Friday 28 February - Salir to Armicao de Pera

We decided to use all the allowed 3 days at Salir, mainly because it was free (including electric!) but also because there was some rain forecast and we thought we'd be better off staying here rather than take a chance on finding somewhere suitable, knowing just how crowded with motorhomes Portugal (and Spain) is. As mentioned we enjoyed a nice lunch with John and his wife at a quite busy restaurant in the village on Wednesday, leaving Jamie to his own devices in a well-ventilated and shaded Bertie. This has never been a problem before and wasn't now, we don't make any fuss when we leave, just make sure he has water and a couple of treats. He gets attention on our return, of course, and he seems to be quite happy with that.

The forecast rain arrived bang on time according to Ventusky, our reliable weather app, however we'd already packed away everything we didn't need. So it was a rather wet start to Friday but we managed to do all the chores between the gradually reducing showers and with the van fully serviced we departed this excellent camperstop. We had debated which direction to go and the weather forecast suggested we'd probably be better off heading down to and along the south coast so we started towards Loule, the regional market town and of course without satnav we got a bit tied up in the centre although eventually we found our way out and down to the coast, the rain now slowly being replaced with sunshine.

We began a look at Villamoura but then remembered this was a very modern holiday resort with mostly apartments and nothing for us so turned around and headed for Albufeira, looking out for reasonably priced fuel along the way. We have been here before and had forgotten how spread out the town was but nevertheless continued to wander through on a mainish road, stopping off at a Galp fuel station and paying a lot more than in Spain, the best we saw was €1.86 (£1.51) per litre. We did recall reading somewhere that Spain has been censured by the EU as it hasn't implemented the taxes proscribed, making fuel a lot cheaper than elsewhere, as we've found.

We had a look at a motorhome stopover that showed up in one of our apps but it was, as expected, ram jam full, so just meandered on, also discarding a beach parking area that definitely wasn't suitable (nobody there either!). Deciding to rejoin the N125, the main coastal road, we spotted a campsite that looked okay so, on a whim, thought we'd go and check. Yes, they did have room and it turned out to be much larger than was apparent from the road and not at all expensive at €18.50 p.n. including electricity so we booked in for 3 nights to take us over the weekend. We've found it's better to be parked up earlier on a Friday and stay put as, especially in Spain, the locals come out in force at the weekend!

We found plenty of pitches, about half in hedged spaces with the rest spread out over a wider area. As is often the case there were many semi-permanent caravans and a few motorhomes, all with awnings, extra tents etc but we found ourselves a spot on the edge of the site in one of the closed off pitches which looked to get quite a lot of sunshine throughout the day. After lunch we took Jamie for a walk around the site, noting the well-placed sanitation facilities, restaurant, bar, swimming pools and a well-stocked mini-market where we bought ice creams. Then back to the van for some sunshine although it wasn't as warm as we'd become used to.

The weather forecast is becoming our planner and it looks like it's going to be a bit unsettled for the next few days but we have everything we need so this'll do us for now.