New full timers (1 Viewer)

[Innkeeper]

Hi all
My name is Rob along with wife Les and small dog Pip. We have just bought our first Motorhome. An A Class it's a Le Voyager 13yrs old. Along with that we have also sold our Inn in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Will have to change username LOL.
We have booked a one way ticket to Spain we leave on the 14th July might see some of you on board.
Any way our plan is drive round Europe as long as they will have us also a trip over to Morocco.
After that we plan come back to the UK and find some work on holiday parks and general just live in our Motorhome. As I type we our having our first wild camp between Ullapool and Inverness. Find out what we can do or what bits of the Motorhome might need looking at. Or for us to learn how to use things.
We also pick up a couple of push bikes this weekend ebike for Les normal one for me for now
So there you go now you know our basic plan.
One of the the things we would like to do while in Spain is a Camino (long distance footpath or Pilgrimage)
So if anyone can share advice or stories feel free.
Rob

 

[scousebird]

 

[Janine]

Hello and welcome to the Fun ?

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[jollyrodger]

&

 

[jumartoo]

A few Funsters have done the Camino Frances, one very recently, and did a thread on it. The only small problem you might have is Pip, mainly for getting accommodation, although some friends recently did the Camino Ingles with their Ridgeback and had no problems.

We've cycled the Frances and the Via de la Plata and walked the Primitive so may be able to answer some questions. Which Camino would you be thinking of doing, firstly?


Enjoy your full timing and keep posting.

Ooops sorry, and welcome but I think I've said that before on another thread!

 

[Baldeagle7470]

Hi and another big enjoy your van and your new life!

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[Innkeeper]

Hi not new to the forum just a new owner and full time. We still have use of the flat at the Inn till the 30th June. We only intend to use flat for storing and sorting stuff.
May try and get on a camp site tonight. Have a gab to other owners and find some secrets of the trade. Got to say think storing stuff in the right place will be a fine art. Should have spent a week on a small boat at sea. We have slept in Motorhome on way home after buying it we have also slept in it plugged in to mains at the Inn. So these 2/3 nights our are proper test.
And pic from our first camp
Rob

 

[Blossom]

Hello and welcome to Fun. Happy new van and happy new life to you three.

 

[lorger]

Good luck with the new venture, make sure you post plenty of pics so we can sit at home and get jealous

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[namwaldog]

Enjoy your new found adventures.

At the risk of sounding staid, use the time between now and 16 July to make sure everything is lined up for touring Europe such as Pet Passport, Roaming on your phone, insurances, ability to get cash, debit cards etc. These things almost seem much harder when you are abroad.
Enjoy you adventures.

Barry

 

[Sundowners]

Unfortunately, you will need to come back for your MOT if you are thinking of travelling in Europe for more than a year to start with.

 

[Innkeeper]

Enjoy your new found adventures.

At the risk of sounding staid, use the time between now and 16 July to make sure everything is lined up for touring Europe such as Pet Passport, Roaming on your phone, insurances, ability to get cash, debit cards etc. These things almost seem much harder when you are abroad.
Enjoy you adventures.

Barry

Hi thanks for advice. We normally head to Spain in the winter for a few months so know all about passports for us and Pip. Pip has had a tetter test (a Rabbies blood test) incase things go wrong with Brexit or we do get over to Morocco.
As for phones where OK for the first 3 month then we get charged. Vodafone said " use phone for 3 months then buy a Sim over there" We of course still need to pay UK Bill till contract is up.
Rob

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[WynandJean]

I believe taking a vehicle abroad for a long period will have implications for insurance, registration and MOT.

Wyn

 

[Innkeeper]

Dont know how to add people's names if answering them but.
Yep will post loads of pics and threads.
Yep we know about MOT. The Motorhome is due one end of March 2020. Which is not bad. Come back then see freind and family. Then see if we can find a job for the summer. Then back to Spain LOL. At the moment insurance is for 275 days continuous use abroad. Looking into longer. Also for paper work we now live with son.
ROB

 

[SuperMike]

At the moment insurance is for 275 days continuous use abroad. Looking into longer. Also for paper work we now live with son.
ROB

I fink !!!!!!!! you are only supposed to stay no more than 90 days in any EU country without registering or sumfink like that.

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[Innkeeper]

I fink !!!!!!!! you are only supposed to stay no more than 90 days in any EU country without registering or sumfink like that.

Know about the 90 and 180 day things. Not sure a exact number of days for the 180.
Was told yep 90 you have to register but it causes that much paper work. Authorities would turn a blind eye more so in summer.
But yes we will do all necessary paper work.
After owning and running a Inn in Scotland where use to pointless paper work.
We are also members of an expat forum so ask some questions on there. Once the dust has settled on Brexit may buy a property out there (Spain) and travel back to UK in summer's when it's to hot in Spain for Les

 

[funflair]

If you want to alert the person by adding their name just use @ and then start typing the username, when it pops up just click on Innkeeper

Martin

 

[Innkeeper]

Will try funflair

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[funflair]

Will try funflair

Spot on

Martin

 

[Innkeeper]

A few Funsters have done the Camino Frances, one very recently, and did a thread on it. The only small problem you might have is Pip, mainly for getting accommodation, although some friends recently did the Camino Ingles with their Ridgeback and had no problems.

We've cycled the Frances and the Via de la Plata and walked the Primitive so may be able to answer some questions. Which Camino would you be thinking of doing, firstly?


Enjoy your full timing and keep posting.

Ooops sorry, and welcome but I think I've said that before on another thread!

Hi it's the Via de la plata Camino from Seville.
We will always sleep in Motorhome. So something like drive drop bikes. Drive few miles from bikes park up walk to bikes cycle back. To Motorhome. Might take longer but we are in no rush. We have also bought a little trailer so Pip (the dog) can get a lift back.

 

[Hollyberry]

Storage for full time is an art, as you say, but it’ll surprise you what you can live without.
Stock up a basic first aid kit, for dog and humans, corkscrew and a couple of glasses— you can do without most other things
Enjoy your adventures.

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[Innkeeper]

Storage for full time is an art, as you say, but it’ll surprise you what you can live without.
Stock up a basic first aid kit, for dog and humans, corkscrew and a couple of glasses— you can do without most other things
Enjoy your adventures.

Good point about first aid. Also funny thing for us did not have a bottle opener. Our first night that was on shopping list straight away.
If when I sound like where doing something wrong if you guy and girls could tell us the right way before we mess up to much.

 

[jumartoo]

Hi it's the Via de la plata Camino from Seville.
We will always sleep in Motorhome. So something like drive drop bikes. Drive few miles from bikes park up walk to bikes cycle back. To Motorhome. Might take longer but we are in no rush. We have also bought a little trailer so Pip (the dog) can get a lift back.

The Via de la Plata is lovely as far as Camino's go. There is always a fair bit of road walking on any of them. Maybe worth researching these parts and missing them out if you're not fussed about doing the whole thing. Will be better for Pip's feet.

One whole days section is on the gravel track alongside a motorway. Not a problem on bikes but soul destroying to walk.

When are you thinking of doing it? I have a guide at home in Murcia but we're now off for our summer trip until October.

 

[Innkeeper]

Thanks jumartoo not got any dates planned yet. Not even sure of the time scale could even have a week of the trail at any time we/I will walk the whole way and use bike to get from or to Motorhome. We have a guild at home forget the name (blue cover and a photo of like a stone marker on the front).
When we get round to doing it planning it properly will start a thread about it.
Rob

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[jumartoo]

Thanks jumartoo not got any dates planned yet. Not even sure of the time scale could even have a week of the trail at any time we/I will walk the whole way and use bike to get from or to Motorhome. We have a guild at home forget the name (blue cover and a photo of like a stone marker on the front).
When we get round to doing it planning it properly will start a thread about it.
Rob

Some coordination of logistics needed. Well done and good luck.

Don't hesitate to tag/send me a conversation if you need any info.

Please don't think of doing it in August!!!

 

[jumartoo]

I'm going to try to find some piccies of the VdlP. Unfortunately our computers were stolen, along with our external harddrive, a few years ago BUT I did have a Blog which might still have photos attached to it.

A project for me ... thanks!!!

 

[Innkeeper]

I'm going to try to find some piccies of the VdlP. Unfortunately our computers were stolen, along with our external harddrive, a few years ago BUT I did have a Blog which might still have photos attached to it.

A project for me ... thanks!!!

Think I may be sending you a few PM's when time comes if you dont mind

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[jumartoo]

Think I may be sending you a few PM's when time comes if you dont mind

Not at all. Happy to help if I can.

 

[jumartoo]

I'm going to try to copy my blog of the VdlP in 2016 here. Bear with me ...


Via de la Plata



14 May

We left our motorhome in a parking near Santiago airport and hired a car to transport us, and the bikes, down to Seville. We drove most of the way to Seville today and finished the journey on 15 May. It took us 2 hours to get from the bridge over the river to the railway station to drop off the car. This was because of a fiesta by the Romas (Romanies) who were celebrating a 300 year anniversary, thus closing off many of the roads to drive their horses and donkey carts.

15 May

Eventually left the station in Seville and rode to the Cathedral to get our credencials stamped. The credencial is a type of passport carried by people doing a camino. It enables the use of albergues and you collect stamps along the way to prove you have travelled along the route.

We decided to have a short day today as we wanted to get the feel of the bikes with the panniers, and so rode only 22 km to stop at Guillena. We were very lucky because within 20 minutes of arriving at the albergue in Guillena the heavens opened and the rain fell heavily for a couple of hours.

16 May

We left Guillena to start our real ride. 47 km would take us to Almaden de la Plata, with the first part of the route taking us on caminos for 14 km and the rest on roads (advised by our bike guide).

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Fuente

The latter part of the camino stage was very rough and we had to push the bikes a few times. During the second stage along the roads I noticed that Martin´s back wheel seemed to be a little wobbly. On inspection we found that two spokes had broken. The bike was still usable so we continued to Almaden. We knew that there was a bike shop in Monesterio which we could get to the next day and so once at Almaden Martin rang them. Eventually we got a response to say that the next week was fiesta in Extremadura and that the bike shop was closed!

17 May

After much discussion we decided that the only option for us was for Martin to take the bus back to Seville (with the wheel) and get it repaired and I would stay in Almaden and look after our luggage. The bus left at 7.00 a.m. and the repair took an hour and then Martin and the wheel spent the rest of the day visiting Seville before catching the only bus back at 5.30 p.m. arriving back at 7.00 p.m., a full 12 hours but it put us back on track. The only advantage of having the broken wheel today was that the weather was atrocious and we missed riding in it!

18 May

Wheel fitted, we left Almaden to ride the 56 km to Fuente de Cantos. It was a little cold, but dry. We stopped for breakfast in El Real de la Jara and then started a lovely track ride passing the Castillo de Las Torres.

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Castillo de Las Torres

We stopped for bread in Monesterio and continued on a nice off road section to Fuente de Cantos. We had a brief rain shower but by the time we found somewhere to shelter the rain had stopped and we stayed dry.

The albergue at Fuente de Cantos was a revelation. It is privately owned and more like a hotel. We had a double room with a private kitchen, bathroom and lounge until a few hours later when we were host to a French man who had to sleep on the sofa as the albergue was bursting at the seams. Many places still closed due to the fiesta but we managed to get some food before settling down for the night.

19 May

A shorter day today 45.6 km to Villafranca de los Barros. Now as barro means mud in Spanish we were expecting the worst, especially after the raid of 17 May and we only got through Cazadilla de los Barros before we found the mud. A quick push down to a road and a road detour took us to Zafra where we found a jetwash to clean the bikes. The ride from Zafra to Villafranca was on caminos but they had dried quite a bit and we had no more problems. We spent a very good night in the albergue Tierra de Barros, speaking with an American and a Dutch guy. The hospitalero, Pablo, was also very friendly.

20 May

A long track ride into Torremejia on damp gravel before breakfast and then on to Merida. We were told that the route begins to get better from Merida onwards and after a ride on a cycle route alongside a road we arrived at the Embalse de Proserpina. From there we had a nice ride on small tracks to Aljucen, where we stayed at the albergue Annalena. The albergue was also full that night, with people sleeping on beds in the kitchen.

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Track into Torremejia

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Embalse de Proserpina

21 May

A wonderful ride through the dehesa, listening to the calls of Golden Orioles and Hoopoes. We detoured off route a little to stop for coffee and then rode along the very quiet N630 to get back on route near the Embalse de Ayuela. We couldn´t get over the acres and acres of flowers all along the route. The photos don´t do them justice. I would recommend anyone interested in flowers to have a spring visit to this area in general and have a good look around. The route continued, passing old mile markers and a Roman bridge, then passing Aldea del Cano (where we stopped for refreshments) and then continuing on a small track/path to another Roman bridge just before Valdesalor. We then continued on to Caceres where we stayed the night.

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Flowers in the Dehesa near the Embalse de Ayuela

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Single track riding through the Dehesa

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Roman Bridge near Aldea de Cano

22 May

From Caceres along a main road until a track just before Casar de Caceres (a nice small village) and then a ride on a track, through farm land and passing more military markers, to the Embalse de Alcantara. A ride along the road along the Embalse and then a steep climb up a rough track to take us, eventually, to Grimaldo. It was now quite hot and the track was rough in places and we had to do a couple of detours where work was taking place for the new AVE rail line. By the time we arrived at Grimaldo we were looking to have lunch and stop for the night, but the albergue was full already.

We had a good lunch at Asador Grimaldo, and then decided to continue on the route to Riolobo. This was one of the nicest section of the camino we had done so far. A single track (path) through millions of flowers and mostly flat and downhill. We arrived in Riolobos and tried to find a hostel but instead found a casa rural. A bit more expensive at 50 Euros, but we had the whole house, a freshly made tortilla made with free-range eggs and a salad and fruit were supplied by the owner and she also brought us a big breakfast the next morning. All included in the price so not too bad.

23 May

The mornings ride was on a quiet road. For a bike it was OK but for walkers a bit of a bind. This is a new section because of problems with the land owner where the previous route used to go. The section from Galisteo to Carcaboso is also road before the route once again goes through the Dehesa on delightful single track paths. We rode these paths to the Arco de Caparra, a Roman arch and ruins of a settlement, where we stopped for a drink and to eat a sandwich, before continuing to Aldeanueva del Camino to stop for the night. At a small lake near the Arco de Caparra we stopped to watch some birds and suddenly saw a black stork fly over.

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Dehesa before Caparra

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More flowers in the Dehesa

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Arco de Caparra

24 May

From Aldeanueva was our first proper climb up to Puerto de Bejar. Of course it was windy (as always when there´s uphill to do) but from the Puerto it was a lovely ride down through pines to cross another Roman bridge. Shortly after the bridge Martin´s tyre got a puncture. Tube changed, but pump didn´t want to work so took a long time to get enough air in the tyre to continue. More climbing and some nice flat riding and a river crossing took us to the small village of Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, where we stayed the night in the Albergue Parroquial.

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After the Puerto de Bejar

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Tyre change

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Crossing the river before Valverde de Valdelacasa

25 May

Another nice start to the day riding on a wide via pecuaria, before arriving at a quiet road. Near a ruined ermita on the road between Frades de la Sierra and San Pedro Rozados, were many Griffon Vultures and Black Kites. We stopped for a while to watch them before continuing through the small village of Morille to Salamanca, another very nice section to ride. Approaching Salamanca we took a detour into Aldeatejada when we saw a sign for an albergue. We stopped to ask a man watering plants outside a house if he could tell us where the albergue was and his answer was "here". The house was a casa rural with a dormitory on the ground floor. We were the only people there and he gave us the keys for the whole house and told us to use the casa rural instead of the dorm, all for the same price of 10 Euros each. Bit of a bonus for Martin was that it was the final of some football match that night and we had a TV!

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On the wide Via Pecuaria after leaving the albergue

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Approaching the turn off to Aldeatejada

26 May

We managed to get round Salamanca easily on Sunday morning but then made a bit of a navigational error when we sailed on down a track and missed a right turn. When we arrived at a road that shouldn´t be there we realised we had gone wrong somewhere but with our map we were able to take another track and get back on route quite easily. From Calzada de Valdunciel is approximately 16km of road running alongside the motorway. Again OK for a bike but the walkers have 16km of gravel track at the side of the motorway. After this section the route again changes dramatically and becomes another nice section all the was to Villanueva de Campean, a small village with two albergues and a bar and a ruined monestary. We arrived for lunch and stayed there overnight. Had a walk around the village to visit the monestary. The flowers were wonderful.

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Ruined Monestary

27 May

Left Villanueva, again on nice tracks and rode to Zamora. Navigated through Zamora, saw a camino sign and followed it and then realised we were on the Camino Portuguese and not the Via de la Plata. The route we were on was a very nice cycleway and we soon got back onto the correct camino. We stopped for coffee in Roales del Pan and bumped into a Swiss woman we had seen earlier in the trip. She (and her friend) had made the same mistake as us leaving Zamora so we didn´t feel too bad. We intended to spend the night in Granja de Moruela (where the Via de la Plata and the Camino Sanabres split) but when we arrived the albergue was full and so was the casa rural. There was a hostel about 4km away and so we went there for the night. By this time we were both struggling with colds.

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Camino Portuguese (the wrong route)

28 May

During the night Martin started to get a headache and was sick a few times. I knew we were in for a day at the hostal until his migraine improved. Again, if we had to have a day off, it was a good time to have a rest and give us a day to nurse our colds.

29 May

Back on the route. Detoured from the hostal back onto the Camino, crossing the Embalse de Ricobaya. We were now riding the Camino Sanabres, and the next few days we would be riding the last "flattish" sections before the steep climbing began. We stopped for refreshments in Tabara and then continued to Santa Croya de Tera where we wanted to stay at the private albergue there as we had heard it was very good. It was!

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Bridge over the Embalse de Ricobaya

30 May

River and canal side riding (pockets of frost on the ground!), and then a ride around an embalse and through a forest, where we saw a small herd of 5/6 deer. A detour for the AVE works took us back onto the route through the small hamlets of Valdemerilla, Cernadilla, San Salvador de Palazuelo and Entrepeñas before crossing the motorway and arriving in Asturianos. We sat in the sun for lunch and then continued to our destination for the day at Puebla de Sanabria. For the last week or so we had been riding on dry, rock hard tracks and today was no different until we rode into Otero de Sanabria, the last few hundred metres of track was a bog! and we had to get off to push, so we had muddy shoes as well as muddy bikes. We arrived at the albergue in Puebla de Sanabria, another very nice albergue and with a jet wash to clean the bikes!




31 May

The first of the climbs began today, we took the road option up to the Alto del Padornelo and then descended to Lubian. We stopped for coffee and a wonderful cake at a cafe and spoke to a group of French/Dutch walkers. We watched some clouds forming and disappearing (fascinating). We then left to begin the second climb over the Alto de A Canda and then descended to A Gudiña.

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Cloud formation

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Cloud formation

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Alto de A Canda

1 June

Another day of climbing but began with an undulating section to Campobecerros (a small village that has been taken over by the workers of the AVE), and then a long descent to Laza. Arriving in Laza at 12.00 noon we decided to have a sandwich before starting the 12 km climb to Albergueria. We ordered a basic hamburger, thinking it would be just a burger on a bun. It arrived on a huge plate with salad and chips. No way could we eat it all and ride up the hills ahead so we had to reluctantly leave the chips (and they were proper, thick, freshly fried chips not the skinny things you sometimes get). We began the climb. We passed two walkers (a German couple who were going to Albergueria also) and slogged uphill for a couple of hours. Arriving in Albergueria we were surprised by the bar and albergue there. The bar has a tradition of putting up shells signed by everyone who visits there and all the walls are covered in shells. There is no restaurant in Albergueria but the bar sells cheese and ham and we bought a packet of pasta, some tomato frito, some tuna and some bottles of wine and made a pasta meal which we shared with the two German walkers when they arrived. We were the only people staying that night so it was very quiet.

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On the road to Campobecerros

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In the bar at Albergueria

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Bar Albergueria

Speaking to the owner of the albergue he told us that only 24 people lived in the village permanently now and all of them are over 70 years old so don´t know what will happen to the village in the next 10 - 15 years.

2 June

We left Albergueria on another sunny morning. We had a small climb to a col and then a descent down to Vilar do Barrio. When we reached the col we were looking down through the clouds and when we rode down the hill we entered a cold cloudy section. We went into a cafe for breakfast and by the time we came outside the cloud had cleared and we continued the route in warm conditions. We rode into Xunqueira de Ambia. All around the church were large pictures on the ground made of flower petals and chopped vegetation.

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Above the clouds before descending to Vilar do Barrio

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Flower pictures at Xunqueria de Ambia

From Xunqueira it was almost all downhill! to Ourense. We had a little bit of a problem riding through Ourense as there were almost no signs in the city. Eventually we managed and started yet another climb to arrive at our destination of Cea.

3 June

We left Cea and rode through Castro Dozon and many small villages until we arrived at Silleda where we were staying for the night.

4 June

From Silleda we rode to Ponte Ulla on a mix of minor roads and caminos. From Ponte Ulla we went through Outeiro and shortly after there we turned off the route to head towards the airport. Using a map on the telephone we managed to find the best route to the airport and to the parking to collect our Motorhome. We intended then to go to Santiago but because we had spent two days there last year instead we decided to go out to the coast for a couple of days break before heading back to Murcia.

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Last fill up of water at Ouitero

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End of the road - holiday on the coast

 

[jumartoo]

I hope the above is useful. Don't hesitate to send me a conversation or ask on here.

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