24th October (sunny and hot) 58 km

Again, I think we were the only tent in the campsite and we had our pick of places and picked a good spot.  We did the usual when selecting it.  Firstly, flat ground – with grass is a bonus but we had to settle for sand because that is all there was.  Secondly, we chose a space with no pine tree branches above us as you can hear the pine cones falling periodically and they make quite a thud.  If they landed on the tent, they could cause some serious damage.  Thirdly, we try to stay away from anyone else because Mr Light Sleeper might hear them snoring, chatting or tapping on their keyboard.  We are also now wise to the ‘light’ effect so look out for those unassuming orbs on top of their poles, sitting there so innocently in the daylight hours, only to become brighter than a full moon once the night time comes.

We woke again at 7.40am and Pete went across for a shower while I blogged.  I didn’t bother as it’s going to get to 28C today supposedly so I know there will be a few swims down the road.

Pete here: After last night’s downpour, we woke all snug and dry in our Vango. Must say, it chucked it down and we were all cosy with no leaks. However, because we were on sand and they haven’t had much rain, the downpour would bounce off the hard sand and into the vestibule area, consequently that particular part of the tent suffered the most. We also got wet sand thrown up under the fly sheet, so upon waking this morning, we were met with a sodden fly and vestibule and of course the bottom of the ground sheet as well. So, after I’d had a shave and shower, we took all the wet stuff and hung it over the washing lines to dry.  The groundsheet merited special attention so we actually washed it under a foot tap - these are very popular everywhere round here for washing the sand off one’s feet.  Hung that up on the line to dry as well while we had a milky coffee and some sweet treat we’d picked up from the supermarket yesterday.

First swim - Almograve.  A bit too crowded for us though so we didn't stay long.

Once they were all dry, we managed to fold the tent inner, the tent fly and the groundsheet without them touching the ground – that is quite a feat and when we get home we’re going to film a You Tube video so that you too can learn the skills we have learnt on the road.  With all this mucking about, we didn’t get on the road until 11am and by now it was already pretty hot.  So first stop was only about 10km down the road at Almograve where we had a swim at the beach there, followed by a bit of a sunbathe and another swim.  The swims were pretty short due to the ever constant shorebreak and no possibility of catching a wave – well you could catch one if you didn’t mind breaking your neck on the ride in.  There were waves for the surfers further out but no luck for bodysurfers.

Cabo Sardao Lighthouse - famous for being built the wrong way round with the lighthouse facing inland, (took this photo
from the seaward side)

Next stop was a place called Cabo Sardao which Julia had read was the only place in the world where storks nest on cliffs.  It wasn’t far out of our way and we thought it would be cool to see these magnificent birds in a more natural setting than stuck on top of a power pole – and we were right.  The setting was spectacular and so were the birds.  Storks always used to winter in the sub-Sahara, but are now living in Portugal year round.  

Stunning cliffs - if I was a stork, I'd want to live here

Look carefully na dyou can see three storks in their nests

One flew up to have a chat with his mate

This one flew higher to give us a better view

Lunch stop

Really enjoyed our little walk along the clifftops with a welcome breeze blowing in our faces.  A short bike ride back to the nearby town of Cavaleiro provided us with the perfect place for lunch.  It had obviously been built for the camino walkers who we have seen plenty of over the past few days, and two of them were sitting opposite this beautiful tiled shelter.  Why they had ignored this beautiful shelter and chosen to sit in the blazing sun is anyone’s guess, but we happily made use of the space for our sardine and tomato buns.

Julia here – aah yes, the camino walkers…..now there’s a strange bunch of people for you.  People think we’re strange cycling the length of time we do, but at least we cover quite a bit of ground in a day – and we get to sit down while we’re doing it.  No heavy backpack strapped to our hot sweaty backs and great big boots on our feet.  Whenever I see one of them, I feel positively free!  I almost feel a bit guilty as we sail past them, unencumbered and enjoying life, while they trudge along with their heads down.

The downhill route out of Zambujeira do Mar was very scenic - the uphill, not so much.

Next stop was Zambujeira do Mar where we planned to have another swim. Nice little town, once again obviously geared up for the tourists and these places along the coastline must be humming in mid summer. Checked out a couple of smaller shops for supplies, but being early afternoon, they were still on siesta time. Rode down to the lookout overlooking the beach and bay area and noticed a huge hill on the other side, our soon to be ride out. Normally we would jump at the chance of a swim, but that hill would have negated any good that the swim had provided, so we planned for one further toward our destination. Back in town we bought a coke and once that went down the hatch, we checked out the supermarket, which wasn’t up to much, where we bought some buns, canned bolagnese and milk, unfortunately the UHT variety that they are so fond of in Europe.  While I was in the shop, Pete had made friends with a Ukrainian man outside and introduced me to him when I emerged from the shop.  The first thing I noticed were his pants were wet, front and back and he didn’t look like the type to have just been for a swim and chucked his shorts on over the top.  His mate emerged from the shop with two litres of boxed wine and I suspected they were both already pretty pissed, literally.

Found our way out of town, down a huge hill, then up the other side, which was cobbled, just what we needed on such a steep incline. At the top of the hill, the road turned to track and Pete was not impressed. Followed this pot holed excuse for a road for some time until we reached a T junction – to the right was our chosen campground along the dusty, bumpy track about 5 km away.  To the left the road appeared to be tar seal and upon seeing this grey mirage, Pete charged off in that direction.  As it turned out, it too was still just a bumpy, dusty track which we endured for about 5 km until we met tarseal taking us in a north-easterly direction - the opposite way we wanted to be going. Pete was now furious and went riding off into the distance venting his anger with this display of speed.

The main road was at least a reasonable seal but quite hilly and no hard shoulder. When we got back together we were entering the town of Sao Teotonio, where Pete dived in and grabbed a beer and a coke, both cold.  The main road was pretty busy and there are always those drivers who choose to take risks. At one point I was staring down the barrel of a car that had overtaken another when they shouldn’t have and I was looming up a lot quicker than he expected.  He managed to swerve back onto his side of the road, but I had nowhere to go, except into a drainage ditch. Pete was screaming at the guy, who was oblivious of his stupidity.

A little further on we saw a bikepacker coming up the hill that we were whizzing down.  We don’t see many, so yelled out a merry Ola! And got a Gidday in return.  Think he might have been an Aussie and if we hadn’t been whizzing down the hill, we’d have stopped to talk to him.  He was loaded up to the gunnels, including having his surfboard strapped to the side of his bike!

The remainder of the ride was uneventful and we eventually found one of the camps we’d targeted as we were coming down a large hill, which means tomorrow, we will be climbing up the other side. At the camp we met Xander, a lovely guy and a surfer, who spoke great English, loved New Zealand and didn’t charge us for use of the pool. By this time however, the temperature had cooled and we still needed to set up camp, so we just had hot showers instead.

Chose a place away from the pine trees and the possibility of missiles before discovering the camp light, not twenty feet away. A little rearranging of our bikes, a couple of bags on our saddles to protect from the weather and obscure the light, plus a discreetly placed towel and the once bright light, was now a faded memory. Wandered up to the restaurant for dinner. Pete had burger, egg and chips, which he said were very average, whilst I had shrimp rissoles with rice, which was quite nice. We also had wine and a beer to accompany it. At the same time we were charging the computer and power pack, blogging, checking directions for tomorrow and future days and Pete was glancing at Porto v Moscow on tele. Football of some sort is on most nights in Portugal, so Pete’s lapping it up.

Back to the tent where we uploaded photos for yesterday and today with a cup of coffee before bed.