Arranging the trip.

Our initial plans were to take our Freelander loaded up with stuff we would need in the first few days of being in Spain so that if there were any delays in getting things from the containers, we would be ok. There would be plenty of room for the 2 of us, the 2 pups and cases. We would drive down to the south coast, take a ferry across to France and then drive down through the scenic parts of France & Spain to our new life but unfortunately, our car was stolen last week and completely burnt out, which left our plans up in the air.

We had already agreed to give my little car to my dad when we left to upgrade him from his little ‘K’ reg Peugeot 106, no power steering, no electric windows, no stereo, so taking mine wasn’t possible. Not to worry, we’ll hire a car to Plymouth, take the ferry to Santander, northern Spain and then hire a Spanish car to drive down. It would mean missing France out but I thought hiring a car in France and then swapping at the Spanish border would be too messy with 2 dogs, so sailing to Spain would simplify the arrangement.

I started to look into the various ferry services we could use, specifically looking for the facilities for Brandy & Brinkley, after all it was a 19 hour sailing and I needed to know they would have somewhere to exercise, somewhere to sleep, somewhere to eat and somewhere to pee.

We decided that the facilities on board the Brittany ferry Pont-Aven we best. The dogs would each have a small kennel, there was an exercise area and we could access them whenever with a digicard. Others limited visits to specific visiting times. The ferry sails on a Wednesday at 12 noon, so we started to complete the on-line booking to sail one-way on the 14th May. Having ticked the box for 2 dogs, 2 passengers and no car, the quote came up minus the dogs. I tried this a couple of times, knowing there was something wrong as there should be a charge of £25 per dog.

Still no luck getting the dogs included so I went onto the FAQ section to see if I could fathom out why, but nothing. So, I rang the ferry company who told me that you cannot take dogs on as a foot passenger, even though they will be kept in kennels on board, you have to drive them on in a car. But, we currently don’t have a car to do that and I cannot see the car hire company being too happy at us taking their car one-way.

OK, we now have a little dilemma to solve. Where can we get a spare car from that doesn’t need returning to the UK? Easy answer – dad’s old ‘K’ reg Peugeot 106, with no power steering, no electric windows and no stereo BUT if it got us on board the ferry, it didn’t matter if it collapsed in Spain, we would at least be there with the dogs.

So that’s the plan, we load the car up on the 13th May with 2 dogs, a suitcase and me & Neil, drive down to Plymouth and take the ferry to Santander so we can drive through Spain.

Should be an experience!