Friday 19th April 2013 - Monday 22nd April 2013

Quarteira, continued....

I mentioned in a previous post, the Brandy Croft, well Portugal, is the origin of Port wine. The local Lidl has quite a selection of different types. I have begun a quest to sample some (or all) of them, before we leave.

Kathleen, was in particularly expansive mood today, I am not sure what I have done to deserve it. I was even entrusted with her purse, to go to Lidl and buy a few groceries we needed, while she lay in the sun. I took advantage of her good humour and bought myself a bottle of White Port, out of her purse of course.

Not a murmur of discontent, something is amiss.

We have been somewhat plagued by a mosquito. At least, I think it is a mosquito, it may be several mosquitos, since they do not wear identifying name badges, it is difficult to say.

The mosquito emerges at night, and we have both collected several bites.

We have an “Insect killing light”, which we leave on at night, but, so far, this particular little blighter has evaded death by electrocution, and by being swotted.

Kathleen has now become obsessed with finding it, and dispatching it to Mosquito heaven. She is convinced it must have a hiding place in the van, where it can lie undisturbed, to emerge each night.

I suggested, the only place I could think of, where it could be fairly sure of being undisturbed, is her purse, so, maybe she should check there.

Kathleen was not amused.

I can report, the White Port, and the Tawny Port, from Lidl at 3.50Euro a bottle, are both very drinkable. My preference is the White port, which, as it’s name suggests, is very pale in colour and very easy to drink. At 19% alcohol, it may be best to exercise some control however.

Sunday, so, it is Church day, I am left to my own  devices, whilst Kathleen attends church.

I have already mentioned Insects, well, the ground here is very sandy, there are absolutely hundreds of ants scurrying about, dragging bits and pieces down into their nests.

Amazing little creatures!

We have a sea view, just!, from our van.

You have to peer through the trees, but, it is there.






kathleen has begun agonising about the fact that she may have put on weight. Not very likely, as all of those who know her, will confirm.

So, it is either eat and drink less, or exercise more, well, the eat and drink less does not appeal to me, so, it is more exercise.

We set off for a walk along the coast.

The route I had planned would have given us a five or six mile walk, most of which was through a wooded area by the beach, which would have given us some shade. Necessary in this heat, another 25C day today.

But, after only two miles, we end up in a beachside bar for a beer,

We do meet a couple of jolly old English men. They are here for a week, staying ot one of their son's villa.

I say "old", because they are older than we are, so, that makes them "old" and us, "not old".

After this feeble effort at exercise, we get the bikes out and do a six mile bike ride to the marina and back.

Monday 15th April 2013 - Thursday 18th April 2013

Quarteria (continued)...

We set off on foot to find the track which runs alongside the campsite.

Sure enough, we find the correct way to go. Yesterday, I had taken the correct turn off the main road, but, there is a fork in the track. I followed the tarmac road, which was wrong.

Today, with the benefit of Kathleen’s guidance, we followed the un-surfaced track, and sure enough, it brought us around the perimeter of the campsite and alongside the lagoon.

After about a mile, we come to a beach restaurant,

and a really extensive stretch of sandy (empty) beach.

Eventually we come to yet another beachside restaurant, right on the edge of Quarteira.

Outside of the Restaurant, there appears to be an unofficial campervan stop. There are no facilities here, other than rubbish bins, and there are clear signs saying “No Camping”, but these vans have been here for at least three days without being moved on.

For anyone reading this who is interested in potential wild camping stops, the coordinates are N37.061638 W8.087957 Quarteira, Portugal. 

While having a refreshing beer, a big fly landed in my drink! This is two days running this has happened. I fished it out, and finished my drink (same as yesterday). Come to think of it, it may have been the same free loading fly.

Kathleen is disgusted.

You may have noticed, I have not been complaining about the weather recently.

It has been magnificent! Sunny days, 24C, hardly a cloud in the sky.

Long may it continue.

The result of heat or course is some rather large insects.

On our daily stroll today, we encountered a Dung Beetle, it was rolling a piece of crap (ie shit) about 1" inch in diameter along the road, the beetle itself was about 1.5 inches long.

Now, if one of those landed in my drink, I don't think I would finish the drink!

Wednesday, there is a market in the village along the road (Forte Santa).

Kathleen has withdrawal symptoms, because she has not been to a market for about two weeks.

From my point of view, it is the perfect market, right in the middle is an area selling food and drink, so, I park myself at a table and help the Portuguese economy to recover by, watching the world go by, whilst drinking local beer.

Kathleen amuses herself shopping, she even buys me a pair of trainers (with my money of course)!

Restaurant Fantasia have a special offer on tonight, 9Euro per head for an all you can eat three course buffet. Kathleen is not one to stuff her face, but, me, that is a diffent story. Great night, even with wine and after meal drinks 32Euro. Not bad at all.

Weather continues hot and sunny, an almost empty swimming pool to cool off in, yes, we are still at Quarteira. 

Saturday 13th April 2013 - Sunday 14th April 2013

All around us are Brits (English, Irish, Welsh and Scots), we cannot just say “English” now, they are all so prickly about it. Just a couple of Dutch, Germans and French to add to the mix.

Yesterday, another British van arrived, from their accents, I think we can safely say English.

On the back of their van, they have slogans and jokes.

Their surname is Wylde, so, emblazoned across the top of the back of the van, they have the words “Wylde Thing”.  

Other slogans include:

“Don’t steal, the Government hates competition”.

“Adventure before Dementia”.

“Old Age Travellers”.

A cycle ride to the beach, then along the promenade in Quarteira, to Vilamoura Marina.

A nice five mile cycle to work up our appetite.

Lunch at the Vilamoura Marina, and very nice it is too.

To think, we only have seven more weeks to go, isn’t life so unfair?

It is Sunday, so, Church for Kathleen.

While Kathleen is away at church, I busy myself with a few small chores, then go out on my bicycle to try and find the route to the beach behind the campsite. We can see the small road, cars, people and cyclists going along it, but we cannot find where the track emerges onto the main road.

Armed with some directions from one of the “residents” here, I still fail to find it, but, I do find another track to a beach on the other side of the lagoon.

Better luck tomorrow, perhaps.

The mystery of the full purse.

I meet Kathleen from Church and we walk the length of the promenade to work up an appetite for lunch.

As we walk, we decide to have lunch at a restaurant (Fantasia Restaurant) which has been recommended to us by the Wylde Campers.

I check my wallet, not much cash left, I will need to go to a cash machine.

Now Kathleen and I, operate an “equality” system, Kathleen has her money, I have mine, and we share the costs.

Each time I have drawn money from the cash machine, Kathleen too, has drawn money.

I have spent all of mine, Kathleen still has a wad of Euros, in her purse.

How can that be?

I think the phrase “Kathleen has her money, I have mine, and we share the costs.” Should read “Kathleen has her money, and Kathleen has my money, and the costs come out of my money!”..

It is decided we will eat at Fantasia, and big wow, Kathleen will pay.

While we peruse the menu, I treat us to a couple of cocktails (Pinacolada and Tequila Sunrise) with my last 10Euro.

Mystery solved, I am just too generous.

I should point out, the move to cocktails is partly my brother John’s fault. John commented on Facebook (to a photograph of Kathleen), that it was the first time he had seen her without a glass of red wine in her hand. 

Kathleen felt the need to show, she is not addicted to Red Wine or Gin, she will in fact drink just about anything.

The mystery of the third empty beer bottle.

After lunch, we return to the van, have a cold beer and chill out, well, fall asleep to be more precise.

After a while, when we wake up, we have a tidy up of the empties.

Big mystery, there are three empty bottles, there are, you may have observed only two of us.

Now, the bottles of beer are only 50cents in Lidl, so, as far as I am concerned, it is not worth worrying about.

Kathleen however is not so easily fobbed off.

Have we had a burglar who helped himself to a beer while we were comatose?

While pondering this mystery, she decides to make a coffee to shake our senses into action.

Kathleen's cup is already dirty, mine is clean.

Mystery solved, after Church, Kathleen had a coffee (hence, the dirty cup), I had a beer (hence, the third bottle).

I have been caught out, Alzheimer’s is here.

 

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.