Hey boys and girls of Brazibayland!!
I hope this message finds you well and having had the opportunity of spending some quality time with your loved ones in your Kombi this summer. It's been a hectic summer for me. I had the pleasure of handing over a host of fabulous BraziBays to their new owners as part of the team at Brazilian Kampers from April to July. It was delightful to see how taken so many new owners were with there new campers and many have already become members here. I admire a number of them for heading straight out on epic adventures pretty much from pick-up. It just goes to show how flexible and durable the BraziBays are. As I said to many over the summer, if you look after your Kombi, it will look after you.
And my 2 campers demonstrated that keenly throughout the last few months. Max worked tirelessly as a transporter - I lost count of the number of trips I made to my local tips (err recycling centres!!). He did great. I had to clear the best part of 50 years worth of hoarding!! Never will I allow myself to keep stuff like that again. Like many, I think ooh that may be useful one day, but to be honest, I'd say less than 10 percent of such stuff actually proved so.
Some of my terrific friends from here, helped me to store a lot of my furniture and possessions, at their respective homes. Trips to Somerset and Wales were made in a Luton Van - which got ceremoniously trounced by a little old lady on a petrol forecourt in Welshpool. However it was her car that came off worse as the super strong frame of the tail-lift on my truck tore a gash in the rear half of her car. If only she had waited for me to fill up the truck rather than trying to squeeze by!!!
So my house emptied, it was time to say goodbye to my fabulous Fiat 500. I'd considered keeping it, but as it wasn't going to be used, it seemed daft to have it sit around. It was sold within 24 hours of being advertised. So if you want to put your money into a small car and want a safe bet - go for a 500.
Then it was time for Max and I to say a temporary adios - he's taking it easy now with the
@Tallulah gang - doing the odd bit of carrying around their campsite, whether it be moving caravans or conveying bed sheets!! See you at Christmas Max!!
So just over a week ago, Tango and I embarked on our epic journey to Ibiza. Fully loaded with as much as I could squeeze in, we made the short journey to Portsmouth to catch the 24hr ferry to Bilbao. The crossing was smooth, I had a mate along for the ride and it was amazing to see the ferry so empty compared to during school holidays. There were a lot of very nice motors lined up with us to board the Cap Finistere. Ranging from Astons through to Jags and plenty of T5s and T6s heading across Spain on tours.
Bilbao wasn't the most picturesque of places, very industrial, but soon we were climbing the hills up and away, at one point through a torrential rainstorm - water was still dripping out of Tango's spare wheel cover several hours later!! The Spanish roads are a delight to drive on - smooth and relatively quiet.
We stopped over in Zaragosa for a night - had a brilliant time meeting RayC and mate for Tapas and a look around the city. Then it was onto Valencia on the Friday to catch the 10.30pm ferry to Ibiza. Tango was taking it all in his stride. Some of those hills were very long and steep - I did have to change up a few times, given the weight we were carrying. But we rolled into Valencia in good time - enough to wander around the bay there and spend a few hours at the Valencia Beach Club!!
An interesting difference using the Trasmediterranea ferry - passengers are not allowed to board the ship with the driver and vehicle. They have to go into the terminal and onboard as if going on a plane. Not a problem for adults, but I'm not sure if say an adult and child were travelling together, how that would work. Keep that in mind if you consider a similar trip.
We arrived on time in the dark of Saturday morning. The fabulous lights of the south-eastern coast of Ibiza glistened as we approached. I felt a combination of exhaustion and excitement at the same time. Wonderfully, a great friend of mine who works in a bar in Ibiza Town, saw the ferry arrive and messaged me. He and his girlfriend came over to meet us off the ship and we were all in a bar at 6am - one that was still open that is, not one that had just opened!!
So after that we made the short journey to my rented apartment and I started setting up home here. I'm lucky it's only a 7 minute cycle to work, so I don't have to take Tango into Ibiza Town - it's like driving in Rome - or as I'd imagine! Tango has gone down a storm here - lots of waves and positive gestures from people on the roads and pavements as we Braz about. I start work tomorrow in my new role as an English Teacher, so both excited and nervous about that - just hope I can pull it off!!!
Best wishes to you all and for those of you going to Concierge next weekend, have a fabulous weekend.
