One of the reasons (probably the most important) to give up everything and start travelling, was to meet the unexpected. Being exposed to things that we have no control of. The kind of circumstances that just happen and that will force us to sit still. We are experiencing one of these moments right now. Our beloved Defender decided to give us some problems right after the last fuel-stop approx. 80 Kms north of Barcelona. All of a sudden we lost all torque and became the slowest vehicle on the highway. Sweating and swearing (guess which one was more than the other) we reached the Landrover Dealer in Mataró who, after a short checkup declared the turbocharger broken. It was Thursday afternoon and the replacement charger was expected for Monday or Tuesday. This already meant staying in the nearby IBIS Hotel for min. 5 nights. On Tuesday, after paying 652 € we got the car back and were overly happy to continue our trip the next day. We got up at 5:00am to hit the road and drive 780 Kms to reach our next destination in time. After approx. 10 Kms on the road we noticed that the same problem still existed. No power, no torque. You should have seen the face of the receptionist of the IBIS hotel when we returned just 40 minutes later to check in again. Wednesday was a Spanish holiday so no action on that day. We decided to take the situation as a examination of our intend for this trip and make the best of it. Sitting in a very nice beach cafe and restaurant, Lasal Del Varador, we not only enjoyed great food & great wine, but met a very nice and helpful couple. Marylene & Patrick were sitting on a table next to us and suggested that we try the grilled octopus (which is/was absolutely great). A conversation started and we were asked what is bringing us to Mataró. After we explained our current situation and the difficulties we are facing in communicating with Land Motors, Marylene immediately offered her help. Being a native english speaker and fluent in Spanish she offered to join me the next morning at Land Motors to describe the still existing problem and the next steps. At the same time, Ruedi our Swiss Defender Specialist from Overlandtechnics, thought about possible causes and prepared recommendations and photos to present to the local dealer the next morning. He also agreed to participate in a phone call with on his spanish speaking employees and the local dealer to discuss his ideas. We are overwhelmed by the support we receive and especially by Marylene’s offer to help people that she briefly met at a restaurant.
Thursday morning. After a conference call between the local dealer and OVERLANDtechnics and the help of Marylene it was clear that a repair will take until next monday. Friday is yet another holiday and after further investigation it now seems that the turbocharger has to be replaced. If we are lucky it will arrive on Monday morning, which means we need to stay for another 4 nights bringing the total to 12 days and 11 nights. For us this is the perfect training to accept things as they happen and just live the moment. We’re getting better at it every day. Today, Thursday, we had an extended breakfast, took a long walk on the beach and enjoyed the buzzing city of Mataró. After all this is what we had in mind when we took the step into a new life.
We are starting to love it more every day.
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