Week 9 - Tiznit in Morocco to Taghazoute in Morocco

With the new shocks on the bike it was time to try it 2 up and to see if I could manage to get on and off with my bad ankle. Set off for a pootle round Tiznit and met Alesh and Noamy at the paint spray shop. They were very excited as they had been parked up for nearly 2 weeks having work done to their van, but it was almost ready for its new paint job.

We whiled away the afternoon chatting and playing with their dog Chappie. They invited us to meet them in town that evening as they had found a shop that did really good donuts. Never one to pass up the opportunity for donuts we dashed back to the van for a quick tea and then walked into town. They were right about the donuts they were fantastic and Alesh and Noamy proceeded to give us a tour of all the places they had discovered in Tiznit over the last 2 weeks.

The following day we paid for our good time. My ankle was swollen and painful from all the walking and the “new” shock absorbers had turned out to be not so new and weren’t up for the job of carrying the two of us let alone all the gear as well.

Wednesday Ant was ready to throw the bike in the sea and go home, so we decided to ignore our transport problems and go and see if any progress had been made on Alesh and Noamy’s van. They were getting very close, but had to wait for the paint sprayer to have lunch before the painting could start. As we were chatting a BMW pulled up with English number plates. The driver came to say hello and it turned out he was a Moroccan gentleman called Aziz, who lives 6 months of the year in Stourbridge and works in our local casino in Walsall. It’s a small world! Aziz has a friend who owns a scrap yard in Agadir and he agreed to go with Ant the following day to see if he could get any better shock absorbers.

Thursday Ant was up early and off to Agadir again with Aziz. He returned after dark with more new shocks, this time from a big trials bike, welded to the original eyes and a straightened front wheel. The bike looked loads better, but it was even nicer to see Ant smiling again.

Friday we went to say goodbye to Alesh and Noamy. Their van was finished and they had had enough of camping outside the garage.

We decided it was time for us to move on too and head off towards Marrakesh, so Saturday we were up early and packed the bike.

Tried to leave the campsite, but there was no one to pay! Had to wait till 12.30 until the owner got back from lunch, so it was a good job we had decided only to go as far as Agadir.

Good to be back on the road although I felt really nervous about every bend and bump. I’m sure I’ll get over that in a few days. Tried a couple of campsites in Agadir, but they were all full so we ended up back in Atlantic Park in Taghazoute, where we had stayed on our way South. Had tea and went for a wander to see if there were any New Year’s festivities, but both the restaurants on the campsite were full of reserved tables. This being Morocco there was no bar you could sidle up to and join in the fun, so we walked down to the beach. Nothing going on. The beach was deserted so we retired back to the van and saw in the New Year with the London fireworks on the telly.

We all decided to stay an extra day in Taghazoute and we started 2012 as we mean to go on by having a lie in. Ant went for a wander and managed to rustle us up 2 pizzas which we gleefully devoured. It’s been a while and we love pizza. Ant ordered and took delivery of a new waterproof bag to replace the right hand front box we had lost in the accident. Sewn to his exact measurements by the man outside the campsite who makes awnings. After a shower and doing some washing we are all ready to start the trip to Marrakesh tomorrow.