The wait is over

Bags packed, route planned, ferries and overnight lodgings booked, we’re finally ready to start a trip we’ve been planning for almost 12 months.
The plan for day 1 is to travel from Lisbon toもっと詳しく
Vamos embora!

And we are off…
First charging stop

So far, so good!
Arrived to our first stop under the predicted battery %. The sun is shining and Carla snoozed the whole way 🐕😴
Now to walk around an industrial site for an hour whilst we getもっと詳しく
Day 1 lunchtime

We pushed the car to its *limits* on this leg and arrived in Castelo Branco on 8% battery 😬.
Despite some worries from AH-D, we arrived safely and can now enjoy some food whilst the car charges.
Castelo Branco

O nosso primera vez em Castelo Branco, que lindo!
Our first time in Castelo Branco, seemingly a very sleepy, beautiful city.
End of day 1

We made it to Guarda!
Its cold (4c) but we got to our home for the night just in time to see the sunset over the mountains 🏔🌅.
Now to acclimatise and find somewhere to watch tonight’s football 👀.
Delayed start day 2 - freezing fog

Today we drive from Guarda to Burgos in Spain via Salamanca and Valladolid 🇪🇸. A total of 417km. Whilst we’re very excited to get going, we had to delay our start due to some freezing fog thisもっと詳しく
Freezing charge

Crossing the Spanish border in freezing fog was an *experience*, it’s been a slow start to the day so far.
But I’m happy to announce that award to the most remote charging station goes to…もっと詳しく
Lunchtime charge

Our first roadside charge in Spain… with a view of the cathedral of Salamanca 😍.
Time to wander around this old university city and fill our bellies with vegan tapas 🤤.
Valladolid charge

Following an unsuccessful charging attempt on the outskirts of Valladolid (charger not connecting to app or usable by fob 👎🏼) we just headed into the centre of town…
I’m gonna say it wasもっと詳しく
Thoughts from day 2

It’s bloody cold up ‘ere. 🥶
We made it to Burgos, tired, cold (did I mention it’s cold?!) and a little stressed from range anxiety (AH-D). The car battery is taking a bit of a beating fromもっと詳しく
Day 3 - Burgos to Bilbao

With the car back up to 100% after charging overnight in a carpark (I cannot speak about the price of the charging + parking combo 😂) we’re about to leave Burgos for Bilbao!
A relatively shortもっと詳しく
Another freezing charge

There were some amazing views on the way to our charging point from Burgos, driving around and through the “Obarenes-Sierra de Cantabria”.
The continually high altitudes meant that we sawもっと詳しく
We made it!

Just got to Bilbao, the weather since we descended from the hills has been very basque-esque (rain!), but it’s not freezing.
Here’s a view from the road & Carla enjoying our first food stop ofもっと詳しく
Top-up charge

And you all thought we were going to the port without one final charge in Bilbao?!
The optimum route suggests that we shouldn’t charge again until Carmarthen, Wales, so we had to make a contingencyもっと詳しく
Lane 1

All checked-in and ready to board, just one final police check of human passports to go.
Hereeeee we go…

Boarded and settling in well on the boat.
We’re going to leave the trip recording our progress, let’s see how accurate it tracks our crossing!
Ferry day

We’re about to leave the centre of Bilbao to reach the ferry port and continue our journey by boat! ⛴
Carla’s ready with her bag packed and confidence in wearing a muzzle (we hope, it’s aもっと詳しく
Land ahoy!

It’s only a lighthouse but it counts.
Two hours on land

Currently in-between ferries and taking advantage of some Irish hospitality.
First Christmas tree/ pub doggo photo of our trip ❤️
Earning the well rested token

Oh to sleep on dry land! 😴
Day 6 is the final day of our journey and it’s gonna be tough… we’re going to be travelling 420km using an unknown charging network, but we’re taking the routeもっと詳しく
First UK charging experience

Seamless work from InstaVolt here after a beautiful drive through Pembrokeshire.
Getting super excited for a very special visitor at our next charging stop 💕
Cardiff charge

Mmm… turns out uk service stations might not be the most reliable source of charging!
After pulling into Cardiff East services on 12% battery, we were in a queue to use 2 (should be 3!) CCSもっと詳しく
Back on track

So… that error message I mentioned in my last post was a real error message.
When we got to the charging station at Strensham services, the light on the charging port on the car was flashing redもっと詳しく
Nuthall, Nottingham

First night in the Midlands!
We were greeted with open arms and a lot of toys (Carla) and some warm pyjamas (us) on arrival in Nottingham 🥰❤️
旅行者Bon voyage and safe journey