hi everyone, we are finally in spain. had a fantastic time with our former trainee fanny hecq in france and with her parents - we were thoroughly spoilt and really enjoyed the walking in the alps - it was cold up there in Abries, but spectacular scenery and we caught up on all our sleep. Had a barbecue despite the chilly weather and enjoyed some very special cusine a la Fanny! it took us two days to get to spain, and we enjoyed our last good night's camping in France. camping here in spain is a bit more expensive and the ground, tends to be on the hard side. so we have stayed in one refugio, or refugee as they are in france, where they give you lodgings with dinner and breakfast included.They are usually fulled up with walkers, so we were a novelty with kids on board. This place we stayed in was right at the head of a gorge, san nicoholas, and under the pyrenees - it was fantastic mountainous and craggy scenery. the refuge was very clean, tidy and we had our own room with bunks and bathroom and dinner was sumptous and healthy.

even isabel managed to eat it! breakfast was toast and tea and juice, but still very adequate. the next day we had difficulty finding a camp and ended up in huesca, a bit further south than we wanted, and late! got to bed after 11! the kids were exhausted, but it was worth it. we ended up in a hostal, which is a cheap hotel, well , not that cheap by nz standards - but very nice, no cookin facitlities, but it didn't stop us cookin out o the balconey! so all is well and we got some good digs for two nights. had a really good day today, sighteseeing, and visited a very old romansque castle, which the kids really enjoyed visiting. well gotta go - tim is reading biggles books right now and misses a bit of scenery out the window, nicola has been trying to find cheap, and economical accomodation with all our pamplets we have and isabel has been wishing she was home, but she did enjoy today's visit to the castle! and we managed to stop on the roadside and cook up a feed of bacon and eggs, which everyone enjoyed! we have free internet here, so will try and up date some more photos too.