We head off on Tuesday morning and we really need to do some laundry so spot a camp a bit further along the Algarve region that has washing machines. We drive to Fuseta where the camp is and we get one of the last spots in the camp. Outside the gates in a carpark on the waterfront there are another 30 odd vans freedom camping in a ‘no camping’ carpark. We have read that Portugese police do fine you for parking illegally camping up and the fines can be up to 1500euro so it’s not something we will be doing down south here. We park up and it’s early in the day so we get our washing on and out onto the washing lines. Whilst it is drying we take a walk into the little village, have a coffee and cake and then head down to the beach area. It is a lovely day and this looks like an amazing area to have a holiday in. There is an inlet that is at low tide when we arrive but it looks like the tide will come in really quickly and you could get caught walking across the low tide area. We sit and have a drink here and watch the comings and goings of many people who are here. We take a walk along the water front cafes and spy a 9euro deal of bbq’d salmon with potato and salad. We decide we will come back later for dinner as that is a reasonable price for a large salmon dinner. We head back to the van and bring the washing in. The camp also has a nice little bar where they serve food and drinks and you can use their wifi so great to see they have these facilities. We relax for the afternoon and go out for our dinner later on. The meal we have is really lovely and we chat to a Dutch couple who now live here in Fuseta as it is just so cheap compared to everywhere really. They say it is a shame we are leaving the next day as they would have loved to invite us for a meal and wine at their place and chat more about our travels.
Wednesday 17th Feb
We head along the Algarve coast road and eventually make our way onto the highway. We are heading up to a town called Peniche which is above Lisbon. As we start our way on the highway going north we hit another toll. This isn’t the same as the others we have seen so far in Portugal and their website says nothing about money tolls or any other sort. We are confused and don’t know what to do. Some people are doing something at machines and others are driving through an automatic lane. We end up figuring that they have our number plate and our credit card details so we must be able to do the automatic lane. We end up being wrong but it really isn’t clear. We head up through the countryside which is similar to Spain of course as they are joined but it seems greener on this side. The highways aren’t busy the same as a lot of countries in Europe. It is quite a drive to get to Peniche and we have to change highways a few times. We hit another toll and again go through the automatic lane incorrectly. We start to think at this stage that maybe we had better ring someone in the toll office when we can get wifi to check out what we should do.
As we arrive into Peniche it is very windy and raining. There are two or three camper stops we can stay at here for free and one paid ground so we take a drive around the little peninsula and check out the spots. The main one right out on the western side is blowing a gale, wet and very isolated and I don’t fancy staying here the night. The rocky coastline is quite amazing and reminds me of a place on the west coast of the south island of NZ called Punakaiki where the rocks are amazing shapes and look like they are stacked. We view another area and it is also a little ordinary, so we drive back up to the marina which looks like a better sheltered place to stay. We park up and sit and contemplate staying the night. Next minute another van pulls in beside us (they’re French) and they ask if we are staying the night here. We say yes and we then head off for a drink down the road and to check out with a local if they think staying here the night is ok.
We have a drink in a little pub and the bar staff tell us they think it is fine to park up at the marina for the night. We don’t stop there long as they are smoking inside at the bar which is awful for us since you can’t even leave the door open with it being windy, wet and cold. We head back to the van and find there are two more vans pulled up along side of us which is good as safety in numbers is the name of the game. Behind where we have parked are the walls of a fortress looking complex which is quite amazing. We have a preference for marinas as they are not isolated and locals are used to people staying as well as a bit of traffic as people come to their boats or just love coming to the marina for the views and the nature of wind, water and tides as well as the birdlife. Quite often when travelling the paying area for campers is the marina as they have facilities for the boats which can also be used by the vans.
After a quiet night we have a look around where we are before we head off. We talk to another van owner who are English and on their way back to England as well. We need to phone the toll company to find out if we have done anything wrong, so we find a café we can get wifi at and order a coffee. The toll company tell us we have done the wrong thing and we need to stop at an office off the highway a little further up the country and see if we can pay the tolls before we get fined.
At least the day is a little better than yesterday and we head back to the first camper stop we looked at yesterday to take photos of the coastline. There are plenty of others at this location taking photos as well. There are wild cats hiding amongst the rocks as we take photos so we go back to the van for a few cat biscuits which we leave for them to enjoy. We head off back towards our out road but decide to have a look along the coastline from Peniche north where there are great looking waves and surf schools. There are plenty of people out surfing or heading out and the waves look great. What a lovely place for a holiday.
We head back out onto the highway. It’s always a shame we can’t spend more time at places like this. We need to get to a toll office just below Porto so we plan our route. One thing we have noticed here in Portugal which is really cool is they tile the outside of buildings and it doesn’t seem to matter how many stories they are. I guess the tiles stop them having to paint the building and they look really good.
Portugal is a lovely country and it seems most speak a little English at least. After a few hours travel we find the toll office and go in. There is a significant queue and we aren’t sure we are in the right building so we go into another and ask the question. Thank goodness for those who do speak English as our Portuguese is non-existent. We have to go back in to the long queue so we grab a ticket and wait. It’s about an hour’s wait before we get served and it’s about 4.30pm and there is still a long queue behind us. These poor people obviously don’t get much of a break. We are able to rectify the highway up to Lisbon but the highways above Lisbon are managed by someone else so we need to email them. It has been an expensive highway trip at about 43euro but that will be nothing compared to the fine we may have received in the mail.
We head off to a place we will stop for the night which is Vila do Conde. Since we had to stop for such a long time at the toll office we arrive here late in the day and there isn’t much time to look around. The town looks amazing and will come back to look around another time. We drive to the camper spot which is at a boat storage place where there is a large dirt carpark and there are already a few campervans parked there for the night. The surf looks huge and is pounding in to shore. There isn’t really anything close to here like a bar or café so we just stay in the van for the night. In the morning as we get ready to leave we spy the French campervan that parked behind us emptying their toilet onto the ground by a boat yard fence. That is just the most disgusting thing. It isn’t like there aren’t places here to empty it. We actually find a service point for toilets less than 5kms down the road and well signposted. There isn’t any need to do that. It’s no wonder campervaners get a bad name when people do disgusting things like this. Even if we were desperate to empty ours there is no way we would do that. I know people may wonder what you do when your toilet fills up. Simple really, you poo into a plastic bag and throw it in a rubbish bin. No different than a dog poo bag at the end of the day, and you would use a funnel into an empty bottle to pee into then wait until you find a public toilet to empty your loo into. We haven’t been in this situation yet luckily but it’s not rocket science.
Anyway we take off and travel up the coast to a place called Viana do Castelo which looks really lovely. We stop for a coffee and a walk around. It is a lovely place and there are a couple of souvenir shops where we buy a small rooster which is their symbol for luck in Portugal. When we parked we had these fellas directing us into a park and trying to make sure we parked correctly which I didn’t need any help doing but they wanted money when we got out of the van for helping us. We don’t stop too long as we have to travel into northern Spain today and get up to the north coast. We choose a road that isn’t a highway to cross the border on and when we get there I realise it is more of a one way bridge and two way – particularly for larger vehicles like us – but there isn’t anyone giving way and it’s too long to try and wait until the way is clear so I have to proceed with cars coming towards us. It is a tight squeeze and I pray we don’t have a truck coming on from the other end as I doubt we could pass. We have our mirrors pulled in on both sides just to drive across. Luckily no trucks pass us and we get over without incident, but it is always a fear that we meet another larger vehicle on roads/bridges that we can’t pass by.
As we travel through northern Spain it is really obvious that it rains a lot more here as it is very green and quite mountainous. There is some snow on the mountains and looks very cool. It really is stunning countryside. We travel on the highways and it is nice not to have tolls at the moment. I think we have paid enough already. It is a long day’s travel and we arrive at our free camp area after dark. It is at Ortiguera right on the coast and there is another van already there. We can see where there is a beach down below and the view from up on the park is really cool. If it wasn’t so late we would go for a walk down. Amazing what you can get for free in these countries, more should follow their lead. We park up, take the bikes out and snuggle in for the night as the temperature is very cold and without electricity we have no heater. Having said that, the van warms up a bit when we cook and we can at least heat up water on the stove for a hot water bottle which helps to keep warm. In the morning I get out and check out the coast line and the place we have stopped at. We are parked above a cliff and we get a view overlooking a beach nearby and the vast ocean. A couple in the next van come out and chat to us and we find out they are Kiwis as well and they are just starting out on their journey. We end up chatting for quite a while and swap details to keep in touch. It is always nice to be able to share learned information to anyone travelling as we have had passed on to us.
We drive along the coast and it is lovely countryside. We stop in a small town for a coffee and try to order a tostada with our coffee but the fellow doesn’t speak any English and it is difficult to tell him we want cheese with tomato and a few olives so we give up and end up getting a tostada with just mashed up tomato. It is getting late in the day and it is just a little too far to be driving to France today so we end up stopping in Zumaia which is near the French border. I had picked a nice looking marina out to stop at for the night. As we drive in the town looks exceptionally busy and we drive into the marina only to find out the gates to the carpark we wanted to go into are locked. That is always one of the tribulations of finding free spots as sometimes they are closed. There is another spot to park not far so we head there. It is a carpark amongst some industrial buildings that really look quite dodgy but there are 30 odd vans parked there – all Spanish so we pull up. We can’t understand why there are so many here, maybe there is something on for the weekend as it is Saturday night and a lot of them seem like they have kids. There were a lot of people out and about as we drove in so presume there must be something on and maybe that is why a lot of them are in this park because the marina is closed off. We are not sure what they think when we are out with a bucket in the morning and I help Vicki wash her hair! It is cold but ok and the water is hot. Without showers it is easy to have a wash down but hair needs a bit of room. We are spoilt by showers in all the camps but a wash with a flannel all over is quite adequate and as it is not stinking hot we don’t get overly smelly. In fact we will go 2 weeks without a shower and no problem. It is amazing how refreshed you feel even after a flannel wash.
