2015 Morocco

Today has been a little hazy yet still warm and sunny.

We said goodbye to our friends Ron & Jeanette and Brian & Ann. It was quite emotional as we had enjoyed their company and sad to see them depart. Totally understand the need to go but all the same we will miss them.

Before they had departed Colin & Sandra were bringing over the Kayaks and mat so as to take their place. The french still not able to get a decent view of the sea due to us english..

We also had Peter and Sue visit again and chatted about the technology they needed if they were to continue to wild camp. The conclusion seemed to be a new Laptop and a MIFI as a minimum.

The rest of the day was taken up with chatting, drinking tea and generally enjoying being out in the warmth. However as the sun started to go down we were informed that the whole coastline at Taghazout was being cleared of Motorhomes so we all needed to be gone by 9am tomorrow.n No reason stated but we believe that the King is opening a new golf course in a few days not far from us. Panic set in with the French a number have already packed up and gone. A mass exodus is expected tomorrow. Lets hope that it will reopen in a short while.

We had already made the decision that we would move on Thursday so our plans have just been moved up a little. In the morning we will be off to collect our newly laundered duvet , do some shopping and then on to Tiznit. If the campsite is full we may go straight to Tafraoute. Lets see where we get to….

The featured image is of the band that jammed with our FUNsters yesterday.

Not sure where the day went today…

We had been created so well on our return last night and the same again this morning. Set to and set up camp again. Silver screens on, Mat outside door, washing line erected chairs out of the garage and life is all well again.

This morning Peter and Susan came and visited. They had heard that we could explain the technology they needed and fix one or two things. They had moved to France and needed their Amazon & Paypal accounts reflecting their new address. Still working on a solution for Paypal.

At 2pm the other FUNsters arrived and we all had a social gathering. Beer / wine o’clock was in full swing initially music playing from a phone followed by Suggy (Graham) on guitar and then Dabhand (Simon) completed the evening with his performance with guitar. Jeannette and others provided some nibbles. The highlight was when a local dance group came by and joined in with us and ‘jammed’. I think they enjoyed it just as much as us. The gathering was due to Ron & Jeanette and Brian & Ann leaving us in the morning on their way back up the country to the port. It has been so lovely sharing some special moments with them all. One in particular involved Ann and her cassette loo…..

Great times, lovely people and warm weather … what a great combination. Lets hope we meet again soon.

Unlike yesterday everything happened last night and today….

Woody had us up at 3am with an upset stomach. He was both sick and losing it from his back end. The mess and smell was aweful. He was not a happy chappy throughout the day time.

We had agreed that we would go and buy a new Quilt at the supermarket. Mustafa, once he learned of our plans, insisted that he would loan us a replacement and wash ours in his washing machine. Well it didn’t fit so he sent it off to the laundry by a chap on a moped. He soon returned with the ticket… price 20 Dirhams which is about £1.50. We will have to return and to a swap in a few days.

Sue arrived early to get her door surround painted and also have her wing mirror tightened. It was mid afternoon when she left us. She joined us for some of the time but we could only offer her a seat on the bases as we still had no cushions back. She was not feeling well and did take the opportunity to try and have a sleep. Not sure how successful with the activity around the van and the road noise.

We had made a decision that when the seats and cushions returned today we would leave no matter what the state of the van was and what jobs were left unfinished. I made my feelings known to Mustafa first thing in the morning and he promised to fix everything….

We still had a few jobs left to do. My inverter was finally bolted to the seat side. We also fitted an additional handle to the other side of the seat but we will need to take care as the wood is very thin. The electrician returned to the LED strip in the lounge that refused to stick to the plastic surround. Finally with some super glue he managed to persuade it to stay in place. Due to this difficulty I was not going to complain about the curved line it took across the van to the other side. After more waiting we also got him to re-tension the roller blind in the lounge. Its like pulling teeth to get these guys to work on your van. With the remaining LED strip I asked that this should be fitted in the garage with a switch I had. Again he started the job and was then called away for his meal at the cafe next door. He finally returned and completed the lights installation. Success all jobs had been complete.

The seats and one cushion was returned about 3pm. Whilst bolting them back in I noticed we had no arm rests….. we are working on them was the reply. The one cushion also has a cut I noticed and was immediately taken back for rework. We then had the remaining cushions arrive at about 6pm. The head rests and arms still yet to appear. Mustafa offered to take me to the ‘shop’ where they were working on my job. It was about 3min car ride away. The shop was a lockup with a space at the front of maybe 2m x 2m and a rear of 1m x 2m. There were four guys working one of which was doing the stitching on an old singer sewing machine. The side of this space had a work bench where the master upholsterer was assembling our arm rests. It was fascinating to watch and so different to how it would have been in the UK. Once all arm rests completed we returned to the van where they were now fitted.

Next came the Head rests and seat belt cover. Tina spotted that the cover was not quite right so it was again taken back to the shop for rework and soon refitted. All of the original covers are still underneath the leather so in time we could return to the original fabric if we choose. It was now around 8pm. I had gone with Mustafa earlier to get a chicken takeaway meal we ate whilst we waited for our final things to be fitted.

Mustafa offered us to stay until the morning but I was insistent that we wanted to get to the beach. We said our goodbyes and arrived to meet our fellow campers again that we left on Monday. Today is Saturday. The welcome we received was delightful. It was really nice to see everyone again and explained some of what had happened. Our LED strip lights were envied by a few.

Relaxation tomorrow and the ‘boys’ back at the beach where they will start to enjoy their walks.

Another boring day in the garage. We thought that we might get some of the remaining jobs completed today but no one seemed interested. My intension is to complain to Mustafa and insist that we want to leave tomorrow. Lets hope he gets the message loud and clear.

The only bit of good news was that they came for the two cab seats but that did leave us sitting on nothing this evening. However, I did manage to watch the live Bournemouth match on Sky TV by using a VPN to change my internet location to be within the UK thus fooling Sky. Success!! We won 2-0 by the way and remain top of the championship.

The FUNsters up in Taghazout went up to the village to celebrate Sue’s birthday and I have featured Phillip’s photo of the event. Shame we missed it.

Roll on getting out of here tomorrow.

Today was our day to return back to the beach … or so we thought.

The electrician was soon with us to redirect the cables for the inverter however it still needs to be permanently fixed into position. A job for tomorrow I am told. The towbar was fixed into position and all bolted up. Later in the morning we had asked Mustafa to get us a price for reupholstering the van in leather. We had thought that we might get it done next year if we return.

The same guy that fixed my drivers seat a few days ago turned up and we got our price…. 3500 MAD equivalent to around £250. At that price we thought that we had better stay a few more days and get it done.

The Rapido emblem has now been sprayed red. This was a very skilled job as the painter had to mask out the main Rapido writing before spraying…. a very fiddly job.

They have made a carrier for my MIFI from an old plastic cover. At least this will look better than my cardboard one I made from a cereal packet. The Gas sparker was fixed this morning but might again need some attention.

All of our cushions have now been taken and hopefully we might get some back tomorrow. The main cab seats will disappear tomorrow. It will be good to get straight again.

Once again I have shown one of Phillip’s images of the Souk in Agadir.

We hoped that this would be the last day at the garage getting our array of jobs done however this was not to be.

The painting of the rear panel doors and tow bar have all been completed. The tow hitch and cycle carrier have been painted black but still have to be fitted back onto the van.

Sue arrived this morning to have her shelves fitted and a couple of cracks fixed. It was some time late in the afternoon before her work was complete and she was on her. In the meantime she and Tina took a petite taxi to the Marjane supermarket. They spent quite some time looking around before returning with bags of food etc.

At around 6pm the electrician finally arrived. He had some difficulties getting the LED stick on strip to adhere to the surface but he finally finished the job around 9pm. Our supper tonight was very late.

Hopefully the remaining jobs will be completed in the morning.

Once again I have used one of Phillip’s photos he posted on the MotorhomeFun web site. Thank you.

The second day of our stay in the garage alley where we are having various jobs done started well this morning. Simon and Margaret arrived just before 10am with Sue who was along for the ride. Simon wanted his kitchen tap fixed. Sue came and saw the cracking job on our wardrobe shelving and decided that she wanted the same done in her van so she is due here in the morning.

Today we spent most of the day waiting for things to happen and most things happened late in the afternoon and into the evening. The drivers seat was re-stitched and more foam added. Mustafa had not been convinced about the proposed repair using wood so came up with a more robust solution of holding the sides together with a threaded rod spanning between the sides. It is very much more sturdy now.

The carpenter also fixed the Kitchen furniture and eliminated the gap that had appeared. He was with us until around 8pm. Much of the preparation for the spray job I need on the rear panel was completed and painting will start tomorrow. It seems that the grey sides are not paint but a film applied to the standard white van. Mustafa has had the work done to prepare for paint instead.

Looking forward to getting the rest of the work completed tomorrow and getting back to the sunshine where we understand it has been hot.

The featured picture is again one I have used taken by Phillip of goats at the site in Taghazout where we stay.

This morning was the day we were to go and have some work done on the van. Up early, breakfasted and left the beach site at 9am promising that we will return in a few days. We left the carpeting ramps behind.

Arriving at Mustafa\’s garage at 9:30 we were soon ushered into the alley between the buildings behind the double gates where we will be for the next few days. Work soon started. We had the rear crack fixed by melting some welding wire into both sides of the crack… next to sand this down and respray. Whilst I stood there I noticed that there was a problem with the high level brake light…. the paint was lifting. A promise to spray this as well was soon made by Mustafa.

Next the slide catch on the fridge was welded and fixed which also included some wire. I would not expect this to break anytime soon like the others before. The Tow bar has been removed and work started on rubbing it down in preparation for spraying tomorrow. The front tow eye cover was also fixed by welding something to it. Never saw the solution as it was done so quickly.

Late in the day the carpenter returned and fitted our shelves to the wardrobes. What a difference that made to how we organise our clothes. Tina was well happy. The carpenter is returning tomorrow and will be fixing the single seat next to the door.

When Mustafa was looking at my bonnet catch I noticed that the water level was down and I thought I would check the oil level. Anyway I decided that a oil change together with air and oil filters were in order. When the air filter was removed there was a cover around it so it wasn’t doing much good. This cost me about a £100 more but is still significantly cheaper that the UK. I mentioned the Rapido symbol on the bonnet had lost most of the red so once again Mustafa said ’No Problem\’

This evening we watch the film Mr Turner, Strange but well acted… not sure about the story line though. Tomorrow will bring more work on the van and another night in the alley. We should escape on Wednesday all being well.

The featured image is one taken by one of the FUNsters which is a little more interested than the alley in the Garage.

It was good to wake this morning with Tina in less discomfort.

The morning was a leisurely one. Chatting with our fellow campers and discussing such important topics like gas. Later in the morning some of our comrades walked up to the village for lunch whilst we sat around enjoying the sunshine and warmth we had come all this way to enjoy. It is a very cheap existence her with our camping fees only £1.40 a night, bread is 7p for a baguette and water is £1.40 for a van full (around 100 litres) every few days.

Tina loves to take the ‘boys’ down to the beach where they can be let of their leads and play along the shoreline. Woody now comes back when he knows he needs to go back on the lead before coming back up to the vans. So much better than last year. It does take her a while to walk the dogs though and can not do it very often.

This afternoon I listened to the FA cup match between Bournemouth and Aston Villa. It was a shame that we lost 2-1 but we did put up a good show and did not get overawed. All goes well if we do achieve promotion to the premiership in May. Lets keep our fingers crossed.

Started to pack up our things in readiness for the trip to the garage tomorrow where we will be getting our jobs done. It will be a shame to leave everyone her but we do need these few things doing. So an earlier start in the morning…. have to be in Agadir at 9am.

After yesterdays walking Tina was suffering first thing this morning. She struggled to get out of bed. She did however and took the dogs for there morning constitional along the beach.

I thought that we would postpone the washing until Sunday but Tina decided to have a go after breakfast. I dragged out the washing machine from the depths of the garage and we filled it with hot water she sat and I helped with the whole process.

During the hour plus the machine consumed large amounts of bedding and clothes before being hung out to dry. Whilst the spinner and washer were operating at the same time I was amazed that we were drawing around 40amps from the battery bank. By the end of the day we had got back to only 40 amps down on full. Should get back to full tomorrow.

Some of the others had gone off to the village but Terry, Brenda and ourselves remained behind. The carpet man came with our carpets in readiness for Kathie wedding in May and we had water from the Bowser.

Mid afternoon saw some of the other brits join us for beer o’clock and the party lasted until after the evening sun faded and it started to get cold. It broke up around 7pm. In the evening we sat and watched a film. Tina had taken more medication for the pain she was in after the efforts of the last 2 days.

An enjoyable day with temperatures in the early 20’s and some good company to finish the day off well.