Armacao de Pera 18th Nov to 26th Nov 08

18th to 26th Nov 08

Life is nice & relaxed now we have settled down in one spot for a while. Brian & Mary called round this morning to see if Mal could update their Tom Tom (Mal is the on site techno guru). We wanted an oil filled radiator for the van, so they kindly took us to Leroy Merlin (Portugal's equivalent to B&Q). After this we headed to the supermarket & had a spot of lunch out! I had started my cleaning this morning but broke off to go out.....guess it will wait until tomorrow!

Cleaning day today.....the resident chef made me a lovely breakfast, think it was to give me my cleaning energy! Anyway finished cleaning about 1pm. Mary called around to say the laptop she had taken to be fixed at the shop still wouldn't connect to the Internet! Mal took a look at it later & decided it needed stripping down - his next job! Naomi (the pig) has been confined to barracks & is now known to us as 'pig in harness'..... she now has to wear a harness, basically people have been complaining about her roaming around!

Armacao de Pera beach

I have decided to get a bit more exercise in the form of swimming, it is an outdoor pool (so it's very cold)! Mal took himself on his bike, so I popped around to see Mary & Brian. Mary & I took a stroll to the local hairdressers to book her in, Mary knows everyone.....so you get to meet lots of people. There is a library on-site, so I picked up a couple of books. Mal has been on to Hymer again they have finally agreed to order the parts in the UK and send them out to us here! Mal & I took a cycle to the beach late on today, watching the sunset & the fishermen unload the days takings.....not a good day at sea apparently. We met a lovely Portuguese man on the beach who told us all about the fishing in the area & the fisherman we had been watching (who was so kind as to give me a Seahorse from his boat).

Me in the swim...at the end of November!!

The next few days were spent doing my daily swim, cycling, fixing Mary's laptops, amongst many other things - in 1 week I have swam 154 lengths = 4,620metres! I now have a swimming partner too.... a lady called Annie (Naomi's (pig) Mum). After our swim today Annie asked Mal & I round for drinks in the evening. We took a bottle of wine & had a lovely evening chatting about places/experiences we'd had. Annie & Jolie are experienced campers, in the van with us was a dog & Naomi (the pig).....you would never have known there was a pig in there!! Anyway Mal & I have been going easy on the old vino since we started travelling, but Annie & Jolie are in the Wilson's league (for those of you who know the Wilson's) they drank....3/4 bottle of martini & 3/4 bottle of whiskey respectively!! Think they may have thought we are lightweights.... they are a lovely couple & it was nice to be invited round.

Mary & Brian invited us out for something to eat along with another couple (drinks on them for Mal fixing the laptops etc.) - this was very kind of then as they have equally helped us out with stuff. Anyway we had a lovely meal with them & met another great couple with lots of interesting stories to tell. We enjoyed each others company so much that we all agreed to go to the Portuguese night (something to do with getting your food served in a bed pan!) on Friday which is at the same restaurant on the campsite. Today Mal & I had experienced a few issues with the electric hook up failing i.e. it had gone off twice prior to going out! The weather has changed slightly over the last few days & it has gone much cooler & is certainly cold at nights about 9deg. Anyway on our return at 11pm the electric was off again!! It was very cold in the van, so PJ's & socks was the order of the day for me.....of course Mal was as brave as ever....! Swimming is off the agenda at the moment too, it is too cool & the pool has been closed...not sure if the pool will re-open! Hopefully at our next place we may get an indoor pool - I was really enjoying my swimming!

Portugal 7th Nov to 17th Nov 08

Camping Lisbon - 7th Nov 08 Church of Nossa Senhora da Graca

The bells of Church of Nossa Senhora da Graca Woke early this morning - Mal took himself on a bike ride to explore! We had battleships in the bay right in front of us......which was another 'new' experience. After breakfast we had decided to visit the 16th Century Fort Sagres which presented us with some awesome views, there is a beautiful old church here too Church of Nossa Senhora da Graca which dates from 1579. We then set off on the road towards Lisbon, stopping off at Sines for a picnic lunch. To stave off the boredom of travelling Holly & Phil watched DVDs on the trip. We arrived at Camping Lisbon just before sunset. Whilst Mal & Phil got the van in position & hooked up to electric etc., Holly & I headed to the on-site supermarket.....WOW!!! I know we are in a recession but I half expected to find powdered eggs & ration books. Out of season campsite supermarkets are just not 'the thing'! Holly & Phil kindly offered to cycle to the supermarket whilst I cleaned the kitchen & bathroom. Anyway the sun went down down & it was very dark, I was starting to worry about them as I knew they had no lights on the bikes....anyway the happy campers returned unscathed, but laden with bags of good things. I knocked together a curry whilst having a 'mini' fire with poppadoms under the grill - the curry went down great. We settled in for another of our card marathons.... Camping Lisbon - 8th Nov 08 http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/costadelisboa/ http://www.golisbon.com/sight-seeing/castle.html

Santa Justa Elevator The view over Lisbon from the Castle St George

Castle St George

Statue of Christ

Plaza

One of the man street trams

Now I must say this site has a great website & is classed as a 4* but it is not as nice as any of the other lower class sites we have stayed at, the facilities are below standard, with hardly any hot water for showering - the site itself is a little run down & just needs a bit of TLC. Today was our 'explore Lisbon' day!! We packed our rucksack & headed off after breakfast on the bus to the Oceanarium which is the second largest in the world! Wow the Oceanarium was a real blast, great for kids of any age, we saw Octopus, Sharks, Seahorses to name a few - they also do sleep overs for kids too which I thought was a great idea, we all thoroughly enjoyed it especially the Sea Otters! Lisbon is like many major cities not very clean, the streets were strewn with litter & dog muck, there is a lot of graffiti too! The 'main' tourist areas shops etc are cleaner. Next we caught the metro to the Castle of St George it's oldest parts date from the 6th Century! Prior to visiting the castle we explored the backstreets of this district & happened upon a little family run restaurant. We all decided upon the lunch menu of the day at 7.50 euros each, prior to ordering the waiter arrived at our table laden with plates containing cheese, ham, olives & bread - as he had just placed them onto the table we placed our order.....he then proceed to take the plates off the table just leaving the bread & olives! He was clearly trying to get us to order the more expensive menu, which was far too much food....anyway this really put Phil offside & for the rest of the meal he had a grudge against the waiter & decided he wasn't giving him a tip (Mal sneaked a tip to the waiter at the end of our meal). The meal was absolutely beautiful & really inexpensive for the amount we had - clearly you must state exactly what you want & not be pushed into an alternative menu! Fed & watered & armed with directions from 'the waiter' we headed to the castle. The castle provided expansive views over Lisbon, in particular they have a Camera Obscura here which Mal & I wanted to see, unfortunately it was closed!! We ambled down into the City where there was an abundance of shops, we sat in a street side cafe & quenched our thirsts with a jug of Sangria, putting a perfect end to a perfect day! Due to there being a huge street protest & some of the roads being closed we ended up getting a taxi back to the campsite.......jeez it was like a fairground ride (wild mouse), the guy would have been better off in Estoril on the F1 track! Mal et al fed on Risotto (I was still full from lunch so gave it a miss). We finished the day with a couple of rounds of cards being our last night together. Guincho - 9th Nov 08 An early start today as we had to get Holly & Phil to the Airport.....we dropped them off at about 7.30am. We currently have a broken table!! Good old Hymer quality strikes again.....boy I am cheesed off with this. Basically the telescopic foot on the table has stopped working, so the table will not rise into it's upright position! We will have to stay in the area & go to Hymer in Sintra on Monday. Mal & I tried with success to get the table to rise to it's correct position, almost killing Mal in the process as a piston shot out of the bottom of it & smashed right into his chest. We thought we would try a spot of 'wild' camping for the night along the coast, without success....the drive along the coast was breathtaking & very very busy. Anyway we ended up going back to one of our old campsites & staying there for the night. The weather was great 25 degrees so we sat out sunbathing, Mal made a delicious tuna bolognese for tea. Armacao de Pera - 10th Nov 08 I set about cleaning the van first thing as it was a bit of a cess pit after the 4 of us staying in it. Then we headed off to Hymer - Mal explained our problem with the table & water cap (not locking - this is our 2nd cap), the guy at Hymer took the van off & came back about 1/2 hr later to say he couldn't fix it! They would need to order a new base, also they had no water caps left as he had just fixed 2 other vans, apparently this is a common problem. We decided to call Hymer UK to get them to order the part & get it delivered to Seville then we would get it fitted when we headed over to Spain for Xmas. Anyway we got on our way down to the Algarve, stopping off only for a quick snack - courtesy of Deb's snack bar! Arrived in Armacao de Pera just west of Albuferia at 6pm ish (it was v dark out) not great to arrive anywhere new in the dark, as it's difficult to find a spot, pitch up, you can't get a feel for the area etc. However, we got parked with relative ease & settled in for the night, concluding we could always move tomorrow if need be. Armacao de Pera - 11th Nov 08 Naomi!! Naomi having a route.... Great!! I got a lie in until 9.30am, but was a wake on & off with workmen drilling & hammering! I will have to suss out what's happening later. Just as I sat eating my porridge, whilst gazing out of the window.....I spotted a black animal lying down near someones van (it was not a dog) - it was a little back.....pot bellied pig!!!!! I got Mal to check it out too.....'said' pig was just chilling by someones van! I can't believe someone's keeping a pig in their MH??!!?? can they...... just asked Mal if we can get a pig........he says the van is not exactly pig friendly! I suggested he could live in the garage - the pig of course!! tee hee We took a cycle around the site & after numerous round trips & aided by the knowledge of a friendly couple at the back of us Eve & Bill (telling us about the sunrising & setting) we decided to stay where we are but to put the van in sideways, so we would benefit from the sun more. I put down our new outside matting, chairs etc. looks like we have really set up home for a while at least - think we will stay for about a month (depending on the weather of course). Armacao de Pera - 12th Nov 08 to 17th Nov 08 We are really enjoying our time here the weather is fab 25 degrees today, so plenty of sitting out & reading being done (want to make the most of the sun before it turns colder). Now 'the pig' her name is Naomi (after Naomi Campbell) she is 5 months old, she loves you feeding her apples (or anything really), she now comes to visit us, she allows us to scratch her & lies on the floor so we can scratch her belly....she has a real personality, answers to her name, is house trained, knows where home is, basically she is great & I want one! We have spent the last few days exploring the area, there are some great beaches here with lots of fishermen. Mal & I got some great fish from the fishmonger in town (don't know what it was), we are getting very adventurous now! We have met another nice couple Mary & Brian, who have kindly been updating us on good campsites to visit & general knowledge on 'full timing' as it is called, they have a huge RV. Mal sorted out one of their laptops for them. We visited the street market on Saturday (which I love), we bought some fabulous fruit, veg & fish - I made a great Paella on Sunday. Once again life has taken on a more leisurely pace, with hours spent in the sunshine reading. However, we are commencing our Spanish lessons on Weds (just studying together), but we felt we must set down a timetable for them or we will not do it! Piri Piri chicken for tea tonight courtesy of Mal's kitchen.

Portugal 30th Oct - 6th Nov 08

Portugal 30th October 08 - Fuzeta We headed off to Portugal at 9.50am via Seville, where we intended to call at Ikea and the Hymer dealership (to get 'another' new locking water cap - 3rd one lucky). The trip along the N340 in Spain was hellish, you are really taking your life into your own hands, I call it running the gauntlet! We passed Vallderamma where the Volvo masters were being held (Golf for those of us who don't know)! We had a pretty straightforward journey, once on the outskirts of Seville we realised that Jane (sat nav) had gone mute, try as we might we could not get her to speak to us - perhaps she was sulking as we hadn't used her for a month! Anyway after many wrong turns, u-turns, and any other turns you can think of, she regained her voice - thank god! We paid our visit to Ikea with not too much success, we needed a kettle (ours had broken), they didn't have any..... but we indulged in a 'meal out' meatballs in Ikea! It was reaching 4.30pm so we decided to give Hymer a miss and head straight on to Portugal. We programmed Jane for a campsite which seemed to be really out of the way, along some salt flat areas. We did a u-turn convinced we were in the wrong area, but Mal not one to give up, decided we had been heading in the right direction after all (it was pitch black outside, with no lighting). Eventually we came to the end of the road and still hadn't found the campsite, the only place was a hotel - Mal popped in to ask them. Unfortunately the campsite was on an island which was only suitable for tents and you needed a boat to get there - thanks Jane!! Although Mal did come armed with an alternative campsite, so we headed there. Just as we approached the campsite we saw an area where there appeared to be a lot of 'wild campers' so we decided to join them, the place was called Fuzeta, we had a great spot just at the side of the inland river. Again I did not sleep well as Mal will happily tell you, I have developed an incredible imagination, whereby every sound I hear in the night turns into all sorts of weird and wonderful things....

Portugal 31st October 08 - Sines We set off early this morning, continuing our journey north - we have to pick Mal's daughter Holly and her boyfriend Phil up at Lisbon airport on Sunday afternoon. We decided to avoid motorways and toll roads as much as possible. The landscape has changed considerably in Portugal, Mal had prepared me for a 3rd world country with a poor road system - we were both pleasantly surprised to find it much nicer then Spain! We passed numerous fields filled with numbered trees, which Mal informed me were 'cork' trees, they appeared to have just had their bark removed (quite a bizarre sight). There were also fields of Orange trees and solar panels!! At one stage of the journey on every electric pylon for as far as the eye could see there were huge birds nests, we concluded they must have been storks. We also went along an original roman road and boy did our bodies know about it - we felt like the life was being shaken out of us! Eventually we happened upon a place called Sines which is a working port, but does have a beach too (not really somewhere you would want to holiday though) - but OK for a spot of 'wild camping'. We parked up with two other vans and bedded down for the night - again my imagination was switched to full power....so not a great nights seep!

1st November 2008 - Guincho Another early start, we wanted to hit Lisbon today. The first part of the journey was again straightforward and very quiet, as many of the roads seem to be in Portugal. We stopped at a roadside stall to buy some tangerines, melon & a string of onions, all for 2 euros! Coming into Lisbon was an amazing view, we crossed over a bridge which had a statue of Christ at the side (very similar to the one in Rio). As we crossed the bridge the sight of Lisbon laid out in front of us was breathtaking. The traffic was also breathtaking as it had suddenly got very busy and the locals drive like maniacs! We where heading towards Estoril on the coast, the drivers would have been better suited there (they have a F1 track). We arrived at the Orbitor Guincho site late afternoon and set about unpacking, we had decided to stay for 2 nights. Our neighbour was a young man called Ben, he politely introduced himself to us and advised Mal on the good beaches and great waves (Ben was a surfer dude from Germany). Prior to dinner we decided on a walk to the beach across some sand dunes, I have never seen sand dunes so big....it took us ages and was going dark by the time we set off back! The campsite was good and had all the facilities we needed.

The view of Lisbon!

2nd November 08 - Guincho

We had a leisurely breakfast & arranged the van ready for our visitors. Then we headed into Lisbon calling at Ikea (finally got a kettle), then on to the airport. Holly & Phil arrived on time & our pick up went really smoothly, we called for some shopping on the way back to camp and fully intended on catching the bus into town to watch the Brazilian F1. I checked with reception to see if they knew anywhere we could watch it, they advised me to ask in the bar. Wow! the bar on-site put it on for us....the four of us sat there and drank a few beers whilst watching Lewis Hamilton win! Mal nipped back to our van to see if Ben wanted to join us, as we had promised to let him use our Internet to check out the waves! Mal reported back that Ben was just gonna grab a snack as he had been drinking with the English before!! Anyway he joined us for drinks then came back and joined us for the evening, I cooked up some chicken tikka for everyone and we all continued to have a few drinks and play cards. Unfortunately, it all proved too much for me and I had to take to my bed....a little worse for wear I must say!!

Holly & Phil

Holly said oh did you take some pictures last night......guess she had forgotten about this one!! Ben (surfer dude in the middle)!

3rd November 08 - Quarteria

We had a very long drive today down to the Algarve. We had a picnic en-route, Holly & Phil played backgammon, snoozed & enjoyed the views. We arrived in Quarteria late so just had an easy evening, watched a film & had an early night.

4th November 08 - Quarteria

This site is great! We woke to a lovely morning & all enjoyed a leisurely breakfast outside! We decided on a walk along the front into Vilamoura (Mal & I had stopped off here on our route north for a look around the marina). Vilamoura is a great holiday resort, it is based around the second largest marina in Europe. We had a light lunch overlooking the marina followed by a mooch around the shops. We picked up some shopping & decided on a taxi back to our site as it was cheaper then the bus for 4 of us! Holly & Phil took off on a cycle ride whilst Mal had a snooze. We had a lovely meal followed by an awful film!

5th November 08 - Quarteira (Bonfire night)

No bonfires here though! The first time any of us have been away from the UK on bonfire night....

This morning after breakfasting outside (doubt we could do that in the UK on bonfire night), we headed off to the much reported gypsy market. I must say most of these markets are the same selling the same old stuff, it doesn't really appeal to me - as I hate fighting through people or routing through things to find what I want (Mal finds this quality a good one). Anyway we didn't buy anything! We carried on towards the fish market & came across a street market selling produce (now that's more like it), we bought olives, nuts & tangerines. At the fish market Phil bought some sea bass as they had decided to be on dinner duty tonight. Holly & Phil then headed off to Albufeira to explore & we headed back to camp, having a leisurely stroll along the beachfront. I gave Mal a pedicure & we both sat out in the afternoon sun reading. The kids came back early evening & cooked a delicious meal of sea bass, salad & couscous, complete with local wine they had bought. The evening was completed with Sex & the City movie (which Mal & Phil proceeded to talk through), so Hol & I had to show them a red card! We then had a couple of rounds of bridge which the girls aced the boys at - yipppeee!!!

6th November 08 - Sagres

Mal took himself off for an early bike ride, so we could have a little lie in - got up at 9am. It was a beautiful clear blue sky day. We all set about preparing the van for departure. Mal was gone for 2hrs & I started to get a little worried. He arrived back fresh as a daisy complete with 'new' tyres on his bike! We had breakfast finished the packing & headed off in search of our next destination. Almost seemed ashame to travel on such a glorious day! We stopped off at Praia da Rocha (Portimao) for a picnic, the beach area of this resort is absolutely lovely - we took a stroll on the beach then headed back to the van. We carried on to Sagres, we had decided to wild camp tonight and found a great location overlooking the sea, with a number of other campers. We quickly put some warmer clothes on grabbed some snacks & drinks & headed down to a beach area Holly & Phil had found to watch the sunset. We sat & drank beer, snacked on olives, crisps & nuts whilst watching the most incredible crashing waves, it was truly awesome & great fun! We made pizza & salad for tea, then played whist & bridge - girls won again.....

Praia da Rocha - our lunch stopover!

Sagres sunset - awesome! What a place for beer & snacks (our very own beach bar) - fantastic!

Meet our driver....