the past - mountain huts in NZ, campgrounds in Australia - but we have never seen such disregard for basic hygiene (not anywhere - even the poorest people we met in Asia). The work during the day was interesting enough (collecting sweet chestnuts in the forest, taking the sheep out to pasture, grading onions) but we couldn't tolerate the living arrangement, and decided to leave on the 3rd day. We felt terrible saying, "We're leaving", but couldn't stomach it any longer. Erk!

Katie and the sheep

This is the remainder of a flock of 60, after a wolf attack several months ago. Galacia is the stronghold of the Iberian wolf population, which is expanding across Spain after declining drastically through the 20th century. Bad news for sheep, but good news for the environment, as they keep the wild boar population down.
These were fast, wolf-outrunning sheep - we had to ride our bikes to keep up with them throughthe little village roads. Fortunately they knew the way better than us!

Where the sheep spend 14 hours every day - no light, no ventilation, no water!?

Finding ourselves on the road again much sooner than we'd expected, we made the decision to do a runner back to London. Our travel funds had been hammered a bit, and to top it off, our trusty 4.5kg butane gas bottle had run out just as we arrived in Galacia. After locating and trying several gas shops, we gave up on getting the tank refilled as we needed a specific adapter.

So through the Basque region and then France we were forced onto 'European Starvation Rations" (bread, cheese, jamon). We also discovered that there is bad food in France, you just have to turn up late to a place that looks like a budget Cobb & Co. To conserve funds we also free-camped every night. Kate didn't think much of this at times, as we could no longer heat water to wash with! However it meant we found some great spots to hide the van away in (the best was a van-shaped alcove in a golden coloured autumn forest).

We stopped in the bouldering Mecca of the Fontainbleau Forest, south of Paris, and dragged our sorry out-of-shape climbing bodies up a few problems. Unfortunately after a day it rained for the first time in several months, so that was the end of the climbing.

Then a day-trip to Paris (where we were totally impressed at the art at Musee d'Orsay, and a bit overwhelmed by everything at the Louvre)

No points for recognising who painted this one.

But maybe for this one (it was one of Katie's favourites)

The future of office buildings? Apparently they grow the plants on a mat, and then hang it from the side.

polar bear..

Not a fascinating subject, but a stylish take on street-level recycling receptacles from the Spaniards. Everything falls into a bin below, and it's emptied from above by lifting the entire platform.

Now we're back in the UK - first for 3 weeks in Essex just outside London, Jamie vaccinating puppies and Katie commuting to get some experience designing websites with cousin Tim. Moving from the van to The Holiday Inn was strange! Then up to another vet job in Lanchester (near Durham, NE England) till just before Christmas. Yesterday we had snow!
Jamie's sister Maria is joining us soon from her Hospital ship in Liberia for a couple of weeks, which will be fun.