Saturday the 10th of April: THE FINAL BLOG . . . !

Jackie Mac reporting for the last time on the the Doris Despatches, Part 2. We are back; a week earlier than we intended, but safe and sound after four horrendous days, nursing Doris home from the Spanish/French border.

It proved to be ‘one too many mountains’ for our poor old van, whose screaming brake linings (or lack of, more like) advertised their parlous condition, with embarrassing regularity, at traffic lights and junctions. Piggy negotiated, with skilful ‘engine braking’ to hardly touch the brakes at all for most of the journey, but it was a teeth gritting, seat gripping rollercoaster of a journey that I hope we don’t experience again. We had to abandon plans to go on any detours to visit friends; just aimed Northward and prayed that Doris wouldn’t seize up completely, before we made it back to the UK; and breakdown cover.

But, to start with, just a short aside on our trip to the Guggenheim in Bilbao. We parked Doris for the day at Camping Portuondo, Mundaka, which is set on a promontory above the beach and accessed via a steep winding drive from the road. When we booked in, Pete had to hold Doris on the one in six incline, while merry campers wandered back and forth in front of her bonnet; blithely unaware of the possible danger.

So, Sunday morning saw us utilising the excellent local bus service to get to Bilbao, and a stroll along the river brought us to the Guggenheim. At first sight a bit more tarnished than the glossy photos suggested; but an iconic building nonetheless. However, maybe Piggy and I have no understanding of ‘modern art’ because we found the whole thing a bit of a let down. Huge amounts of gallery space were given over to a few artists, as separate exhibitions; which was okay, but there was no ‘meat’. No general gallery space, of just one or two works, by a wider variety of artists. Piggy came away, quite annoyed that he hadn’t been able to scoff at an Andy Warhol! We liked the two pieces outside best. A spider by Louise Bourgeois and ‘Puppy’ by Jeff Koons.

Back to our journey. Monday morning; we escaped from the campsite and headed for the border.It became evident quite quickly that Doris’s brakes were getting worse.The drive was not too bad until we got to Biarritz, where we got lost trying to get out of town during the evening rush hour. By the time we got to Parentis en Borne, a municipal Aire stop, it was dark and we couldn’t find it. So drove down the road to the Lac Biscarosse and parked up on a sort of jetty affair, right beside the huge lake. In the morning we noted the ‘Camping Interdit’ sign at the side of Doris; and found the real Aire just a few hundred yards down the road.

The next days driving was less stressful; but not relaxing. Another Aire and another days drive brought us to Dieppe for the five pm ferry to Newhaven. An uneventful crossing preceded our return to British soil; and it was dark and gently drizzling. We hoped to get to a lay-by near Salisbury for the night but we hadn’t been driving for more than half an hour when we noticed Doris’s battery light hadn’t fully gone out. Were we about to experience a major electrical failure? on a busy major road? We had no choice but to stop in the next available lay-by for the night; where we spent many hours trying to get some sleep, as the heavy traffic of the A27 thundered past; inches away from Doris, who rocked back and forth in their wake.

We woke early to a damp and foggy morning; drank tea, waited for a while,for the fog to lift, which it didn’t; and eventually crept hesitantly out into the morning traffic. But Doris had one more shock for us. Her wipers malfunctioned, getting stuck on the side of the windscreen. As Piggy said, through gritted teeth, the journey was turning into ‘a bloody nightmare’. The rain was a steady drizzle and, before we made it to a supermarket car park near Salisbury, we had stopped many times to release the wipers. It was time for a break and we treated ourselves to breakfast and coffee before venturing back on the road.

The weather cleared briefly, but, by the time we had reached the environs of Bristol, it became more of a steady rain, which, perversely, was easier to see through than the misty drizzle of earlier. Pete developed a cunning technique of ‘nearly’ turning the wipers on, which usually kept visibility as an option.

There were cheers as we crossed the Severn bridge and passed the Croeso y Cymru sign; and we only had to turn into one more Services for wiper release before the sun came out. By Swansea, rain again, but dry in Burry Port, where we stopped, briefly, to see Donna and brood. As we drove through Pembroke the rain was lashing down; at Freshwest the waves were crashing onto the rocks and we arrived home in a proper Atlantic drenching; like we’d never been away!

So now we are home; and glad to be. We’ve had an amazingly good time on this trip. Doris has struggled against enormous odds to get us home; and taken on some pretty awful terrain. She has been a haven and our comfort zone; a bit smelly at times maybe; but, hey, isn’t that why you lose your sense of smell as you get older? One of nature’s compensations you might say.

Hopefully she will be sorted out over the Summer and ready for another trip; probably not till late 2010; although we might just sneak a short look at Portugal in there somewhere! Thanks all of you for reading the blog. It’s been fun. Piggy and I extend warm invites to all those, who feel so inclined, to visit during the Summer. As most of you know, we are not having an anniversary ‘do’ this year; but next year is our fortieth and we hope lots of you will come and give us the benefit of your combined years of experience to make it a brilliant bash. Until the next time. . . .

NB: Doris’s windscreen wipers behaved impeccably when we turned into the heavy rain just past Pembroke! What a machine.