Rainy Sagres

Friday 6 April 2018 - Day 33

We’re parked up in Sagres, overlooking Henry the Navigator’s Fortaleza.  It’s been raining most of the afternoon, so we’re just chilling out, deciding whether or not we want to go for a walk.  Sagres is a well known surfing town and legs of surfing world championships are held nearby.  The parking area is basically a large car park, which out of season has a few motorhomes parked here.  It’s about 500m from the town.  The weather forecast for the next few days is a bit grim - not just for here but most of Portugal, Spain and southern France.  It’s because of a series of Atlantic lows passing through, slowly heading north.

We had a lazy morning at Mikki’s Place, cleaning the van and prepping to move.  Last night I noticed a motorhome with the streamline - A blonde, a dog and a motorhome - on the back.  A quick Google and I discovered it’s the title of a book written by a lady called Sandie Dunn, travelling with her dog - Rosie.  I downloaded the book from Amazon. It’s not long but it’s a great read and had me laughing out loud in places.  It covers Sandie’s journey to full-timing in her motorhome after taking early retirement and has lots of useful hints and tips for achieving this and buying, equipping and travelling in a motorhome.  This morning I introduced myself and she and Rosie came over for a chat and a coffee (not Rosie, she had water!).  It was a pleasure to meet her and it was clear we had lots in common.  Sandie’s following a similar route back to us, so we may bump into her again.  If you want to read her book - you can download it here.  She also has a Facebook page which includes a short daily blog.

On the way to Sagres we stopped off at one of the many pottery shops along the road.  Cathy wanted some tiles to re-design our fireplace at home; we also bought a couple of long rugs for the van as they’ll be easier to wash and dry than the rubber-backed ones.  We had every intention of eating out for lunch today.  We stopped off at an ‘aire’ in Alvor with the intention of staying the night and walking into town.  However, the ‘aire’ was a large open area of dried mud and sand, with what they may describe as pot-holes but I would describe as bomb-craters!  It didn’t have a nice feel and we’ve always gone on gut instinct when finding somewhere to stay - if it doesn’t feel right we move on. So that’s how we ended up in Sagres.  It was raining hard on arrival so Cathy made lunch and we’ve sat catching up on admin and reading.  I think we’ll head out for a walk shortly - might even ‘hang ten’ with the surfing dudes - what ever that means!  Otherwise, I'd heard of Sagres before as it's a make of beer here in Portugal - when in Sagres.....

Beach Time

Thursday 5 April 2018 - Day 32

We seem to be in an internet black-hole at Mikki’s Place.  Not only doesn’t their wifi work (met with a shrug of their dry-humoured Dutch shoulders) but our phones are struggling to achieve one bar of 2/3G.  No bother, I’ll flash up the Mifi, but even that doesn’t want to play.  I think the Portuguese equivalent of GCHQ are jamming this place (and I don’t mean Bob Marley jamming).  So until we escape the clutches of this EMP take-down, daily blog updates are on hold.  Talking of Bob (and I don’t mean Marley), Cathy has taken to calling me this, coupled with a little snigger.  I’ve finally found out, only by refusing to cook her tea until she told me, that it stands for ‘Baldy Old Bugger’.  The cheek - I’m not old.

Anyway back to today.  I bimbled over to the cafe/bar this morning to buy C some croissants for her breakfast.  There weren’t enough for both of us so I had to put up with dry, dusty muesli and skimmed milk.  I hate skimmed milk; it’s not even milk, it’s wet white stuff pretending to be milk.  It’s my own fault - on our first shopping expedition in Portugal we needed milk and I hadn’t yet worked out what semi-skinned is, so I picked up a carton that looked semi-skimmed (must have been the colour of the carton).  I’ll soldier on until it’s gone (unless it mysteriously gets washed away in the night).  Talking of milk, UHT has come a long way since the days of that disgusting stuff the milkman used to deliver, in a glass bottle with a ‘coke’ lid.  It’s actually OK if chilled-down.

Anyway, back to today.  We broke camp, leaving a table, a clothes airer, a cloth and the levellers on our pitch - OUR PITCH SO KEEP OFF!  I had the co-ords for a car park by a beach at Praia de Marinha, a mere 20 minutes along roads that make the dusty, pit-holed, IED-laden tracks of Helmand Province seem like the top of a billiard table. We arrived to see various signs telling us motorhomes/campervans were not welcome and would be towed away - well FU!.  Off to the next beach at Praia de Benagil, only to find the car parks all had 2m high barriers.  I was starting to suspect they didn’t want our custom.  On the way out we spotted a few motorhomes wild camping just off the road, so turned in and found a lovely spot to park up, surrounded by others. There was some windscreen glass lying around, so clearly the Portuguese Pikies had ‘visited’ other vans in the past to lighten their payload.  Hence the Strikeback Growler alarm was set to stun, the blue LED lights brightly blinking their message of ‘come on then if you think you’re hard enough’.

There was a well marked path that took us from the village of Benagil, heading east along the coastal path.  We passed several fenced-off blowholes and some spectacular cliffs which had been severely eroded over the years.  For the first time in days (or perhaps a whole month), the incessantly strong winds had disappeared and there was very little in the the way of breeze; I’d almost say it was a little too hot for walking!  About 25 minutes in we reached Praia de Marinha, where we initially failed to park.  It was quite busy with tourists who had the audacity to take a week off during the Easter break and crowd out the beach - how very dare they!  We made our way down and spent most of the day enjoying the sunshine and watching various children, parents and bronzed adonis’ being thrown about in the crashing goffers (Navy speak for waves) like clothes in a washing machine.  Oh, how we tittered.  Then we decided we’d give it a try. It started well with a sandy strand-line, but just at the point the waves broke, it was hard and slippery rocks underneath.  Combined with the shallow water, it made for a painful entry into the sea (and even more painful exit, mainly a**e over t*t), but we stuck with it, as the coarse sand stuck to us (only later in the shower would I find how well it had stuck).  Not content with being almost drowned and our skin flayed the first time, we went in later and did it all again. Still, we enjoyed watching the cute little children being knocked over by the huge waves and receding wash, parents (who were seconds before pouting for selfies) frantically grabbing the flailing arms or legs of their little darlings.  Did I tell you about the time we want to watch ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the Musical’.  Out of the whole theatre, only us two cheered when the Child Catcher appeared!  It helped that he was played by Alvin Stardust (RIP), but even then we drew some disapproving looks and tut-tuts.  

The walk back to the van in the hot afternoon sun took longer than I would have liked and we enjoyed the cool breeze driving back to Mikki’s Place, via a quick stop at Aldi (I’m sorry if you’re sat reading this at home in temperatures below 10’C….actually I’m not really sorry!).  Showered and Cathy having dhobyed some clothes, we hung them around the outside of the van and the surrounding lemon trees to dry.  I cooked us chicken fried rice for dinner and we sat outside as the sun set, listening to the cicadas.  The bar was buzzing again with the oldies spending their pensions on hooch, and why not.

We’re moving on tomorrow, probably to a wild camping spot near the sea, before perhaps heading inland for a couple of days for some peace and quiet and walking.

Lemon and bikini tree!

Mikki's Place

Wednesday 4 April 2018 - Day 31

Nido’s parked up at Mikki’s Place near Pêra, a quirky campsite running by a Dutch couple.  It has room for about 150 vans, but it’s so well landscaped with terraced levels, that you wouldn’t know (although it’s nowhere near full).  The pitches are separated by the planting of lemon trees and shrubs, including Rosemary.  Each pitch has a gravelled area for the van and green astro-turf to sit out on.  It’s an eco-site, with reed beds to filter the grey water, which in turn feed a fresh water swimming pool.  They also run a pottery and ceramics school from here, plus a small plant nursery and it looks like further work is ongoing to extend this.  There’s a bar and dining area, which is funkily decorated and well used.  They have a few foodie theme nights each week.  We popped into the bar this evening and it had a good buzz, with mostly Dutch customers, plus some Germans too.  I’m not sure but I think we were the only Brits.

It’s a much friendlier place than our last stop at Manta Rota.  Someone commented on yesterday’s blog that Manta Rota was a bit like being stuck in a nose-to-tail traffic jam on the motorway - I know what they mean.  So we were quite happy to leave this morning.  Although I’d bought a pre-paid motorway toll card, I thought I’d try to get to Mikki’s Place off-piste.  I need to tell you that it’s not a good idea in Portugal to try this!  The roads are dreadful and, in some spots, not much more than a potted dirt track (the equivalent of a B road at home).  It certainly isn’t kind to a campervan, but hopefully we survived with not too much hidden damage.

We arrived here at about 1100 and have spent the day just sitting outside in the hot sunshine reading, although Cathy did wash and scrub all the van carpets, cleaned and washed the van floor.  We managed to cook and eat outside for only the second time this trip.  I think the bar has just closed and the last of the oldie Dutch customers are singing their way back to their vans!  We’re booked in here for a couple of nights and tomorrow we plan to find some of the coves and sandy beaches that this part of the Algarve is famous for, hopefully allowing us to have our first Atlantic swim.  We need to find some quiet unspoilt coastline before we head inland to explore some of the wilder parts of Portugal.

Nice individual pitches

Outside the Cafe/bar

Inside the Cafe/Bar!

Manta Rota

Tuesday 3 April 2018 - Day 30

We’ve moved 20 minutes up the coast to a large aire at Manta Rota.  It takes 100 vans and is pretty much full. Manta Rota is a nice little spot - a mix of old and new single storey houses with the typically narrow streets, with plenty of bars, restaurants and little supermarkets.  A number of vans have clearly been here for a number of weeks, if not months, looking at their pitches. Some have put up permanent windbreaks and have full-size dining tables and even potted plants outside!  OK, it’s fine for a few days’ stopover, but not somewhere I’d want to spend several weeks.  Given it has 100 vans, it’s disappointing to find only one service point and one tap for emptying the loo and filling up with fresh water.  There is electricity but, at €5 per day, we’ll stick to gas and solar thanks.  One of the comments on the Campercontact app made me laugh (and has a grain of truth): "This wonderful place has degenerated into a wretched gypsy camp. More than half of the sites are occupied by permanent campers, who, although electricity is possible, daily ruthlessly run generators and have set up home with front yards. They also determine who stops where. The very unfriendly staff does not care what happens on the court. Very bad!"

The aire is close to the very long white sandy beach; we took a walk along it today, although the incessant Force 5-6 wind made it quite tiring - it’s been non-stop windy for the past three weeks.  However the Atlantic was surprisingly warm and, but for the wind and waves, we’d happily have gone for a swim.

Although there are lots of vans here parked in lines, we still have some space and privacy to put out our chairs and a table; it’s been one of the few times this trip we’ve been able to sit outside during the day.  Cathy did a load of dhobying, which dried nicely on a line strung between the trees (thank you wind!). We walked into town to have a look around and buy some groceries.  The rest of the day was spent either walking on the beach or sitting outside reading.  

Empty and windy beach, but warm Atlantic

First day in Portugal

 Monday 2 April 2018 - Day 29

Nido’s parked up in the aire in the village of Castro Marim - we’re in Portugal.  Today was mainly a transit day, a 3.5 hour drive, by-passing the metropolis of Seville and into our next country. Portugal’s on the same time as UK, so we had to put our clocks back one hour and consequently it’s darker earlier tonight.

Castro Marim’s a small village, not far from the border and a few miles inland from the sea.  It’s a nice place to walk around with some interesting little houses, some with tiled frontages that open direct onto the road and others with long gardens behind.  We found one little house that we saw up for a sale a few years ago on ‘Place in the Sun’ - looks like it’s had some improvements since then.  There’s a couple of castles and we had a walk around one of them (entrance fee is €1.10).  There’s not a great deal to see inside and little renovation or preservation has been done.  There was an interesting display of torture methods, including the spiked chair shown in the picture below - that’d make your eyes water!

So not much to report today after a long, hot drive.  We’re fed and watered and I think it’ll be a read and an early night, ready to start exploring more tomorrow.

Looking down on the aire

The little house and garden on 'Place in the Sun'

Ouch!

Salt pans

In need of some TLC