Wednesday 10th April 2013 - Friday 12th April 2013

We make the short journey to Quarteira.

Find the site absolutely no problem, when there is not a cycle race and road closures. Orbitur Quarteira N37 4’ 2”, W8 5’ 14”.

We are still using our Orbitur Club vouchers, so, 9Euro per night, including Electricity and Wifi. The Wifi is a Wifi Point, so, not usable from the van, which is a bit of a shame. This is one of the sites we visited on our first ever long Campervan trip. That was five or six years ago now, so memories of the place are hazy. First impressions are favourable.

There are lots and lots of these birds around, with blue backs. I think, they are Jays, but, not totally sure about that. It is obvious from their gait and the way they fly, they are related to Magpies.

Portugal, like the area of Northern Spain we passed through, is littered with abandoned “projects”. All stopped when the Euro crisis started and the cash dried up. Motorways or dual carriageways which just end, in a mass of abandoned road works,  half built viaducts, the supporting legs sticking up like teeth, but, only half of the “deck” for the road in place, office and house building projects abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Just outside the campsite entrance, is this little gem.

Major work has been started on the main road into town, but, now all work has stopped.

I think they are going to have to do something about this zebra crossing, I doubt it complies with EU disability access legislation!

Just along the coast, about five miles cycle, mostly along a very nice promenade, but, predictably, not all finished! We find a place called Vilamoura.

There are certainly no signs of shortage of cash here. A very smart marina, packed with equally smart boats, restaurants and bars all around.

I suspect we will be back here on Saturday, for a meal.

Visit a Vodaphone shop, with the intention of buying a PAYG SIM card to use in an unlocked 3G Dongle to access the internet, but, in order to top it up, you have to have a Portuguese bank account, bizarre. The local carrier TMN, is more accommodating and at least does a top up on the spot in the shop, plus have a top up via telephone. We will give it a shot and see how it works, 20Euro, as an experiment.

Well, it works fine, not sure if I understand the limits correctly, since, predictably, all the information is in Portugese, I think it is 1 hour per day, unlimited downloads, for 10 days, expiry in 90 days, costs 10Euro.