Beech's 1st moho adventure

[Helen Ariel]

A grey start to today so we went for a longer MTB ride this morning.

Suns out now just as we’re leaving FigFoz for Tomar. We just need to get topped up with gas & diesel first, then it’s off to do battle with the Knights Templar!

 

[bigtree]

A grey start to today so we went for a longer MTB ride this morning.

View attachment 433051

Suns out now just as we’re leaving FigFoz for Tomar. We just need to get topped up with gas & diesel first, then it’s off to do battle with the Knights Templar!

There’s a great aire right on the estuary at Foz do Arelho.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We had a nice quiet night on Tomar aire last night which is an ex municipal campsite and free!

When we pulled up we were suprised that several vans round us were all Brits as we've hardly seen any this trip. Had a good chat and they are mostly full timers.

Bright and Breezy today with a wonderful light. Perfect for viewing the castle and old town of Tomar.

Another stunning bit of history virtually to ourselves!

 

[Helen Ariel]

We left Tomar yesterday morning, did a supermarket shop and then drove across rural Portugal into a beautiful national park to see some caves.

I've always enjoyed caves since my childhood and visiting Wookey Hole.

Grutas de Alvados caves were very different from those caves!

Absolutely stunning and a guided tour of the caves was a bargainous 6e.

The pictures don't really do justice to the scale, depth or detail of the formations.

Some areas of the caves were incredibly high with a pinprick of light coming in from above and in places you could lean over a low wall and look down into the far, murky depths below where lay the bones of some unfortunate animals that had fallen to their death.

We then drove to Nazaré a place we've seen many times in surfing videos and famous for having the biggest waves on earth up to 30 metres!

Whilst a beautiful location sadly it's clearly on a tick list for many as it was busy, very touristy in a tacky way with a lot of looky looky men and there was nowhere nice to park up so we just had a very brief stop and weren't missing much as there were no waves anyway. Perhaps we'll come back later in the year if there are some pumping waves on.

So onwards to Foz do Arelho, a picturesque spot recommended by a few funsters. A lovely bay with lots of people fishing off the harbour in the evening sun. Home cooked dinner and a quiet night in with the tele.

 

[KiwiKampers]

Fantastic photos...again. Please enlighten me - what are “looky looky men“?

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[Helen Ariel]

Fantastic photos...again. Please enlighten me - what are “looky looky men“?

The guys walking about with necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses etc for sale they might approach you saying 'you looky' Nothing against them personally and they are just trying to scrape a living but they are indicative of a more touristy, busy area that we're not so keen on if there are quieter more traditional places on offer.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Ok we're staying for the weekend! We've made friends and have a date for Sunday lunch at a restaurant. They are also called Paul and Helen!! She is originally from near where we live in Sussex and I have done work in her mum's garden many years ago. They are over wintering here in a villa.

We bumped into them at a beach bar after we'd done a lovely sunny 12k hike.

The morning mist cleared by 10ish to reveal a beautiful sheltered lagoon.

We hiked inland and uphill for great views from the cliffs and across to Peniche. Then dropped back down to the beach where there were a few surfers out.

Sat by the van reading till the sun dropped off about 6.30. Beech was too tired to notice all the dogs walking by for once.

 

[Just smiffy]

It’s a small world...

 

[Helen Ariel]

Well we loved Foz do Arelho so thanks to those who recommended it. We seem to get on with places with a Foz in the name and so i looked up what it means and it translates to mouth which makes sense as both places are situated at the mouth of the river where it meets the sea.

We stayed 4 nights in total and got to practice our French again with our French neighbours who were in a very posh Niesmann and Bischoff bus and were away off fishing everyday and mainly seemed to be catching squid. He had quite an interesting tow system set up with his scooter!

It's certainly a popular fishing spot with people beach fishing, lots of small boats in the lagoon and we watched several divers snorkeling for clams by the edge of the lagoon.

I was also really excited to wake up one morning to see another fishing activity going on right across from the van, a huge flock of flamingos! You'll have to engage the imagination with this photo as the camera phone doesn't live up to what i saw through the binoculars.

We headed out for a surf after seeing this beautiful sight and DH had a good one but it was not great for a beginner like me and I managed to get dumped on the sand on the edge of my board hurting my leg and hand which later swelled up and 2 fingers wouldn't bend properly so the following day was a relaxing beach walk for me whilst DH had another surf.

Beech does get rather upset at Dad human disappearing into the ocean but was distracted fairly quickly with a swim in the lagoon which is nice and calm for a pensioner aged labrador.

After we had all spruced up we headed over to Cocos restaurant for our Sunday lunch date with our name twins. It was really lovely to have a recommendation from someone who knows the area well and we had the best table on the edge of the terrace over looking the beach. The food was really good, modern pub grub not dissimilar to what we would get from our favourite places to eat back home but with a few more local ingredients such as pulpo and the company and conversation was excellent. Whilst we have embraced the isolation of motorhome life for the past 7 months we realised that it's a real boost to our mental health to be able to spend a bit of time with some fresh company occasionally and thankfully the kind Portuguese weather allowed this in a safe way. Hopefully we shall meet Helen and Paul 2 again in their uk home City of Edinburgh if we get to do our delayed uk tour next Spring but who knows at this stage.

Heavy rain was forecast for the following 3 days so a good time to pack up and travel further South. Yesterday we stopped by at another world famous surf spot, Peniche and had a look at the almost deserted beaches in the pouring rain. DH was particularly keen to see one of the most famous waves in the world called ‘Supertubos’, but the conditions were very messy. If you look closely you can see a couple of kite surfers on the beach for scale. The waves were big but are forecast to get bigger this week!

We then popped into a few surf shops for a rare bit of retail therapy and both found a really nice new T shirt each and I got some rather expensive neoprene socks to wear inside my fins to prevent chaffing. My hand is almost back to normal so hopefully we will find a nice beginners surf spot soon as I'm itching to feel the buzz of riding on a wave again. It really is like nothing else!

We used park4nite to find a stunning cliff top spot for the night just north of Ericeira and sat watching the huge waves crash in whilst being lashed with rain all evening. It turns out we’re parked above one of the most famous big wave surf spots in Portugal, above a beach called São Lourenço.
A comforting chicken casserole and 1st Dates on the Tv and it could have been an October evening back home

 

[Helen Ariel]

I’ve been meaning to post some pics of various cars, bikes & boats we’ve seen lately in Portugal as theres been interest in previous posts of some of the lovely vehicles we’ve seen.

Firstly an absolutely stunning very early Toyota Landcruiser

A lovely BMW R80GS that must have been resprayed. These boxer twins are getting pretty desirable now especially amongst custom makers, but I’ve never seen the attraction myself.

On a different keel (I’ll get my coat), this knackered old speedboat rotting at the bottom of someone’s garden. I’ll bet it was fun back in the day!

Such a shame to see it in such a poor state, let alone the Peugeot 205 behind it!

And finally something very new! As we were walking around the lagoon at Foz do Arelho we saw a film crew packing up, then we spotted a large SUV style car wrapped in a silver cover. I spotted the BMW wheels and quickly realised that it must be a new model and that they were filming an advert. Snapped a couple of pics and immediately security were over wanting me to delete them. Not a chance! I reckon it was the new X5 hybrid as it drove slowly past us not long afterwards not making a sound.

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[Helen Ariel]

So, a return to Sintra after we visited a few years ago on a day trip. What a fabulous place apart from the torrential rain rain shower we were caught in, and having to do a u-turn and drive back up a one way street as our sat-nav took us down a very narrow street that kept getting tighter! Luckily we didn’t encounter any cars coming down...

Fabulous artwork and views along the road up to our main destination;

All of this amazing artwork was on the street as we walked up to our destination.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We were aiming for the Quinta da Regaleira which some good friends had recommended to us with such hyperbole that we were worried it would not live up to expectations! It did. A fabulous place that you needed at least 3 hours to explore the gardens, let alone the house.

Just a heads up that these pics do not do this place justice!

Inside was equally as spectacular!

We can not recommend this place highly enough!

 

[Oscar]

Loving this thread - thanks for taking the time to share!

 

[Helen Ariel]

So back to the coast. After the tight streets of Sintra it was a relief for DH who was driving. We stopped off at a very quiet lagoon, Praia da Lagoa de Albufeira, leading out to a huge, long wild beach and stayed 2 quiet nights in the carpark. A long walk in the sun watching the enormous waves crashing down. Some were at least 8 ft but with immense power behind them.
We swam in the calm and warmer water of the lagoon and chilled with books in the afternoon.

There were clear signs warning of the coastal erosion that is happening all along the beach.

We had an earlier start than normal yesterday as I had my heart set on visiting a particularly stunning beach I'd found on Google, Galapinhos Beach which is sheltered with crystal clear water and tricky to access and not much parking so I wanted to get down there before any potential crowds of people. I needn't have worried we got parked less than a mile away and walked along the stunning coastline, looking down into the aquamarine waters and arrived by 11am to a deserted paradise.

A bit of sun bathing, reading and swimming (water is fresh now so just a dip really) and a couple of other families had arrived and we thought we'd have a light lunch in the little beach bar.

The menu was a qr code to scan and had pictures next to each item which we though was helpful as it wasn't in English. We weren't wanting to shell out for the expensive fish dishes priced at 40e per kg so picked the reasonably priced soup, pate, bread, butter and a sardines to share which would have been around 25e for us both with a drink but they didn't have the soup or the sardines, no mackeral either which was also fairly priced. The waiter offered sea Bream as an alternative. 40e no thanks! We explained we only really wanted a quick, lighter (cheaper) lunch and ended up with sharing an octopus salad for 7.50e.

So the food arrives and the bread basket pictured on the menu as a whole, small loaf for 2.50e was in fact 4 tiny slices of bread with more air holes than bread, a teaspoon of butter in one of those plastic pots you get with your b and b breakfast (pictured on the menu as a large hunk of butter on a plate with a butter knife sticking out of it!) the pate pictured as a meaty pate spread on toast was actually 2 tiny foil pots containing a tablespoon each of a tuna mousse that reminded me of the fish paste i had in sandwiches as a child, Octopus salad was ok but seemed kind of preserved a bit like fish sticks. Now I don't like to complain but we were properly shocked so much so that the waiter had left before I could actually process that this was our whole order. When he put down the tiny plate of plastic and foil containers I'd thought that was just the butter and he would be returning with plates of toast and pate! We realised this place obviously trades on it's stunning location and captive audience and since the Google reviews of the beach show it absolutely packed out in summer they must make a killing so can get away with it. We decided to eat it as we were hungry and just enjoy the view. We told the waiter when he cleared our plates that the pate was terrible and very small and he offered no recompense so sorry but they have a fair but poor review coming their way which I'm sure will make no difference to them.

So onwards round the coast we go through Setubal, apparently a great place to see dolphins but it was a huge built up place and we had no interest in stopping so kept driving till dinner time and another seaview flt carpark spot. Pasta dinner and a local bottle of red then a lovely zoom catch up with friends back home which was something we used to do every Friday night during lockdown.

We had a disturbed nights sleep with cars and music intermittently and I'm finding myself longing for the peace and comfort of a campsite. I know at some point we're going to get as far south as we can and hopefully find somewhere we like that has a campsite and we can stop for awhile. I would love to settle in somewhere and really get to know a place. The little things like doing your shopping in a different supermarket every time which you don't know your way around is becoming wearing and not knowing from one day to the next if you'll have a quiet nights sleep. Also number one girl seems a bit edgy with the constant relocations. I'm hoping if we can find somewhere to stay for a few weeks that we can have a bit more independence too as we'll know an area and be able to head off for a walk or ride whilst the other surfs or shops etc.

 

[Stonemags76]

That’s the thing with full timing, no matter how lovely the journey, it can be quite exhausting! We ended up stopping for three months on a lovely campsite in Costa Blanca. Made friends that I could actually have proper conversations with, explored the area & felt at home for a while! We set off again with renewed energy!

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[Four of us]

I'm loving your reports and pictures. We did a tour of the Atlantic coast several years ago and it's bringing back happy memories. I do understand what you mean about wanting to be a bit settled however. We have found that now, after 7 years of trips, that we often find ourselves heading back to a few favourite places. It changes the pace and is then more of a holiday than a travelling adventure. I hope you find somewhere that suits you soon. X

 

[Helen Ariel]

Nice to hear from those who have had similar feelings about travelling long term. Thanks for commenting. It's nice to know I'm not the only one as i hate to feel ungrateful for the amazing experiences we're having.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Beech and I had a lovely bit of beach time to ourselves yesterday at Costa Covo. She found a piece of an old float from some lobster pots which she wanted throwing and a piece of palm tree debris that she retrieved and then enjoyed ripping to shreds. She could be one year old when she's down the beach so i couldn't help taking loads of photos including when she managed to surf a few waves back in.

So apologies to the non doggie fans. This one's all about the Princess.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

She's got webbed feet

 

[Helen Ariel]

Well after the curry debate on Lenny HB 's thread I had a craving to see to and being on a site on hook up for the 1st time in ages I could plug in my mini blender so made a green Goan chicken curry with loads of ginger, garlic, coriander and coconut milk. It was delicious!

Exploring a new location tomorrow Villa Nova de Milfontes and the forecast is stunning for the next 10 days going from 18 tomorrow up to 22

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[Podney]

Well after the curry debate on Lenny HB 's thread I had a craving to see to and being on a site on hook up for the 1st time in ages I could plug in my mini blender so made a green Goan chicken curry with loads of ginger, garlic, coriander and coconut milk. It was delicious!
View attachment 436111
Exploring a new location tomorrow Villa Nova de Milfontes and the forecast is stunning for the next 10 days going from 18 tomorrow up to 22

Very very unfair! I’m not big on curry but even I can tell that is delicious!

Going to look up your next port of call.

 

[Helen Ariel]

So after a night in Camping Costa do Vizir in Porto Covo the ladies spent the next morning recharging their batteries after the beach session.

It even had a dog specific shower block!

A lovely campsite that had friendly staff and very clean & modern facilities for €21 per night inc hook up with the ACSI discount.
We had a leisurely start to the next day then headed back to Sines to top up the supplies at Lidl and to check the surf at the closest ’beginners’ beach. Unfortunately it was blowing onshore and was a bit messy so we decided to make tracks down to Vila Nova de Milfontes which is a slightly bigger town to the south.
We checked into Camping Milfontes for a couple of nights which was €16 per night inc hook up with the ACSI card. To be honest it’s a site that has seen better days but it was fine as we could still walk to the beach to check the surf. It had got a lot bigger and was still on shore so we went for an explore round the town.

We came across a beach where there were hundreds of stone stacks right at the edge of a treacherous reef.

The swell tried to swamp us a couple of times!

The waves in the background were easily 25 ft high, and even though the campsite was a mile inland we could hear them clearly!

Whereas the waters in the sheltered river mouth were lovely and calm, and we had a nice walk around to the castle.

It was also back to shorts & tshirt weather which was great!

This statue on the far side of the castle was commemorating 3 pilots who flew from Lisbon to Macau in the 1920s.

 

[Helen Ariel]

We’ve also come across more fantastic artwork on our travels.

Including on the inside of road tunnels! One in particular caught our eye!

 

[busby]

Well after the curry debate on Lenny HB 's thread I had a craving to see to and being on a site on hook up for the 1st time in ages I could plug in my mini blender so made a green Goan chicken curry with loads of ginger, garlic, coriander and coconut milk. It was delicious!
View attachment 436111
Exploring a new location tomorrow Villa Nova de Milfontes and the forecast is stunning for the next 10 days going from 18 tomorrow up to 22

Nice ice cream parlour there plus cheap drinks in the social club,,BUSBY.

 

[Helen Ariel]

Nice ice cream parlour there plus cheap drinks in the social club,,BUSBY.

70c for a beer in the football club social bar!

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[Helen Ariel]

So, before we headed down to Sagres because of this;

we had a fantastic lunch in Porto Covo to celebrate our anniversary, after a morning surf just south of Sines.
We’d already spied a lovely restaurant when we were out for a walk on Sunday and stopped off hoping it would be a lot better than the last 2 meals out that we’d eaten! We needn’t have worried as it was fabulous. The only issue was we ordered too much!

We shared a half portion of fried cuttlefish to start with. It was massive. Thank goodness we hadn’t gone for the full portion as originally planned, as we were both ravenous after the mornings surf!

I ordered the “meat & fish”, and this was what arrived! There are 4 large grilled prawns hidden under the lemon slices with several delicious chunks of black acorn fed pork. It had been done on a woodsmoke grill and was so succulent! Bowl of rice, portion of fries, black beans with chorizo, as well as the salad. One thing we’ve noticed is that the description on the menus here tend to undersell the dish! Possible food envy visible on MH’s face in the pic! That was until her food arrived.

A huge bowl of bean stew with chorizo, prawns and conch. It also came with a huge side of rice, and was also delicious. This meal more than made up for the last couple.

We’ve now arrived in Sagres as the weather & surf forecasts are both looking great. First impressions are good although the surf might be a bit too big tomorrow!

 

[Northernraider]

So, before we headed down to Sagres because of this;

View attachment 436830

we had a fantastic lunch in Porto Covo to celebrate our anniversary, after a morning surf just south of Sines.
We’d already spied a lovely restaurant when we were out for a walk on Sunday and stopped off hoping it would be a lot better than the last 2 meals out that we’d eaten! We needn’t have worried as it was fabulous. The only issue was we ordered too much!

View attachment 436835

We shared a half portion of fried cuttlefish to start with. It was massive. Thank goodness we hadn’t gone for the full portion as originally planned, as we were both ravenous after the mornings surf!

View attachment 436836

I ordered the “meat & fish”, and this was what arrived! There are 4 large grilled prawns hidden under the lemon slices with several delicious chunks of black acorn fed pork. It had been done on a woodsmoke grill and was so succulent! Bowl of rice, portion of fries, black beans with chorizo, as well as the salad. One thing we’ve noticed is that the description on the menus here tend to undersell the dish! Possible food envy visible on MH’s face in the pic! That was until her food arrived.

View attachment 436837

A huge bowl of bean stew with chorizo, prawns and conch. It also came with a huge side of rice, and was also delicious. This meal more than made up for the last couple.

We’ve now arrived in Sagres as the weather & surf forecasts are both looking great. First impressions are good although the surf might be a bit too big tomorrow!

Man that looks awesome...the downside to travelling alone ..i don't eat out often feel a plonker sat there on my ownsome

 

[Helen Ariel]

Man that looks awesome...the downside to travelling alone ..i don't eat out often ☹ feel a plonker sat there on my ownsome

After many years working on the road I’m not shy about having a meal for one!

You were invited to join us though!

 

[Lenny HB]

Well after the curry debate on Lenny HB 's thread I had a craving to see to and being on a site on hook up for the 1st time in ages I could plug in my mini blender so made a green Goan chicken curry with loads of ginger, garlic, coriander and coconut milk. It was delicious!
View attachment 436111
Exploring a new location tomorrow Villa Nova de Milfontes and the forecast is stunning for the next 10 days going from 18 tomorrow up to 22

You are making me druel, I can't risk a curry at the moment.

 

[Helen Ariel]

You are making me druel, I can't risk a curry at the moment.

We’ll have you round for a homemade curry when we get back. Glad you’re on the mend.

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