Dr Mark's Tardis

We won't forget our unique Christmas day. we were is Essaouira, camped near the beach at the edge of town. The sun was shining and the surf was remarkable. Essaouira has a reputation for being windy: good for windsurfing, but too windy for surfers. But the weather was so calm that the surf was pretty good - unlike the rather disappointing surfer paradises of Tagazoute. The car park was the motorhome place to stay at the very edge of town separated from the beach by a dune, a rather high one. I'll cheat and start with our Christmas eve meal We ate at Restaurante La Decouverte whcih was highly recommended in the rough guide. we were not disappointed. I had a traditional dish of pigeon Pastilla, which is not easy to find. Pigeon stew wrapped in a filo pastry and dusted with sugar. That was on my tick list . Karen and Zoe had a traditional French Bouche Noel Bouche Noel Christmas day proper was surfing for Zoe and body boarding for Mark: ...

Marrakesh to Taroudant (the quick way) This was our first day with Zoe, and it turned out to be one of the best, well it would wouldn't it? w had picked Zoe up on Saturday evening at the airport and drove off in the dark towards the motorway, the plan was to stop at a service station, sleep easily and be that bit closer the next day. well that worked, it was a bit further to the motorway than I had realised - that meant driving in the dark on ordinary roads, which is a bit risky with unseen potholes and cyclists. The toll motorways have a reliably good rood surface, less traffic and the bonus of hassle free overnight stopping places. Breakfast at a service station. The only "breakdown" on the entire trip.  The exhaust downpipe had come undone at the manifold end. The bracket was still in place, so it just needed bolting back on. As usual help was at hand, rather more adept than me. Goats in argan trees  well ... we saw these camels grazing fir...

Rainy and miserable in Azrou: the waiter recommended taking the scenic mountain route towards Marrakesh via Ain leuh. "We did not need to worry about the snow, the cars from Ifrane had snow on the roofs, but Ain leuh was clear". We eagerly took the local advice, trusting that it was better that the meal we had just eaten. Christmas trees  We were soon treated to a view of pretty Christmas trees, just the thing for a Christmas holiday. Onwards and upwards The pretty Christmas trees were at 1200m and ahead of us was a 30km drive mostly around 1800m. the sprinkling of snow turned into a snow-lined route.  ..... then to narrow tracks along a road with no visible edges, and nowhere to turn around. I had low gear and 4WD engaged and rear diff lock most of the time and needed it as snow covered the road at bends and under trees: We came to a small clearing on the road and I stopped for a much needed pee and a drink. Then from behind us came two vehicles: Sno...

An amazing Christmas break 5 December 2014 to 3 Jan 2015 Too much for one blog page so I've split it up. The journey was: Portsmouth to Santander on Brittany Ferries,  Drive through Spain Ferry Algeciras to Tanger Med Ten days through Morocco to wards Marrakesh 20th December: collect Zoe from Marrakesh airport Seaside trip Back to Marrakesh on 30 December Quick dash back through Morocco Ferry back to Spain Quick dash back through Spain I've already posted a page of vehicle related preparations  and new wheels There is a separate list of our actual and potential stopovers The trip had: Two Spanish holidays A mountains and waterfalls holiday for Karen and Myself A Christmas week with Zoe focused on the seaside Two days were particularly memorable, each one a holiday in itself: The "scenic route" through the mountains. Marrakesh to Taroudant (the quick way) There were no significant vehicle problems, No punctures, No regrets. tea stop ...

A set of Military split rims What? These are wheels in three pieces: wheel, removable rim, and a split locking rim. They also have a sealing ring of rubber, called a splat ring. Plus a bolt in valve with a sealing o-ring. Why? They allow you to do a field repair on a tubeless tyre, using "ordinary" tools. The two part civilian split rims can be removed without garage tools, but they need to have inner tubes to hold the air because the split rim itself is not air tight. The trouble with inner tubes is that most punctures are the result of inner tube failure, not the tyre being pierced - that's my experience anyway, the smallest bit of grit eventually wears a hole. Admittedly, the problems are exacerbated by movement of inner tube and tyre, low tyre pressures, poor tubes, old tubes and tubes that are the wrong size! Why not? The military rims are quite rare, they were only original equipment on military versions. They are 6.5" wide and there is a...

A few last minute jobs ready for the big Morocco trip. Thankfully none were essential. 1. Eberspacher ducts: these got rather hot. I lined them with aluminium duct wrapping 2. Catches to stop the cupboards coming open, Simple ideas are best, and after much deliberation, this was very simple. 3. Step fitted to bike rack. For stability it is best if a step hangs down from the vehicle rather than resting on uneven ground. This is part one of the solution. Ideally we want one more step down. 4. Moved waste water to other side to accommodate the step. It still leaves a dangling drain from the shower. 4. extension for kitchen worksurface. Again a very simple solution after much deliberation ... thanks to IKEA. 5. Replaced hand brake cable.  The liner was clearly ruptured after the trip to the exhaust place. This time I took a slightly straighter route for the cable. 6. Bike cover quickly made from a discarded cover for an AV screen. Plastic eyelets are so much better tha...