Making Scooby perfect!!
Trip Start
Oct 11, 2009
1
113
156
Trip End
Mar 10, 2010
Agadir, Morocco
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
On the London end of things it was a very early morning to get to Gatwick for my 7am check-in for the flight back to Agadir. Again everything went nearly according to plan... except for missing my bus and then catching a taxi to make my train to the airport. The hiccup put me a little off my game plan and meant that I forgot to by duty free for Kim - she was gagging for a decent NZ Sauvignon Blanc... I was not so popular when I got back. But the flight was again uneventful and I arrived on time with no hassles. Kim on the other hand was late picking me up as she encountered some road works, so I wondered down to the highway to meet her. On the way back into town we decided to see when we could get Scooby's rust spots fixed. We went to a panel beater who had been recommended by Aiden and Anita who had their van fixed by them a few years back. We agreed on a very reasonable price and were told he wanted to get started right away and we could spend the nights in Scooby in the garage. We had not checked out of the van park but were keen to get the work done ASAP as Kim was ready to leave Morocco and continue our European adventures. So we decided to get the work under way immediately and would catch the bus out the van park tomorrow and check out then. It was already 3pm so we went for a quick beer to celebrate me becoming British. We then found a little shop that sold alcohol so we bought a Moroccan red and were back at the mechanics by 6pm when they were meant to close but they were still working on Scooby and did not leave until 7pm – dedicated hey! A French couple were also getting their van bonnet done and we also staying the night in the mechanics behind us. Kim had bought prawns for dinner and cooked up a storm – honey, chilli, garlic prawns on a bed of rice.
28th Agadir
Up early as the mechanics started at 8am! We caught the bus to Atlantic Park to drop off our second gas bottle which was empty and to pack up our pitch and check out. Aiden and Anita invited us in for a cuppa and we left their place just as the heavens opened. We decided on having a shower first and hope the rain stopped as we had wanted to walk up the beach to Taghazout but it was not meant to be as the rain stayed on all day until we got back to Agadir! Scooby was looking good and the mechanics said he would be ready tomorrow afternoon - wow - ahead of schedule!
29th Agadir to Atlantic Park
Another early morning, which meant we were strolling along Agadir beach at 8.30am and enjoying the sunshine after the rainy, cold and windy day we had yesterday. The beach turned out to be long and sandy so quiet nice. It was very popular with local as we saw people out for their morning walk, run, boxing and soccer matches. The beach ended and were at the marina which was a nice new area with apartments, shops and cafes, but unfortunately had a million stray cats hanging around. As it was just before 10am most places were not open yet so we did a spot of window shopping. After the marina we headed back into town via the tourist office as we wanted to find out if there were any must sees in Agadir as stuff to do in Agadir was a little thin on the ground. The tourist office was in a sorry looking building and the tourist office lady was just arriving as we turned up. She opened the office and went to her desk and turned on her radio. No bonjour, no opening of the blinds, nothing..she just wanted to sit at her desk and listen to her radio. Kim decided to take matters into her own hand and reached across one of the desks for a brochure and was told very abruptly "no madam!". What the f@!$. This was a tourist office and we could not even look at the tourist brochures! Ok so we had 4 more hours to kill before Scooby was ready to be collected so we would find our own fun! More meandering and it was time for lunch and we found a great local cafe that was perfect for a spot of people watching. The clientele of the cafe kept us entertained more than the passersby. At one table was an older French lady definitely mutton done up as lamb and she was sitting with a local man in his early 20’s. The body language of the lady was flirtatious but unfortunately the guy had his back to us so we could not make out his responses! It was obvious though he was her toy boy! The table next to us became occupied by an old man with his very thinning grey hair pulled back in a pony tail as he had no hair at the back us his head, lots of jewellery and sitting holding his hand was a young girl of about 22, young enough to be his grand daughter who we thought she was until they started to hold hands!
Once we were people watched out we ordered a delicious lunch of chicken targine and cous cous – amazing as most places only serve cous cous if you order it 24 hours in advance!
Back at the mechanics at 3pm and Scooby looked brand new! We were delighted with the work. We headed back to Atlantic Park to collect our gas bottle but it was not back yet and it was nearly 4pm so decided to stay the night. As it was our final night we had sundowners with Martin, Carmel, Aiden, Anita, Pat and Brendan – the Irish crew. We got a pretty sunset and just as it was setting the full moon was rising over the hills behind us – very cool!!!
