2025 Morocco

Woke this morning knowing we had all morning before we had to make our way down to the port to catch our ferry. However, we were on tender hooks waiting for the document allowing Tucker to travel which we expected before 10am. At that point I chased the Vet to then hear that the government dept had rejected our application. What are we going to do now. The Vet said he was in conversation about issuing us the document so we decided to go and do some shopping at Mercadona for the last few things.

We got back to the van around noon and found the Vet had been successful. What a relief. We now packed the Van ready for travel to the port. Our sailing was 2:30pm. Shortly before we were called forward and got our boarding passes. We had been issued with tickets for the Transmediterranea ferry which was quite an old ship. We were asked to drive up a very steep incline to get loaded on the upper parking deck.

After getting our CID number sorted (ID number) in our passports we sat and chatted to some other brits. One guy from Northern Ireland was on a tour on his own on his 1200cc motorbike. The other couple, Lee & Michelle, decided to follow us to Assilah as this was their first time visiting Morocco.

Next came the ordeal of getting through the Police and customs checks however this time it went really smoothly and we were through in about 30mins. It had taken us up to 3 hours on previous visits.

We arrived at the campsite in Assilah just as it were getting dark. Now to relax and see if Starlink will work in Morocco. No trouble !!!

Not in so much of a hurry this morning as we only had a 3 hour journey to Carlos office (the travel agent famous for supplying tickets to Morocco). We left at around 10:30am and were enjoying the dual carriageway of the A66 that goes from the north to the south of Spain. It makes for easier driving whilst having the cruise control set.

We pulled up at Carlos office just before 1pm and proceeded to purchase an open return ticket at a cost of €250. The sailing is booked for 2:30pm tomorrow. We then asked if we could meet with the vet later to obtain a health certificate for Tucker which is needed to “export” him from Spain. An appointment was set for 4:30pm at Carlos office.

We waited out the remaining time in the car park next to Mercadona. The Vet turned up on time and started to complete the paperwork informing us that we didn’t need to visit the government office (PIF) unlike in 2024 as it was all handled on line.

We then thought that we would top up the LPG tank and a splash of fuel so that this was one less job to do in the morning. We came back to the supermarket car park for our overnight stay.

Later in the evening the Vet called on WhatsApp requesting a copy of the document we obtained when landing in Spain. We never got such a document. Instead I was able to send him a copy of the export certificate from 2024 and that seemed to satisfy him. Lets hope we get the new document through email in the morning.

Tomorrow we will spend some time doing some last minute shopping before making our way to the port all being well.

This morning we awoke to find that we were low on power due mainly to my leaving everything switched on overnight. The plan was originally to stay an additional day and watch my team play Nottingham Forest this afternoon but as there is no solar energy we decided to move on and get to a park with free services including electricity. We therefore left at 10:30am aiming to get parked before 2pm

The journey was easy to drive the 200 miles down the autovia. We did arrive at 13:45pm to find all the recognised parking spots taken. However, I spoke to a Swedish couple who pointed out there was one remaining electric outlet not occupied and they allowed us to park in front of their camper. Now we could charge all the batteries and use the microwave.

Watched the match and we won 2-0 leaving us second in the premiere league. Astonishing !!!

We had thought we might stay on for another night but I want to keep moving south towards Algeciras where we will catch the ferry to Morocco. We had four other motorhomes join us overnight and Tucker found a female friend to run about with.

I decided it would be sensible to service the van as we had all the required services available for free. Now that the van was ready for a few more days off grid we left at 10:30am for the 3-4 hour drive. I had found another remote location overlooking water where Tucker can run without the lead…. he loves the freedom. As I write this we are completely on our own.

We arrived at 3pm and settled down to a cuppa and the bread, cheese and doughnuts we purchased at Lidl on the way. We intend to stay another night so I can stream live the AFC Bournemouth match with Nottingham Forest which kicks off at 4pm local time.

We have found a lovely spot overlooking water with horses on the shoreline. Free aire with all facilities except electricity but the solar panels takes car of that.

The crossing was horrendous as the boat fought with the waves. Tina had forgotten her sleeping pils and Tucker’s treats. She got very little sleep. Tucker was very nervous, frightened and clung to Tina all night. However the boat did arrive into Santander on time at 1pm local time.

We arrived at our overnight spot at 2:15pm and blown away with its beauty, A quiet night ahead….

We aimed to get to Brittany Ferries, Plymouth for our 15:45 ferry in good time so we left at around midday. The night was quiet and very relaxing. I did however trip over Tuckers dog lead and went crashing to the ground and grazed my legs. Fortunately no broken bones but did struggle to get up.

The process of getting through border control and passport control seemed to be extra vigilant. But we were in the lane ready for loading. Because we had Tucker our position on the ship was close to the rear so we could take a muzzled dog, which he hated, directly to the cabin.

We had a 4 berth internal cabin which was functional if not a little small. We soon set sail and then realised how rough the 20 hour crossing was going to be. We retired early because we didn’t want to leave Tucker alone.

We decided to move on to a small rural car park in a picturesque village. The journey was less than an hour and took us a little bit closer to the port ready for our delayed sailing tomorrow.

The car park has a babbling brook and seating on the adjacent grass. There is a small shop selling confectionery, drinks, pastries and the lady is able to take the money on a credit card for the parking. We plan to be here 24 hours and it cost £9

In the village there are a couple of nice looking Pubs and a few gift shops ready and eager to take your money.

We left home at 3pm making our way to the Toby Carvery in Exeter. I had called them a few weeks ago and check whether we could stay the night in their carpark. On the way we needed to ensure we had a full tank of LPG so we stopped at a garage just off the A303 at Bulford camp. Filled with diesel and the 8 litres of gas.

We carried on down the A303 until we reached our destination at 5pm. Looking at my phone and emails I had some communications from Brittany Ferries. Our sailing had now been delayed due to weather conditions by one day. We now leave on Thursday at the same time as before and should now arrive in Spain on Friday.

As planned we had our Carvery in the bar … the restaurant was full. Very enjoyable. I have now booked breakfast for the morning. Will need to decided in the morning how we will while away the day tomorrow.