When I drove down from France to ALicante in our wee Honda CRV with 3 cats and dog it was easy, no hassle. Stayed in our roof tent at the back of an Aires for free. Later I went back to Ireland to collect my Land Rover camper which was still being built in Northern Ireland. I got 200km off the boat in Cherbourg and it started leaking fuel and the temps were sky high. Had to go to a garage in France and I then had to stay in a hotel for a few nights while they waited on parts arriving. Over 1400euro later I got going again and managed just a few hours and the temps started rising again. I struggled on for hours driving sometimes as little as a couple of hundred metres before having to stop on the motorway and refill with water in the cooling system. Eventually managed to get off the road to buy more water, gallons of it, and thought I had fixed it by bleeding the system on a very steep embankment to get rid of last airlock. Worked for an hour or so and I was delighted.....only for it to start again. Eventually had to get a Land Rover specialist to come pick the car up. Ultimately, I had to leave my vehicle there, get a train, bus, high speed train and then lift in a van back to my long term parking at Alicante Airport where my Spanish Land Rover had been left to go to Ireland. The vehicle now left in France needed to have the entire head skimmed and head gasket replaced. To make matters worse, when I got to the long term parking, it was 44c, and the battery had went flat as the alarm and immobiliser was on the entire 3 months I was back in Ireland trying to get my vehicle finished, so the immobiliser stopped working and wouldn't let me start the car. SO I had to get a lift all the way home without my Land Rover. 2 Land Rovers abandoned on one trip! Moral of the story, don't buy a Land Rover!
We went from Perivale in West London to the Costa Blanca many many many years ago.There was me my girlfriend my best mate and his girlfriend in my old mini and his Kawasaki Gpz500 motorbike.2tents and all the luggage on the roof rack the leaf springs were lower than the mudflaps!!!.It burnt a valve over the Alps coming home and staggered off the ferry at Dover coughing like it was on 60untipped a day.The girls said they'd never go on holiday with us again. 34yrs later 5kids and 2grandchildren between us dozens of trips were all still together and until this day the women still won't let us book the holidays 🤣🤣
🤣 Wonderful memories! It sounds fantastic and the cars and bikes in those days didn't have computers saying no.lol. I hope you had a lovely time in Costa Blanca. You obviously didn't put the girls off too much 😊
Well I have both here in Spain now......where its MUCH more expensive to own a Land Rover compared to in Ireland where they are everywhere and parts are cheap. I wouldn't go back to that weather and housing crisis though, Spain is magnificent! Have 3 Land Rovers from Donegal coming to Spain today, landing in Bilbao, and doing a wee exploration of the Pyrenees before coming down here to visit and go camping on some beaches.
Longest trip we ever did was Irun Spain to Cherbourg in one day, we had booked a Hotel on the outskirts of Nantes so we left Irun early in the morning and drove all the way to Nantes arrived at the Hotel late evening wrecked from the very long drive, went to check in and we were told no pets, we had stayed at this Hotel on a number of occasions with our little dog and our booking had our dog on it as they charged a supplement for pets, well the guy on reception was adamant no pets allowed, showed him the pre paid booking but no joy, we had pre paid for the room but got no offer of a refund just the rudest guy we ever encountered on our travels, so back into the car and head to Cherbourg, thankfully when we arrived at the IBIS Hotel Cherbourg near midnight with no booking the staff were fantastic and so so understanding we had a booking for the following night so they gave us the room we had booked and had two lovely nights at the IBIS Cherbourg before catching the Ferry to Rosslare.
Unfortunately we just occasionally have to deal with idiots with a little bit of power! That was a big drive, I couldn't do it lol. The ibis are great for pets 😊
Use to do that long drive not any more prefer to travel Rosslare to either Bilbao or Santander then an 8 hour drive and yes you have to book in advance with the pooches.
@TheRamblingIrishman ah I see. Your fuel gauge float is sticking mate. Need a new fuel pump as its all one unit usually. You can drive it on just make sure you top up ypur fuel regularly as it won't be reliably accurate any more.
Well done Steve, long drive. Diesels expensive in France, thanks for the warning. Many thanks for sharing
Glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing 👍😊
When I drove down from France to ALicante in our wee Honda CRV with 3 cats and dog it was easy, no hassle. Stayed in our roof tent at the back of an Aires for free. Later I went back to Ireland to collect my Land Rover camper which was still being built in Northern Ireland. I got 200km off the boat in Cherbourg and it started leaking fuel and the temps were sky high. Had to go to a garage in France and I then had to stay in a hotel for a few nights while they waited on parts arriving. Over 1400euro later I got going again and managed just a few hours and the temps started rising again. I struggled on for hours driving sometimes as little as a couple of hundred metres before having to stop on the motorway and refill with water in the cooling system. Eventually managed to get off the road to buy more water, gallons of it, and thought I had fixed it by bleeding the system on a very steep embankment to get rid of last airlock. Worked for an hour or so and I was delighted.....only for it to start again. Eventually had to get a Land Rover specialist to come pick the car up. Ultimately, I had to leave my vehicle there, get a train, bus, high speed train and then lift in a van back to my long term parking at Alicante Airport where my Spanish Land Rover had been left to go to Ireland. The vehicle now left in France needed to have the entire head skimmed and head gasket replaced. To make matters worse, when I got to the long term parking, it was 44c, and the battery had went flat as the alarm and immobiliser was on the entire 3 months I was back in Ireland trying to get my vehicle finished, so the immobiliser stopped working and wouldn't let me start the car. SO I had to get a lift all the way home without my Land Rover. 2 Land Rovers abandoned on one trip! Moral of the story, don't buy a Land Rover!
We went from Perivale in West London to the Costa Blanca many many many years ago.There was me my girlfriend my best mate and his girlfriend in my old mini and his Kawasaki Gpz500 motorbike.2tents and all the luggage on the roof rack the leaf springs were lower than the mudflaps!!!.It burnt a valve over the Alps coming home and staggered off the ferry at Dover coughing like it was on 60untipped a day.The girls said they'd never go on holiday with us again. 34yrs later 5kids and 2grandchildren between us dozens of trips were all still together and until this day the women still won't let us book the holidays 🤣🤣
🤣 Wonderful memories! It sounds fantastic and the cars and bikes in those days didn't have computers saying no.lol. I hope you had a lovely time in Costa Blanca. You obviously didn't put the girls off too much 😊
Great video Steve 👍 I hope you're keeping well in the beautiful sunshine 🙏👍
Thanks mate 👍😊
OMG what a nightmare! And all you were doing g was trying to drive a few hundred miles! At least ots in the past..... no more Landrovers lol
Well I have both here in Spain now......where its MUCH more expensive to own a Land Rover compared to in Ireland where they are everywhere and parts are cheap. I wouldn't go back to that weather and housing crisis though, Spain is magnificent! Have 3 Land Rovers from Donegal coming to Spain today, landing in Bilbao, and doing a wee exploration of the Pyrenees before coming down here to visit and go camping on some beaches.
Good ferry service from Wexford to Bilbao. Might save you some driving in the future. Best of luck with your new life in Spain.
Thanks 👍
It’s a fortune though I think?
Longest trip we ever did was Irun Spain to Cherbourg in one day, we had booked a Hotel on the outskirts of Nantes so we left Irun early in the morning and drove all the way to Nantes arrived at the Hotel late evening wrecked from the very long drive, went to check in and we were told no pets, we had stayed at this Hotel on a number of occasions with our little dog and our booking had our dog on it as they charged a supplement for pets, well the guy on reception was adamant no pets allowed, showed him the pre paid booking but no joy, we had pre paid for the room but got no offer of a refund just the rudest guy we ever encountered on our travels, so back into the car and head to Cherbourg, thankfully when we arrived at the IBIS Hotel Cherbourg near midnight with no booking the staff were fantastic and so so understanding we had a booking for the following night so they gave us the room we had booked and had two lovely nights at the IBIS Cherbourg before catching the Ferry to Rosslare.
Unfortunately we just occasionally have to deal with idiots with a little bit of power! That was a big drive, I couldn't do it lol. The ibis are great for pets 😊
@@TheRamblingIrishman We always use IBIS whenever we can, the Hotel in Nantes was not an IBIS Hotel.
Use to do that long drive not any more prefer to travel Rosslare to either Bilbao or Santander then an 8 hour drive and yes you have to book in advance with the pooches.
It's a journey I'm unlikely to have to do again. But if I did, I'd try to go directly from Spain 😊
Why not a ferry straight to Spain?
Couldn't get the dogs booked
@TheRamblingIrishman ah I see. Your fuel gauge float is sticking mate. Need a new fuel pump as its all one unit usually. You can drive it on just make sure you top up ypur fuel regularly as it won't be reliably accurate any more.
All that rain 🌧️ I think France was trying to make you feel at home Steve 😂
Glad you made it safe and sound. Onwards and Upwards 🌞🌅
Alan, has Molly done a poop yet? It's be almost 3 days mate.
Yep, later that day