Almost but so far!

My lone bike on an almost empty ferry

Well that's Africa done and dusted! I crossed to Spain on the 12 noon ferry yesterday after arriving and the Tangier Med Port in plenty of time. The ride was very cold for Morocco though, with the sun not appearing until I sat on the aft deck of the ferry. The formalities to escape from Africa are smooth and easy, no money, one small Fiche form to complete, and even that was done by the guy at the ticket office where I had to confirm and collect my ticket. I got a bit of a surprise on board the ferry when I went to buy some lunch; they didn't take Dirhams and I as I didn't have any Euros, they had their lunch back and I went hungry, Oh Well, I did say I was trying to lose some weight on this trip !!!

Goodbye Africa !

As the Bureau de Change didn't open I arrived in Spain completely skint without a Euro to my name. Thankfully, Spain has plenty of ATM,s so I soon rectified that! Then cam the next the next shock... I called in a Decathlon to look for a new air mattress and whilst there I used there free WiFi to sort out my ferry from Santander to UK, only to find the ferry I wanted to catch on Saturday was completely full! Bugger! I chase across Africa to get home early onlt to be thwarted at the last fence... Oh well, I'll be a couple of days later than planned as I am now booked on the Monday afternoon sainling, hence the fact that I am still on the camp site at Algeciras sat typing this !!!!

And hello to Spain (well Gibraltar actually!)

Most of my kit is packed away, I've had a couple of cups of tea with a sultana pancake for breakfast and once this is posted I'm off for a shower before I depart for a leisurely up through Spain, but first it's back into town to find a bank as I still need to change some Sterling to Euros. A littler tip to anyone traveling abroad in the near future, Sterling is not liked anywhere anymore. Everywhere I have tried to change it I have either had suspicious looks or been offered an appaling exchange rate e.i. 1 for 1 !!! So fill your boots with Euros before you leave home is my advise!