Puebla de Castro, La

Lots of rain overnight.

We were rudely awakened at 6am by a very loud explosion. We both thought the pop-top had collapsed. Turns out that it wasn't that. Unfortunately though, our brand new Fiamma awning had completely broken, we think because of the weight of water, though we definitely had it at an angle so it should have been draining properly.

Anyway, once it got lighter and I could see properly, it turned out that the damage was worse than I hoped. No damage to the van thank god, but it wasn't possible to safely store the awning away so we couldn't drive the van anywhere.

I phoned the insurance company who were pretty useless, leaving us on our own to get it repaired.

Now, everyone loves a problem... just not an £800 problem.

I managed to borrow a step ladder from the campsite, a set of allen keys from our English neighbours, and some small nuts and bolts from a nearby German couple. Very helpful these campers!

With those, I spent a fraught, and muddy, couple of hours getting the awning roadworthy again (though not exactly usable). Now we just need to decide whether to leave getting it properly fixed to when we are back in the UK or to get it fixed in Spain. There are three Fiamma dealers in Zarogoza (according to the Fiamma website).

(To be fair, the campsite also went out of their way to buy us some nuts and bolts from the nearest hardware store but I had managed to fix things by the time they got them).

All in all a pretty miserable morning. We both feel pretty sick about our new van being damaged 😟😟.Read more

Abfahrt bei gutem Wetter. In Alcaniz einkaufen. Zur Weiterfahrt sollen wir durch die Stadt. Doch die Strasse ist gesperrt. Keine Umleitung signalisiert. Nach einer kurzen Irrfahrt wieder am Laden wo wir einkauften vorbei. Nach langer Fahrt mit vielen Kurven durch schöne Landschaften. Wieder Obstplantagen. Die Bäume blühen mehrheitlich weiss, wenige in rosa. Erneut, wo können wir halten.?. Dann wurden wir entlohnt mit einem schönem Platz am Fluss. Im kleinen Park eine Skulptur in Form eines Schiffes und daneben ein altes Turbinenrad. Dieses hat ein Gewicht von 420 Tonnen. Dann begann es feucht zu werden. Einiges an Autobahn. Wenig Verkehr. Camping liegt am See, getrennt von der stark befahreher Strasse. Rezeptionistin zeigt auf Karte die harten Plätze. Es ist trist. Überall bilden sich Wasserlachen. Wit spazieren auf dem Camping im hinteren Bereich. Gerne gehen wir schnell wieder ins Womo. Um die nassen Jacken und Schirme aufzuhängen.Read more