Lagos Pt 1

SLIGHT CHANGE TO THE BLOG - A MANAGEMENT DECISION WILL RESULT IN ENTRIES IN FUTURE POSTS COVERING A WEEK AS OPPOSED TO AN ENTRY FOR EACH DAY.

Mon 22nd Oct - Sun 28 Oct: A somewhat deterioration in weather this week with highs of 24C and lows of 14C, the balance of days had rain but we still had quite a bit of sun - if fact we had 2 days of torrential rain, luckily this site has great drainage so no major problems. 
Unfortunately some of the other sites around here do not have such good  drainage and hence we had some arrivals of rather wet transferees. Neil had a look at some problems on James and Sarah's Tiffin Allegro and managed to get it into an OK state for their trip back to the UK. Social activity included visits to Restaurant Fontenario in Espiche (super meal and excellent wine), a James special curry (yum yum) and a BBQ courtesy of Neil. The mid week shopping trip was to Albufeira, Linda needed Iceland for food and Neil needed Leroy Merlin (B&Q type shop) for some spare parts. Neil finally admitted that the satellite reception was below par so hired a large dish (1.4m) to ensure Linda did not resort to violence when he went golfing on Saturday with James and Sarah - just to be social you understand. Took further advantage of the Skype system and called all those available, unfortunately the WiFi is not really quick enough for conference calls but is OK for one to one. We did try a Lagos/Sydney/Winchester call and had a fair link up for a short time, and  a Lagos/Toronto/Portglenone call was the same result. 

Restaurant Fontenario

Hole 1 - Par 5

Mon 29th Oct - Sun 4th Nov: Good start to the week when James and Sarah took us out for a meal at Sebastian's in Lagos  - real class, top drawer cuisine and service. Just to top off the food and drink the restaurant treated us to a glass of port in their cellar WOW - rows and rows of classic port but unfortunately they did not allow us to move in permanently. Woo... scary Halloween week, seems like they celebrate the event similar to the UK so after a good round of golf on the 31st we attended the Halloween Dinner in the site bar/restaurant for a really good night. Nice surprise on the Friday when Mark  (now a full time civilian having completed his final TA training) & Pat from Albufeira popped in for a visit and to catch up - a very pleasant review of the bar again. Sadly James and Sarah left for their trip back to UK, via Madrid, on the Saturday and we also received our first 'Red Cross' parcel from Terry. Another all or nothing weather week with more rain and some sunny spells - highs of 23C and a low of 11C. Still strange to accept that it is winter, especially as there are lots of flowers/bushes out in bloom.

Still blooming in November

Still blooming in November

Even the grass is still growing

Mon 5th Nov - Sun 11th Nov: Winter must be here as the pool furniture has been cleared away, the pool is still open, even though a bit chilly. Another rainy week with the occasional burst of sunshine, fortunately the temperatures were still fairly pleasant - a high of 23C but a low of 9C, and yes the central heating works and has been on a few times.

Look - no sun loungers

We took the opportunity during one of the dry spells to give Daisy her monthly ablutions, she is still not impressed with these sites that have pet showers as they are too handy - mind you she did not complain about being dried with the hair dryer afterwards. Managed to get a good day off site to visit Sagres and the Cape of Vincent (the end of Europe) - startling landscape, very rugged and bleak with the knowledge that the only land further west is the US.

Cape Vincent lighthouse
Portugal

Cape Vincent
Portugal



 

 

 

Sagres Portugal

Sagres Portugal

 

 





Just had to fit in another game of golf, the course whilst very young is in very good condition, in places very demanding and has a ball swallowing rough. Fortunately a nice couple from Dorset, Bob & Lee, are on site and Bob like Neil needs to get plenty of fresh air and exercise = golf. The 11th November had to be celebrated for the normal 2 reasons, but of course this year personally it was a bit special - the first 40 years of marriage completed with us both still sane ish. A really nice slap up meal in the site restaurant with some beverages,  some reminiscing and a quick walk round Luz, a very nice seaside village which has a lovely beach.

Praia de Luz Portugal

Praia de Luz Portugal

   

Praia de Luz Portugal

Move/Lagos

Wednesday 10th Oct: Nice leisurely final preparations for our move, the next site is only 35 miles down the road so no need to rush plus we did not want to wake up the sleepyheads too early. We have noticed that most people do not tend to get up until mid morning - what a waste of some wonderful 'morning moments'. The general populace appeared from everywhere to watch once the 'Beast' fired into life, the trailer coupling and move off the pitch went perfectly - thankfully as the audience watched every move. We seem to be getting the hang of this setup/move/pack up life. Problem free move along the N125, sad to see the burnt remains of the shopping centre at Portimao but the weather was kind to us with a dry sunny day and 27C which made for a pleasant move and we got to Turiscampo at 1130 ish - short move only 1 hour. Fully established on our pitch well in time for our evening meal in a much more relaxed/happier state of mind. The site just feels right so we are contemplating staying here for most of the winter - site nice, area very interesting, lots of good local facilities, satellite TV reception and a golf course just round the corner, what more could you ask for. 

Our campsite pitch
Lagos Portugal

Campsite entrance
Lagos Portugal

Thursday 11th Oct: A bit of a dull day with some showers and 25C but it did not stop us finishing off settling into the pitch, just about big enough for us and whilst the pitches are quite close together it does not feel claustrophobic, and doing a tour/familiarisation tour of the site - a vast improvement with much more of the features that we look for. Good WiFi connection, full on pitch facilities (only 10A though), a good on site shop, a very nice restaurant, good swimming pools, and a super ablution block. The site is situated off the main road but far enough into the country to loose the 'concrete jungle' feeling - lots of open country side views whilst being close enough 5 miles to a fairly large town (Lagos) for shopping etc. Initial thoughts are that we are pleased that we will be here for the next month and have confirmed with the site office and family contacts.

View from the site

Posh loo's

Friday 12th Oct: A nice bright sunny day with 26C but unfortunately Linda was not too well and had to take things easy - between us we have been very lucky with our health and had no real problems, just the occasional off day. Met and introduced ourselves to our neighbours, mainly caravaner's and from all sorts of places but mainly the UK - John & Carole from UK, Ove & Ann Marie from Denmark, James & Sarah (full timer RV 'rs) from UK and Ken & June (full time 5'ers) from UK. Very friendly and helpful site so lots of impromptu social gatherings - just to discuss the state of the world whilst supporting the local drinks industry you understand.  

Sat & Sun 13/14th Oct: A couple of lazy days just enjoying the weather, nice sunny 27C days after a rather cool night on Friday night - never thought we would feel cold at 18C again. Had to spoil the holiday effect and do some internal and external cleaning and maintenance tasks, must admit it is a lot easier keeping on top of things in the RV living than the house living. A bit of rain on Sunday just to remind us that it is winter here, looks like the forecast for next week is much cooler.

Monday 15th Oct: Time to have a look around the general area so the Jazz got a run out, just a quick look see of Lagos, Praia de Luz and Espiche - all very nice and deserving of a revisit to explore their individual treasures. The full selection of shops and services were located, the golf courses sussed out and lots of beach areas viewed future doggy walks and mooching around. Another nice day with lots of sun and 24C, hope it lasts but we are sure it will change soon - not as bad as UK though.

Lagos, Portugal

Praia de Luz, Portugal

Tuesday 16th Oct: Having shown Linda the shops it was only fair that we went shopping, that is if we wanted to eat - must admit we have really done well with our dietary requirements and to date have made substitutions or not really missed anything. We have also increased our food knowledge to include lots of local delicacies. The weather cooling down process seems to be starting and it was only 23C with sun today. Completed the WiFi check today and Skype'd family members in UK - good reception and free.

Wednesday 17th Oct: The day of the World Phetang (Boules) Championships, due to some outstanding decisions being required from a previous social gathering a game was arranged for today between Ann Marie & Linda against Ove & Neil. Needless to say the men gentlemanly conceded to the fairer sex - OK we lost! We had the sun in our eyes and it was a bit cool at 23C. John & Carole were unable to play due to pre move actions, they are due to leave tomorrow - moving on to Salamanca prior to heading to the UK.

Thursday 18th Oct: John & Carole got off to an early and dry start, just as well as the rain started just after they left and was on for most of the day. The rain and low temperature 18C meant that a day in catching up on Boardwalk Empire and Homeland was called for. Managed to get a Skype call via Eric to Linda's mother who seems to be doing really well these days and is coping much better off her medication - long may it continue. Daisy has now decided that not only is it her RV but the main seat is hers as well.

Daisy in charge.

Friday 19th Oct: Back to a nice dry sunny day, still cooler though at 20C. Decided to make use of the good weather and did some RV maintenance (generator - charging problem), trailer skid plate bolts renewal and a re-jig of the Add-a-Room (awning) - trailer and Add-a-room completed but generator just 'temporary' repaired due to some more head scratching needed for the final solution.

Sat & Sun 20th/21st Oct: A weekend of 'two halfs' - Saturday sunny and 23C but Sunday heavy rain all day and only 20C. At least we manged to get a couple of good walks in on the Saturday before spending most of Sunday in the site bar with James and Sarah, totally overdoing the liquid refreshments (San Miguel and Sangria) but completely putting the World to rights.

Move/Albufeira

Tuesday 2nd Oct: Nice early start, 8.30am with no problems, to our 560 miles journey with only Dennis and Flo to see us off. Final bill was a pleasant surprise, only €17.10 per night - a very good value for money site. Plan is to travel as far as comfortably possible using the A7/E15 (non toll dual carriage way road - yippee), over night at a service station and then get to Albufeira some time on Wednesday. Really good day for travelling and we seemed to eat up the miles with no problems. The road was just as good as the motorway in most places taking us south along the coast to Almeria (poly tunnel capital) then skirting the southern extremities of Sierra Nevada to Malaga before heading northwards to Seville.

Poly tunnels everywhere. Spain

Portugal bound

Lots more spectacular scenery and some signs of the recent devastation caused by the floods, lots of debris at the side of the road and about 1" of silt on most of the road surface - sure glad we were not about during last Friday's rain. It seemed to be one of those good days and we completed a 10 hour day (including breaks) before succumbing to tiredness and eventually called a halt at 7.00pm at a service station near Chucena (west of Saville). Phew! 446 comfortable miles on a nice sunny 30C day - thank you 'beast', only 115 miles short of Albufeira.

Tea break in Spain

Meseta Mountains Spain

Wednesday 3rd Oct: After a fairly quiet night in the truck stop part of the service station and a leisurely breakfast we took the opportunity to refuel the 'beast' with 271 litres at €1.46 a litre and we eventually hit the road again at 9.00am Portugal bound.  We crossed the border into Portugal at 10.00am and said goodbye to Spain for the time being - the road tolls in Spain worked out to be €0.22/km placing them at 3rd most expensive so far.

Portugal - 11th country

At last

We breathed a sigh of relief at finally getting to Portugal, our rest/winter place and look forward to some slow time days. New country = new toll system so we now contribute to the Portuguese economy, fortunately electronically via the internet. Arrived at Camping Albufeira, completed the booking in procedure (which included Fort Knox type security) and started setting up at 11.20am. Initial thoughts are a bit disappointing however we will give it a chance and completed our set up by late afternoon/early evening which gave us a chance to visit Mark, Sue and Charlotte at their hotel in Albufeira and catch up/have a few drinks, leaving a 'bit late' in our opinion (explanation later). A pleasant sunny day with 27C.

Camping Albufeira Portugal

Camping Albufeira Portugal

Thursday 4th Oct: Still lots to catch up on with Mark, Sue & Charlotte so a BBQ was the order of the day at the camp site so a quick shopping trip for supplies. Loads of Brit type shops available - Iceland, Sports Direct etc and local type shops - Lidl, Intermarche and Continente so no problems with choice. First general impression is that the area/facilities are geared for the Brit expat/tourist population - eg The Algrave Shopping centre. After 'belatedly' (explanation later) negotiating the gate security with Mark, Sue & Charlotte we had a very good BBQ on a sunny 29C day; during which plans were made for an outing tomorrow and another BBQ on Saturday to meet friends of Mark & Sue who live locally.

Friday 5th Oct: Mark, Sue & Charlotte 'finally' (explanation later) picked us up in their hire car and off we set into the countryside/mountain area - what a pleasure for Neil, no driving. First port of call was Silves a very nice historic old Moorish settlement with a very impressive castle which was built on the site of an old Roman fortification - both the castle and cathedral were well worth the visit.



Silves Castle Portugal

Silves Castle Portugal

Onwards and upwards and we set off for Monchique an old fashioned little market town located in the Serra da Monchique with its highest peak of 902m (2959ft) giving marvellous views across the Algarve despite the weather clouded over during our visit. After a walk around the town, which included a sample of the local firewater (Medronho, brewed from the arbutus - strawberry tree) we partook in an excellent Portuguese lunch at a local restaurant in the town square. It was during this lunch that Neil & Linda were enlightened by Mark into the time zones of Europe and embarrassingly realised that we were still on Spanish time (+1 hour) instead of UK/Portugal time - whoops guess nobody was a 'bit late/belatedly/finally', just us living 3 days in Portugal on Spain's time. Well time is not as important these retired days, as long as we are on the same day!     



Monchique Square Portugal

View from Monchique Portugal

Now that we are all on the correct time we set off south for the coast and a visit to the coastal village of Ferragudo for refreshments and ice creams. The sun decided to come out and we spent a lovely hour sat on the quayside sipping sangria and eating ice creams in 28C temperatures . A visit to the play park was a natural progression of the day but it was supposed to be for Charlotte not Linda.

At play in Ferragudo Portugal

Ferragudo Portugal

After much screaming and kicking (and that was just Linda) we managed to leave the play park behind and retuned to Albufeira after a great day out.


Saturday 6th Oct: The day started nice and sunny, good for a BBQ, and was soon up at 28C. Mark, Sue, Charlotte and their friends Mark and Pat arrived midday/early afternoon so a very pleasant social/eating experience was had whilst Charlotte enjoyed Ice Age. Mark and Pat have been over here for the last 7 years so we were able to get lots of local information and advice plus an offer of help whilst we are in this area.

It is in the timing!

BBQ at Camping Albufeira

Of course the time zone occurrence meant that Neil took a bit of flack and will probably end up on Facebook. Final farewells were done with Mark, Sue and Charlotte, they fly back tomorrow, and arrangements to keep in contact with Mark and Pat made before everybody went their way.

Sunday 7th Oct: A good start to the day weather wise so off we set to visit some of the 'Sandford Girls' haunts - Maureen, Linda & Arlene had a holiday over here some 4 years ago. Pathfinder Linda made a good start by taking us to the wrong end of Praia Falesia, the Vilamoura end instead of the Albufeira end so after much meaningful conversation, Neil asked a bus driver how to get to the Sheraton. Fortunately he was going past the entrance for the hotel so we followed him and got to the correct destination, Linda soon recognised the area and resumed her navigation duties taking us up to the Pine Cliffs area.

View from Pine Cliffs

Sheraton Albufeira entrance

Entrance to THE villa

The pool Sheraton

A quick tour round the resort complex in the 28C sunshine, to revive happy memories and then it was back to the campsite, where we agreed that the site was just not really what we were looking for - not a bad site just not to our personal liking (only wi fi hotspot, no water or drainage on pitch and too woodlandish), so we would visit some other sites tomorrow in preparation for a move.

Monday 8th Oct: Another out and about day with visits to campsites further westwards along the coast, nice sunny day with 29C for our recce. Decided to visit sites in Potramao, Lagos and Sagres to see what is what, first port of call was Camping Turiscocampo just outside Lagos and found everything we needed (for lower fees) many recommendations plus we had a general good feeling whilst there. Second site was the one at Sagres, what a difference (not in price), definitely not what we are looking for and we decided that rather than view the other sites to go back and book at Turiscocampo as it ticked all our boxes and the main thing is Linda approves. Returned to our pitch in the woods to plan our move. 

Tuesday 9th Oct: Move preparations day, a nice sunny 30C day meant that all went well and we were ready in plenty of time, especially as we wanted an early start tomorrow. Not much route planning needed as it is just down the N125 (non toll) so we totted up the Portugal toll rate for the table; not too bad as it worked out at €0.16/km.