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Natural Images |
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These image information pages are supplied by Natural Images. Fully catered guided walking holidays in the Sierra de Grazalema To see our web site please click |
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The Blue Lorry. |
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After about a year living in St Foy de Longas close to Bergerac In the Dordogne Sue and I thought that we might like to travel to Spain for a bit.
We saw a lorry with “potential”!!! and told the owner that if he could drive it to our house with less than 3 bits falling off we would buy it from him. Only two bits fell of so we gave him 3000 Francs and became the proud owners of a horsebox that hadn’t been driven for 3 years. It had sat under a tree for most of this time and was a bit untidy. Inside was some well rotted horse manure that came for free!!! |
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So we set about turning the old Renault Saviem SG2 into a travelling home. A bit of a spray job some cleaning and a lot of faith in ourselves.... First it was a bread delivery van then it was a horsebox and soon it would be our home for the next 3 years. |
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About 6 months later we slept for the first time in our new home.
Lined out in wood panels with a full size double bed, gas powered fridge and cooker. Solar panel on the roof to charge a back up battery for the interior lights.
Also a shower and toilet cubicle. The shower worked with the cunning use of a small water pump from an old car. To take a hot shower we had to park the lorry in the sunshine. This heated the water in the black tank on the roof. In Spain this was a bit to efficient!!! Hot water ouch!!! |
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We left the Dordogne on the 17th January 1998. Heading south to the Pyrenees. We parked up the first night on a very high mountain pass and almost froze to death...Good job we had each other to keep warm. It took us around 3 months on the road to get to Marbella in Andalucia. We travelled on small roads. Never on motorways and avoided all the built up areas unless we needed petrol or film for the camera. (It is possible to travel from Bergerac to Marbella in 12 hours!!!). We visited natural parks and lakes and never looked back.
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Some of the roads were quite narrow
Some of the bridges felt a little scary
Every time we came across a water source we filled up the water tanks. 100 litres on the roof and a 50 litre tank inside under the sink
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We never stayed in campsites but parked up in the mountains, by rivers and lakes. Only twice did police arrive and ask us to move on. (and one of those times they let us stay the night once they saw we were just trying to enjoy the natural world).
Clive is very lucky! A blue lorry, a blue motorbike and the most beautiful girl in the world sun drying herself in the Picos de Europa.
WOW!!! |
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The big door ramp that the horses used to walk up when our home was a horsebox we kept but lined with wood and made it into a big table. On warm nights we slept on it under the stars. When we had guests it became the dinner table. We even had a belly dancing show by two ladies from Germany!!! |
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And then 3 years later after travelling 35,000 kilometres in Spain, Portugal and France it was time to say goodbye. Our blue lorry had taken us to some of the most beautiful places but now needed to rest. A very sad day indeed |
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The couple above are Dutch and live in the Dordogne. A place in their woods is always reserved for us. |
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The belly dancers were from Germany but had lived in Turkey for years. |
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Bye bye!!!
End of an era!!!
The last time we saw our blue lorry. |
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One of the natural parks we drove through back in 2000 was the Sierra de Grazalema. It left such an impression on us that we decided to live in this beautiful place in Andalucia.
Here we act as host and guides for weary travellers and energetic explorers alike. Walking and photography takes up a lot of our time as does tending the organic vegetable garden
Take a look at www.natural-images.co.uk to see more about this latest adventure. |