Ivy’s Maiden Voyage

Chapter 1: Calm before the storm.
We started the day with a walk around the picturesque meadow we’d stayed. Last night Bliss was looking around like she could see or smell something near us. She was extremely alert to something that’s for sure. We ourselves did hear a few strange sounds from some kind of animal, but had no idea what. It sounded a lot like the sound a large cat would make, but although there are wild cats and Iberian lynx in Spain they are extremely rare so we thought it doubtful. During the walk we discovered some droppings, and mounds and troughs of freshly dug earth near the oak trees. So we guessed that the noises we had heard were probably wild boar. Glad we didn’t come across them on our walk as they are known to be quite aggressive. Darren has a favourite “During the War” story of a late night encounter with a group of wild boar from his army days.
We were going to stay for another day but the flies were becoming very annoying, so we decided to leave.
Wanting to go back in a north west direction to avoid the increased heat south of the mountains, and the city of Madrid, we found what looked like the only route that was going that way.
We had a look at google maps to check the road and there was only one bit of the road that looked a little sketchy, but we thought “ it’ll be okay” we’ve done lots of roads like that before! It can be a little nerve wracking but always doable in our experience so far. So we head off in that direction glad to be getting away from the flies.

Chapter 2: An EXTREME error of judgment!
All seemed fine to start with, we saw other people for the first time in ages, mainly folk on motorcycles but also a few small cars. Then we come to the brow of a hill with a sign saying 15 degree incline, we hesitated for a moment, did a swift mental geometry calculation of what 15 degrees looks like (you’d think not too steep right) and decided to go for it!
So we started our descent down the hill knowing it was a case of “There’s no turning back now!“
The first stretch was okay-ish, then I saw the first switch back and just thought “oh bother”. OK... a few expletives may have escaped my lips! I knew it was too late to reverse back and I definitely wasn’t going to be turning a 7m long van around. There was barely enough room for one vehicle so I pray nothing comes up the other way!
We manage the first tight switch back and continue down the extremely steep road and then “oh god” there’s a car coming up! We barely squeezed passed each other. Continuing downhill, the air is blue with the French words I’ve suddenly become fluent in, and the switchbacks just feel like they’re getting steeper and tighter. Worrying that the brakes will get too hot with the pressure they are under I shakily crawl on down, more scared than I think I have ever been. I can tell that even though Darren is trying his best to reassure me he is actually shitting himself too! One wrong move, or failing brakes, or steering issues and it’s game over!
After what seems like an eternity we reach the bottom, our nerves shattered into a million pieces.
Whilst still on a gradient I needed to stop and take a breather before attempting the climb back up the other side which I’m guessing is just as steep. So I pulled over into the only spot available to gather myself before the next onslaught of terrifying driving. I put Ivy into park and pulled the handbrake. With a creak of a submarine about to implode she kept creeping forward on the hill, unable to hold our position. So Darren gave the handbrake one more firm tug and “SNAP!” the handbrake failed. It was just flapping about uselessly. I looked at Darren, Darren looked at me... no words were spoken, not even French ones, we were simply aghast. We were now relying upon just the foot brake!
After a few moments of utter panic we realised we had to continue and find a safe flat position (with a signal) to then be able to find a garage that would be close enough and able to fix Ivy’s handbrake.
We now had to get up the other side of this most terrifying mountain road, no working handbrake and nerves that were shredded so badly I was quite literally trembling and weak in the legs. The same legs I now needed more than ever to hold the brakes. Anyway... It was quite a long steep switchbacky climb but we made it up to a safe spot without further catastrophe.

Edit:
After some research we discover the road is actually listed on the “World’s most dangerous roads” website! Only we could accidentally and completely randomly find, and then drive a 7.2m long, 4.5 tonne motorhome on such a notoriously dangerous road. It’s a miracle we’re alive.

Chapter 3: Safe haven
We were then able to start our search for a nearby Iveco garage. Luckily Iveco is a popular make of vehicle here and Ivy has an onboard list of all the Iveco garages in Europe. We quickly found one, called them, and they said they could see us on Monday. So now we just had to find somewhere to stay for the weekend that wouldn’t be too far. We found a campsite and headed there. We arrived and had to phone a number to gain entry to the small site but we were just relieved to be alive and able to relax for a couple of days. We entered the site and it felt like everyone that was there stared at us like we were alien invaders but I think we were just being overly sensitive about being foreigners and being locked in. It was actually fine. We spent the rest of the day and the next day trying to relax and waiting for the garage to open Monday morning. Fingers crossed that they can fix it quickly so we can get back to less adventurous adventures. 🤣Lue lisää