Camping Turiscampo at Espiche is by far the most advanced site we have visited to date.
All camping periodicals talk about facilities and we the campers make judgment after visiting the showers & bogs! Well the facilities here are off the scale of 1 to 5, so I include pictures as seeing is believing.
And then there is the pool and bar-restaurant!
A running buffet is available each day for 6.5 Euros, eat as much as you like. But I’m on a diet!
We found a spot to set up camp with all facilities including waste. Along side us is a large RV owned by a couple, Annie and David who are on their honeymoon.
We celebrated together as it was their wedding anniversary, (2 weeks) they were surprised to learn that it was ours too, a little more than 2 weeks, 49 years to be exact!
Annie cooked Spaghetti Bolognaise and I supplied a salmon starter. A very nice evening.
The following day we met another couple, Eddie and Linda, and we all agreed to meet for Sunday lunch in Prias de Luz, a restaurant recommended. We had traditional roast leg of lamb, delicious.
After lunch we attempted to walk off the excesses. This was quite sad as we suddenly recalled images that we had seen on TV as the little girl Madeline was abducted. A beautiful seaside resort that will always evoke this tragedy.
Lagos is a busy place, we went on the Saturday as there is a Gypsy market held there once a month, would you believe it, there was another 3 markets, a peoples market, a fish market, and a grocery market. Of course whilst we were here we had to see them all, what a lovely day we had! We came home with a pair of gloves, just what you need when it’s 30' degrees.
This long promenade is great whether you like boats or not, for me, I could have stayed there all day just watching boats coming and going up and down the main channel, speculating where they were going or coming from.
There was about a dozen of these drummers when we arrived, by the time we left they had a following of about 50, all politically motivated into chanting something or other. I guess the man in the poster would know what's going on?
An interesting conversion!
12th October already, time is buzzing by. Today we take a drive to Cape St Vincent which is the most westerly point of Europe, it’s about a 45 minute drive from our camp site. We had lunch half way around the bay where a steep path and steps take you down to a small sandy beech. It looks very inviting, but strictly for the young.
From this spit of land, both view points are looking due west across to the Americas, It’s the first sight of land for ships heading for Europe. The lighthouse at the northern end of the cape attracts coach loads of visitors.
In turn the visitors bring the opportunist traders who will sell you anything, if you are not carful!!
This building is ripe for development, the outbuildings are at the bottom of the cliff!
Fishing with long lines! I mean long long lines.
On the southern end of the bay there is a fort which has been built and rebuilt so many times that it’s difficult to put an age on it, It seems to me that a wall has been built across the rock protrusion with not much of interest behind it. In fact there are two modern buildings there which are completely out of place. It didn’t stop the lady at the entrance taking our money, I'm not sure if her face was red from the sun or from embarrassment for accepting our money? There is very little here to to warrant an entrance fee, save for the maintenance of a toilet block.
Don’t be fooled by the imposing entrance.
This old battlement looks like the oldest thing here, and this has modern cement holding it up. It is connected to a new exhibition hall, looks like an amateur historian has had his way and decided to leave this bit of wall standing as an afterthought, I wonder if he got an “A” level or the sack? You can see what I mean from the larger picture above.
Cape St Vincent? A must. The fort? Save your money.
It’s Sunday again and we find ourselves back in Luz at the Plough and Farrow for lunch. More English people joined us, which swelled our group to ten, we were tempted to ask for a party booking discount?
It’s difficult to find the motivation to leave the camp site, glorious sunshine 30’, good company, and nothing must interfere with Marys Olympic training at the swimming pool?
Monday I was determined to explore the area further and we drove west and turned left down a couple of exits off the main road which took us towards the beaches. The first detour took us to a small sandy beach where a number of campers were enjoying the scene as nature intended, no Ice cream sold hear.
This MH, owned by a Scottish couple were wild camping. Not for us. The next detour took us to Salema a resort where there are lots of Brits who had invested wisely, even in this fiscal climate, they are are able to increase their investment 5 times.
The lady on the right is one of the wise, and spends 6 months over the winter period living here at a fraction of British overheads. No wonder she’s smiling!
We had lunch overlooking the Atlantic and I couldn’t resist a paddle.
On we went to the next turn off, but this time I got waylaid as I came across a camp site which looked rather good. The receptionist gave me the price list, 28 Euros a night (very expensive) she invited me to have a look around. I was very impressed, not least, as I turned the corner to be faced with 3 naked bottoms walking arm in arm before me, two middle aged men and a lady between them. I shall not comment on who had the largest bottom? I turned up a side path as I was embarrassed, why is it that the nudists don’t seem to be bothered in this situation? The path led to well groomed gardens and the camp sites. Everything was in tip top order, there were no dirt roads or gravel paths, all were either cobbled or paved, very nice. I guess if you were a naturalist you would pay the extra premium for the seclusion. Sorry no pictures! The receptionist apologised for not informing me of their nudist status.
After that we drove back as Mary wanted to swim.
She’s in training you know!! A couple of days later we went back to Salema for lunch and did some shopping. The longer we stay here the lazier we seem to get, It’s now the 16th October, the weather is still in the high twenties and we are loving it, just don’t want to move. We have made good friends here and seem to chatter on for hours as though we've known them for ever, even I have come out of my shell and join in the conversations!!
A trip up to the mountains was not a success. We drove to Monchique the principle town of the area, which carries the same name, that part was fine, we had lunch and I was befriended by the local dog, something that I am becoming accustomed to. The reason it looks downtrodden is because I told it to bu#=6ger off.
The town is very nice and caters well for tourism. This red post box reminded us of home and we suddenly realised that November wasn’t far away. The only difference to our postal services is mail here is collected, UK Postal workers seem to have other ideas, after all Christmas is the perfect time for a dispute? We keep up to date listening to CNN, the only news channel we can receive here on our sat system. Apparently we are at the edge of the footprint of Astra 2 transmissions, I digress, back to the fun of holidays!
This old Talbot took my eye, in this climate I’d fancy bombing around in this old car with a gold medallion around my neck, a hairy chest and a dumb blond. Dream on!! Problem is, no medallion, no hairy chest, no Talbot, and can’t find a blond dumb enough!!
From Monchique, we were told that a short drive of 8 kilometres would provide us with magnificent views, I should have known better as the drive was vertically up! and what's more, once embarked upon the journey there was no turning back as there was no width to turn around. I noticed that after a while Mary had gone very quiet, but then she went into a panic attack and started to shake with fear. I could do nothing to help. I was relieved to reach the summit which thankfully was a level piece of ground about the size of a football field. Parked in the middle one had no idea of the terrain that fell away on all sides. After Mary had recovered some, I told her to keep her eyes closed as we retraced our way back, this she did. It wasn’t until the next day that Mary felt better, tired but better. The views were truly magnificent but I can’t make light of the experience as it was unpleasant for both of us.
A couple of days after the trauma we went back to Salema and had lunch again at the same restaurant as before, we bumped into a couple from the camp site and chattered for a while, walked the beach, sat and watched the waves crashing and young students studying as they sun bathed, I don’t recall ever doing that!
Another day took us on an aimless drive to Portimao, a large town, or is it a city? Not sure. We didn’t spend much time there as we were attracted into a huge shopping area. We found an American Pizza Hut restaurant and since it was tea time we enjoyed a deep pan, very good. We will be going back to spend more time there.
We drove back as the sun beautifully set.
It’s now the 20th of October and we are sharing a BBQ with our neighbours, Annie and David. We have shared the cost of 4 T-bone steaks which they collected the day before, the size of which dictated that they be cooked on two BBQ stoves. Annie cooked some new potatoes which we couldn't do justice too, in fact some steak was rescued for sandwiches for another day. I think I managed to eat mine but a glass of wine and a good helping of Bailey’s has left the details hazy. I do remember that despite it’s size, it was difficult to see the steak because there was no moon that night. I had to pause between mouthful as Annie’s shadow obscured my view. Only when Annie frequently reached for her glass could I strike! Only kidding Annie. Mary told me afterwards that it was a great evening and I believe her despite my hangover.
The next day took us to Luz yet again for lunch. 6 of us this time, we were presented with their usual fare, a plate full is just what we needed after the night before!
We split up after lunch as David wanted to pack, they were leaving the next day. We walked the promenade and watched Dolphins close to shore leaping from the water.
I did have my camera but not quick enough to snap them.
What came next was very distressing, We were not looking forward to the newly weds departure, after all they were principally responsible for us staying at this site for so long, a month in fact, you couldn’t have wished for better company. The upset came as they pulled off the pitch, Annie was in tears, David was in shock as he stared in disbelieve at their treasured MH, their honey moon suite, their first trip in what can only be described as the Ritz on wheels. Their acquaintances who had risen early to see them off were stunned into silence as there was a deafening noise as the lower side of the MH crashed into a low wall which would be difficult to see from the drivers position.
The fibre glass wheel arch panel was broken, but was safe to drive and we consoled the newly weds as we pointed out that no one was hurt and all could be repaired. I don’t think they took much comfort from the observation. Annie is far too bouncy to let the accident worry her for long and David will just get on with sorting out the repair.
The next day we decided to escape the inevitable post mortem of the incident and visited 3 beaches on the Atlantic side of Portugal, only small but well worth the drive.
At the end of the narrow roads you finish up at a small beach with organized car parks, tree posts mark each car positions, I guess that hundreds of cars visit these beaches in the holiday season judging by the parking places. Cafe stalls serves hot food and Ice cream, no electric here, power is via a generators. One beech has a cafe in the middle and from the approach it looks like an outpost from the film Mad Max
As we left we met a couple from Chesterfield, they had been away from home for 15 years. They had cycled and wild camped under canvas in 45 different countries, even if I could remember, there are far too many to mention here, China, most of South America, Iraq, just days before the invasion, Australia, New Zealand just to mention a few. We think we are on an adventure with our MH, by comparison we are weekending at Cleethorpes!
25th, just 10 days and we will be back in the UK. I decided to test the theory of the common market, that is to travel unfettered through Europe. To do this, I need to have my little red car tested so that my insurance company would know that the vehicle was roadworthy. 23.75 Euros later it failed on 5 counts.
1- I had odd tyres on the rear wheels. (easy to fix) Swapped the odd one with the spare wheel.
2- Stickers on the headlights were not lined up properly. (easy to fix) Local garage realigned for 18.00 Euros.
3- Triangle reflector are illegal. (easy to fix) I removed them. I would have to put them back when I returned to the UK.
4- The towing bracket fixed to the front of the car has no approval number? Any protrusion from the body of the car must be approved and issued with a safety number which must be embossed on the unit. (Incidentally, it includes wing mirrors.) I didn’t know, did you? The next day after studying the problem he eventually accepted a number that was embossed on the “A” frame which fortunately was in the boot of the car. He deemed that it was part of the bracket fixed to the car, as one part could not be used without the other. (fixed).
5- The rear fog light is on the wrong side, it should be where the reversing light is, positioned on the other side. Peugeot garage supplied me with a new left side reflector which had the red reversing lens built in opposed to the white lens for UK cars. (cost: 62.30 Euros). I extended the cable from the existing fog light to the other side of the car, concealing it behind the boot upholstery and connected it to the original reversing light fitting. I now had two rear fog lights. I then removed the reversing light cable from its fitting and together with a neutral cable I connected them to a new white reversing light that I fitted in the bumper. The vehicle is now legal in both the UK and the continent. total cost for cable and reversing light 2.50 Euros, a bargain! (fixed).
Another 23.75 Euros later for a second test and the bomb shell exploded? After the tester had completed the test and took my money, he informed me that he could not issue a test certificate? He explained that cars in Portugal don’t require a test certificate until they are 4 years old. The little red car is only 3 years old and therefore cannot be tested here. The software on his computer could not accept the date and kept returning to the date entry for correction.
I was not pleased with him and he new it. Since the car is insured in the UK I suspect the insurers would apply British rules should I have an accident, even though I am under Portuguese law. We eventually agreed that he would issue a paper from his company which is identical to the test certificate but not printed on government embossed green paper. I have to be happy with the compromise. The vehicle is tested and roadworthy and that is all I can do.
God bless the common market and the obsolete or failed politicians who run it. The fat cat lawyers who get fatter by fighting cases brought to Europe to settle anomalies they failed to spot when writing the legislation for the wiz politicians in the first place. Got caught with your fingers in the expenses grabbing till? Don’t worry you will be welcome in Brussels, There is always a position in the European Politic as you have passed the entrance exam!
Cynical? Who isn’t. The volume of traffic that passes from Europe to the UK and back is such that laws of one country or another will always be broken. Why? Because we have dysfunctional idiots who can’t agree or get to grips with the need to standardize testing throughout Europe.
The certificate was issued on the 23rd October and just 3 days later I had an accident!
We had been to Lagos for an English fish and chip shop lunch. The restaurant is called Fools & Horses and littered with memorabilia from the programme. There is even a 3 wheeler painted yellow parked outside. The fish & and chips weren't bad either.
I’m not going to talk about the accident here as it is too painful, not that anyone was hurt thank goodness, but if I don’t write it down verbatim, I might forget it happened? Sufficient to say that I had a Police escort back to the camp site as a question arose as to the road worthiness of the vehicle. Yes flashing lights and all, what an interesting spectacle as I returned in the dark to the camp site. I wished I new how to tell the police to, turn the bloody blue lights off! An hour went by before they departed, blue lights distinguished, and not before time. Not until the next day did I get the third degree from friends and neighbours. They seemed happy to see the smashed car which dismissed the drug smuggling notion as pure speculation, rumours had mounted though the night? where do these stories start? Well perhaps I said something as a joke, I forget !!!!!
I found a local garage who can do the repair. It is now in the hands of the insurance company. Instead of leaving on the Saturday as planned for our final destination, we decide to leave in the morning. We arrive at Olhao at 2pm without the little red car.
