PORTUGAL - Alentejo & Algarve March 2011

Tuesday March 8

Home to Cherry Hinton - 146 miles

After the usual cleaning and packing frenzy that always accompanies our ‘getaways’ we were finally ready to leave just after 2pm for an overnight at the Caravan Club site, Cherry Hinton.  As we don’t keep our van at home we find this a very useful half-way stop en route to Dover. It lets us become acquainted with our van again whilst on English soil.  Given the time of year we were very surprised to find that there were only 2 places left and glad we had pre-booked for an arrival after 4pm.

Wednesday March 9

Cherry Hinton – Channel Tunnel - 122 miles

We left the site at 9.05 am; the M11 and M25 were unusually trouble free and arrived at the Channel Tunnel at 11.00 am. We were booked on the 11.50 departure for France and had just enough time to walk the dog before boarding the train.

Tunnel – Cleres - 133 miles

Cleres

Arrived on French soil at 13.25 local time and headed off down the A16/N1 towards Rouen.  We planned our first night at the Cleres Aire and we arrived at 16.45 after making a pit-stop for groceries at E Leclerc, Montreuil sur Mer.  The weather, although bright, was rather chilly so we paid the princely sum of €3 for electric hook-up for 12 hours just so we could run the electric heater through the night.  Unfortunately the water on the Aire had been turned off ‘sauf gel’ so again, we were glad to have filled up with fresh water in the UK and with our ‘peg’ in place we made sure we wouldn’t drop it.

Neuille Pont Pierre

Thursday March 10

Cleres – Neuille Pont Pierre -188 miles

Left Cleres at 10.30 and went looking for diesel.  Found that the supermarket chain Intermarche seem to have the cheapest price in the area at 1.367€ per litre.  Arrived at the Neuille Pont Pierre Aire which had all services, including electric, Gratuit.  The Aire is next to the busy D766 so I would recommend earplugs.  Super U and Lidl are walk able from the Aire and Free Wi-Fi is available if you stand outside the Pharmacy (try not to look like you are casing the joint).

Nersac

Friday March 11

Neuille Pont Pierre – Nersac -168 miles.

Beautiful warm, sunny day, arrived at the Aire 2.30pm.  Time to get the shorts on, chairs out, a glass of wine and a ‘Croque Monsieur’. Bliss! Good stop off this, just off the N10 towards Bordeaux.  Quaint little town with a supermarket across the road from the aire.

Saturday March 12

Pomerez

Nersac – Pomerez - 171 miles.

Via Dax for Cash and Diesel stop.  Temperature 20C, Wow!   Found the Aire easily just outside the Bull Ring.  6 dedicated Motorhome places and Electric FOC.  Very Clean Public Toilets on site and a Carrefour 200 metres away. 6 vans here tonight. Again, next to a busy road, traffic noise during the night and early in the morning ensured we were ready for an early start for the Somport Tunnel and Spain.

Sunday, March 13

Pomerez - Somport Tunnel - Siguenza - 308 miles

If you are going to drive a long distance, than this is the day to do it.  Free motorways, very few Lorries and sharing the driving made it a lot easier.  We had no real plans for tonight; Spain does not have a network of Aires like the French have. What it does have however, is a very nice lady in Siguenza who, getting stuck behind us while we were looking for a suitable overnight spot, pulled over, turned her car around and took us to a parking space for the night. Turned out to be the Parador Car Park.  As we were the only van there, we can assume that no one else has found this little gem.  Peaceful and quiet, no traffic noise here. We’ll sleep well tonight we thought. Siguenza might be a tad off-route but it is a lovely old town, narrow cobbled streets, magnificent church and of course the Parador.

Monday March 14

Siguenza – Caceres - 268 miles

It rained overnight.  It was windy.  The blooming bike alarm went off twice.  Brian hopped out of bed pretty sharpish in case some undesirables had desires on his bike.  Brandishing his walking stick with sharp pointy end he was out of the van as fast as you could say “Hola” to investigate.  No-one there of course, it was just the wind.  After his second trip outside at 2.am the bike alarm was disarmed. Seemed like a good idea at the time but far too sensitive for a good night’s sleep. It has now been relegated to the cupboard full of other useful but not used items, where I am sure it will spend the rest of its holiday, quietly. Therefore, the next morning two bleary eyed campers set off for the next leg across Spain via Madrid. Daunting as driving round Madrid is we managed to navigate through surprisingly well.  Thanks to Wanda, our sat nav, whom we did not argue with this time, but followed her every instruction.  Simples!

Caceres

We had high hopes for the Caceres Aire, it was an official Aire, it was in the book, it had free electric……….  It was also very popular. There were 10 vans there already when we arrived at 3.15pm. and all the ‘official’ spots had been filled so we parked in the Bus bays.  By 6pm there were 30 vans, plus loads of cars that had turned up because it was football practice. Felt a bit uncomfortable that we were pinching their parking spaces but fortunately, the rain in Spain was a bit too heavy and they all went home early.

Tuesday March 15

Caceres – Barragem de Povoa - 112 miles

Big Birds Nest

Caceres is only 65 miles from the Border with Portugal.  Good place to fill up with cheaper Spanish Diesel at 1.302€ per litre.  Good job we did, the first diesel price we saw in Portugal was 1.429€ per litre.  Still, the sun was shining again as we made our way via Castelo do Vide to the first of the Barragems we would be stopping at. (If you are unfamiliar with the Portuguese term it means, dam or reservoir.)  And what a find Povoa was.  Extremely quiet and beautiful, picnic areas with fresh water, toilets, BBQ’s.  A small café/bar nearby complete with local ‘characters’, stray dogs and of course the obligatory Cranes nesting on every telephone pole or chimney. Even a bread van called in the mornings.  We liked it so much we stayed for 6 nights. The weather continued to improve, much warmer, not so windy.  There are lovely walks around the lake and if you are up to it a 3 mile walk to the village. Lots of vans came and went, but there were never more than 4 vans at a time and with such a large area to park over you could easily have your own ‘space’.  The week-end saw the arrival of the Portuguese, in their cars, with their fishing rods, their children, their dogs and their grandmas and unfortunately one Spanish guy who lost 2 Beagles.  So if you happen across Alturo and Molly who are probably still out ‘hunting’ let me know, I have his telephone number.

Barragem Povoa

Monday March 21

Barragem Povoa – Barragem Divor - 91 miles

I think that when we left Povoa we knew that we probably wouldn’t find another Barragem as lovely as Po.  The day was a little too hot for travelling 26C and after a supermarket shop at Estremoz we headed for Barragem Divor.  Only 1 van here from Demark.  Parking in the trees, no facilities, unless you count the rubbish bin ½ mile down the road but very quiet at night.

Tuesday March 22

Barragem Divor – Barragem Pego - 50 miles

A reasonable start at 9.30 a quick detour to Bgm Dos Minutos, a Lidl shop (10L of Red Wine €6.99 – Glug glug) and we still arrived at 11.15am.  Another popular Aire, various areas to park on both sides of the Bgem.  8 Large RV’s had taken up residency.  Toilet block with water waste etc and warm shower.  Restaurant with free Wi-Fi. First time we have seen so many Brits and their vans in one place.  Not as nice as we thought it would be.

Wednesday March 23

Praia Dourada, Fontainhas

Bgem Pego – Prai Dourada, Fontainhas - 47miles

Time for a change, off to the beach.  Called for Diesel and GPL at Alcacer do Sal.  Parked up to check a warning light that suddenly appeared on the dashboard – panic not just telling us we needed a service.  Silly van, didn’t it know we had just had one the week before we left home.  Anyhow, along comes this German van which turned off the road right behind us.  “Follow that Van” I yelled, (Germans always know the best places).  The road quickly deteriorated into an unmade road, then very soon deteriorated into a sandy track full of potholes.  But the German van was still trundling on, albeit very slowly and we committed to follow him.  (No choice really, couldn’t turn round)  As it happened we arrived at a beach car park with the most stunning views of the sea and beach.  Nice German man said he was staying the night so we said we would too.  A young French guy and his dog in a converted white van were our other neighbours.  Nice German man loaned me his MoHomobile book (Camper stops to you) and I very happily copied some GPS locations down of other spots that looked interesting.

Thursday March 24

Vila Nova de Milfontes

Fontainhas – Praia de Furnas (Villa Nova de Milfontes) – 67 miles

Having had this spot recommended by friends we were looking forward to spending a few days here.  Unfortunately the weather had other ideas. After an initial 27C at 1pm. It remained dry, but with a cool wind which, unless the sun was out, wasn’t really ‘sitting out’ weather.  The Town of Milfontes is really lovely; the parking is across the river, which means you have about a five mile detour to get to it.  There are two restaurants, great beaches and lots of walking over there.  Only two other vans here. We stayed 3 nights in all.

Saturday March 26

Almograve Beach

Started out cold, cloudy and drizzly.  Should we stay or should we go?  Thinks: if it is going to be a bad weather day… we might as well be travelling. Off we go, firstly to Almograve, lovely seaside village with large parking area on cliff top, walks in either direction, Sanitarios in the  centre where we filled up with fresh water before off to Bgem Monte Rocha, Odeceixe, Azehenia de Mar and finally ……back to Almograve for 5pm.   133 miles later and we could have just done 6.  This was the year when we said we wouldn’t go on a ‘wild goose chase’ that if we found a nice spot, regardless of the distance, we would stay.  Ha Ha.  Old habits die hard.  Hopefully this is just a blip and we will return to sanity once more. 

Sunday March 27
7 miles

Spent most of the day in Almograve, then headed back to Milfontes to fill with water, empty waste etc. etc.  Back to Furnas for the night.  Amazingly there were 9 other vans here tonight. Mostly French which all left in convoy the next morning.

Monday March 28

Praia de Furnas – La Marinha (Algarve) – 83 miles

Arrived just in time for lunch, 25C, sunny and glorious.  6 vans here already, 5 French, 1 Swedish. No facilities other than rubbish bins.  Man selling oranges calls every other day.  1 ½ kilos for 1€. Delicious, why don’t ours at home taste this good?  Absolutely stunning cliff top walks, pristine beaches, typical Algarve.  Walked into Benagil about a 20mins cliff top walk. 3 ½ miles by road.   Nice fish restaurants here. French vans left and just when we think we were going to be on our own, another French van arrives.  Weather still sunny and hot and after 4 nights here, reluctantly, we are forced into moving on in search of fresh water. Must remember the Motorhomers Mantra…..Arrive Full and Empty!

 Some photos from the stunning cliff top walks near La Marinah

Benagil

Barragem Arade

Friday April 1

La Marinha – Barragem Arade – 59 miles

A slightly windier day today and off we go in search off cash points, GPL, food, water and wine before arriving at Bgem Arade for lunch.  Temperature in van 30C.  Melt down.  Nice spot overlooking Bgem, 6 vans here.  Other parking available below Bgem but the higher one has the better views.  2 nights here.  

Alternative Parking area

Higher Parking area

Big Dog at Povoa saying Hello

At this point I must mention the Dog Aires.  No not dog hairs, although we have just about had enough of them as well.  Maisie the Golden Retriever we thought we had looks more like a whippet. She has gone into a full moult down.  We are eating, sleeping, and breathing them in. Uggh!  Now back to Dog Aires.  We have seen so many unattached dogs, to call them wild is wrong, because they are the friendliest strays I have met.  It started at Povoa where a young St Bernard visited on a regular basis.  Content to just say ‘hello’, wander around, play with other dogs before disappearing into the night.  Then there was Pego, a little Jack Russell type thingy.  Used to sleep under the van, or in the bushes opposite, would just ‘hang with the boys’ happy with his lot, oh! and with a little of Maisie’s dog food. Then there was Arrais Brancas, a beach car park about 2-3 miles off the beaten track with its resident dog.  Someone had gone to the trouble of putting a large 5ltr bottle of water on its side with a hole in the top for drinking and an oil drum, complete with old tee-shirt, as a kennel for him. Now this place is in the middle of nowhere so someone was taking a great deal of trouble to look after him. Honestly, why if they cared that much couldn’t they have taken him home I thought?  As soon as we pulled up he came out wagging his tail and fussing around, out comes Maisie’s food again which he wasn’t really interested in, I can only assume he was being well fed as well.  Unfortunately, perhaps the answer to my question was soon to be revealed. You can go off some dogs, particularly when they think the best game in the world is to nip your ankles. Obviously a dog left without company has to make his own entertainment when he can. Sympathy soon turned to irritability and it wasn’t long before I was telling him "he’d never find a home if he didn’t behave himself".  He just looked up at me, wagged his tail and blinked and I am sure I saw him smile.

But my favourite of all was the dog at Arade, a big, gentle, ginger mut, getting on in years.  Again someone had constructed a make shift kennel (which I never saw him use).  He would visit each new van as they arrived and check them out before settling down near his choice for the evening.  The funniest thing was to watch him go for his 'walkies'.  Every time someone left the parking he would accompany them, whether it was to walk their own dog, or go down to the lakeside or to the rubbish bin, he would go too.  And he would stay with them until they returned when; off he would go again with the next ‘walker’.  We had the pleasure of his company for 2 walks with Maisie, he never left our side, if we stopped, he stopped. It was an escorted tour of the best kind. One new arrival, a Belgium couple in a Hymer who having avoided his friendly advances, set off on their walk, really looking the business, as if they were going on some polar expedition, walking boots, ski poles, rucksacks, camouflage outfits and ……….a big ginger dog. I never did see the surprised look on their faces when they realised they had another intrepid explorer with them.  If I could have brought one dog home with me, it would have been him, what a lovely gentle character!

Church at Silves

Sunday April 3 (Mother's Day)

Silves parking

Barragem Arade – Silves (7 miles)

Another one of those shall we stay or shall we go days.  I suppose what really pushed us into leaving was the arrival of two converted German Refuse Lorries with ‘World Tour’ painted on their sides at 9.00 in the morning.  One of which had a kennel underneath it with a nasty looking dog in it that continually barked at anything that passed.  Plus the weather had broken and it was cloudy and drizzly so it was a yes, time to go.  

Sunday procession

Silves was just a short hop away and we decided to stop there for the night.  Lots of vans here, I think we counted up to 50 at one time.  Parking is over three areas either side of the Leisure Park and along the river.  Drinking water was available from the children’s playground, a drain was pointed out to us where we could tip our toilet waste (ESGOTOS) , the supermarket Continente was 200 yards away and the swimming pool had free WIFI.  Brill.  Silves itself, dominated by a castle, is a very charming old town.  Definitely worth a visit.  We stayed 4 nights.

Thursday April 7

Silves – Alvor – 28 miles

Alvor

The last time we visited Alvor, about 5 years ago, it was a quaint fishing village.  We were shocked to see how much it had changed.  Oh! it has retained its great fish restaurants but it has acquired……. Karaoke Bars, Paddy’s Bars, all day, all night Football, the best of British entertainment…not!  We parked up in the ‘Palms’ car park by the beach. Only two vans here.  Unfortunately council workers were cutting the Oleander trees down and the next day arrived on site at 8.30am.Very noisy job it was too. It seemed a good idea to go off to do some shopping and return when they had finished at around 4pm. Fortunately we had a free weekend, no noise but 8 vans turned up.  Weather really hotting up now, 30C, the Palms were very welcomed shade.  This stretch of beach is about as good as it gets.  It’s beautifully clean, about 2 miles long, rocky coves at one end and a river inlet at the other.  A lot of refurbishment is going on to provide walk ways over the dunes and I assume it will be only a matter of time before Motorhomes won’t be welcomed amongst the palms.  We stayed for 7 nights!

Beach view East

Beach view from West

the Palms parking area

Thursday  April 14

Alvor – Castro Marim – Mertola – Mina Sao Domingos – 129 miles

Mertola

Today we thought we would try out the motorway system for this first time since entering the country.  News that Portugal is making its motorways ‘all pay’ is still on going.  There is evidence, particularly on the A22/IP1 running east to west on the Algarve of work and signs, complete with prices, being installed.  But the local papers say that they won’t be enforced until at least July this year.  However, local feelings are running high and demonstrations against the tolls are being held as ‘go slows’ over the Guadiana Bridge. Will the locals get their wish?  Who knows?

Mina Sao Domingos

Relaxing by the lake at Mina

Temperature hit 34C.  No shade at Castro Marim, plus they had Mosquitos!  So far, I’ve not had a single bite and I do not want to break that record so it’s onwards and upwards.  Shame really, we’ve stopped here before, February 2010 when the Aire and adjacent car park were completely full.  Interestingly enough only 5 vans here so far at this time of year. Guess the great push home has come for most. The services are all free. There are some really inexpensive restaurants nearby, a small supermarket opposite, plus free WIFI from the Library. All in all, a great stopover, just inside the eastern border from Spain. We stopped for lunch then headed up to Mertola and finally Mina Sao Domingos.  Arrived about 4 ish.  Spots were already full, had to wait until cars went home so we could pull in.  Temperature now showing 40C in the van. Mega mega melt down!  Easter holidays are approaching and there is talk of the local police asking us to park two to a bay or move on!  Fortunately it didn’t happen and we managed to get a lakeside spot for the next 5 nights. WC, water and waste disposal available. Weather was still high 20s low 30s until Monday when it became very overcast.  With free WIFI available at the school it was time to book our return ferry for Star Wars day - May the 4th. “Was that a groan I heard”.    Sorry folks, Blogging too much can seriously affect your sense of humour.  Tuesday’s weather was definitely changeable, Thunderstorms and torrential rain started at 6 am. Rained on and off all day. No one moved.  By Wednesday morning things were no better and we decided it was time to leave.  We had stayed for 6 nights.

Terrugem Aire

Wednesday April 20

Mina Sao Domingos – Barragem Lucefecit – Terrugem – 119 miles

Miserable morning, showers again called in at Bgem Lucefecit for a couple of hours rest but as it looked like they were erecting some sort of stage for a concert we decided to move on to Terrugem for the night.  Parking by the Bullring, 3 other vans here, and still raining at 5 pm.

Thursday April 21

Terrugem – Siguenza – 363 miles.

A very long day, started off at 9.30am and shared the driving. Intermittent spells of heavy rain.  Thinks: there must be a holiday or something.  Very few Lorries on the road, but lots of cars coming from the direction of Madrid.  Could this be the Easter getaway? Driving round Madrid couldn’t have been any easier.  Again, no heavy transport, all the supermarkets were closed, definitely a public holiday.  We arrived at Siguenza at 5.45pm prepared for a cold night. No change here, rained 10 pm to 3.30 am. Temperature dropped to 7C.   Those hot days a distant memory now.

Friday April 22

Siguenza – Somport Tunnel - Oloron St Marie – 280 miles

Oloron Ste Marie

Aire Oloron Ste Marie

A 9.30am departure gave us good start to the day.  We filled up with Diesel at the Eroski, Jaca, before the Somport Tunnel, cheapest diesel yet at 1.275€ per litre and headed for France.  The Aire at Oloron has a tight entrance with dedicated parking for 7 vans. Services are by token. Another popular aire with the French, many had to turn away. Temperature wise I don’t suppose 19C at 16.45 was all that bad.  At least the rain had stopped and we managed a walk into town.  

Saturday April 23

Oloron St Marie – Buzet sur Boise – 116 miles.

Hurrah, no rain overnight. Arrived at the Aire after a leisurely drive and stop off for lunch.  A really nice, relaxing place. At the Halte Nautique. WC and Shower available.  Wi-Fi also from Reception.  Parked up between the river and the canal.  Great for watching boats go up and down the Locks.  Sunshine back so stayed 3 nights.

Thunderstorms during the night. Torrential rain continued until after midnight.  Decided to move van off grassy area and park on tarmac, just in case. 

Buzet sur Boise Twixt Lock & River

Dog Walking  the Dutch way

Tuesday April 26

Monpazier

Buzet sur Boise – Le Bugue 74 miles

Found a brand new Intermarche just before Villeneuve sur Lot with a DIY Laundrette, €4 for 30 mins.  Washing machine and dryer available.  Wash and Shop.  What a good idea. Called in at Monpazier ‘Beau Village’ for a look see. The Aire here was only a short walk from the town but was under going maintenance at the time. Temperature 28C at 1.30pm

Next stop Le Bugue.  A lovely town situated on the banks of the Vezere, nice town Aire, free services, parking on gravel or grass.  Lots of vans here but there was lots of space. Laundrette opposite side of road, plus Aldi, Intermarche, Lidl, Price Leader all a short walk away. Stayed the night.

Le Bugue Aire

Le Bugue

Wednesday April 27

Le Bugue – St Leon sur Vezere – 17 miles

Camping Municipal, St Leon sur Vezere

What can I say.  Another Beau Village with a couple of nice restaurants. An absolutely lovely spot, by the Vezere, is a municipal campsite which allowed us to stay for free until 1^st May.  There is also an Aire de Service opposite side of the road. Weather too good to be true, so lovely we stayed for 3 nights, managed to watch the Royal Wedding courtesy of  John and Christine, holidaying in their van next to us. Nice to see that French TV had 2 channels dedicated to the event and that their newspapers were full of it the next day.

Uzerche

Saturday April 30

St Leon sur Vezere – Uzerche – 56 miles (includes road closure detour of 10 miles Wanda didn't know about)

Another glorious hot sunny day. arrived at Uzerche at 1.30pm.  Parking in what was probably the Old Station yard, overlooking the river. Toilets and services are free. Including 20 electric points. Didn’t manage to get one! But who cares.  We’ve manage so far without it.  There are some nice walks from the Parking along a disused railway line. In particular a 5km (1 ½ hrs) circular walk.

Sunday May 1^st

Uzerche – Marcilly en Villette – Marboue – 150 miles

The Toll Free A 20 - Vierzon made the journey effortless. Called in at the Aire at Marcilly, no vans here. After a couple of hours rest decided to move on to the Aire at Marboue. Oh! there they are.  11 vans here tonight and its raining again.

Monday May 2nd

Marboue -  Brezolles 59 miles

Maisie relaxing at Povoa

Vet Day.  Maisie is booked into the Vets at Brezolles for her Pet Passport rigmarole. OK now it’s rant time. Why do we need a Vet to administer Flea and Worming treatment?  Why can’t we do this ourselves, we do at home.  I understand rabies is something we don’t want in our country but I am a responsible pet owner, why does DEFRA think I am not capable of administering the treatment myself. Do they think I would risk putting the health of my beloved pet in danger by NOT treating her.    She has been micro-chipped, vaccinated against Rabies and blood tested and the passport clearly shows when the last rabies injection was given.  This performance of having to visit a Vet ‘no more than 48hrs and no less then 24hrs’ before returning to the UK plus the extra expense incurred is ridiculous and open to abuse.  I regularly hear of pet owners paying up to 100€ for this service and where does the money go, why, straight into the back pocket of the Vet.  No invoice, no questions asked. Can you blame them?  All other EU countries are able to move around without this restriction. Unless, of course, they are visiting the UK........  Rant finished.

Mesnieres on Bray

Brezolles – Mesnieres en Bray  - 95 miles

As we now have 48hrs to kill…. We decided to overnight a little further up the country, we thought we would try this new town aire about 5 miles away from Neufchatel en Bray. You will find Aldi, Lidl, eLeclerc and Mac Donalds in Neufchatel, very handy for last minute shopping etc. We were the only van on the Aire, a large gravel car park, nice views of the surrounding countryside but a bit windy.  However, it was very quiet at night.  Perfect for a good nights sleep. We left in the morning before having had chance to explore the town, which will go on the ‘to do’ list for next time.

Tuesday May 3rd

Mesnieres en Bray – Arques – 98 miles

Arques – Port of Calais – 30 miles

Arques, Lake view

The parking for the Aire in Arques is behind the Municipal Campsite. We have used this aire a couple of times now because its convenient for the Ferry.  There is a lake you can walk around and (we have just discovered) another wild life area with smaller lakes.  Services are at the entrance to the Campsite.  Normally you would pay €2.50 but fortunately for us it was free tonight.  There was a School Sporting Event the following day. This meant we had to be off by 9.00 am, otherwise we would not be able to move.  We watched as hundreds of bike stands were placed in the parking area and realised it was going to be difficult to manoeuvre especially as more vans turned up for the night.  At 7.00 am the first of the event organisers turned up and started erecting Marquees.  That was the signal for us to go.  We were only 30 miles from Calais and were booked on the 12.05pm P & O ferry.  We didn’t really need to be away that early but couldn’t risk getting blocked in.  Nevertheless we set off and pulled over at Ardres to have breakfast.  Fortunately we were able to catch an earlier ferry by arriving at the Port - 2 hours early.  It turned out to be the new P&O ship Spirit of Britain. The ship was huge. It has a dedicated Tourist Deck which means Motorhomes and Caravans are separated from Lorries. (Always a daunting prospect when returning to your vehicle to find a great big artic. lorry pulled up too close for comfort).  The channel crossing was very smooth, how much that was down to the new ship or the calm sea I don’t know and we arrived in Dover at 11.50am local time.  Are we glad to be home……..NO not when we see the 40 mph traffic jam that is AKA as the M25.

STATS

We have spent 59 nights away from home

We have driven 4176 miles (includes a 240 mile detour to see our son in Caerphilly)

Spent £832.92 on Diesel (of which there is still ½ a tank left to play with)

Spent £18.49 on camping charges (£15.90 for 1 night at Cherry Hinton ).......The rest of the time was FREE..  

Spent £3.71 on Toll charges (we use national roads or free autoroutes and only pay tolls to avoid large cities)

NEW FRIENDS

Jenny & Julian              Sussex                             }       Povoa

Steph & Dave              ex pats living near Albi      }

Jen & Alan                   ex pats living in Vienne              Praia Furnas, Vila Nova de Milfontes

Hank & Hanke,            Netherlands                              Bgem Arade

Guy                              Devon                                      Alvor

Sheila & Paul                North Wales                            Silves, Castro Marim, Domingos, & Brezolles                                                                      

Rory & Jake                 Sheffield                                   St Leon sur Vezere

John & Christine           ex pats living in Brittany             St Leon sur vezere

And not forgetting a lovely Dutch couple who we spent many a night with putting the world to rights and who when they left Alvor, left us a beer.  Danke

We hope to bump into you again sometime.

Sunset Praia Dorada, Fontainhas

Adeus & Au revoir