Things that go bump in the day

If you wish to stay in San Sebastian in a motorhome there is only one option within the city itself - Camping & Bungalows Igueldo. The place is modern, well equipped and professionally run, However it does present challenges. The pitches are short and a number of them have small trees planted in the middle of them to provide extra shade. Presumably the place was designed when most motorhomes were the size of VW campers rather than small trucks. Access is problematic too, both the roads within the site which are narrow and the route from the city, up a steep hill with hairpin bends, and the road none too wide either. So why persist? It's well connected by a half-hourly bus service into the centre and the alternative means parking at a nearby town like Zaurutz or Zumaia and catching the train which is more expensive and more infrequent.

Nevertheless, being a natural pessimist, I have always been concerned that at some point if you used Camping Igueldo enough something would go awry. Today it did. We extricated ourselves from the site well enough, congratulating ourselves on our timing as the service bus pulled away in front of us as we drew out of the gates. 'Better in front than towards,' Gill observed.

The road to Igueldo campp site - not single track - but nor great.

Halfway down the hill a white van approached us. Bang! Our wing-mirrors collided as we passed, smashing both. Ten minutes of form filling ensued, followed by a further quarter of an hour of taping the remains of the wing-mirror together. The main mirror was a jigsaw, the view out of it resembling one of Braque's cubist landscapes. Luckily there is a smaller convex mirror below which was undamaged, I could just about use it. Of course the main rear view mirror only gives a view of our unmade bed and the reversing camera the faint outline of our bikes on the back, so no help there.

Our wing mirror

His wing mirror...

Feeling glum, we headed out of the city on the motorway towards Vitoria Gastiez. Gill found a Fiat main dealer in Logroño and we decided to go there; it was somewhere we wished to revisit anyway. We stopped for lunch at a service area. I phoned the insurers and agreed that we would not put in a claim as it would affect our no claims bonus. That all depends upon the other driver's employer, they may wish to pursue the matter. In the meantime Gill headed off to the shop to buy more duck-tape. She returned clutching a roll and a small sugar lollypop. The chap at the checkout had given it to her, sensing that no-one buys duck-tape at a garage unless they need to tape their vehicle back together. People in Spain really are kind and sweet natured.

Duck tape - that's the ticket!

View out of the  the wing mirror...

So, shit happens, but as accidents go, in truth  the biggest dent is going to be in our bank balance; no-one is hurt and the repair should be straightforward. Still, part of me was troubled by the nagging thought, could I have taken evasive action, was I being vigilant enough? On Facebook our fellow motorhomers were kind and sympathetic - 'head to Logrono, hit the pintxos bars tonight!' they advised.

It was a plan, but first we needed to chat to the garage. We found the place just off Logrono's 'ring road'. Gill and Google maps are a powerful pairing. More Google dependence at the garage, the translate app proved really useful in such circumstances, Within minutes we had established we needed a whole new unit, it would cost €435 (ouch), they could order it now and would fit it at 9.00am. tomorrow.

Logrono aire., in a quiet mised parking on the edge of the city centre .

Perfecto. We headed to the auto-caravanas aire where we had stayed two years ago. As evening fell we walked into the city centre, towards Calle Lauren to be precise. There are a dozen or so famous tapas and pinchos bars there. We may be here literally by accident, but there was no point in moping.