Far West Route 66 camping, near Moncarapacho

Saturday 19/01/19

Not too much to report here, it rained a little overnight but when we woke up there seemed to be a break in the weather, so we unloaded the bikes and headed off on a ride with a view, as suggested by our neighbour, Ron.

One of the local hills has a tar road leading up to it, with outstanding views of the Algarve so we decided to see how much our fitness has improved.  It's around 300m elevation to the top, so we decided to see how far we could get.  Google Maps shows a continuous climb almost from when you leave our camp, growing steadily steeper - and this turned out to be the case.  If we had waited for a nice clear day we would probably have taken some stunning pictures, however the low cloud and hazy skies ruined things a bit.  

Half-way up

Looking out over the Algarve towards Olhao

We took it slowly and had to stop a few times to catch our breath,  but we made it to the top - cycling all the way.  Whilst the climb was hard, we are both definitely getting more fit, and enjoying being on our bikes.  The surrounding area is full of orange and lemon orchards, which is lovely to see.

At the top - looking towards the interior

The ride back was fantastic, we hardly had to pedal!  All in all it was a great ride out for us and we timed it well, most of the rest of the day was spent indoors because of rain, so we had an admin and reading day.

Far West Route 66 camping, near Moncarapacho

Friday 18/01/19

Bokkie is on a farm, apparently somewhere in middle America, judging by the scenery.  From what we've heard the owner, Eugene Roland, used to train horses for Western films and has created a bit of Route 66 in Portugal.  The site is littered with American-style memorabilia and has a very laid-back feel about it.  

Bokkie's view for the next few days

We only travelled about 9 miles today, and had three places to look at.  The difficulty with reading anything on the travel apps we use, is that almost every place has a mix of rave and rant reviews; different people want different things and match their expectations with what is offered by the sites.  We try to read them all objectively and then go and have a look ourselves.

The site we are on now is one of those that seems to divide opinion as it is very rural and quite rustic, so if you are looking for shops and bars close by you are going to be disappointed.  We absolutely love the feel of it, our spot looks right out over the horse and pony paddock and there are sheep, chickens, pigs and geese on the site.  To quote Charmaine, when we texted with her today: 'You now have a farm - without all the hassle'  😊

A face only a mother could love

We were welcomed onto the site by Chantelle, the custodian, and given free oranges from the orchard.  As we don't need electrical hook-up they offer a really good rate compared to sites on the coast and we love being in amongst the working farms.  We took a walk to Moncarapacho which is a small village, very quaint with the usual mix of pretty and derelict houses.

Moncarapacho 

We bought some provisions and settled around the Cadac to braai some sausage, chicken and also try our hands at making gluten-free flatbreads which was a great success - and we now have food for a couple of days.  

Bokkie getting ready to be wrapped up for the night

It looks like rain tomorrow so we'll hunker down until it passes - we're really pleased to have found such a nice spot.

Santa Luzia

Thursday 17/01/19

A lovely sunrise out of our back door

We planned on cycling to Tavira today as it is only about 4 km from where we are staying.  We hadn't slept well at all; although the road is quite quiet at night it felt like we woke up every time a car passed.  After an initial panic in the morning when we couldn't find the keys to unlock the bikes from Bokkie's rack we got ourselves together and set off.

Tavira is a centuries-old, charming village with a lovely relaxed feel about it.  The buildings are very decorative, either whitewashed or tiled in the most amazing colours, our photos don't really do it justice.  The remains of the 11th century castle allow access onto the walls with wonderful views over the city and it has a lovely garden inside.

Igreja da Misericórdia

Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo

Views over the city from the castle walls

We spent much of the day wandering around but came unstuck when we tried to get something to eat.  We tend to be quite careful due to my allergies and also try to find restaurants that cater for non-gluten meals.  We ended up walking out of three cafe's who either were so busy they didn't serve anyone or one that advertised reasonable prices at the door but slipped you a more expensive menu once you were seated so we ended up buying some groceries, cycling back to Bokkie and eating our own food. The Portuguese Lidl didn't seem to carry much of the Sin Gluten range that we found in Spain so we will have to hunt around a bit more for some of the food we want.

We did manage to have some wonderful Portuguese Espresso in the dinkiest cups

Roman bridge over the Gilão river

All the same, Tavira was lovely.

Santa Luzia

Wednesday 16/01/19

We watched the sun go down from Spain last night and today we are in Portugal, a whole time-zone away.  We're back on UK time, something that caught us out last time.  This time we're better prepared with our timepieces, but adjusting our meal times will take a while...

There's been cloud about so the sun seemed to set mid-sky

Toni can't bake in Bokkie as there is no oven, but she made us the most delicious Tiramisu chocolate truffles to accompany our evening Scrabble challenge.

We left Isla Cristina, filled up with diesel (it's more expensive in Portugal) and found an Autogas station to fill up the LPG.  With that we were set for the short trip into Portugal and Toni was ready to document the moment with the camera, but as we came to the bridge it was shrouded in mist (and scaffolding) which spoilt the views a little.

I know they need to be maintained but I always get nervous at the sight of
so much construction on a bridge!

We were welcomed onto the Algarve and told to report to the toll booth as all foreigners need to register their credit cards upon entering.  We'll try to avoid the toll roads anyway to avoid nasty surprises.

We stopped off for home-brewed coffee in Manta Rota, a resort village with a large motorhome aire, but decided to push on to our preferred destination at Santa Luzia as the aire looked huge and heaving with motor-homes.  The parking in Santa Luzia was much smaller but full so we have stopped in parking along the river on the outskirts of the village.  

It's a lovely spot, we chatted the Swedish couple parked in front of us and they have parked here before with no issues so we may stay a day or so.

We took a walk through the village and then walked across the pedestrian bridge to the nearby beach, Praia do Barril.  

It's quite a long walk but there is a small train line for those who prefer to travel in style. We took the walk, any excuse to get some exercise in...

The beach itself if stunning and there is an anchor graveyard which is quite eerie.  This used to be a tuna fishing community and the graveyard is a memorial to the former fishing fleet.

Anchor graveyard

After the stern warning of the dangers of approaching the sea we decided not to venture any closer (we weren't really dressed for the beach anyway).

We will take a walk into Tavira tomorrow assuming we don't get moved on from here.

Playas de Luz, near Isla Christina

Sunday 13/01/19

We decided to go for a long walk in the estuary this morning, and happened to pick the coldest morning for it!  It was only about 2 degrees with an icy wind blowing off the interior.  We were bundled up quite well but both decided not to take gloves which was a mistake.  There was nowhere to shelter from the wind on the footpath through the tidal area and we nearly froze.

Early birds

Our walk eventually took us all the way to Ayamonte, a port village on the Rio Guardiano, bordering with Portugal.  It's a pretty town, and there was a marathon on so we watched the front-runners on our way back.

The bridge to Portugal

Our total walk was around 18 km, so we were both definitely feeling our ages by the time we got back -  but at least it had warmed up by then.

The road back seemed never-ending at stages

We're planning a quieter day tomorrow but knowing us...