Wind and rain were definitely NOT in her plans!

1st to 5th June
Today we decided to cycle to town for a paper (doesn’t arrive till Tuesday!), and a couple of minor supplies and then come straight back to spend some time on the beach. However with all this fresh fish around it seemed silly not to buy some. Having cycled all the way to the port and found the shop, we were just inside the door when Joan decided we should not cook fish in the van as it will stink for days! Then she saw the prawns, oh lets have those for lunch she said. So we bought a kilo of giant prawns for €3.50 (honest). I always thought that if they were pink they were ready to eat but when we got them home to the van and opened the bag they were definitely pink but still did not look right. My local fish expert announced that they would need cooking further but decided to peel them first. This took absolutely ages but when they were done she immersed them in boiling water and almost immediately they became a little pinker and were pronounced edible. This was a good thing as by now our backs were breaking, our legs ached and we were starving! About half way through we realised there were far too many and so tomorrows lunch was sorted.

Next after a brief rest it was time for the beach and a dip in the sea, lovely stuff. However our time there was cut short as it was becoming very windy and so it was back to the van where we could sit in the sun with a little shelter from the wind and of course enjoy a beer.

Tuesday arrived like an early March day except of course it was sunny but quite cold, the small one was not amused and who could blame her, we were ninety odd miles from bloomin Africa and it was cold! If in fact you got out of the wind the sun was pretty hot so as this was our last day here we were determined to enjoy it. Another quick trip for a paper, this time successful and then off to the beach only to be driven back by the wind which was threatening to sand blast us it was so strong. Being English of course we attempted to hunker down in the dunes but it was really hurting us so reluctantly we returned, had lunch and went to the swimming pool on the camp site. This proved a really good move, we got our swim after all as the water was really warm, and as it was a little sheltered we were able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

That evening we returned to the pool as it is possible to see the sunset over the wildlife area behind the site. This is one of those rituals that we do and for the life of me I cannot see why, although the sunsets can and do on occasion look really nice. I still remember when we drove all the way down to Key West in Florida and at the appointed hour gathered together with all the other people at the farthest point to witness it. Just before it happened a bloody great cloud covered it and we all went home disappointed. Fortunately we were there another couple of days and did get to see it but those who were only there for a day were gutted. Oh well I digress.

We left fairly early Wednesday for Portugal and with only 96 miles to do, arrived nice and early at Praia da Luz near Lagos on the Algarve. We had a nice lunch in their restaurant and were about to check out the pool but the wind really got up and was just blasting through, so we retreated to our van, and planned the next day. Ever since we arrived at the south coast of Spain from Gibraltar along to here, the wind really gets up especially in the afternoon and although it keeps us cool it’s not very pleasant. It’s very hilly round here which means we can’t use the bikes so today we got the hourly bus into Lagos and had a really good day wandering around the marina, the beach and the old town where we had lunch in a lovely square and watched the world go by, smashing.

On our return we made our plans to spend the next day on the beach nearby and then to set off for the most south westerly point of Europe, Sagres. All of this would depend on the weather improving slightly because it was quite cold as we prepared for bed. When we awoke it was cold and grey, then it started to rain! That’s it we are leaving right away, just get us unplugged and I will go and pay, said the small one raising herself up to her full 5ft1½inches, I am NOT putting up with this, it’s warmer at home. This of course was a slight exaggeration but it was a bit depressing to have come all this way for cold wet weather so we packed up and left without seeing Sagres in the rain. We drove the 186 miles to Lisbon along a motorway that cost us €32 but we did it in just over 3 hours and were at our new campsite and all set up sitting outside in the sun by 3.30pm.

I was just a little traumatised as this site is full of twisted gnarled trees with huge low boughs and branches so with my track record I was petrified. As we drove in we passed some pitches near a road and hadn’t gone there in case of noise. We tried to negotiate a couple of places and I actually managed to get into one with a lot of help from Joan but then when we got out and looked, we realised that if somebody parked opposite us we would not be able to leave! So we carefully extracted the van from that pitch and returned to a very nice one near the road but sans trees, phew.

Tomorrow we will wish Eleanor a very happy 4th birthday then take a bus to Lisbon for the day. Hopefully the weather will be nice to us.

Lots of love
Bryan & Joan XXXX