Sunshine and Showers

We spent Wednesday lunchtime at the surf beach at Baleal, near Peniche…decided we’re too old and nowhere near hip enough to hang out longer! We did enjoy a nice walk on the sandy beach – trying to decide if it counts as a tombolo. If you don’t know what a tombolo is then look up St Ninians Isle in Shetland, one of our favourite places.

 

Moved a couple of miles south of Peniche to spend the night at another Aire at Consolacao – in what feels like a ghost town . Not at all sure if it’s just because all the houses and apartments are summer holiday homes and that’s why they are all shuttered up….or if it’s an area that’s been abandoned due to the economic recession……or repossessed by the banks! It feels safe enough, as we’re with another three vans all of different nationalities. Tollers approved of all the beach walks, dreaming, twitching paws, upside down.

We then stuck to plan and drove northwards through Nazare, stopping off for a night at a campsite to catch up on domestic stuff and allow me to do some work via their wifi. Actually at that site the wifi was the best thing - the showers were a cold shock, the worst of any campsite I can remember, AND there was a thunderstorm which totally left Maddie a shivering bundle of fur.

Friday we spent a fruitless and probably expensive morning...following directions from one place to another by helpful locals...hoping to be able to purchase an adaptor fitting for our LPG gas tank on the van. There is plenty of LPG for sale at the petrol stations, but we need a different adaptor to be able to connect the fittings to our tank. Don't ask me why the fittings for LPG aren't "euro" standardised, but they aren't.

The result of our morning, no adaptor, and worse a probable fine on the way through the system for venturing onto the automated toll motorwaywithout displaying a prepaid identity sticker in the windscreen. We have been avoiding the toll motorways, and this morning we were following scribbled directions on a piece of paper...plus there was no warning until we were already on the motorway with no way to get off until the next exit. Only time will tell if (as it says in the guide book) they send a fine through to our vehicles registered address.

Friday evening spent by a river, up in the hills - completely different countryside, deep valleys, terraced hillsides....at an Aire that is part of a fledgling Portugese initiative similar to the "French Passion" scheme, where motorhomers can stop at all sorts of farms and cooperatives. Currently only 18 sites throughout Portugal, but I'm sure it will grow! This one near to Penacova village, just below the hamlet of Ribordosa, nearest big town Coimbra.

Frequent showers before it got dark, otherwise the camera would be out! It's clearly very pretty when the weather is nicer. Thankfully the weather forecast indicates that tomorrow (Saturday) the weather should be back to what we expect....warm and sunny!