An Unplanned Year

Up early this morning to ensure we left in plenty of time to make our 11am ferry from Tangier Med to Algeciras, Spain.

We arrived at the “Maritime Station” at 8:50, and after checking in, goong through passport control we got into a bus to be driven to the boat. We boarded around 9:20, happy to be able to dump our bags in a corner and settled in to await departure an hour or so later.

Except the boat started moving before 9:45! We were a bit puzzled and Kevin went to confirm with someone that the boat we had boarded was indeed going to Algeciras. Thank goodness it was!

Maybe we were among the last to board so when everyone who had bought a ticket was on board they just left, or if there was some wierd timezone anomaly that neither we nor google had heard of we don’t know. What we do know is we’re thankful we’re “early is on time” people.

The ride over was fairly smooth – mental note: buy Travacalm before the long ferry to Ireland! – and before long the Rock of Gibraltar came into view and we docked.

Immigration took no time at all, hopefully the fingerprints given will save us some time later this year when the ETIAS system is implemented.

At our hotel, our friends Mark & Paula were waiting with the car they bought for us. Not only did they buy the car, they’ve packed a bunch of mandatory items (yellow vests, flashing light, safety triangles must be carried here), they added a light, a washing line, a gas cooktop, a tent, coffee and essentials, a toilet and even a printer!! (We will need to have printed copies of some car documents that won’t be received for a few weeks!)

We headed out for some cerveza and tapas for lunch. Car ‘introduction 101’ followed and the keys were handed over.

We had a game of 5 Crowns in the minicasino in the hotel and have now retired to our rooms.

Tomorrow we will start our European road trip and Mark & Paula will drive the 500km to their home. We’re so grateful for their assistance with this car, we couldn’t have done this without them!