Northern Spain

Only a few minutes drive in the morning from Crook to Staveley. One of the highlights of Staveley is the Hawkeshead brewery, a wide variety of excellent ale and good food in a casual, homely environment, good place to meet. A look round the carpark confirmed or Son was here and out on his bike, so we planned a walk up to Potter Tarn hoping to be back at the brewery to meet up. Good weather and a good walk up to Potter Tarn, but up on top the the wind was very strong, so it was a quick Whatsapp photo to family and friends and head back down. Robert's return message informed us that he was back in it brewery, we were still an hour away! Change of plan, Robert came to pick us up to save time. A couple of pints and a burger back at the  brewery and a very long chat and eventually we headed home. Sometimes the plans made on the fly are the best.

On the morning after the Woolpack wine festival, we wondered way else we could do apart from going home. Jeannette asked if there were any ceilidh around, I get emails from the local ceilidh group, so I recovered the email from the Trash folder and discovered the was one that night at Crook near Kendal. A quick email to the organizer, asking if there were any places and if we could stop overnight in the carpark. The reply was affirmative. Go home and get the dance shoes and some more formal clothes and off to Crook. A Whatsapp to our Son to ask if he was free for a walk around Kendal area only to find out he was mountain biking around Staveley, jobs a good un. Excellent evening at the ceilidh, alway a good laugh either at oneself, each other or whilst not dancing the others who are. Jeannette just has to watch me trying to skip to be paralyzed with laughter. Quite night's sleep an off to Staveley.

Time for a campsite, charge batteries, a bit of clothes washing and a spread out before the final push through France to the ferry terminal and home. This will be out third stay in Erromardie and our second time at this campsite, the first site being closed this time of year. It is a very convenient stop going to and from northern Spain. The site take the ACSI card and so makes it good value at this time of year. The pitches are a good size although not level requiring ramps for the "princeses" amongs up, needless to say we dont have any, and never need them. There is a cycle path into Saint Jean de Luz,  a very pleasant seaside resort town that at this time of the year is very quiet, but still plenty of shops and bars open and a beautiful sheltered beach. Day one was arrival day, sorting ot washing etc. Day two we cycle into SJ de L and continued round the bay to Ciboure and on to Socoa where the is an old fort and good views of the sea and back towards S J de L. Allong ...

Once again just an overnight stopover to break the journey. The aire was a bit disappointing, just a large car park on an industrial estate, with a few old caravans dotted around. We assume the locals use the area for storage. No facilities, we didn't need any anyway.  There is a good cyclepath into town along the river and around the harbour, so that gave us some exercise for the day.  Pleasant town and port with a large ship called the Norwegian Gannett. It looked like a fishing vessel of some sort, and the name would suggest the same but what was it doing in a dock in Zumaia? I had to Google it. It turns out it is a fishing vessel but it is designed for  the salmon farms of the Norwegian Fjords, and it was built in the shipyard here. First launched in May 2018. She is still being fitted out.

We tried to stop here on our way heading West, but the parking was full, we had better luck this time and parked on the sea front. It was a little busy during the day but once it was dark, everything was very peaceful. We took a walk around the old town with it castle and church with a very good view of the town and harbour from the top. Excellent stopover.

Just an overnight stop with the basic facilities. Showers in the van and an early night. Nice quite aire in a residential area near a sports complex.