It was a turbulent day today. Even before getting up, we got the signal through the fridge that the gas is empty again. That means no coffee, no oatmeal porridge for the kids, no fried eggs, so no reasonable breakfast as we are used to.
Naive as the last few times, we thought, we first get the gas bottle at the next gas station and then eat breakfast in peace in the Andalusian mountains. „Pustekuchen“ – in the end we were 8 hours on the hunt for gas! The last time we exchanged the bottle in Portugal, there was no problem in Portugal to get a Portuguese bottle connection. It was said to us by „professionals“ that it will go with this hose and bottle head also in Spain. Not true, in Spain you need a Spanish bottle head. The challenge is that those who do business with gas do not speak English.
In Ronda we bought in a kind of hardware store (Ferreteria) a Spanish bottle head and a supposedly suitable hose. At the first gas station there was already a bottle of gas that has changed our Portuguese bottle. Unfortunately, the thread from the hose end did not fit on our gas pressure regulator. No one speaks English here – so we went ahead with everything we have to Marbella in the hardware store. Unfortunately, the big DIY stores sell no accessories for gas systems, but only special operations. This we have then approached next … the first was not a dealer and was / was not wanted to sell us but had the deciding tip to drive a specialist shop for air conditioning! For logically incomprehensible reasons, we got there the correct bottle head with screw connection that fits our French gas hose … ahe then told us that we have no propane but a butane gas bottle. Whatever the difference, in Spain they cook mainly with butane, you get it at every gas station and the internet just says that it has other calorific values and is Not good when it‘s freezing.
The mood on board is good. The children process the experience immediately in the game, i. Paint or sell gas bottles, campers, adapters, gas stations, etc. That was our day today.
PS: At the end of our journey we will have a huge bag with the most diverse gas connections of many European countries. If someone needs something, you know … 🙂
