The Good

Van window – part was delivered yesterday as promised, and fix was scheduled for 9.30 this morning.

As a result of the window being broken, I got to spend time with Diogo the campsite manager, who went with me to the glass fitting service centre, and while this was happening, drove me to some other viewing points in villages across the river from Portimao. It was great to spend time with a very open friendly Portuguese guy and we talked about allsorts from Brexit, tourism in Portugal, standards of living, his family etc etc.

Really pleased, as one might imagine, that everything for this went smoothly, so that I could continue my onward journey, particularly since now needing to be in Lisbon to pick up a repeat guest (my most regular 1st Mate) on Sunday.

I’ve really enjoyed driving more slowly – around 50 – 60mph – on the equivalent of ‘A’ roads to get to my next destination. In some cases, the non-toll motorways have also come up trumps. The countryside I’ve passed through has been really interesting and mostly pleasant if not beautiful.

What’s made the journeying less stressful has definitely been the removal of the electric step back at Malaga. I almost do maneouvres, eg pulling into car parks, with gay abandon now; it can only be an ‘almost’ until the other cause of grounding, ie the tow bar, is also removed. I’m sure it can be replaced by a better design to accommodate the Mercedes van back step.

This is very much a ‘good’, and links into empty or not busy roads which would be busy in full Summer, which are a joy to drive and obviously safer to cycle on if necessary, not having to book campsites, so ultimate flexibility, and one less job to do, and alot cheaper prices, so that’s great. The weather, after being unseasonably coldish in April in Spain – their worst Easter time for 50 years with floods on some costas, has been stable over the last couple of weeks, in the twenties, and reached 30 degrees yesterday as I drove just behind the coast in south west Portugal – so that’s Atlantic side, and not Mediterranean-sheltered.

One of the other things that I value, now that I’ve become slightly older in age, ie peace and quiet during nighttime sleeping hours, (and dare I admit to it, even in the daytime) may also be in short supply in the high season as some of the places I’ve really appreciated turn from Jekyll into Hyde apparently. For example I’ve been told that the campsite at Tarifa becomes packed full of young people, up all night, vomit everywhere as it becomes party city with the kite-surfing, so much so that a German woman only in her mid-30s who lives on the site the rest of the year feels the need to escape.