He Says- Malagra – Coming home??

28-30 August 2009

Before we left the UK; I knew that the my back tyre would not make it from the UK to Gibraltar, so I asked around on the HUBB if anyone knew a place I could buy one or ship one to and pick it up on route. Well Allison and Andy, (AKA Dakota) not only offer us a place to drop the tyre but to host us as well for a night. The offer itself amazed me. I have not seen someone open their home to a complete strangers in what seems like ever. Over the next several weeks of emails this offer was then extended to a couple of nights.

When we arrived the welcome and hospitality we received was more like meeting with old friends or coming home then like meeting people we have never physically met. We spent the first day with them dealing with the rear tyre and just talking, as well as making plans for an off road ride the following day. The conversation flowed, again, as if we have been friends for many years.
I had to have the rear tyre changed by some one with a machine, as the unplanned replacement in France was made from a hard compound rubber and I think was glued in to place. The work involved in changing something like that was not worth the result (e.g. damage to the rim) or the cost. So we took it to a local tyre place along with Andy’s bike (it needed a new tube). It cost us a lot less then expected.

I was quite excited about the off road ride, as I have not been off-roading for a while. This was the perfect time /place to warm up for Africa (which will start in only a few days).

After a nice evening of talking over some drinks and some wonderful food, Tam and I slept on the terrace gazing at the stars. The warm night air and stars, being the only roof we had, was wonderful, I have never done this in a real bed and can really suggest it.

I, as usual, woke with the sun, and could not wait for everyone else to awake. I needed to change the front tyre before the ride, but this was my usual brand of tyre and knew I could do it without too much trouble. We started the day out slowly and the tyre went on easily. A quick check of Anubis told me that we were ready to go! The ride was stunning as we passed though the National park. The track was very similar to forestry roads back home in Australia. I found the riding enjoyable and pretty easy even two-up. All was going great until we hit a particularly deep rut and my front mudguard got jammed up under my bash plate. We did not go down but the plastic mudguard cracked in several places. I had to force it back into place so that we could move forward and continued on, but still Anubis was not handling quite right. I kept feeling like I had a flat.

It was not until we got off at the next little village at the end of the ride did I realise that there was something more. Tam jumped off the bike and reported that “yup we were stuck again”. She had to give it a swift kick to get us going. So we headed to a little café that was once a jail with the plan of having a coffee and a rest before heading back. At this stop I looked at the mudguard and saw that it was completely ruined; it had been grinding itself way along my brand new tyre. Fortunately it was only the plastic guard that was damaged. The café turned out to be closed, and so we headed home for a bit of MacGuyvering.

It took about an hour but Anubis now has a high guard. I had attacked the guard with a knife and cut and reshaped it to about 1/3 its original size. I was hacking and sawing away at the plastics with what must have looked like no sense or idea of what I was doing. Which was the case actually. Tam, Allison and Andy watched with a look of both horror and fascination on their faces, much a kin to when some one sees a road accident. This “fix” will hopefully be enough for the next two years.

Tired from a great day of riding and MacGuyvering, we sat down for another great night and meal. During which our wonderful hosts invited us to stay another day with them. At first we declined both being excited about getting in to Morocco. However, the following morning, when I went down to the garage to pack Anubis something went wrong with me. I felt nauseous and had an ever-increasing exhaustion come over me. We stayed for lunch hoping that my aliment would pass and we could get on the road. But alas as time when on my symptoms increased in severity and number, now adding headache to the list. With hats in our hands I asked if the offer for another night’s sanctuary was still open and (of course) it was.

We talked the rest of the day away and I started to slowly recover. Luckily I did recover by dinner and we went out with several of Allison and Andy’s friends. It was a very nice evening and I was very glad that we stayed. Once again I have to say thank you to Alison and Andy, we came to you as strangers but left feeling like real friends. We owe you a ride in Aus!

Spain seems to capture me every time I go there. 10 years ago it left an impression, 2 years ago on our Picos de Europa trip, it left such an impression on me, that I still consider it in the top 2 trips I have ever been on. The Spanish people are always friendly, they always appreciate you destroying their language and the food can be amazing. The country has everything that you could want; stunning mountains, beautiful beaches, amazing deserts and everything in between. It has old history and very very old history as well as contemporary interests; it has the old cities and new cities, and small villages that are out of a storybook. I have travelled a lot in Europe not necessarily only in the last few years, I have seen a lot of the now EU, the one place that grabs me every time is Spain. We once talked about how this is likely to be our last trip in Europe but between the glimpse of Portugal and the reoccurring love affair with Spain means that we will be back one day.