Winter in the Sun with all walks of life!

November 2015
The weather in Portugal since the floods has been wonderful with blue skies and a pleasant 22 degrees for about four weeks now, the evenings are a bit nippy but who cares, we have the sun!

After 4 months now of living with Bessie we are realising what foods we should have stocked up on.
Baked beans! they are about €1.70 each here! Stock cubes and cereals are expensive and gravy granules are virtually non- existent here, apart from one supermarket we found which I think has been opened for all the expats living on the Algarve called Apolonia. It feels just like a Waitrose and most of the products are English brands but it all comes at a price!  A box of Walkers 6 mince pies cost €7.99 and a box of crackers €22.99!  I am thinking toilet rolls and wrapping paper as our crackers this year! I wish I had thought harder about what we needed at Christmas but we are hoping Morrisons in Gibraltar is going to come to our rescue!
Continente is our favourite supermarket in Portugal, the discount card gives you big savings on offers  it is just like a Tesco Clubcard but instead of points you receive the discount straight away. Mork and Mindy told us about the card, we wouldn't have known about it! Continent seems overall to be the best value for food and drink in our opinion. Lidl is a close second and sometimes cheaper, but you can't get everything you need.


Wifi and Satellite
The I-booster for the Motorhome has been worth its money and cheaper than splashing out for a satellite system. Of course you have to pay for Wifi on a site but since they stopped UK programs in Spain and Portugal through satellite it is now better to stream live t.v through your wifi on sites like Filmon.com. This will only work if you have a strong signal on your wifi, which is where the booster comes in and in our case a Motorhome I-Booster.

I have learnt a lot through a forum I joined before we left called www.motorhomefun.co.uk  any question you ask is always answered albeit with a joke at the end from someone but well worth the £10 a year membership to know there is always someone there to resolve any problem you may have.

We met Chris and Iris through the forum, I was typing away on the forum one day and Chris said they were thinking of staying at Turiscampo I sent him a reply back with all the info they needed and next thing we knew Chris was calling round to introduce himself and we arranged to meet when they were settled in. We had some great evenings at the camp bar, and for Chris's 50th we took them out for the day to Sagres. They too are on an Adventure of their own in their first motorhome. They are flying home for Christmas so we hope to meet up again when they return as we are both travelling the Spanish coast in the New Year. We really enjoyed their company.

The wine store at La Tasca, Sagres

La Tasca Restaurant Sagres.

We have also met up with our ex-pat friends, John and Sandra who are about to move out of their villa in Espartal. They know all the best places to go,  they took us to Espiche Golf Club which is hidden behind the village next to the site, you would never know this oasis exsited unless you were a local the scenery is stunning from the clubhouse and the food is really good! We had homemade fish and chips and Apple pie with ice-cream, a little taste of home and it was delicious! The golf club was recently voted 3rd best Clubhouse by a top golfing magazine and it is definitely worthy of its prize!

A table with a view!

After a lovely lunch we visited the Grottos in Lagos, you can hire a little boat to take you all around the little caves for €10 each.

We said goodbye for now to our lovely neighbours Val and Ray who are heading off to wild camp for a bit before meeting up with us again at Bellavista  Campsite where we are going to spend Christmas with them. A couple of cockneys that drink us under the table anyway! Christmas is going to be one to remember!

Another Merry Evening (Sky the dog didn't want his photo taken!)

                                             

We have been busy exploring the coast, finding lots of different beaches and this time of year the beaches are so quiet you can park almost anywhere, but there are always people around, we thought the tourist resorts would be like ghost towns and although by the end of November you are limited to  a choice of bars and restaurants there are still people mainly brits here escaping the UK for some winter sun.

We visited a resort on the south coast called Carvoeiro another nice resort popular with holidaymakers with plenty of bars, restaurants and shops, a pretty cove and a coastal walk with stunning views.

Carvoeiro Beach

Our favourite beach along this coastline is just outside Lagos called Praia Dona Ana.
There are 2 fantastic beach bars one called Antonio and the other called Campi Mar both with views out to sea and serve great food.

Praia Dona Ana

A winters day on the beach.

Neil wearing my glasses again!

Another small resort along the same coastline is called Amacao De Pera. We didn't like the area very much, it is full of high rise buildings, an Aire at the front which is ok but there is a large number of working fishing boats and everywhere stinks of fish, but the stray cats love it!

Cats waiting for their dinner!

Fishermans Huts along the seafront.

Sunset over Armacao De Pera


My Dad and his wife Valerie came to visit for a few days, it is always nice to see someone from home and this time of year you can find really good deals on hotels and apartments. We found a lovely 1- bed apartment for them on a complex called Estrela da luz in Praia da Luz. The spacious apartments are set in beautiful gardens with outdoor pools, indoor pools, jacuzzi and sauna and all €38 an night!

The apartment gardens

We took them to see our favourite spots on the Algarve, and to see Bessie and experience a little of what camp life is like here. The weather has been amazing with a steady 22 degrees and sunny all day. The evenings are a lot cooler and by 5pm you will need a jumper or cardy on but we can cope with that!

Enjoying our life!

Me and Dad on my favourite beach.

A couple of posers!

Lagos Harbour

My Dad always likes to visit a Marina whenever he gets a chance so we took him to Lagos Marina. He has a 38ft Yacht at home and is a qualified skipper occasionally I am deckhand back home! I said he should have sailed over to see us instead of flying!

 There is also a good Aire right next to this marina which seems to be popular with motorhomers visiting Lagos.

Treat Lunch at Espiche Golf Club


The time flew and they both wished they had booked longer but it was time for us to say goodbye,  it seems strange dropping people off at the airport and not going home ourselves but for us it has been so nice to see friends and family from home. It seems to give you a little boost and motivates you to carry on.

After 4 months of no haircuts for me I called on our friends Sandra and John to see if they could recommend a local hairdresser. Sandra uses an English speaking hairdresser in Lagos so I was quick to call her and make my first appointment! I was very pleased with the result although my hair has lightened a little too much in the sun. I have bought with me 9 months worth of the same colour hairdye so I will have to keep to the same colour until I return home. Think I will be white by the time I return!

Before we left Portugal I wanted to make a roast dinner in Bessies oven, our first roast dinner in 4 months! we kind of succeeded but I burnt the Yorkshires! Dad brought out some Bisto gravy granules so the gravy was good!

After 7 weeks in Portugal it is time to hand back the hire car and start to pack up Bessie and move on to our site in Spain. We have had a wonderful time here Turiscampo has been up till now our favourite site without a doubt, the staff, the cleanliness the facilities are going to be hard to beat. We plan to stop at Cadiz and Tarifa along the way before we arrive at Bellavista Camping just outside Estapona in Andalusia, Spain for Christmas and New Year.

The Adventure before Dementia continues......

Life on the Algarve with Bessie.

24th October 2015
Turiscampo, Praia Da Luz, Portugal

We settled into camp life at Turiscampo it is like living in a tiny close nit village where you get to know most of the neighbours, everyone says Hello, some like to chat, some just pass the time of day. This is something I miss at home, people just don't talk to each other nowadays, you can go years without knowing the people that live in the same street as you, here it is different and it is probably because we all have something in common...We have all taken the plunge and living abroad in a box on wheels and we all like a drink!

The weather has been mixed with rain and warm sunny days on the beach. Our dear friends, Sue and Steve came out to see us for a few days which was lovely! Our past holidays in Portugal were always spent with them so it was great they could join us again.

Sue and I got to spend some time together over a jug of Sangria reminising over past holidays here with all the kids and their friends, they even came to Portugal on our honeymoon along with other family and friends so this place holds lots of memories for us both!

Sue caught the sun!

Turiscampo Pool

Turiscampo grounds and waterfall

Neil finally gave in to the kind offer from Mork and Mindy to take us out in their little Renault Twingo and Neil has actually enjoyed himself, we didn't go up any mountains though! One morning we all decided to go to Continente, a Tesco Supertore equivalent where you can spend hours browsing as long as you have your purse strings tightly closed, apart from me!  They wanted to show us the lighthouse in Lagos first but we got lost and ended up driving through the tiny backstreets of the centre virtually getting wedged between walls  good job we were in a Twingo! but it was so funny passing shops and nearly being able to reach in and grab something off the shelf! Typical tourists taking a wrong turn! Eventually arriving at Continente, we had much needed coffees to calm our nerves the bill for 4 coffees and 4 pastel de natas (portuguese little pastries served warm with a custard filling) €7! Puts Costa Coffee to shame!

The following day, our neighbours had to leave to catch the Santander ferry home, we said goodbye to Mork, Mindy and Twingo  Brit row will be so quiet without them! 

We ventured a little further with the bikes the next day and biked to the next small resort to the West called Burgau. A tiny village with a very steep slope down to a pretty beach! We have now done 200 miles on the bikes and they are worth every penny!

After soaking up some sun, we headed back towards home but on the way Neil spotted a tasty menu!

We didn't stop!

Our new neighbours Charles and Michelle turned out to be in similar circumstances to us although they are now full timing in their new motorhome. Charles took early retirement and are also living a dream.  It turns out that Neil and Charley both worked in the same industry and knew the same people! We had a great evening with them before they moved on to Cadiz in the morning where they are setting up home for 3 months. We hope to stop at the same site for a few days for pre-xmas get together on the way to our site in Spain where we will be setting up home for 5 weeks over Xmas.

1st November

The first of the month brought a real pinch and a punch with a massive downpour, our site wasn't too badly flooded but Albufiera was hit hardest with flooding in the resort damaging lots of restaurants and shops. According to the local paper 139 mm of rain fell on the Algarve in 10 hours.

Bessies Soggy Pitch

The photos from the local paper of the flooding.

After a soggy few days we drowned our sorrows with our other neighbours Ray and Val from Tiptree Essex. We had another good evening with plenty of wine flowing but we had a complaint from a very grumpy french lady on the pitch behind asking us to be quiet she was trying to sleep! oops black mark against our pitch!

3rd November

Today we hired a car for the month costing €300 for 4 weeks hire. It was great to get out and about  and not worry about what size the roads or how narrow they are, we could just nip around and go where we wanted.  A dose of retail therapy was long overdue so with the rain still pouring we headed to Portimao indoor shopping centre and guess what i bought!?

 My first xmas decoration for Bessie!

Living in Bessie for the past 3 months we have realised what things we are missing, having the awning up is a godsend especially in the wet weather, it doubles your living space and means we can still sit outside. The evenings are still mild but we do need a little heater so we bought one from Continente, the largest supermarket here.  We also needed a better workspace and storage in the awning as Neil cooks a lot on his hotplate, so Amazon came to the rescue and delivered us a camp kitchen within five days of ordering from the UK plus £15 postage!

Our little home outside.

The following day the sun came out and we drove to Sagres and the most southern tip of the Algarve, Cabo Sao Da Vicente  and the scenery is stunning!

Cabo Dao Sa Vicente

Heart Cove

We stopped at the huge Fort just outside Sagres and right next to a nice Aire we will remember for future reference.  Neil was in his element pretending he was a soldier again!

There is a blow hole 40 metres in from the cliff edge which was a 500ft drop so you can imagine the sound as the air blew up!

I actually drove the car home much to Neils surprise. I asked him how did i do? and he said "I'm proud of you, we didn't hit anything but you need to do 50 instead of 70 approaching a roundabout!"

I thought i did well considering it was my first time driving abroad and being left handed and driving on the right is not the easiest of things!

6th November

We drove north along the west coast to a small village perched on the hilltop called Espartal to visit John and Sandra at their villa.

We met this lovely couple whilst having lunch one day at Turiscampo, they had p

opped in to have a buffet lunch. They have lived in Portugal for 7 years. We had never been to this part of the Alagarve before so we were really looking forward to seeing an ex-pat community away from the popular resorts on the south coast.

We were stunned when we walked through the door of this villa! John had bought a piece of land   7 years ago and had the house built to their own spec. The villa from the front looks quite modest and nothing out of the ordinary until you walk inside! They have a 180degree view of the mountains sea and beach, the villa is set on 3 levels with the lounge at the top, you may just be able to see the view through the door! We had a lovely lunch and took a walk around the area and to the beautiful unspoilt beaches around them. We had a wonderful day, thank you to you both.

John and Sandras garden and view from the back of the villa.

The sun has decided to return and we were quick to get back in the car and explore the beaches around Luz. We drove to a resort called Alvor between Lagos and Portimaio. The beach is huge and long with a pretty resort centre facing a harbour.

Alvor Beach. Heaven!

Alvor harbour front

Lunch on the harbour front 

Neils cheesy smile!

Neil has had toothache for the last few days and like me he is a chicken when it comes to dentists. I think he had had the pain for a while but he finally gave in to visiting a local dentist that John and Sandra had recommended to us. I think Neil had visions of going to a dentist here where they only have a pair of pliers and board to lie on! He couldn't have been more wrong the dentist had better equipment than at home! The X-ray they took came up on a screen right next to the chair so Neil could look in detail at his lovely mouth. It turns out he may have an infection but no signs of rotting teeth so with prescription in hand we were quickly at the chemist with no waiting! The antibiotics looked like horse tranquilizers but job done at a total of €20.

Salema, is another short drive from the campsite. A sleepy fishing village with a huge beach.

Neil decided to take the reclining chairs in the boot of the car to take to the beach!

For those of you thinking everyday can't be as good as this you are right. Some days we do get cabin fever and get on each others nerves or we are bumping into each other trying to pass through Bessie. We get in each others way if we are both trying to do the same things like get dressed, So it easier to take in turns while the other one does something else. The awning is our saviour and does mean we can shut a door on each other if we need to get our own space for a while. At home we both had our own car and were used to doing our own thing, me spending time with my friends lunches and drinks out shopping, doing the garden etc and Neil liked going off fishing for hours and generally pottering about.  It takes some getting used to being with each other 24 hours a day,  but so far it is all worth it.

Algarve Pottery!

11th November

The site is quieter now but the sun is still shining. We took a drive north to Aljezur and then back along the coastal road to a small village called Bordeira with another vast beach full of surf dudes and multicoloured makeshift campervans.    This is when you wish you were 20 again with not a care in the world just bumming around pleasing only themselves. You can see them all doing their food shopping in Lidl barefooted, one will be clutching onto the kitty money stored in a makeshift box, one with a sort of list they don't really follow and the trollies end up being full of bread, meat and beer..... Oh thats us but with flipflops on 30 years older clutching a real purse!

'Lifes good' as our friend Dave would say!

Sunsetting over Bordeira beach.

Some evenings have been spent with our neighbours Ray, Val and their lovely dog, Sky.

They are real londoners and could drink anyone under the table I have tried and failed. We've had some fun with these two, I tried to play Mr and Mrs the other night but Neil always loses so he wouldn't play! Val got a little too tipsy last night and accidentally tripped over the lead to the heater that was sitting in the door of their motorhome,  pulling the wires out of the plug, tripped over the dog and fell off the step 

 knocking the dog into the table tipping over the bottles!  now thats when you need your camera!

We didn't get told off this time from the French lady, I think she has bought earplugs or given up!