North Africa?

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

Yet again I've gotten myself into a little pickle , I've a ton of holds left well not a ton by 15.5 (of which 5 will be defo carried to next year for a big tour round germany and Italy), the thing is the holiday year ends in March, now and Jan are busy accounting periods.

February is busy doing something else, which leaves end of Feb and March.

Europe is rainy however , checking around Barcelona and Cadiz says lots of rain though 12C -> 16C ,

So I thought why not North Africa?> , should be warmer down there.

My thoughts are:

Plymouth -> Santander £85-£100 ferry ticket (better than Calais £40 then £110 in petrol to get to Spain) , then a run down through Spain passing Barcelona , to get somewhere on the south coast,

This burns 3 days since I shall be stopping in Plymouth for half a day to go see the old clan.

Now here is the iffy bit , a run into Morroco across to Tunisia , then to Tunis

5-7 days?

And back into Italy, and back and gun run back, up through Italy and up through France to Calais.

4 days?

Weapon of choice NTV650 with air intake mod to keep the sand out , Jerry can and possibly an endurance tank on the seat for extra extra endurance. (wonder if I can get knobblies for the NTV). Against it is a complex shaft drive system which is difficult to repair, but can be dumped if needs be.

CBR isn't a contender for this due to poor MPG , easy to break and juicy theft target, and shaft drive so less to worry about , also maybe more tolerant to leaded petrol which I've read is a real hazard even if it is marked sans ploumb

Budget £300 for ferries £500 for petrol ,and quite a bit more for food , booze and "other". which depends on how big the bonus is in Feb.

Any thoughts?

Ta
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EuropeanNC30R... · Gay Hairdresser Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Karma :

I looked into that exact route a while back, but isn't there some sort of iron curtain type thing getting into Algeria from Morocco? I could well be misinformed but I thought I read there was a problem with that border.

Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

Oops , yes closed in 1994 , and not likely to reopen either,

darn.... Sad

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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

Paivi · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Sep 2005 Karma :

Itchy: the Plymouth to Santander ferry starts running only on 30 March or thereabouts.
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Polarbear · Super Spammer Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Karma :

Portsmouth to Bilbao runs all year.
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Itchy · Super Spammer Joined: 07 Apr 2005 Karma :

feef · Energiser Bunny Joined: 11 Feb 2002 Karma :

The roads in Morocco are better than you think. Unless you WANT to go 'off-roading' on tracks, you can stay on hard-pack or mettled roads at least, if not tarmac, for the majority of routes around the country.

I'm looking into a north Africa tour in '09 which is a little more 'involved'.

a
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