We've spent a reasonably quiet week on the Camperpark and been well satisfied. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been very cooperative and we've spent most of the week dodging rain showers, some particularly heavy. But the whole of south western Iberia has suffered the same, some areas worse than others, so we just have to put up with it. Nothing we can do about it so just relax and enjoy our own company and entertainment. It's not been cold though. There has been quite a turnover throughout the week, many only stopping one or two nights although there is one fairly obnoxious German in a converted lorry who thinks he owns the place and seems to have been here for some time. Interestingly, his front registration plate has been covered up, and we wonder if that's to stop the Portuguese police noting that he has probably been in the country too long..........
Halfway through the week whilst doing the domestics the waste pipe on the bathroom basin came adrift, depositing a bowl full of water all over the bathroom cabinet and floor. However to get it back on involved a degree of disassembling, including removing the sink itself (fortunately not the tap!) when we discovered that the cheap plastic mounting plate had broken away plus one of the holding screws was missing. Always up for a challenge we glued the mounting plate back into position and reinforced it with some small bolts, which eventually had to be replaced with screws, but ended up with a solid fix, the missing holding wingnut replaced with one from "elsewhere" - much better than the original mount. Oh yes, we did remember the waste pipe and a small screw hopefully ensured it would not come apart again. Typical example of a 5 min job taking 2 hours, but we had nothing better to do and you do have to expect maintenance issues on a 17 year old van.
On Thursday the forecast seemed to be more settled so after an earlyish lunch we took Jamie for a walk into the town, calling at the T.I. for a map (50 cents) and also getting some cash. Worth noting that all the ATMs were non bank aligned and made a small charge for withdrawals no matter whose card you use. Silves, like many towns, is built up around a cathedral and an odd-shaped "castle" on a hill which was a fairly steep climb to the top. Outside the walls, now mostly gone or at least hidden, lots of narrow winding streets with plenty of cafes and bars, whilst inside it was mostly all the old cottage type dwellings, generally very well preserved. Odd, then, that there was a junior school right at the top although a car park suggested there was a back road up for the cathedral and castle. A gentle stroll back to the van, calling at the supermarket for some bits then enjoyed an ice cream sitting in the warm sunshine. Late on we took the precaution of packing away the chairs as the weather forecast - which seems to be dominating our trip this year - was for longer spells of heavy rain.
The rest of our stay was spent mostly indoors with the occasional foray with Jamie in between the rain, keeping the van domestics serviced and a brief trip to the supermarket to top up prior to our departure. Bren discovered that there was an actual recognised tourist trail along the route we had thought to take north through Portugal, the Nacionale 2, which follows the N2 from Faro in the Algarve to Chaves on the northern border with Spain, bypassing the major towns and cities which we've visited before. You can even get a "passport" which many of the several hundred places of interest, shops etc, along the route will stamp showing your progress. It's around 760km long, good for 3/4 days gentle travelling so we confirmed that as our intention.
We can recommend Algarve Camperstop Silves (it has a couple of sister sites) as having good facilities, friendly staff and reasonably priced - cost us €11.50 pn including electric. Showers extra and curiously toilets at €1 a go! However to get a place you really need to be arriving well before lunch as you cannot book - that said last thing at night we did spot the odd unoccupied pitch and on two occasions larger units (with trailers) were parked on an unused area. You may just get lucky!
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So, onward! As expected, more rain but with the occasional bright spell which allowed us to finish the domestics and packing away. Our insulating screens, though still very effective, were absolutely soaking wet, difficult to pack and then had to be stored in the shower so they could hopefully dry out a little. Away by 10.35 and rather than return to Faro we set TomTom to intercept the N2 at Castro Verde where we found the Nacionale 2 well signposted. Unfortunately, although the scenery was very nice the weather still decided to be fickle and we spent quite a lot of time with the wipers and headlights on, but at least the roads were quiet, if not always the best surface in the world! We paused at Barragem de Roxo, which was a suggested stopover, as many of the barragems of Portugal are, with a view to overnighting. But we'd not been on the road all that long so just had lunch and pushed on. Just a note to beware if using the Nacionale 2, especially with a larger unit. It occasionally diverts off the N2 to go through a small town or village "of interest" although we don't know what qualifies it as such. In one place we ended up driving along back streets, still following the signs, but then came to a closed road which involved some careful manoeuvring then creeping around the one way system until we found our way back onto the N2.
With the weather still unsettled Bren started surveying some choices to park up overnight and hit upon the small town of Alcacovas which boasted a carpark with motorhome service point, next to the ambulance station and a sports centre, which was a bit tricky to find. We joined a couple of other vans and settled in, only for the weather to once again spoil our day. But it was a quiet enough place and we were joined later by a couple of other vans, although most of the carpark was on a steepish slope and one gave up trying to get level and subsequently disappeared.
