26th October (cloudy and mild - thunderstorm in late afternoon) 58 km

Woke this morning and said to Julia “I think it’s the perfect day for cycling hon.”

“I think you’re right” she replied.

Just then, the sound of bugles and trumpets rang forth. Flags were suddenly raised all over the Kingdom of Portugal and passers-by within the campground approached me and shook my hand.

It has only taken thirty two years, but finally I cracked it. Now that I have, I’m wondering if I’ll still be here in thirty two years, for the next time I get something right.

Last night, cute cat, who has actually become….pain in the arse cat, due to his persistent hanging around and getting his nose into all our food, decided in the middle of the night, to climb onto our inner tent and sit there. He had to jump and put his claws into the fabric to do so however, so he received a swipe from me which sent him flying off the back. Not much later, in the early hours, he repeated the exercise and received another wallop. Now I do like this cat, he is the sort of cat that I would have in NZ, were I having one, but a joke’s a joke. Not to be put off though, he was back this morning, ready for any cuddles and/or food that was available.

After a cuppa, some bread and jam and a treat we had leftover, we gave cute/annoying cat the rest of our milk while we packed up. The Czech couple we met yesterday who are on their last day of walking today, finishing in Aljezur, were also eating, so we wished them well and also did the same to Xander at reception. Julia had said that after the first hill, we’d have pretty good riding. Guess what…? She was wrong, although I have to say that despite the hills this morning, we both really enjoyed the ride into Lagos (pronounced Lagosh).

Cork trees are prolific in southern Portugal.
The bottom half is stripped and the trunk
numbered - why, we don't know.

After riding into Aljezur, we found an Intermarche and enjoyed a coffee and morning tea in the relaxed confines of their café. Guy on the counter was really nice and threw something extra to eat in for free. Off again and the hills kept coming, but after our day off, our reserves had been bolstered, so we were ready for anything. The road was busy, but the surface was good. The only problem was the driving. Oncoming drivers and their desire to overtake with us right in their path, is unbelievable insanity. Can they not wait two seconds, that is all it would take, rather than risk the chance of killing someone. Anyway, we made it safely to our destination in Lagos and soon found the campground we had targeted.

Piles of cork ready to be made into whatever they can think of.

The next time Julia mentions that I never take her anywhere nice, I will be reminding her of the itinerant/vagrant/gypsy/dreg camp, on the Algarve. If you could have captured the moment on camera when we rode to the tent sites and saw what we had in store, it would have been a classic. Apart from our less than desirable neighbours, who are probably looting through our gear as we speak, there are dogs roaming the camp and we are pitched on rock. We had to move slightly from our first choice as it had a metal bar sticking out of the ground. Took all our valuables and rode off to see around the town. If it doesn’t have more than we have already seen, it will not be making it into our top twenty thousand top spots to see around the world. Photos to follow.

First stop a Burger King, it was either here, or the supermarket above. While Julia looked at other campgrounds and sent messages back and forth about sending our bikes to Barcelona from Seville, I blogged. The weather was looking decidedly dodgy, but supposedly not forecasted to rain for twenty four hours. After eating we took a ride to see some cliffs that Julia had researched and were supposed to be amazing. Not too far away we came upon the cliffs and the reading was correct. 

Pete's clicking away but there's a thunderstorm approaching

The steps leading down to Ponta da Piedade

We wandered all over the cliffs taking shots here, there and everywhere. The sea was a beautiful colour, however, the sky was an entirely different colour and making some very loud rumbling sounds. Spent a good deal of time taking photos before we felt the first splatterings of rain. As we were too far away to make a run for it, we decided to take shelter in a café/restaurant, where we purchased two coffees. Whilst drinking them Julia suggests that we come here for breakfast. The two coffees cost more than twice as much as we would normally pay in Portugal, however, it was still half what we’d normally pay in NZ.  It was also a very nice coffee, it was on a clifftop with an amazing view, and a whole lot better than sitting out in the rain.   The rain appeared to have eased off so we unlocked our bikes and at that moment, it decided to pelt down so we cycled as fast as we could to the campground, where our tent had not been secured due to the rock hard ground. Now, we had no choice. It was pissing it down. We were both wet, so we set about making the best of a very bad situation. With the aid of a rock and a few twisted tent pegs as victims, we pegged out the flysheet as best we could. Now we are at the mercy of the weather and the effectiveness of our little home.

Julia decided to shower, I figured I may as well wait, as we could well be out in the weather if things turn sour.  So I blogged and when Ju came back from her shower, we uploaded the photos onto the computer and edited them.

JU here – Pete’s just gone for his shower and it has stopped raining, hopefully for good.  I have a bad feeling that this night could be very noisy.  At the moment the camp has some music playing lightly and you could almost imagine you were at Womad, if you didn’t poke your head out the door.  However, like Womad, I suspect that as darkness falls people will start drinking, probably doing drugs as well by the look of them and the music will be turned up – I really hope I’m wrong.

From the beautiful cliffs we saw this afternoon though, we don’t want to rush away from Lagos so will look for alternative accommodation for tomorrow night.  We realise now we can afford to relax a little with our schedule as we will make it to Seville with plenty of time to spare.

Pete here; Night closed in and will be closing in a little sooner by the end of the weekend as we lose daylight saving, still, it will be lighter in the mornings, so, for us that’s a good thing. We wandered over to the little café that is within the confines of the camp. The guy there was very nice, but unfortunately for us, smoking was allowed inside. It must be the first time since pubbing it in the eighties that we’ve consumed so much smoke. Watched another footy game on tele, (local stuff) while we ate our pizzas and Julia uploaded the photos we took today, ready to put on the blog. Then it was back to the tent.

The music volume never reached the heights that we predicted. Talking went on until the early hours, as did the cars and trucks going past the back fence. Somewhere in there was a glass truck as well, picking up recycling, and of course the dogs. Why limit it to one, when three is a better number. However, I’ve had worse nights, as anything to do with sleep, really doesn’t affect Julia in the slightest.