Back in Spain!

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Sun 2nd Jan

Early bus into Lagos for a look around. Nice marina/port area but being a holiday & a Sunday most of the shops were closed. So we took the bus back and went down to the beach at Luz. Spectacular coastline, busy beach area with quite a few surfers. Note much surf but they were making the best of it. Had a nice sunny, warm lunch at a beach restaurant - most delicious sardine has I’ve ever eaten!
Lovely sunny day so we decided to walk back to the site (only a mile or so).

Mon 3rd Jan

Left campsite and drove down to Segres, had a look around the fort. Amazing to see the fishermen fishing from the cliff tops into water 400/500 feet below them! Even saw one guy catch a fish - looked like a mullet or bass, couldn’t see too well he was quick to put it away. Carried on to Cape St Vincent, again fishermen all over the place fishing from the cliffs. Beautiful views along the coast. drove on to Vila nova de Milfornes and set up at the municipal site - not all facilities (or Wi-fi) but cheap. Had a walk into town and along the “prom” (high beach) and into town. People fishing everywhere but not catching much.
When I came back to the van there was a highlift with a man and a chainsaw cutting off branches from the trees around the van! Colleen said they had been there a while and been swearing at the guy who was doing the cutting because he didn’t want to go up there! They didn’t get too close and eventually gave up when it got too dark. No hint of any H&E gear what so ever!

Tues 4th Jan

Picked up some bait from the local tackle shop and headed for the south bank of the river at Lisbon. Got lost several times - the roads along the coast weren’t in either the map or the sat nav. Finally arrived at Orbitur, on the beach at Ville de Caparisa (?), set up then had a walk down to the beach - blowing well although lots of people fishing from the rock groins. About 4 or 5 degrees colder here.

Weds 5th Jan

Drizzly first thing so we decided to run in to Lisbon for a look see and then head back south to avoid the rain and to warm up a bit. Traffic into Lisbon was horrendous - queued way back for several miles before the bridge - decided to give Lisbon a miss!
Headed inland to Evora then down to Beja and then on the motorway to Quartiera and stayed on a site near the beach. On the way down we say huge vineyards and a very scenic route through the mountains. Made a nice change from the coastal routes. Nice site at the Orbita at Quartiera

Thurs 6th Jan

Heading for Spain. Left Quartiera and drove along the coast into Spain and stopped at Punta Umbria. Went right down to the point and we were astonished at the number and variety of shells to be found there. All sizes, colours and types. From razor fish to scollopes, clams, cockles, mussels, oysters - you name it, it was there. Colleen filled two big bags with shells. She and Ellie will have great fun sorting them out and decorating a mirror when we get back.
Found a site at Playa la Bota - eco site in a park area, billed as only 2 star but with very good facilities. Wi-fi no good though.

Fri 7th Jan

Left Playa la Bota (near Huelva) and headed along the shoreline to Matalascanasi (what a mouthfull!). Lovely area which is a national park and has a lot of saltwater marshes with flamingos, deer, etc. then headed north back to the motorway to Sevilla, down to Jarez, lots of vineyards on the way, and on to Cadiz. Fascinating place but hardly a parking spot for a car, never mind a motor home! So couldn’t stop but had a run through and then turned south along the beach. Followed the coast to Cape de Trafalgar and couldn’t find a site that was open so we decided to go back to the site at Tarifa that we had stayed on over Christmas.

Sat 8th Jan

Woke up to a really nice sunny day. Left Tarifa and ran along the coast towards Malaga. We stopped at Estapona to do some fishing from the rocks near a beautiful beach. Hot and sunny - lovely!! Carried on to Fuengarola and stayed on a site virtually on the main N340 road - surprisingly a nice site, all amenities and not too noisey, traffic wise. Guy on one of the pitches, Paul, had a deal going to provide Wi-fi access via an ISDN cable, so we have internet while we are here. Paul arrived here 8 years ago and never left - he’s just about used to the place now!


Think that brings us up to date - hope we're not boring you all!!!! sorry if I've duplicated anything but this sites not that intuitive!

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