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Published: December 15th 2010
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Monday 6th December to Sunday 12th December 2010.
Monday 6th December 2010
Sagres.
Our beautiful girl Megan is celebrating her 21st birthday today.
We are in a campsite in Sagres, south west corner of Portugal. The weather is warm and the wind is from the south and the ocean is stirred up. There are sea cliffs - only 100 metres high.
4pm went and bought a bottle of cheap red wine and Gaye was off to to use wi-fi and publish the travel blog. Tom went for a short bicycle ride and came home and cooked up a soup for dinner – really good tonight.
We have decided to print out our travel diary so we can read it to refresh our memories – where we have been and what have seen and done. We are like the pygmy tribe in the long grass WTFAW, WTFHWB, WTFWG.
Tuesday 7th
Well what a night, lightning, thunder, power on/ off , so had to turn off the micro wave & tried to sleep, the thunder seemed to last longer than home - we both commented on this. The alarm went off but we rolled over and woke again at 8.30. Went
9.2.10 Lagos
Narrow streets of Lagos to town with a shopping list of bits for home.
Then to tourist office for map of the town centre and to Correios (post office) to post home our weekly things , there were lots so it cost €86.
Down to beach for a look and into restaurant for 2 coffees and a slice of cheese cake and apple pie cost €10.10- a bit dear but we are now in the tourist area called the Algarve coast. It is hundreds of kilometers long- it is in Portugal and then into Spain - it makes Surfers Paradise look like a hick back-water town.
We then did a walk up dirt road along cliff edge where there were people fishing over the edge.
Wednesday 8th
Up and packed up to headed out – just cruising along.
Stopped a Salema beach, While trying to follow map have found white roads (local) are dirt and sometimes they don’t exist at all. Learning more all the time and forgetting more all the time so brain has stopped expanding LOL.
So back on main road and stopped at super market, while Gaye shopped I purchased gas bottle ready for when the one that came with
9.12.10 - Lagos
50cc little van that carries only one person and all the tools he needs to fix the cobblestone footpaths (he had cement, picks, brooms etc in the back) the van runs out, which has lasted far longer than I thought it would.
Then off the N125 to Burgau (on coast) and stopped at Luz. Walked to beach and as it is 10ish, it’s time for coffee and cake. Then headed to Lagos. Found a beach with lots of surfers and 2 other motor homes.
Walked up another dirt road, along the cliff edge took around 2 hours which included a chat with 2 Scottish guys. After the walk we stayed in home till the surfers had gone and we could freecamp on a flat spot for the night.
Thursday 9th December 2010.
The morning started with a massive storm it lasted only 15 min but it dumped at least 3 inches of rain and possibly more and it affected the place, as run off stained the sea all day. The sea was blue and then it went red/brown due to run off, it went out about 600 meters at the river and creek outlets.
We went into Lagos to look for Vodafone. Lovely old town area –full of real estate agents and shops.
I (Gaye) had a haircut . This is the 3rd haircut for the trip.
A bit scary for me, as they have not spoken English. I carry a picture of what I want and show them. Only one week between a good and a bad hair cut !! My feet needed some pampering so I had a pedicure as well. Tom went walking looking for a book shop with English written books. Round and round he went until he saw a young postman and asked him directions – the postman said to follow him as too hard to give directions. This was fun as he spoke good English. They found the bookshop and it is owned by a Scotsman – Tom had a great time chatting to him as his customer relations were the same as Toms (glad I wasn’t there) They swapped stories, and his wife just listened in shock. Back to van. There was a parking fine waiting - €6. We had overstayed the ticket time that we had purchased earlier. Went into the parking station and paid the fine and then headed out of town along the beach road. At 4pm we went into a carpark for the night.
Friday 10th December 2010
The weather not looking too good, so
11.12.10 Mohle beach (Ferragudo)
Gaye taking a stroll along the beach off to Prais de Rocha, Algarve Hotel via the ocean road. We travelled along so far and then the road disappeared, but the TomTom said it existed !! So we turned around and Gaye gave directions. All good and eventually TomTom caught up , so down to the beach at Alvor. It is a busy fishing port and had coffee and cake and chatted to the staff. Headed off to find the hotel and Manuela. We found the hotel but she was away. So we went to see the burial mounds at Alcalar.. It was well set up and worth the trip. Had lunch and then headed back to Decathlon shop and bought an Elite Mag Trainer.
Then programmed TomTom for the town near the next campsite. Directions were not too clear, so missed the turn off and then saw at least 6 motorhomes in a paddock next to the river, so in we head to stay there for the night. Tom tried out the trainer for 45 minutes –it’s nice and quiet.
Saturday 11th December 2010
Up at 6am with alarm and Tom on trainer for another 45 minutes. The church bells starting ringing at 7am. Tom went for a bicycle ride around town.
Then we walked to beach and back with stop at a restaurant for coffee and chatting to Emma from UK, but who now lived in Portugal for 14 years.
Back to the van and headed up the hill for the campsite as washing had to be done.
That’s it for the day – relax , read and veg out, wine, cheese.
Sunday 12th December 2010.
Well, a lazy day around campsite as jazz was advertised to be on at 4pm at the restaurant we went to yesterday. So spent time on trainer, house work, talked to Jack (a neighbour) about places to see – he said must go to El Rocio-Spain, as there is a Mexican style town – wooden buildings –dirt and horse droppings for roads, sounds great , so we marked it on the map.
Then spent more time with Mary (another neighbour), talking about places, campsites and Morocco.
So 3pm we walked to restaurant for the jazz – it was a no show – only one guy turned up – the rest of the band bailed. So we filled in time with a drink and watching the ocean. Then in walked 3 guys, they said hello and Tom said hello back, and they said ‘bloody Aussies, can we join you’ and they did. One was a scrap metal merchant, one was a retired architect lecturer, (he wore a beanie and looked like a garden gnome – or like Bill Scott ) and the other was a retired architect. All Irish. We talked and talked. They were there for a couple of days to put the yacht into dry dock for 4 months. The yacht belonged to the fellow who had the scrap metal business. He had met Kerry Packer and Tom said that we were not in his league. Gaye chatted to the architect mostly and told him of our plans for the revamp of our house when we get back home. They left and we went in for dinner. Emma went home and so we had another waiter to talk to. After more talking, we found out that he was, 5 years ago, a member of the Portuguese Triathlon Team. So we talked all night until time to close. But it was OK for him to talk all night to us, as there were 2 chefs, 1 kitchen hand, our waiter, 1 other waiter, the barman and the owner. We were the only 2 people having dinner, there were 4 others only having drinks. So they were not busy.
Walked home – about 2.5kms – about 10.30pm.
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