Ekona

Cheers dude, I hope it's entertaining enough to read, I'm missing quite a lot out but there's just so much footage and pics here and the laptop and interweb is too slow for me to get too much up each evening. I'm off to a place called Zamora tomorrow, pretty much direct for here. Hopefully I'll get there by mid afternoon. I did, no choice sadly due to the time constraints. Besides, if I did everything in the one trip I'd have no need to come back again would I?

Day 6 Wow. Did I make the correct decision last night to forego driving roads in lieu of visiting Gibraltar or what! Had a good run down, barely any traffic and I didn't bother setting up the GoPro nor TomTom either, so the cabin seemed very spartan and more natural. Eventually managed to get into Gib at about 2pm, weather was stunning. I've a short vid of that (well, me driving the whole of Gib pretty much) for later, so I won't say too much. And finally, the furthest south in Europe I've ever been myself, and I'm pretty sure my 911 has ever been either: That's the Europa Point lighthouse behind me, which is the only UK lighthouse not on the mainland. Sadly the hoarding means you can't see Africa in that photo, but I can guarantee that it was as clear as day to see. Very epic sight. So now I'm pretty much halfway, and as I've yet to clean the car you can see the full horror that is the body count on the numberplate: That's going to take some shifting to get it off the bumper and bonnet, I can tell you. I'm not too worried really as there's a seriously thick coat of wax protecting the paint, and even if it does ruin it which is possible in this heat, I've budgeted for a front end respray this year anyway. I then popped into the nature reserve which is waaaaay up on top of the rock, and the roads you need to use are barely big enough for two vehicles and incredibly steep, far steeper than a sports car should be climbing. The 911 was okay, although I was a little concerned at the stress I was putting on the PDK 'box so left it in 1st gear and used the revs to get me up rather than the torque in a higher gear. Probably not an issue, but a bad place to find one out. Could've done with an LSD on one very sharp corner too! Why was I in the nature reserve? Why, looking for these guys of course: Monkeys! Real Gib monkeys! Actually, they're apes, but it's more fun to shout "MONKEY!" at them in a PG Tips-stylee than just say ape normally, Had a wander around the caves there too, but I was running short of time so didn't see the war tunnels or other cool bits. Next time. The hotel I'm at tonight is stunning, old Victorian style and I've just had a mahoosive buffet dinner, t'was very much appreciated and I'm now sat in the room with dos grande beers por favor writing this. Going to get an early night I think and leave earlier tomorrow, no fun drive was planned any way but the hotel is a fricking expensive one that I splashed out on, and I want to get my money's worth

From yesterday: Today's update will come after me supper.

No power for the laptop though

Also, I have wifi on the balcony!

'Tis my own silly fault for leaving it so late before trying to organise it, would've been great to meet up with you

Day 5 Sadly today's hotel has bumped from the pikey hotel room to the posh apartments, which means I have no wifi unless I sit in reception (like I am now) and I don't fancy doing that all evening, so have bought some beers and am going to watch the football in a bit. As such, only pics today and no vids Today took me further down the coast, via Valencia and Benidorm to Just outside Cartagena. This meant oranges, orange Brits, and then some more orange Brits. It also meant... VALENCIA F1 STREET CIRCUIT BABY!! Yup, that's me sat on pole, where hopefully Lewis will be sat next year in his 2014 championship winning car (okay, a man can dream) for the Spanish GP. Surprising how much of it remains open, I could probably have had a good wander around were there not guardia just round the corner blocking a road off, and I didn't know if I was allowed to park there for long or not. Getting towed away would be really bad. Also, whilst driving through the countryside I randomly came across this parked up and had to get a couple of pics: That's an impact bumper era 911 from (I think) the late 70's, although it could be an early '80s one. Either, way it's beautiful and it was just sat there, no owner in sight sadly. Makes my car look a bit of a biffer! Spent the late afternoon wandering around Los Alcazares, which meant strolling along here: ...and having one of these: Such a hard life. Also, topless sunbathing ftw. Not from me, I hasten to add, nor did I get any pics before you ask! I'm giving serious thought to halving tomorrow's run which was due to take in some more mountain roads and heading straight for Algeciras, which means I'll be able to cross into Gibraltar and tick another box off. In fact, that's made my mind up, I'm going to do just that. Mountain driving is awesome, but I think a day off will do me good.

Bloody Wiggos everywhere!

I really, really love my GoPro.

Are they not just facelift lights sprayed up?

1. My local bloke charges £10 a corner for cash. Some pay more, some pay less, I'm happy with that figure as he's a good bloke and I trust him. 2. Pass, others more local can probably help more. 3. Separate, I'd go somewhere specialist and get a proper job done personally but if you just want the car back within Nissan specs then pretty much anywhere can do that for you. Expect to pay anywhere from £50 to £100.

ARGH I WENT TO GET SOME FOOD AND THE F*CKING RESTAURANT IS CLOSED ON SATURDAYS - THE GIRL ON RECEPTION LIED TO ME!!!11 :rant: I got them to make me a cheese pizza instead, and it was alright actually. Still a bit miffed though, even if the lass did ring to apologise.

Day 4 Guess what went wrong today? Yup, nothing! Breakfast was good, albeit shared with a massive group of German or Scottish bikers (no idea what language they were speaking, it was one or the other) and I had a great run down. The coastal road was cracking (vids to come) and the sun was glorious. I stopped off on the top of a particularly scenic bit of road and sat there reading a magazine, watching the traffic come past which included a 991 cab (who waved) and a last gen Mustang (who didn't, but the V8 was to die for). It made a nice change to have time to spare, I can tell you. Had a good run to Barcalona, and found the Nou Camp without too much trouble, although someone should probably mention to the locals that it might be a good idea to stick up at least one sign post telling you where it is. It was brilliant, you can tell just how passionate the locals are about their club: The season has ended and there were still loads of market traders outside selling shirts, flags and scarves, and fans were just hanging around the stadium chatting with each other. Top stuff. *EDIT* Whoops, there is one more game in La Liga, and Barca are at home today. F*cksocks, if I'd known I'd probably have gone and watched them. Hotel for tonight seems promising, clean and has private locked parking (at 7EU per night, natch), and there's proper cabled interweb access in the rooms. You can take the nerd out of Essex... Oh, one sad thing: I got chocolate down my nice new pink t-shirt

They really should know better...! It's the camber of the road in the UK most likely causing this 'issue'. They all slope away to the edges so they drain properly, but this means that you need to turn the wheel fractionally to account for it. Find an empty piece of road and try driving on the wrong side: My guess it that it'll go away to the other side Of course, they may just not have set the car up correctly, but I'd try this first.

This man speaketh the truth. Myself and my best mate Mark often do trackdays together, and it'll be a mix of Impreza, 911, MX5 and Caterham. No matter what he's driving, if I passenger with him then I can only do a few laps before I have to get out, else I'll barf all over his interior. By his own admission he's far from a smooth driver, quick but very abrupt with his inputs, and it makes for a horrible ride. Not just me that has that issue, other friends of ours who have been out with both of us (often in the same vehicle) make the same comment. I'm much smoother so they'll happily pax with me, and Mark's binary input driving means they tend not to stay out with him for very long. I would imagine that it's your own inputs that are causing the car to move around far too much and upsetting your brain, and making you feel sick. There's no easy cure apart from practice, but that along with the medicine should help. I wouldn't bother doing any upgrades to 'cure' this just yet, until you'll done at least one more TD (airfield if you want, as it's cheaper) and taken some tuition. Definitely get a CG Lock though, I use one in all my vehicles as they're brilliant and for £35, you can't go wrong.

I did say there was snow... Probably not a patch on what you get though, but trust me, in a 2WD 911 it's really not much fun! And just to prove that it's really not all bad: Like I said, the two extremes of the weather yesterday.

Old Bournes. New Bourne not so hot.

I was with you all the way until Avatar. That is the the biggest waste of time in modern cinema. Average viewer in 3D: "OH WOW, LOOK AT ALL THE PRETTYNESS! THIS IS BRILLIANT!!!" Average viewer in 2D: "Wait, what the f*ck? Where's the story and the acting? This is pompous nonsense." Truth.

I fell asleep in the cinema watching Gladiator. I don't mind it so much these days though.

Bladerunner is one of the worst films I've ever seen. Yes, it's arty and well shot, but the plot, acting and especially the pacing is dreadful. It took me 5 attempts to get through the SUper Mega Director's Wankfest Cut or whatever one it was just to see it all. On the other hand, I rate Independance Day and Jurassic Park as probably my two bestest filsm ever. I could never get bored of watching either. I also like most rom-coms, especially ones with Katherine Heigl in. And not just 'cos she's pretty.

Cheers dude, it really was worth it when the roads got good. How awesome would that have been in the dry?!

Neither, engine dyno only.

I did, I just wasn't paying attention

Only unedited snippets for now, good stuff comes when I get home and have time