Late February 2009

February 23rd 2009

After the final entry in my last update I am writing this from a different part of Portugal , alas however, it is two weeks later, alas it not to be, that Hugo was
going to to be repaired as the parts like a lot of things in this part of the world maybe (amanha) tomorrow, by Wednesday the 10th , we had spent a week free camping in Jorge’s scrapyard, Briar and I were getting a little frustrated with not knowing when and where our escape was to be or not to be. So to break the monotony now that the weather had decided to act like it should on the Algarve (reputedly 300 sunshine days a year) we untied the bicyclettas of Hugo’s rack and kitted up and heade of for a bike ride into Moncarpacho to get a few supplies, use the local internet café (only one in town of course) and just to feel the wind on our faces again, now I know why dogs enjoy the wind on their face so much. We did our things in Moncarpacho and then we decided to head into Fuseta about another 7/8 kms downhill towards the coast. We pedalled around the harbour past the boat moorings and the campground and stopped on the promenade and had lunch. Garlic bread / Beer / Fruit sundaes and short black coffees, god knows what the café owners thought. We just made out we were poms.
We then headed back up past one of Antonio’s apartmento in Fuseta he had shown us earlier. We decided as we cycled past if the parts were not going to be here before the weekend we would rent the apartment for a few days. As it turned out when we got back to the scrapyard uphill all the way, took 20 minutos longer going back, the parts
were not all there. Confronted Antonio about the apartmento, he of course said no problemo, we can make more deneiro’s out of these inglese’s (affectionately called strangers by Antonio). We packed our bags the nite before and the following morning
by 10.00am we were in Antonio’s apartmento. He kindly dropped us and several boxes and bags off , opened the place up, turned on the gas and water. Oh no no agua!
,one of the other reasons we wanted to stay at the apartmento was we had about 2 weeks worth of washing to catch up on. The local ministry of works (not called that) but the same guys, ya no wot I mean, had cut the water supply to Fuseta for several hours, just our luck. Hey no problemo, we were now becoming seasoned campaigners at dealing with scenarios, there is always amnaha. We did get several loads of washing done over the preceding days with absoluletly superb Algarve weather dyring it out beautifully for us. The apartmento had good sized roof terrace with vistas right across the old town and of course the praia known as the Alantic sea.
As you guessed many a vino and tapas were devoured and swirled on that roof terrace,
It was great to get shorts on and feel Sol (sun) on ones white legs, especially in Briar’s case. We spent every late morning sitting in the local plaza having our café con leite con boha ( coffee and cake) and of course we tried a different cake/ pastry/ sweet every day . They don’t use a lot of cream or icing sugar in their cakes, seemed to be lotsa almond, coconut, egg custard (egg custard tart - which is a national favourite) and citrus flavouring ( mainly orange) , all very nice , no complaints. When in Fuseta do as the locals do. It was a quaint little town with its locals and roof terraces full of washing and endearing smell of barbequed fish and dog shit every where on the footpaths and roads. Nobody picks it up, so its left to dry, add colour to the cobbled streets and permeate the street air. We did a train excursion to Lagos on the Saturday,
Took 1 ½ horas , but worth it you get a different look at the countryside than from the road/autovia’s. We had lunch in the old part of Lagos, a lot of the old towns are built within fortress walls , which gives them their uniqueness and you don’t get much traffic in these streets, to narrow or the people living in these parts can’t afford a car, hey everything nearly, is close at hand , ya don’t need one.
Wandered down the promenade to the marina past bus loads of Spanish tourists on tour. Had a beer in a pommie pub called the South bar and watched the first half of the France-Scotland six nations rugby game while we waited to catch our train home again. Both had a wee nap on the train on the way home, its wot people our age do in it, yeah right.
We treated ourselves as it was Valentines day and had dinner at Josy’s pizzeria again, mainly cos we wanted to try Josy’s garlic bread again. Definitely will be bringin that recipe home, sensational – will be in MC’s Europe recipe book. We both went for the lasagne traditional and seafood. Yum yum. Of course we were well looked after by both Josy and Suzy, it was a very busy nite for them with a full restaurant, great to see.
We had another very relaxing Sunday , prepared ourselves for maybe an exit tomorrow , Hugo maybe remedio Ci ! Not to be again but yes will be ready by amanha tarde , tomorrow afternoon . So another day chilling. Café con leite and another boha – oh bugger. Yeah right. Antonio arrived on Tuesday arvo , picked us up we headed out to Moncarpacho for the last time yaayyyy!!
After the departing of mucho deneiro , mucho obrigardo, mucho buon and mucho caio. We fired Hugo and headed to Fuseta . well we both beamed like Cheshire cats all the way to the apartmento, we could do one last load of washing, one last nice shower, pack the bags , one last meal on the roof terrace, hunker down for the nite for an early assault on the autovia amanha. We both thoroughly enjoyed staying in Fuzeta as one of the locals almost, and it gave us a very good insight into local ways of the Portuguese, something we would not have experienced had we had been on the road . We are for ever grateful to the hospitality of the Marcello familia and will never forget them. My views on the Algarve – it is becoming rather like the Gold coast, a lot of development with foreign influence and money, which is a shame for the locals who have lost the old Algarve – it’s the new world order – everywhere in the world almost.

February 18th 2009

Captains log – The day is an Algarve stunner, but of course we are hitting the trail and it is also Ames birthday ( Biente -seis hoje dia / 26 today) . A quick birthday text to Ames , drop the keys of at Josy’s pizziera and we were on our way.
We wasted no time and hit the autovia fast tracking our way to Sagres ( Hugo was right as rain and flyin down the autovia’s at 70-75 mph.
Sagres is the most western point of Portugal and Europe and it was such a stunning day we had to stop and go wandering around the cape, fortress and do the tourist thing, lotsa snaps, the usual café con leite but with a sammie this time ( fiambre con Quejo - ham & cheese sandwich for you intellectual kiwis) while marvelling at the Atlantic ocean in all its glory. We were just so amped to be looking at something different I really think. The Sagres fortress carpark was full of campervanners – freecamping With freewheeling spirit we hit the road , stopped at a Lidl supermercado we spied on the way into Sagres to stock up. Headed north towards Lisboa, along the coast road. We stopped at a quaint little seaside town called Vila De La Milfontes where a river meets the sea. Stayed at a nice campground, did the usual dump the greywater , chemical toilet drop and refill, and refill the water tank, all the things ya do when you’re campervanners. Settled in had some chena and headed out for a nite walk to check out the local town and harbour. We wandered around the streets, along the estuary past the campervanners freecamping spot, with a nice spot overlooking the harbour of course, amazing where these people will park to avoid paying $12-15 euros for a night. Better not speak to loud we’ve done it and no doubt we will do it to again. (But we are amazed that predominantly free campers have really flash vans..like 2 years old with telly etc!!) Walked past the old fortress and through the older part of town, the local soccer team were practising, stopped and had a gawk for a bit. After an hour or so we had walked off our dinner back to Hugo for the night. Up around 8.30-9.00am to another sunny clear sky day , can’t be to early – looks bad, Hugo and we were on the Autovia Lisboa bound.
We detoured through a pretty seaside town called Sines , where they were setting up for a Carnivale, circus / sideshows and all the carfuffle that goes with it. Had a great little harbour with lotsa fishing boats, even watched a few come with the days catch. Along our route to Lisboa passed through some forested areas with young senorita’s done up to the nine’s, selling their wares, talents ahem… themselves I should say, right out in the sticks , no one around , obviously their market aimed at the many truckies passing by. I’m sure one or two would get knocked up if not knocked off each year. We stopped in Setabul right down at the waterfront, there were lotsa fisherman fishing of the wharf for lunch. Found a park in amongst the lunchtime traffic an all, well done Briar .
Setabul is about 20km’s south of Lisboa, and is another important seaside port. Unfortunately there was a real fog,come haze across the harbour – yes it was midday. So the view out was somewhat limited and when it was time to leave the fog had lifted nearly, the bloody universe is testing us again. (Or was it part of the pirate-like challenges in the doldrums?)
Lunch over on the trail, we are certainly getting much better at getting out of towns/cities between the tomtom, us and instinct into Lisboa we charged across the main watermelony come pink bridge into Lisboa, passing the Rio Christ statue ( stat u bro ) massive – you can see it from miles away, didn’t seem to bother the customary seagulls or pigeons shittin on his head and outstretched arms, you see a lot of birds shittin on important statues ( stat u bros) over here, they certainly didn’t think about that when they were making them however many years ago. Did abit over a tiki tour out to Caircais a seaside suburb of Lisboa, to check out a Parque de Campismo. Briar thought too far out, was nice and quiet but…. We headed back into Lisboa centro , found a huge Parque de Campismo about 7/8 km’s from Lisboa centro cuidad and booked in for the night. Off course it was parked next to the A10 autovia so it was rather noisy, Briar says just think of it as sea noise, yeah right. Once we were hooked up to electricity , stays down , mat out… Briar spotted a massive Ikea store near the campismo.
There was also a shopping centre there as well, so decided to stroll over and have a peak. Bought a few groceries from the local hipermercado – our first Continente hypermarket. Back to Hugo for some dinner bunkered down for the nite with a DVD and of into lala land. Woke to another great sunny day around 18 degrees. Up around 8.00am early start today- on a mission. After breakfast caught the 714 auto comboios(bus) into centro Lisboa. Stopped at a praca (plaza) spotted a fountain to get a snappie , one of our tasks had to complete from Briar’s teachers back at Arataki school. Then down into the metro subway and caught the train to Sao Sebastion. We were off to the Guilkenheim museo ( a private collection of all sorts of art and artefacts accumulated over 40 years by an Armenian anthropologist who donated it to Lisboa city. Had ancient Roman, Grecian, Eygytian, Macedonian artefacts – thru to paintings by Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt. Gainsborough etc. A very eclectic collector who had a taste for all sorts. After perusing that museo we had a quick bite to eat in the museo gardens and then went to the Museo of Modern Art, which by comparison was a disappointment, don’t quite know what people see in some modern art, if this type of art is what we will be remembered by in 4040 we are a sad lot. There is no comparison to what was done over the previous 7/8 centuries and more... ( 3 modern painters even had the audacity to paint the canvas white…funnily enough they were all untitled works...huh??) It took us 15-20 minutes to view the modern art compared to the 2 ½ hours at the Guilkenheim museo. Wandered down through the Parque Eduardo 7th to the bottom and hit the metro again down to the river front. We then hiked up to the Castelo De Sao Jorge on top a hill, has expansive views over the river and most of Lisboa. Most of either the churches or Castelo’s Iv’ve seen have been on hills overlooking their realms I guess. This one was no different , had spectacular vista’s , shame their was such a hazy day , photograph wise. Never mind
we did it and with out catching the tram up. Sauntered through some city lanes back down again and found a cervecia in the Rossio praca , stopped and had a vino tinto off course to catch our breath and people watch. About an hour later we went looking for a authentic Portuguese restaurant for dinner. Found one down a street lined with restaurants and waiters/owners out on the cobbled pedestrian lanes plying/bartering passing diners and each other for trade . We finally went for one who had a nice little Nepalese man trying to give us the you no wot, Briar fell for it. So after grilled swordfish and insalata Portuguese style and of course the rudimentary bottlier of vino it was time to catch the 714 home to Hugo. By the way the Nepalese man was right, the food was very good or as the Portuguese say mois bon..molti bon. And we tried our first Portugean white wine…over priced as it was – all good.
Awoke the next morning to another beautiful day and around 11.00am we once again hit the trail, ya just can’t rush things in this part of the world. We headed for Sintra, supposedly the place where the aristocrats in other words anyone with shit loads of deneiro from the Lisboa went for their summer holidays , it’s a hilly region about 30/35 km’s east of Lisboa towards the Atlantic. A very pretty spot and rather touristy ta boot, it was well worth the visit as we both tasted our first traditional custard tart, well I wouldn’t rave about it , it was in MC’s terminology average, won’t rush out for another in a hurry. Still be there done that. Took the obligatory snappies , back into Hugo and hit the trail again.
Stopped for lunch just before a town called Ericeira, even got the camp chairs out to marvel at the view while we ate our filled rolls and you guessed it another custard tart, Briar took a fancy to them. We were perched on a cliiftop about a 100metres above the sea crashing below us, see the attached photo, still Briar wanted to eat her filled roll with a view and of course I obliged ( whew lucky for me I came across that place). After lunch we got onto the autovia to do some much needed quick kilometres, up to yet another seaside town called Nazare. There were people everywhere enjoying the beach and the carnivale which was on over this particular weekend that we arrived. The Portuguese nino’s dress up in fancy dress and just parade up and down the streets , they have bands playing lotsa street food stalls etc.etc . We found a park next to a row of campers near the centro of Nazare and headed down to the esplanade to the beat of the band. Lotsa people of all ages strolling up and down the esplanade , plenty of young kids dressed up in fancy dress costumes of all descriptions. A real carnivale atmosphere, everybody enjoying the sun and themselves. We spotted the Ascendor when we got to the end of the esplanade, being the ever inquisitive sorts we had ta have a look. Glad we did jump on 1.80 euro up and down – no problemo senhor. Headed up to the top , got out wandered around a corner and spectacular views of the town, beach, marina of Nazare and several other coves/beaches south of Nazare, magnifico. The usual old town stuff lotsa touristy shops and nut stalls, the obligatory Santa Maria church, Took some pics with the sun settin down in the west. Back down the Ascendor ( cable car for the kiwis) , on the hunt for a Talho (butcher) and Fruiteiria ( fruit/veggie shop) some neccessito ingrediente for dinner.
When we got back to Hugo there were a helluva lot more campers than when we went for our walk. 6 when we left 24 when we got back
All freecampers like us, the irony is there are two camping grounds about 3 km’s up the road. Before we went to bed we counted 28 in all. We were somewhere in the middle so we felt rather safe for our 1st freecamping night. After dinner we went for another walk along the esplanade , a bit quieter for sure stopped at a café which had 6 or so TV’s goin all with different programs on. Had a café con leite and watched the BBC channel, caught up on a little of the outside world. While freecamping costs nothing sometimes it means ya hav to put up with other hassles – like road noise and barking dogs in town. Still we did it saved a few deneiro’s didn’t hav too bad a night’s sleep , no shower. But Briar insisted on havin brekkie at the top where the ascendor went the previous day, so we had bacon & eggs with the sun rising and once again spectacular views of Nazare and the Atlantic. (Better than squashed between other campers says Briar…)
After the washing up back on to the autovia and Porto bound , we did a mix of motorway and some dodgy N roads , with a more potholes and bumps than stars in the milky way. We got to Espinho found a supermercado to replenish supplies and headed out to the praia (beach for the kiwis)
Lotsa people again enjoying Sunday arvo at the beach, no surfies, but Briar got her vista with lunch again, damn I’m good (might even get lucky soon- yeah right). After lunch we joined the bumper to bumper traffic trying to get to our next stop Orbitur camping near the praia of course, still parked up, each of us showered did a load of washing to hang out the next day while we were in Porto. Had a few tapas, Vino a very good dinner, some writing and off ta catch some zzzzz’ss. We both slept rather well, I think also because the camp was quiet both with campers and the position away from roads, train lines and f…en dogs. Another shower, breakfast and caught the 906 auto comboios into Porto Trinadade estacio (central station). We are becoming experts at catching buses I’ll tell ya. This bus trip was certainly more interesting than most, Porto is a very old town and the cobbled streets have been there for centuries and of course were only designed for donkey carts and buggies, not modern buses flyin past each way. In some narrow winding hilly streets our bus had to back up to allow other buses and cars to pass, because of lack of room, I wouldn’t even drive the campervan through some of them, so full credit to the bus drivers. They don’t slow down either …ya either get out of the way or get run over, no discussion. We got off at Trinadade estacio in town and headed for the tourist info centre.
This place is well worth the time to visit. Tight hilly narrow streets with architecture and tiled houses with washing crammed against one another. We were constantly looking up at amazing sights and too many for a camera to capture. We walked our way down from the top after our obligatory climb to the top of the Clergymens Tower where the city was laid out for us to view…the five bridges crossing the Douro River..and all of the other old buildings interspersed with fantastic architecture. Not pretty to photogragh as it is so higglety pigglety but great to see all in one viewing. Down down down to the river through steep cobbled streets we wandered, clinging in door ways as trucks, vans and cars used the old cobbled ways… no chance of road rage here- you’d go gray tooting!
The river was a sight to see with tiled houses, cafes, trad Port boats and tour boats, and traditional cervacerias where the old men gather to play dominoes – money on the table- all mixed into one…and the washing of course hanging from all kinds of windows. Briar wanted the river tour but time meant river or port tour and the port tour won out. We crossed the old bridge to where all the Port houses are on the Gaia and found the Calem one near our bus route and offering what we wanted…NOW we know to drink a vintage in one sitting and not leave it for months!! Full of Port knowledge and a few tipples..not so keen on white port..we caught the 906 bus ready for the trip back.
Well…what can we say…every driver is different…and this one had a plane to catch!! Old people – there are heaps in Portugal and buses must be free cos they fill them!! And wo be tide if you don’t stand and give them a seat but there aren’t enough seats for them all anyways. The driver takes off before the doors close and screams around every bend over every cobbled surface and pothole in a gut-renching swerving journey, up and down, round tight corners beeping, screeching to a halt to fit more oldies in... yet hilarious as passengers fall into one another as it is the norm. WE could hardly keep straight faces and will remember this for quite a while.
Time to leave Portugal, we did see cows and sheep and even Friesian cows, and smelt silage, but nothing like NZ as far as heard and flock numbers. Our next stop will be back in Esphana, around the Galician coast and islands, probably at a nice campground right on the beach in a seaside town of Baiona. Will stop there for a few days just ta chill. See ya at the next update.

Early February Update

Havent worked out how to get some assemblance of the photos as yet, but at least they are on the site

Photo 1 : Antonio and Briar - Domengo Comida - Santa Catarina (The Algarve)

Photo 2 : Antonio, Jozy, Suzy, Alfonso, Antonio, Brira & MC - Sabodo comida - Jozy´s Pizziera

Photo 3 : Barbacao Dourado fish for comida

Photo 4 : The bridge border crossing into Portugal

Photo 5: MC & three musical hombres on pedestrian bridge in Tavira (Portugal)

Photo 6: Windsurfing - Isla Christina (Costa Del Cruz - Espana)

Photo 7: Old hombres and the daily debate - plamed promenade - Isla Christina

Early February 09 Update

Well we were heading to Portugal February 1^st, but mother nature disagreed and turned on nasty nasty weather, the worst they have seen on the Costa Del Cruz in 15 years, so we had to stay put in Isla Christina a bit longer. We did leave the following day and the sun was shining and headed across the border, ya wouldn,t know it really.

We took some pictures of a bridge which we depicted as the border. There was a officina building with Portuguese policia vechiles or as they are called here Carro’s near the bridge, but no sign of anybody or booths,checkpoints . So far we have crossed three borders without having to even think abount getting our passports out.

February 2^nd 09

We stopped in a small fishing village called Tavira, a little touristy, but hey this out of season and it is the infamous Algarve coast. Supposedly 300 days of sunshine per year and so far we have struck four days of the wettest, not quite that bad, the sun has shone periodically, with lotsa cloud. It seems to rain mostly during the night. Well after doing the tourist thing in Tavira – coffee con leite in the plaza, briar had some Apple (romana) – slice, bueno ci. Listened to te three amigos playin “What a Wonderful World” on one of the pedestrian bridges spanning the Tavira Rio (river) bought back memories of me old man (his favourite song) A few snappies and wandering the alleys and ruins we headed off again to Olhao to stop at a campground for the night. We did however make a comida (lunch) stop in Fuzeta a small coastal village, we pulled up at the harbour carpark which is right next to the local campground. There were several campervans freecamping in the carpark right next to the campground.

February 3^rd 09

The Olhao campground is a very well run campground, the biggest and probably best facilities so far. There were a lot of campervans here from all over Europe, mostly german and french, but a fair spattering of poms also. Had its own very well stocked supermercado(its own bakery) and restaurant/bar which was well patronised in the off season. Briar and I spent Wed 4^th nite watching some Uk super league, Asian golf and yachting replays of the Louis Vutton Pacific series match racing held of Auckland at the mo. It was great to see some live pictures of home, a bit jealous of the beaut weather it looked like everyone in good old NZ seems to be enjoying. It’s a very interesting perspective, when you watch TV programs of other countries like over here in Europe, it is painted at its best, and when ya get here and see it in the flesh, you appreciate what we have in good old NZ, we have a beautiful country and its not until you sit on the other side of the world and look at NZ on TV that you realise how lucky we are. We set up camp and decided to head off into Olhao centro about a 3-4 km walk and also to check out the local train station and train times, we were going to head into Faro the following day, do the touristy thing again.

After doing the sussing out of the local Olhao centro and the old township we headed down to the esplanade to walk back home. We watched a ferry come into dock from one of the islands, Farol I think. There are several small islands or with little fishing villages on them. If the weather had been better, we would have probably headed out to one of them for a few hours of wandering. On our walk home we wandered past the marina/harbour carpark and it was full of campervans freecamping right across the road from the local Policia station, hard case we both thought. It was well worth wandering through the campers as we ran into some poms, who gave us some advice on several solutions to some questions both Briar and I had , regarding campervans and othe queries , etc.etc. We found out where to fill our UK gas bottles which we thought we might have problems getting filled, we found a fellow campervanner with the identical camper as our Hugo, just a year or two older than Hugo but same model.

We have been having some issues regarding the electrics, especialy the leisure batteryset-up, so after some questions we found alittle bit more about our Hugo.

After a brisk walk back to camp, a full belly of food and you guessed it Vino tinto, we hit the hay. Next day , up early and caught he train into Faro, we ran into a couple of the pommy couples we chatted with in the carpark the preceeding arvo also heading into Faro for the day. We wandered through the older parts of Faro, the walled of Castillo/ Cathedral/ Palacio area and then through the narrow cobbled pedestrian alleys and upmarket shops. We stopped for a café con leite and a couple of pastries yum yum. We then did a wee bit more wandering before heading back to the train and back to Olhao, where we headed down to the Esplanade area in search of comida (lunch). We ended up at a buffet type restaurant, which was offering $5.00 euros per plato. The food looked and tasted traditionally portuguese and was excellent value for money. Baby whole snapper / Sardines/ Meatloaf and a pork dish which was delicious.

We waddled home between intermittent showers with one umbrella between us, but managed to get back to camp reasonably dry. We didn’t bother with chena as we were still full from comida, but did have a couple of basso’s of vino tinto. We headed across to the campground bar restaurant to watch some UK soccer, but there was other TV on, however we persevered and got our hands on the controls, so after some master chef, rugby league,golf and Louis Vutton yachting (Auckland NZ- yeahh) once again time for some zzzz’ss.

February 4^th 09

The following day was as crappy as the preceeding day , but alas we decided that we weren,t going to let that prevent us from getting on with it – famous last words as we were about to find out. Packed up camp and headed off to the LPG butano gaseo station in Quelfes. ( A tip from the Pommie freecampers in Olhao). It was bucketing down when we got to the station out in the back blocks which appeared to be run by an old lady, who spoke f..k all inglese. However she fulled our bottles and we headed off smiling that we might be able to put the gas heater on at last as now we should last until we hit France in early march. How things can change in a flash, we got about 5km’s down the road and a rather loud bang come clang from the motor in off course an outer the way unamed countrylane brought us to a very quick stop, after a quick look under the bonnet, it was decided that we weren’t going to be going anywhere in a hurry. A rather suspiciously lookin and rattling loose bolt near the cam belt, Hugo was not going to be started again today. After spending an hour tryin to get the mobile one-roam europe phone working, we decided to perhaps try one of the several casa’s for help. Came across some very helpful swiss couple who could speak inglese , who organised a mechanic to come and look at the camper.

Like Spain the portuguese also do not do things in a hurry and even more so if there’s any sign of rain. Briar made us some comida of canned Spanish version of Watties Baked beans and sausages, which was somewhat comfiting inour plight. Fortunately a local sympathetic pommie stopped to see our plight, he knew a little bit about motors and also knew off a local mechanic who had worked on several of his vechiles. So off we went in search off his portuguese mate Jorge and left Briar to hold the fort. Several hours later we were back with tow truck in tow (pun) and Hugo was transported to a rather interesting workshop come scrap yard. We were intending to do some freecamping in the forseeable future, it was now a case of having too. So locked in the scrap yard with about 5 or 6 guard dogs of various breed and size, we battened down the hatches and huddled in for the night. Yes of course it was raining again and we didn’t have electricity or leisure battery power for the igniting the gas heater or lighting. We had however brought a camping gas lantern several weeks ago just in case, this was one of those cases. Hey we had food,cooking faclities, a toilet, light several bottles of vino tinto, a pack of cards and each other. It was our first night playing several hands of crib by gas lantern light after Briar had made a very tasty pork stir fry. We were both pretty tired after the ordeal of the day and retired to bed around 10.30pm. The following morning was again crappy until the sun shone through about 10.30-11.00am. Portuguese Jorge appeared at the door , armed with tools to begin pulling Hugo’s motor apart and within ½ an hour gave us the not so good news, I guess we were expecting. The cam belt, sum of the casing’s a couple of bolts and some bearings need replacing. This would mean travelling to Faro to get the parts ordered, needed to repair Hugo’s motor. While Jorge headed into Faro his father Antonio who could speak a poco (little) inglese kindly offered to take us into town to stock up with some food supplies from the local supermercado. He also took us to a local café for you guessed it café con leite and a tosta (ham & cheese toasted)

which was made out of the local portuguese pan or bread which is bit like rewena bread . Delicioso. He then brought us back to the scrap yard, and also god bless him brought a spare TV for us to watch the local TV , which to our surprise had some english speaking programs on. We later heard from Jorge that the parts are not available until segundo feira ( Monday next week) today is Thursday, so it looks as though we are going to be here for a little while longer than we had hoped. Hey we now have electricity and heating, a TV, I can watch DVD’s ,we can work on our lappies if the weather is fine we can jump on our bikes and head into Fuzeta or Moncarapacho.

If anything this forced stop has allowed us to experience some fantastic Portuguese hospitality, Jorge’s father Antonio has warmed to having a couple of Kiwi’s staying

in his sons scrapyard/come garage workshop and has been our tour guide for the feen-de-semana(for the intelligent kiwis- the weekend). He is a spritely seisante-otcho (68 yrs old), and has minimum grey hair and lotsa colour in his cheeks for an old bugger.

On Friday 6^th (Waitangi day in good old NZ) so it was a bonus to be invited to join Antonio and two of his sons who work at the yard for a typical traditional portuguese comida(lunch) a la scrap yard style. Antonio took us into Moncarapacho the closest village once again to stock supplies for the weekend. He took us to the local mercado (fresh markets) which are in just about every village/town/city in Espana and Potrugal, and no doubt in many countries in Europe. He purchased dourada’s (peceonio- smaller ones) and fresh verdura’s for an insalata. Of course we purchased some carne (meat- pollo and porko) for the weekend. Then onto the supermercado to buy other neccessito bits and pieces( Vino tinto brings to mind). We then headed to Antonio’s local cardeira (bar/café) for café solo and a shot of Agregado Figuro( a rather potent fig liquer) - mann talk about rocket fuel. After adouble shot of Figuero we hit the trail home to prepare Waitangi day comida. Antonio laid out all the fresh dourada’s on a tray in the warm sun and coated the lot in generous amounts of special sal (salt). The pesca’s were left to bake for approx. uma to uma medio hora’s (1-1 1/2hrs), Antonio prepared the barbacao (barbeque) a la scrapyard style in an old wheelbarrow, he also made a insalata which we noticed also excessive amounts of sal spread over ( the insalata consisted of lettuce/tomato/onion and lots oil,vinegar and sal). He also had some of the traditional pan (rewena bread – as briar and I call it). Some local preserved acetuna’s (olives – grown out the back of the scrapyard which is about 2-3 hectares with Olive and orange trees) . The acetunas were marinated with carrot, lotsa garlic and aceite de olio (olive oil) – they were delicioso, we were even treated to some of the local fresh goats cheese (queljo). About an hour later the dourada’s were thrown whole on a wire grate over the wheelbarrow and took 15- 20 mins both sides to cook.

Antonio’s other son Volta had set up tables etc. of course we provided the wine glasses and some fruit kebabs (via briar) The day was warm and sunny , and the fish and inslata were as good as I have ever tasted. Like the spanish , portuguese people eat simple food with bare minimum of seasonning or flavouring, so you get the full taste of the fish or vegetables prepared. The dourada’s were eaten with the skin peeled back some olive oil and lemon juice squeezed over – na buon ( very good) as the portuguese say. It was great two different cultures/ familia’s celebrating an important day in Nuevo Zelanda history, not that our nuevo portuguese familia/amigos knew of course, but we did and that mattered to us. After several hours of eating / grazing / drinking we of course were invited to join Antonio to travel down to his local cardeira for a café solo and you guessed it a shot of Agregado figuero, duas café’s and duas shots of figuero later we were give a tour of the surrounding hills and countryside , where Antonio had lived, of course we stopped at another car for the café solo and figueiro shot. After showing us the vista of the Algarve coastline from the top of the mountain and some land he owns complete with his old casa de Ruino- now in ruins, made of stone and would be (40-45 years old) he dropped back at the scrap yard. The rest of the evening was spent horizontal watching the local TV, before we both crashed with no need for dinner.

February 7^th 09

The next morning we tested the camper’s boiler with our first showers (our first shower in three days) and relished both being clean and smelling normal again. Around 1pm Antonio knocked at the door, we had prearranged to go for comida at his daughter and son in-laws pizziera in Fuseta. So we jumped on his trusty mercedes and headed to Fuseta. We arrived at the pizziera, which had just opened in August of last year (2008) so it was relatively new and looked it both inside and out. And the local playa is perfect for it. The name of the restaurant of course was named JOSY’S pizzeria. We were introduced to Antonio’s daughter suzy (susannah) and their son Antonio’s 2^nd grandson- Alfonso. We ordered garlic bread and pizza’s of course for lunch and enjoyed some vino tinto de la casa, the garlic bread came out quickly and soon we munching on some of the best garlic bread I have tatsed. It was made from homemade pizza base with garlic, mozzarella, oregano, seasoning and then rolled up to from a parcel, it was sensational, as to were the pizza’s, better than anything I have had at home or in Australia. We had the Milano pizza’s( of the menu) – which were olives, anchovies, mozzarella, tomato paste and oregano, simple but delicious. Of course we over ordered and had to get some wrapped up to take home with us. Still we had great afternoon with Antonio’s familia once again , and Josy who could speak

a fair amount of inglese made the conversation flow even more easily. Again after several hours of grazing, eating and conversation we were given the royal tour of their casa and roof terrace and the vista’s(views) of course. We were also given a tour through the old part(town) of Fuseta and given a tour of one of Antonio’s casa’a in Fuseta, don’t know if it was a prelim, just in case Hugo’s motor problem was grander than we might have thought, and it would give us a more comfortable stay for a longer period while Hugo was being repaired. Antonio rents it out to tourismo’s as we are called in Portugal/Espana for about $20.00 euros per day. After a bit more driving around Fuseta once again he dropped us back at the scrapyard, around 5.30pm. Once again to full to eat dinner, anibble later on while we watched some TV and a DVD we hit the sack for some zzzzzzzzz’sss.

We awoke on Domengo (Sunday 8^th) to a beautiful morning, decided to clean out Hugo, do some so handwashing, top up Hugo’s tank with agua and dump the toilet waste out in the paddock and clean and refill the cheical toilet. No sooner had this been done than, Antonio knocks on the campervandoor, both Briar and I looked at each other, another day touring, what the hell, we are getting a first hand look at

Potruguese lifestyle with a very proud Potruguese patriot. So aonce again it was jump on Antonio’s mercedes and this time we headed into the country and Santa Catalina / Forte De Bispo – Antonio’s home town where he grew up , went to school , etc.etc.

We stopped at you guessed it (you guys/gals are getting good) a Cardeira (mate of Antonio’s for the customary café con figueiro shots, but we were fed Barbequed chorizo sausage on the rewena bread , some sliced jamon serrano, aceituna’s and vino tinto. It was an out of the way cardeira set on the side of a country lane, it had been built only a few years earlier. It was right across from a river – Rio Tavira as we found out. After some more wining,dining and contrived fallas portuguese-inglese banter we headed of into the main part of town, of course the streets and town were rather quiet being Domengo, just like home in NZ. We stopped at another Cardeira and were once again sat down and fed platos sliced chorizo, pan (rewena bread), aceituna’s and some local queljo (Cheese) it was a bit like brie semi-hard outer and soft inside, I think also made from goat. Several hours later we arrived home in the dark this time about 7pm. Once again a very light dinner a DVD and of ta bed hoping

Dreaming that Hugo’s problema was not grande and that the parts neede would arrive tommorrow and we could hit the trail again amybe Tries feira ( Tuesday).

Monday 9^th ( segunda feira- D Day for Hugo)

After we both had a restless nights sleep worrying over Hugo and whether we were going to be stuck for another couple of weeks in Moncarapacho, we dragged ourselves out of bed. We decided that if we showered it might put us in a more positive frame of mind, so showered breakfasted and even gave Hugo a mop out inside. Around 10pm Jorge and another chap, I think was a local auto-electrician opened the bonnet and peered in, looked at some of the parts of Hugo, chatted and

gave me a prognosis of what might possibly happen today. I’m hoping that I understood it right, that Hugo’s problemo could be fixed as soon as the parts arrived ( new cam belt, bolts, casing) and fingers crossed is not as major as first thought.

That was treis horas ( 3 hrs) ago ) so it has given me some time to write more of our adventures. We have both thoroughly enjoyed the generosity and hospitality of Antonio and his familia while being laid up here, but are now itching to carry on and explore new horizons , vistas and adventures elsewhere. Hopefully my next entry will be from a different town/ camping ground.