Ardennes (previously) L'Escargot: Portugal 30th Oct

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.....