About 10 days ago we spent the day with a couple of young kiwis, Ruth and Karl, who visited us here in Azpeitia. They have been driving a very small homemade campervan, bought in London, around Europe for the past few months and they found their way to our little town.
Here they are with their campervan. We were impressed by the skillful job of the hand painted flag
Ruth is the daughter of good Auckland friends of ours and we were very excited when we heard that she and her lovely partner, Karl, were coming to see us. There is nothing like having visitors from home - there is certainly a 'kiwi perspective' and it was just great to chat with people who share this. For example, so many people tell us that we, as in New Zealand, have to belong to somewhere else, but NO WE DON'T. Oceania is a common suggestion but the only time, I think, we hear this in NZ is to do with sports competitions and Oceania is an area of competing teams.
So we chatted and laughed the day away fitting in pintxos and beer, and a good 20 - 30 minute stroll up to Loiola to the Basilica de Loiola, icecreams on the steps of the big hotel beside the Basilica.
Pintxos and beer ...
.... and icecreams
We went into the Bascillica and had a look around. Ruth and I had a great time looking at everything and reading everything and wondering how it would have been 'back in the day' a few hundred years ago. We looked out of a window at the top and there were Barry and Karl outside way down below. Ruth and I thought it was quite interesting but don't think that Barry and Karl were that fussed about it.
I must say that this is the very first time I have ever spent a day with another Ruth and never have I written 'Ruth and I' before!
All too soon it was time to head back to Azpeitia and for Ruth and Karl to be on their way. But not so fast, as it turned out because there was the 'little' problem of locating the campervan. "where oh WHERE COULD IT BE" came the cry - "was it this street or that one or maybe the other one". Up and down a few steps to the next street, round a couple of corners and then backtracking a little bit and then"there it is" and there it was, just where they'd parked it.
We had a look inside and marveled at how compact it is and what a tiny space it is to live in. They did say that they were getting a little weary of putting the bed up and down every morning and night and having to pack everything away before they could move on. I really hope that their leisurely day in Azpeitia with us went a little way to rejuvenate their wanderlust.
You may be wondering why their campervan wasn't parked up by our place. Well, sometimes GPS's are not exactly trustworthy and negotiating little narrow streets with dubious instructions sometimes means that it's better to ditch the technology and go for a walk. Added into the mix is the fact that the campervan is a right-hand driving vehicle which is fine for the UK (where it comes from) so Karl, the driver, is on the outside of the road instead of the inside. Sounded rather freaky to me but he said it wasn't a problem. Ruth said they had got a lot of strange looks when people realised that she wasn't actually driving but is sitting where the driver should be!
Then it was time to say goodbye and off they went, straight ahead ... then turned around and came back and onto the road that would actually take them out of the city and to the coast.
There they go ....and then they came back ...
.... onto the right road and this time they really were gone.
It certainly was a very lovely day and both Barry and I felt a little sad to wave them goodbye.
The next day, Saturday, was the day we went to Deba and that will be my next post.
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