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| #42  14-Sep-2005, 12:47 | |||
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| Well we made it ... ... God know´s how! Within 6 miles of home we got into a huge speed wobble which took both lanes of the A3 and half a mile to get under control - that restrictrd our top speed to 50mph for the whole trip - any faster and the trailer became unstable again. On the M25 the two new wheels I´d fitted decided to vibrate themselves loose getting rid of 7 wheel nuts in the process - the hub hole was too big. The two oringinal wheels and tyres I´d taken as spares were fitted and some nuts borrowed from the other wheels. Thankfully Chris Bushell directed us to a motor factors in Sevenoaks who managed to find us some replacement nuts. Missed the booking for the chunnel but they put us on the next one. Finally arrived 10 hours later in Abbeyville - grand total of 178 miles achieved on the first day, only 1622 to go  Second day went slowly without any major incidents and we got as far as Bordeaux. Day three and two French motorcycle cops pulled us over and weighed the trailer insisting the old tyres be replaced and escorted us to a garage. The cops luckily then went off to lunch because the tyre fitter refused to change the wheels as the wrong wheel nuts were fitted. We cautiously headed off to the Spanish border expecting to be stopped but again, because it was lunchtime they was no one there to welcome us to Spain. Manged to get to Borges that night about 200Km north of Madrid. Day 4 and we headed off with concerns about the Madrid ring road, however our luck was in and it was almost deserted so we carried on slowly to Granada and our final night on the road. Sunday we met some friends for breakfast and they then followed us the 10kms up the track to the top of the mountain and the new house. At one stage the Toyota almost came to a halt on one of the gradients but with lots of vocal encouragement it kept going and we made it to the house. One of the replacement tyres had almost delaminated but still kept its pressure .... Only one thing to say apart from we must have the luck of the Irish - never again  Greetings from Salobrena  Jacqui and Henry  |
| #43 14-Sep-2005, 13:09 | ||||
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| Great stuff Henners, good luck to you both. I'd missed this thread before, but glad you eventually made the journey safely!!!! We must get that "r" meet sorted out before you retire the Duke to Spain too!!!  Tim |
| #50 21-Sep-2005, 15:58 | |||
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| Postscript ... .. a few photos from the trip the memories of which will remain etched on my mind for some time  Wednesday 7th September and we head off http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0713.jpg 4 miles from Clackett's Lane services on the M25 one hour later and two new trailer wheels call it quits http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0769.jpg Through blind hope and rank stupidity we carry on ... http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0722.jpg .. eventually reaching our destination 4 days later http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0736.jpg Trailer unpacked and we start to settle in http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0740.jpg One of us building kitchen units http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0764.jpg ...whilst the other gets to grips with equally important tasks http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...3/Img_0766.jpg Back in the UK for a couple of weeks and then, if I'm successful in finding some secure parking on the coast, I hope to take the R down to her new home in October. Thanks for all the good wishes. J&H |
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