Tent on the Move

Today we decided that we would stay on for another week but move our tent.  The hedge we were camped next to provided some good shade during the morning but in the afternoon the sun was totally relentless.  Lack of afternoon shade combined with nosy neighbours prompted us to look for an alternative pitch.  After making enquiries with reception we discovered that our current pitch has been booked out from tomorrow afternoon so it would be fine to move our tent.  After a bit of a walk-around we found what looked like an ideal spot under a big tree with better afternoon shade and decided to move then and there rather than waiting until tomorrow.

Our new tent pitch, backed under a tree!

Under the watchful eyes of our neighbours we took everything out of the tent and slung it in the car.  Paul folded the inflatable mattress in half and threaded it between the open two back windows of the car.  It stuck out a bit at the sides of the car but it was fine.  Paul let out the air from the tent supports, letting the tent structure go down.  We then somehow managed to drag it onto the ROOF of the car, much to the amusement of our neighbours, and Paul drove the whole tooty fruity to our new pitch.  We must have made quite a sight with our gear hanging out of the windows and the flattened tent on the roof!!

The shower across from us was an absolute life-saver when
 trying to cool down whilst pitching the tent.

By now we were very hot and made good use of an open air shower near our pitch to cool off whilst setting up the tent.  I ended up putting on a long sleeved shirt and kept it wet in order to keep cool - seeing spots in front of my eyes is not a good thing.

We finally got the tent set up and sorted and had another cool shower before getting into the air-conditioned car, going to a nearby village to get some groceries.  We had a bit of a delay on the road - there was a horse on the loose, trotting in the middle of the road, with what looked like a leg injury and possibly something else wrong from what I could see from its backside.  A van in front of us stopped and the driver got out to help head the horse off, another driver heading towards us further up the road had got out of his car and was walking just behind the horse with a big bunch of juicy grass.  Between the two of them, the chaps encouraged the horse towards some workshops off the road where, hopefully, the horse will be given much needed water and a vet to look over it before trying to trace the owners.  It was certainly not a day for a horse to be on the loose.

Tomorrow is another day.