Another hot day, 27°C and it feels impossible to lose the heat from Hymer. After breakfast we clean Hymer, vacuum and dispose of all the rubbish/recycling, getting ready to leave. We have had 3 really good night’s stay in Canfranc but time to move on.

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Ready to get on our way about 10.30. Mr C. turns the engine over and barely an attempt to start, just a slow, laboured churning! We are surprised, the Hymer has been hooked up to the electricity supply for three days, which means the battery has been charging for the whole of that time.

Carefully with loving care and a foot at the right moment on the accelerator he manages to get the engine to start… phew. I realise my heart is racing with anxiety… in a small town in the Pyrenees a new battery would be a major obstacle. We have the engine running while finishing off servicing the Hymer, we drive to Jaca (the next main town). Here we find ‘Automoviles Matias Jaca’, a small specialist garage. Parking on the garage frontage (but leaving the engine running) Mr C. goes in to discuss the options. He comes out with a small wiry guy with engine greased overalls and I know we have found the right place. We are guided into the workshop, the hub of operations and a pair of skilled mechanics come and set to work immediately. I sit quietly in the back and observe them find the battery under the floor at the driver’s feet and remove it. It is incredibly heavy… it takes two of them to carefully lift it out of its holding and onto the floor of the workshop. By the time the old battery is out a new one has arrived and is brought over. The new battery is lowered into place by the same two men. The first mechanic spends quite a while, maybe half an hour connecting, fixing and testing. Voila! He turns the engine and it roars into life. Relief floods through me.

Mr C. pays, gets a photograph of the mechanic with the battery and we leave the workshop. Finding a place in the shade nearby we let our anxiety settle and have some lunch. It is now 2.30 pm, the plan for today was to drive east to Ainsa, it is 71 km from Jaca so that plan is abandoned. Mr C. suggests an overnight stop at the small town of Sabiñánigo which is about 18km further on. A drivable distance, not too far and a good overnight stop… all make it a good reason to go there!

Back on N-330 we drive the 18 km east to Sabiñánigo where we find a large Mercadona supermarket and do a big shop, stocking up on milk, fruit, vegetables, cheeses, meats and wine (of course). We also call at the Repsol garage and fill with LPG (gas). Back on the main road through Sabiñánigo we find the Area Autocaravanas, well signed behind the Albergue-Hostel, a large rectangular building that used to be a military barracks and now serves as hostel accommodation for travellers exploring ski resorts and mountain trails. We are exhausted, so park up on the large car park, one end of which serves as an area set aside for motorhomes. There are about 15 or 16 already here but there is plenty of space for maybe 30 or 40 units. We get out and stretch our legs finding the water and disposal facilities and discover the Pirenarium (towns of the Pyrenees in miniature) just behind the Aire… something to do tomorrow we agree, we have done enough today! We get the chairs out and despite the car park-style parking we escape the heat of 33°C inside and sit under the shade of the trees with a glass of chilled white wine, now cooling to a pleasant 27°C. Later we cook beefburgers, tomatoes and mushrooms, sitting out into the evening dusk.

Photos in and around Canfranc Estacíon and Sabiñanígo

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