It was the day after Boxing Day that we bid farewell to our fellow van life family and in some ways the end of the adventure itself. In the blink of an eye we vanished, leaving a sandy patch where Morrison once sat. Our hearts were heavy knowing that the days of sun and surf had drawn to an end. For ahead, the long windy Spanish roads awaited us, where bulls stand as cutouts on mountain tops, villages look frozen in time as tumble weeds roll by and tall rock structures that resemble monument valley stick out across the plains. It looked like we had stepped out of a Wild West movie, all we needed was some saloon doors. Along the way we got a taste of that word we had forgotten about, winter. Two and a half days later we made it to Barcelona, to a crammed pack campsite full of Italians and their campers waiting out the front to get in. After a short wait and the realisation that the build up to their ‘kings day’ made it busier than peak season made the situation somewhat laughable, especially finding out the prices they charged. Being the only site open, we just committed and endured what most would call daylight robbery. With glorious weather we enjoyed 2 days exploring the city and all it’s magic, it’s bumper to bumper foot traffic and the wondrous world of Gaudi. Leaving Barcelona on New Year’s Eve was a concern our next hosts Camilla & Andy had. Why are you leaving Barcelona to spend a New Years here with us?! Camilla & Andy live in a small village in the south of France - Péret. Andy builds guitars, restores homes and is an all round fine craftsmen. Camilla works odd local jobs and helps out with many gardens around the area, they welcomed us immediately with all the comforts of home that we could wish for. The new year was brought in with several of their friends from the uk and some solid bluegrass beats.

The following days were relaxing and lovely, we shared many stories, laughs, cups of tea and sampled some damn fine local wines & cheese. After a few days rest we were ready to move on however the feeling was not mutual. Parked up on the side of the highway outside Mc Donald’s Morrison refused to start. So that was us for the night. The following day was spent jump starting our way across France trying desperately to make it across to Germany to fix the issue. 20km before the boarder our luck came to an end, our battery was dead and so was the alternator. After being robbed by the French to replace our battery we took our second issue to Germany where we stumbled across the best possible garage for us, they sat us by the fire told us to keep it stoked, while they bent over backwards to help Morrison through his hard time. They invited us for a home cooked lunch which and come the afternoon we were feeling good, mo was given the thumbs up and we were Hamburg bound. That was our final night in Morrison, it was a cold one, but one we will never forget, awaking with a light dusting of snow around us.

Pulling into Hamburg that evening we felt a major weight had been lifted, we had made it! We spent a lovely evening with Jenny & Arne and made the move from vanlife back into apartmentlife. It sure was strange, to think it was all coming to an end so fast, to me it felt like the longer your gone the shorter that time feels when it’s time to come home. We were thankful to have a warm apartment to stay in as the days and nights brought cold temperatures and slow flurries. Our final two weeks were a race against the clock to get Morrison sold to a new family, we did many trips around the city pasting up flyers wherever we could. Once that was done we sat and waited, for our new ownership papers to arrive and for someone to send us an email interested in Mo. We had lots of emails, mainly in the last week which was really nerve racking, in total we had 15 people inquire, 7 people look and 1 man who won Morrison’s heart, Frank. As out papers had still not arrived and our plane was due to depart, we came to a agreement that jenny would take over the handing over of the keys once the papers arrived.

On the 24th January 2015, we left Hamburg on the ICE bahn to Munich, where we spent our last night in Europe eating some delicious Bavarian food and toasting to one hell of a journey. That next day we flew home, I made sure we were a good 5 hours early to the airport as there was no way I was missing another day of NZ Summer. 30 hours later we were back on home soil, to smell some of the freshest air in the world and drink the best tap water on earth.