Looking at photos the other day to put with the blog I came across all the photos we took on our journey to Malaga in 2004. So I took a trip down memory lane (a bit emotional as the two Cockers are now no more) and thought you might like to hear about it. If you are thinking of moving to Spain with your animals it will be of especial interest to you.
We had originally intended to fly the dogs to Malaga and we would fly on the same flight. But as the time got closer I got more and more concerned about subjecting two dogs, nearly 10 years old, to the stress of crates, screaming jet engines and possible delays. We had not intended to bring a car across at all. We were going to hire one until we could purchase one. About 2 weeks before leaving the UK we decided to drive. Neither of us could face flying Sham and Rock out here so we decided to drive our English car to Plymouth and take the Pont Aven to Santander in Northern Spain. The Pont Aven was a new ship at that time and had kennels for dogs so no need to leave them in a car.
It was great. Obviously a one hour trip to Plymouth docks at the UK end was easy. We, and anyone else with animals, were put in a different queue and we were parked on the boat near the lift that went straight to the kennels at the top of the boat. As I say, this was a new vessel at the time and so the kennel room and kennels were all very nice. We took blankets and bowls and food. The kennels are all stainless steel and with that knowledge if we were to do it again I would take a rubber mat for the bottom of the cage and a blanket to put on top. Stainless steel drinking bowls were attached to the cage already. We were late booking so were told that they would have to be in separate cages but when we got up there the poor bloke in charge hadn't got a clue what was going on and Derek just told him we needed a large cage to put the two dogs together and thats what we got. For anyone concerned that we did a large dog out of a large cage - there appeared to be plenty for all.
The only time we were not allowed up there was whilst leaving port and whilst docking in Santander - all the rest of the time you could come and go as much as you liked. There was a small deck outside the kennels but below was the helideck and that was empty and so that was where everyone took their dogs for exercise. As you can see from one of the photos Derek launched his career as a Kate Winslet (not lookalike) wannabe and did his Titanic bit!!! Hmmm - okay moving swiftly on!
The journey down to Malaga was long - predictably - but fairly without incident for the dogs anyway. We stopped every couple of hours for a water break and run around for the dogs and stretch legs for us. As we didn't get off the boat until 2.00ish in the afternoon and it was the end of September and in the afternoon we were in Northern Spain this all helped with the heat - so it was a comfortable journey for them. The only time we got it wrong was outside Madrid. We stopped about an hour and a half before Madrid and swapped over for me to drive and after the walk and water took off again. The traffic got heavier and heavier as we approached the city and the amount of lanes on the motorway got more and more. It was lucky that I was driving and Derek was directing as he is so much better at that. We got through okay but had hit Madrid at rush hour and it took us over two hours to get to somewhere where we could stop again. By this time both dogs were very thirsty indeed and we felt terrible. (We only had one divorce and it was after that section with tempers a little frayed ...... marital bliss resumed the next day!!)
That was the only drama for the dogs - we slept in the car that night I think somewhere around Valdepenas - sleep being a loose term used to describe a period during which eyes are closed and no sleep occurred!!! Actually I dont think my eyes closed that much. We parked up on the edge of a lorry park - walked the dogs - ate something and got back in the car. The dogs were great. It was dark and they were in their basket and so they slept. We were sat fairly upright due to carrying far too much in the back of the car and it was FREEZING!!! which we didn't expect. Then a shadowy black figure on a very squeaky old fashioned upright bike cycled past in slow motion almost and about half an later he cycled back again. Bearing in mind we are now talking about 1.00 or 2.00am this completely destroyed any likelihood of me sleeping again that night. Long, long, cold night. Still 6.00am and we gave up any pretence and were on the road again by 6.30. It was still very cold and very dark but we saw a spectacular sunrise and reached our destination around 11.00am. About an hour after our furniture which shouldn't have been arriving until the next day.
I would do it again but:
* Definitely make sure that if you are sleeping in the car that it is comfortable.
* If transporting dogs - a crate with an attached non spill water dish would be the sensible idea.
* A sleeping bag per person also desirable but my recommendation would be to stay in a hotel that take animals.
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