Today was brutal. We’d had a pretty lousy sleep sweltering in the van, so we headed off at 9am to try and avoid the heat. But obviously it was already hot. There were some Dolmens, which are neolithich underground burial chambers we wanted to go to. 

The first challenge was getting there. It was only 5.5 kms, but Google told me there was a quicker route only 3km away. I should have known better but I think the lack of sleep was affecting my judgement. Next minute we are navigating horrendously narrow streets inside the old town and it was terrifying.

We managed to get out and followed the main roads. Somehow it took us 30 minutes to drive 5.5 kms. And do you know what the worst part is? We got there and it was closed! Monday’s are a closed day for museums. Doh.

So then I asked AI where we could go to avoid the heat. He said the mountains. So, off we went, driving some more narrow and terrifying roads, but this time with lots of idiots on them. It was a beautiful drive though.

I navigated to a campsite with sounded really cool. They bring you tapas when you order a drink, and they also have a pool. But when we got out of the car, the shock was unbearable.

It was 45 degrees, by far the hottest of anywhere we had been. The wind felt like it was a burning fire! There was no relief even in the shade. It turned out, even though we are up in the mountains, it was in a valley and the hot air was trapped there getting hotter and hotter. It was awful and I couldn’t wait to get out.

So I asked AI again, and he said, go higher! I didn’t want to spend an hour in this heat driving higher and higher and be faced with the same problem. I told him this. So he suggested the coast.

I set the navigation and off we went, up another steep narrow road, this time no safety barrier. I was absolutely terrified. But, we made it to the top, and remarkably it was a bit cooler. Still 37 degrees, but it felt much better. And there was a stunning view over the mountains, which had frikking snow on them! The wind was even blowing from that direction, but it made no difference. The other side was a view of the mediterranean sea.

Anyway, we had a decision to make. I’ve become a bit nervous about narrow winding roads, and the road google was sending us on, was a narrow winding road down to the coast. So I asked google AI as he has been quite helpful. He said ‘Don’t take that road. It’s narrow and steep with no barriers and you will burn your brakes out. Go straight on.’

But straight on was quite a lot longer. And really, would it be any better? So I asked chatGPT. He said “Go for it, you’ll be fine.” I think he knows me better.

Anyway, we went for it. Google AI was half right. It was steep and narrow and scary in places, but there were some barriers that made it feel safer. And Mike knows how to drive steep mountain passes so brakes weren’t an issue. Heck, we drove down the Mesa Verde with no brakes when they failed in America

Anyway, we made it down no problem. But it was still stinking hot at the coast! It was 6pm, so we looked at the campground there, but it was full of permanent vans, and nobody on reception. We parked up and looked at out options. There wasn’t a lot.

Mike has been on about a place on the coast further north that he wanted to go. But we’d have to stay in a hotel there because of the heat. And it was 4 hours away. But it seemed like the best option at this stage as the coast is very busy and there are not any camping grounds.

I plugged Mike’s place into my google and removed avoid motorways. Only 2 hours! So we decided to go for it. We gave up our avoid motorway plan to hopefully find a nice air-conditioned hotel by the beach.

Oh, did I mention why Mike wanted to go there? You’re probably thinking it’s just another nudist beach. But it’s bigger than that. It’s actually a naturist town, where you are allowed to wander around with no clothes on. I know! Not for me, but I’m happy for Mike to be happy.

So, off we went, hurtling along the motorway and I must admit, apart from all the tunnels, it was quite relaxing, not having to navigate or to hang on for deal life going around corners. And two hours later we arrived.

I’d chosen a hotel to stay at as I wanted to make sure there was parking for Bertie. And as it was now 9pm, we needed somewhere with 24 hour reception.

Thankfully there was parking. We went into reception and tried to book a room, but it was full. Eek. She did some stuff on the computer and thankfully there had been a cancellation. But it was a studio rather than a double. But she gave it to us for the same price as a double, so that was nice.

It’s actually a naturist resort, with bars, entertainment and a pool. But there are rules, but I’ll mention more on that in tomorrows blog.

Our room is expensive, but still quite nice, with a balcony overlooking the pool, a big room, and a kitchen. I figure most of our accommodation has been free on this trip, so paying for a couple of nights won’t hurt.

Europe is experiencing a massive heat wave at the moment, but it is supposed to ease off a bit on Thursday. So we’re hoping to stay a few days. But we have to check in each morning to see if there has been a cancellation.

Mike can have his naked time, and I can spend time editing my videos in a comfort of A/C.

Today was brutal. We’d had a pretty lousy sleep sweltering in the van, so we headed off at 9am to try and avoid the heat. But obviously it was already hot. There were some Dolmens, which are neolithich underground burial chambers we wanted to go to. 

The first challenge was getting there. It was only 5.5 kms, but Google told me there was a quicker route only 3km away. I should have known better but I think the lack of sleep was affecting my judgement. Next minute we are navigating horrendously narrow streets inside the old town and it was terrifying.

We managed to get out and followed the main roads. Somehow it took us 30 minutes to drive 5.5 kms. And do you know what the worst part is? We got there and it was closed! Monday’s are a closed day for museums. Doh.

So then I asked AI where we could go to avoid the heat. He said the mountains. So, off we went, driving some more narrow and terrifying roads, but this time with lots of idiots on them. It was a beautiful drive though.

I navigated to a campsite with sounded really cool. They bring you tapas when you order a drink, and they also have a pool. But when we got out of the car, the shock was unbearable.

It was 45 degrees, by far the hottest of anywhere we had been. The wind felt like it was a burning fire! There was no relief even in the shade. It turned out, even though we are up in the mountains, it was in a valley and the hot air was trapped there getting hotter and hotter. It was awful and I couldn’t wait to get out.

So I asked AI again, and he said, go higher! I didn’t want to spend an hour in this heat driving higher and higher and be faced with the same problem. I told him this. So he suggested the coast.

I set the navigation and off we went, up another steep narrow road, this time no safety barrier. I was absolutely terrified. But, we made it to the top, and remarkably it was a bit cooler. Still 37 degrees, but it felt much better. And there was a stunning view over the mountains, which had frikking snow on them! The wind was even blowing from that direction, but it made no difference. The other side was a view of the mediterranean sea.

Anyway, we had a decision to make. I’ve become a bit nervous about narrow winding roads, and the road google was sending us on, was a narrow winding road down to the coast. So I asked google AI as he has been quite helpful. He said ‘Don’t take that road. It’s narrow and steep with no barriers and you will burn your brakes out. Go straight on.’

But straight on was quite a lot longer. And really, would it be any better? So I asked chatGPT. He said “Go for it, you’ll be fine.” I think he knows me better.

Anyway, we went for it. Google AI was half right. It was steep and narrow and scary in places, but there were some barriers that made it feel safer. And Mike knows how to drive steep mountain passes so brakes weren’t an issue. Heck, we drove down the Mesa Verde with no brakes when they failed in America

Anyway, we made it down no problem. But it was still stinking hot at the coast! It was 6pm, so we looked at the campground there, but it was full of permanent vans, and nobody on reception. We parked up and looked at out options. There wasn’t a lot.

Mike has been on about a place on the coast further north that he wanted to go. But we’d have to stay in a hotel there because of the heat. And it was 4 hours away. But it seemed like the best option at this stage as the coast is very busy and there are not any camping grounds.

I plugged Mike’s place into my google and removed avoid motorways. Only 2 hours! So we decided to go for it. We gave up our avoid motorway plan to hopefully find a nice air-conditioned hotel by the beach.

Oh, did I mention why Mike wanted to go there? You’re probably thinking it’s just another nudist beach. But it’s bigger than that. It’s actually a naturist town, where you are allowed to wander around with no clothes on. I know! Not for me, but I’m happy for Mike to be happy.

So, off we went, hurtling along the motorway and I must admit, apart from all the tunnels, it was quite relaxing, not having to navigate or to hang on for deal life going around corners. And two hours later we arrived.

I’d chosen a hotel to stay at as I wanted to make sure there was parking for Bertie. And as it was now 9pm, we needed somewhere with 24 hour reception.

Thankfully there was parking. We went into reception and tried to book a room, but it was full. Eek. She did some stuff on the computer and thankfully there had been a cancellation. But it was a studio rather than a double. But she gave it to us for the same price as a double, so that was nice.

It’s actually a naturist resort, with bars, entertainment and a pool. But there are rules, but I’ll mention more on that in tomorrows blog.

Our room is expensive, but still quite nice, with a balcony overlooking the pool, a big room, and a kitchen. I figure most of our accommodation has been free on this trip, so paying for a couple of nights won’t hurt.

Europe is experiencing a massive heat wave at the moment, but it is supposed to ease off a bit on Thursday. So we’re hoping to stay a few days. But we have to check in each morning to see if there has been a cancellation.

Mike can have his naked time, and I can spend time editing my videos in a comfort of A/C.

Well, today did not get off to a good start. After 4 days break we finally headed off again, starting our trip north. First stop, Lidl. But when Mike turned a corner, he pulled out in front of a car that was in his blind spot and they blasted their horn at us. But it wasn’t just any old car. It was a police car.

They pulled in front of us, put their lights on then stopped. Shit. This ain’t gonna be good.

Then all four policemen got out looking pissed off. The looked really intimidating with their flak jackets and guns. One was shaking his head in disbelief and started heading my way. Why’s he coming towards me, what did I do?

Then I realised I was in the drivers seat if I was in a European van. So I pointed to Mike. I didn’t want to deal with this.

Thankfully he spoke English but he was very mad. He said we almost caused an accident, it was very close. Mike apologised saying he was in his blind spot. Normally he gets me to check. But I didn’t see them either, it’s like they came out of nowhere. I think they were going too fast.

Anyway, he asked where we were from. When Mike said New Zealand, his face visibly relaxed. It was really weird. His whole demeanor softened, and he just said, “Be careful. That was close.” And they all piled back into their car and drove away. Phew.

But, that was a terrifying start to the day.

The rest of the day was awesome though and we saw some cool wildlife. Our first stop was a lake where we could view pink flamingoes. There were hundreds of them on the lake and they were very cool to see. And we were the only ones there! But it was ridiculously hot still at 5pm, so we only took a short walk as there was no shade.

But then we found an observatory on the other side of the lake, so we headed there and sat in the shade admiring the birds. Still nobody around! I loved watching these guys, standing on one put, dipping their heads into the water. They didn’t look that pink though!

Then we headed an hour away to some cool rock formations called El torcal near the town of Antequera. Up and up and up we went up a squiggly steep road to the top. Again there were very few people around. Probably because it’s 7pm and still frikking hot, but slightly cooler at 1400 metres. 

We took a walk through the rocks and Mike kept point out animals. I’ve since read that these are called Spanish Ibex, a native wild mountain goat. We saw quite a few and I felt a little intimidated by them, especially the males with their long curved horns. But they were very cool to see.

It was 8.30pm by the time we’d finished our walk so we headed back towards the town on Antequera where I’d seen some campervans parking overlooking a cool castle. 

It was still stinking hot when we arrived so we found a bit of shade. There was a vicious hot wind, and it was blowing dust into the van and a fine layer settled on everything. It was really gross. And the wind kept blowing our top hatch shut, so we couldn’t even get a decent breeze into the van. We had a sweltering night where the temperature didn’t drop below 31 degrees. I gotta say, I am getting sick of this heat!

A quiet day today as it was much hotter. I spent the morning finishing my video, then the afternoon at the bar uploading it. While we were there we ordered a pizza and it was huge. So we had half of it, and took the other half back to the van for dinner.

I love how liberal Spain is. Women are wandering along the beach topless like it’s the most natural thing in the world. All shapes and sizes, old and young, it just seems to be a thing here. Meanwhile, just across the water is Morocco, a muslim country, where this would not be allowed. Must be a shock for them coming into Spain.

We’ve really enjoyed relaxing here. It’s still been very hot, but not unbearable because of the sea breeze. But we are planning to move on tomorrow and start heading north. Well, there’s not much choice as south is Africa. And it’s too bloody hot to go there!

That evening we went down to the beach bar again. I forgot to mention, where we are camping is probably the equivalent to half way up Paku, so it’s a bit of a slog up and down in the heat. But that didn’t stop us going back down to the beach bar for drinks. We ordered a couple of local beers and they were really yummy, and it was perfect, sitting looking out over the ocean. It felt like we were on a boat as the tide was right in, up against the bar. Just without the rocking.

Then about 9pm we headed back to the van to eat our leftover pizza and to have a cold shower. Tomorrow we leave.

Today our aim was to walk into Tarifa to reach the southernmost point of mainland Europe.

We could get there along the beach but we had to time it right due to the tides.

I thought the tide time was about 1pm but I decided to check with AI. He told be 3.30pm. I asked him to double check and he said 11.30am. I asked him to triple check and he told me 1.30pm. Seriously, don’t trust AI for your information. 

So instead I went to the official tide place and it said 1.10pm and the high-tide is 8 hours later. It’s a 16 km round trip, so we figured if we left by 10.30am we’d be fine.

We set off and the part of the beach from our camp was covered in seaweed, but after that it turned into nice firm sand. Walking along beaches is not my favourite thing to do, but it was quite nice. A breeze kept us cool and there was a bit of cloud cover. We’d picked the perfect day to do this.

A few kite surfers were setting up as we wandered along. It took us almost two hours to reach the end. There is a causeway that separates the Mediterranean sea from the Atlantic which we walked along. It was viciously windy so we had to take our hats off.

We took a few obligatory photos then headed back. The kite surfers we saw earlier were all out in force now and we had to navigate around them. They had their kites laid out, and their ropes were all over the place. We both thought it seemed a bit dangerous to step over their ropes, so we had to zigzag around them.

4 hours later we made it back and we were exhausted. That’s a longest walk we’ve done since Karen’s one.

I stopped at the campground toilet to go to the loo when I met my first kiwi. They also keep their van in England over the winter with family. She was from Whakatane, so we’re practically neighbours. So that was exciting to meet someone from home.

We’re officially halfway through out Schengen allowance in Europe, that means we have 45 days to get back to the UK. But with this heat and the summer holidays coming, we may even go back earlier.

I didn’t do a blog for yesterday as we didn’t do much. I spent the day working on scheduling facebook posts and my next vlog. Mike did some laundry and a few other chores. And somehow the day just disappeared! We’ve decided to stay at this campground for 4 nights, as it’s so nice and relaxing.

We were ready for an early start this morning and just as well we were. By the time we were ready to leave the sun was streaming in and the carpark was filling with cars. So we were away by 9am, a record for us.

It was a driving day today. We were on a mission. To get to the south coast of Spain where it might hopefully be cooler. Thankfully the roads were straighter and I was glad for taking a wide berth of Seville.

Around 2pm we arrived a campground just outside of Tarifa. We picked our campsite, a gorgeous spot overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa across the water. It’s still hot though! But there was a nice breeze and we were in shade and I felt so happy to finally be here. After the stress of the last few days I feel like we might well stay for a week.

That evening when it cooled down enough we went for a walk along the beach. It’s not every day you can walk along a beach at sunset and look over at Morocco. It was pretty special.

It’s an hour on the ferry to Tangier, and I’d be quite keen to do it. But Mike keeps looking at the high rises over there and thinks we’ll probably hate it. He’s probably right.

It’s about a 6 km walk into Tarifa, and we can probably walk most of it along the beach at low tide. We don’t actually need to go to the town, but I would like to reach the southernmost tip, just to tie it in with last years northernmost point.

Today I was awake at 6am to see the stunning sunrise from our camp. It was nice and cool this morning and we spent the morning chilling out at at camp and didn’t get away until after lunch.

Today, we drove back into Spain, over a long bridge. I am no longer just film maker and route planner. I am route strategist. I am trying to find the best route to get to the south of Spain by avoiding the heat.

My plan today was to stop somewhere in the mountains where it would be cooler. That didn’t work out too well. I did find a nice spot overlooking a lake, and we stopped for the afternoon and had a nap. But we decided we didn’t want to stay there as it was next to a main road.

So we continued on, looking at every parking place for a camping car. But none of them seemed very nice. Next thing, we are off the mountains, and the heat was brutal and we still hadn’t found somewhere.

We drove to a town called Lora de Rio, as there was a place there. But as we drove in, there were towering apartment blocks and it just looked like a scummy town. So we got the hell out. By this time it was 9pm and we only had 45 minutes before the sunset.

Even though I took a wide berth of Seville. I think we are still on the outskirts which is why we are having trouble finding somewhere, and everything is so busy.

So, even though we are heading south, we’d found a place about 30 minutes east, so we headed there, arriving just as the sun set. It’s nothing great, just a big carpark in a town. But there was another campervan here which made us feel better.

But so much for avoiding the heat. Even at 9pm it was still 35 degrees. So we headed out for dinner. Thankfully there were a few bars near us, but only one place was open for food on a Tuesday night. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen Spanish people eating, but was 10pm by this stage, so that’s probably why.

We looked at the menu, and didn’t really know what to order. I wasn’t very hungry, so we just ordered some patatas bravas and a pork skewer. Both were pretty bad. The zero beer was nice though. 

It was 11pm by the time we’d finished and still way too hot to sleep. So we didn’t end up in bed until after midnight. Hopefully it will be cooler by the coast.

The day started with a castle sunrise, and ended with a castle sunset. But the bit in between turned to shit very quickly.

It started well. We were both feeling great after our rest day. I was navigating beautiful back roads through cork oak trees. We even saw some guys harvesting the cork. But we needed supplies.

There was a shop coming up in a small town. We decided we would wait until the Lidl in a bigger town further on. Then we changed our mind. Then changed it back again. Then we turned right when we should have turned left.

Big mistake, as we suddenly found ourselves on a main road. But what happened next was way worse!

Mike went to do a U-turn when there was this almighty explosion and I was covered in glass.

WTF!

I sat there trying to process what had just happened.

Then I saw it.

My side window had shattered, with bits of glass still clinging in place.

“FUCK,” I said.

I opened the door and some of it tinkled onto the ground and it was all over my seat. It was a mess!

I closed the door and some more glass crashed down . I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much broken glass!

The first thought that entered my mind was, this could seriously ruin our day. How on earth were we going to get that fixed?

Some guys had been strimming on the side of the road and a rock had flown up and smashed my window.

Mike got out of the car and started swearing at the guys in English. They swore back in Portuguese. How could they think this was our fault? Meanwhile, I was a shivering, shaking mess. Trucks and cars continued to barrel past, not even slowing down.

The guys didn’t speak a word of English, and we didn’t speak a word of Portuguese, except for “Olá”. Anyway, we asked them to call the police. Polícia – that’s a new word I now know.

The police turned up and we communicated using our phones. He told us we should not have turned there because of a solid white line. But we were turning into a driveway, so it seemed legit to me. And the guys really should have stopped strimming when they saw us.

The local policeman was very nice and rang a glass place about 20 minutes away. They couldn’t get a spare window, but they could put a film on it. So we brushed all the glass away as best we could and drove there.

It was a fast road, and not very nice with my window wide open and the breeze rushing in. We arrived at the glass fitting place, but he couldn’t fit the film until 2 pm. It was 12.45.

So we went to the nearby Mercedes dealer in the hope they might be able to find us a window. Thankfully, a man there spoke good English. He said they didn’t have a window in stock. I asked if he could see if any other dealers had one. If needed, we could get one ordered near a place we were travelling through.

He grabbed our documents with the VIN number and looked at his computer.

“Oh,” he said. “We might have one here.”

He disappeared upstairs while we twiddled our crossed fingers. He came back and said, “Good news!” Those were the words we wanted to hear.

It turned out someone had ordered the window and never picked it up. Yay for us! He said they couldn’t do it until 3 pm, but there was a good local restaurant we could try for lunch.

So we went to the restaurant. It was very, very busy – the Portuguese like eating out for lunch. There was a choice of buffet or off the menu. The idea of navigating a menu was beyond my cognitive ability at that time, so we chose the buffet, having no idea what it would cost.

There were lots of meats in gravy, potatoes, crisps and some green stuff. I tried a bit of everything and wasn’t too sure about the green stuff. Everything else was really tasty.

And the cost? 36 euros for both of us, including a Coke. I thought that was pretty good.

The window was a different story, though. But we didn’t care, we just wanted it fixed. We sat in the lovely air conditioning at the Mercedes dealer while we waited. A man came and made us a short black. It was pretty nice.

Then the man we spoke to earlier came out and asked what was wrong with the van. Seriously, we’d shown him an hour earlier. He’d gotten the glass for us. A panic rippled through me, wondering if they’d fixed the wrong thing.

But no, something had just gotten lost in translation. The staff thought they were fixing the mirror. But it was just a misunderstanding, and they had the glass for the window and went about fixing it.

We didn’t get Bertie back until 4.30 pm, with the grand total of 300 euros. Nothing is ever cheap at Mercedes, but we were just pleased they were able to fix it. We realised how fortunate we were.

Then we had to do the shopping at long last. This involved going to two supermarkets as Lidl didn’t have what we wanted. What sort of supermarket doesn’t sell AAA batteries?

Anyway, we were finally back on the road by 6 pm. I was absolutely exhausted, shattered like my side window, and a little traumatised by the day. But Mike seemed fine and was happy to drive.

It was 8 pm by the time we got to another old whitewashed town with a castle. The car park for camping cars also had a beautiful view over the lakes below. And as per our new thing, we hiked up to the top to watch the sunset.

This was another amazing town, quite different from the others. It reminded me of those villages in Greece, with the white walls, flowers on the sides and cats on every corner.

Except we only saw one cat, and it decided to take a shit right where we were enjoying the sunset. Then a couple of guys came along and gave us a dirty look, as if we’d made the smell.

Anyway, we moved away from the putrid stench and found a better spot for the sunset. We had a look around the ruins of the castle too. It was absolutely gorgeous and I felt like the day had redeemed itself.

At 9.30 pm we were back at Bertie and it was still stinking hot. So we sat outside and had a beer, watching the last of the remaining light disappear.

Today was a rest day. It was only forecast to be 29 degrees, which seemed like a good excuse to stay put. Not that we needed much convincing. Our camp overlooking Marvão has amazing views, plenty of shade, and we love it here.

We are both feeling a bit flat today and I thought it was just the heat. But we’re coming up to that six-week mark, which I’ve always said is the sweet spot for travel. Up until now everything has been new and exciting, but after six weeks it starts to become normal. You settle into a routine and some of the novelty wears off. Add in the heat and it can be hard to find the motivation to do much. 

Most of the day was spent trying to work out a route south through Spain using the back roads. It sounds simple enough, but it’s proving harder than expected. We have about a week before the temperatures start creeping back towards 40 degrees, so we’d quite like to make some progress before then.

We do actually have a goal, believe it or not, and that’s to reach the southernmost tip of mainland Europe. We made it to the northernmost tip last year, so it feels only right to complete the set.

This evening we walked back up through the narrow streets of Marvão to the castle and watched the sun set once again. The haze from the Sahara dust has made for incredibly orange sunsets, and the whitewashed houses glowed in the evening light. And tonight, the streets were deserted.

We wandered around the castle for a bit, had a poo in their toilets and then found a spot to watch the sun go down. 

And it didn’t disappoint. 

One minute you’re staring at maps wondering where to go next, and the next you’re watching the sun set from a castle overlooking the Portuguese countryside. It was the best way to shake off that flat feeling. Or maybe it was just having a poo.

There were no mad roads today, just normal twisty roads with a white line down the middle for most of it. After the last few weeks it felt very civilised.

The area has now opened up into more farmland. Mike noticed a lot of high wire fences topped with barbed wire. When I googled it, it was apparently to keep wild boar out.

The other thing I’ve noticed a lot in Portugal is houses covered in porcelain tiles. They look really decorative, and when I googled it, apparently the shiny surface helps reflect the heat and also helps insulate the houses. And they look pretty.

I’m getting sick of the frikking heat though. 38 degrees again today. And it feels really oppressive even when it’s only 33 degrees for some reason. Usually 33 is a tolerable temperature, so I googled that too.

Apparently this heat wave is caused by an African heat dome. And the fact that there isn’t even the slightest breeze makes it feel suffocating. That and all that Sahara dust, I guess. Thanks Africa!

So we drove for most of the day in the heat. We did stop at a town which looked neat, up in the hills. There were 450-million-year-old fossils embedded in the rocks. So we took a walk to see if we could find them.

But of course it was the heat of the day. We trudged through the narrow cobblestoned streets, all uphill of course. I can see why all the buildings are made of stones here, as we’ve been driving through fields of rocks for weeks.

At the top, it was then a steep downhill walk to a swimming hole in the rocks and to view the fossils. But we didn’t bring water with us. What were we thinking? So with no water and the heat, we decided we weren’t that keen. Maybe we’ll look at a photo of it instead.

We were ready for lunch, but with Bertie sitting in full sun, we moved on to find a better spot. We re-fuelled the van (expensive in Portugal) and continued on our way with the A/C blasting on full.

I took a little detour down to a river spot, hoping to find some shade so we could eat our lunch. It’s a river that separates Spain and Portugal. Apparently you can sleep on the Spain side, but not the Portugal side.

We found a little spot in the shade to stop and eat overlooking the river. There was a little beach on the river and I found it odd that at 1pm on a Saturday it wasn’t heaving with kids. In NZ it definitely would have been. Maybe they are all chilling out inside in their air conditioning, which is probably the sensible thing to do. Apparently that’s the Portuguese way. Hibernate between 11am and 5pm.

After lunch, we decided to drive to Spain. It was just across a little ford-type bridge, with no sides. But there was no shade in Spain, so we left. A couple of people were there by then, having a swim, and that made it seem more normal.

We drove for the rest of the day, enjoying the cool of Berties A/C. At one point we got onto a narrow road and the police passed us. Then shortly after, Mike noticed them tailgating us. Uh-oh. So when we got to the main road, Mike pulled off to let them past. Thankfully they did.

I was navigating to a town called Marvão. That lady we met from the Lakes District a week back recommended it. I just hoped that it might have cooled down by the time we arrived.

It was 6.30pm by the time I saw it: a village and castle perched on top of the hill. “That’s where we’re going!” I said to Mike. I just hoped there would be space left at the camping car place.

When we arrived I was ridiculously pleased. Not only was there space, there was shade. I could have jumped out and hugged the trees, but the giant ants around here are terrifying. It was still 33 degrees, but manageable out of the sun.

We had dinner. Mike had wraps and I had hummus and crackers and a salad. I can’t remember the last time we cooked! Or ate meat!

Then we waited until 8pm to take a walk up to the castle. It was still 32 degrees at 8pm, and the steep climb up to the town was brutal. But by the time we reached the castle the sky had turned bright orange. It looked like we were in for another beautiful sunset.

And even better, the castle was still open to look around. It’s just ruins, but it was still pretty cool, and an amazing spot to watch the sunset. Unlike the other night when we were all alone, there were a handful of people there to enjoy it with us.

I think I might start a series called Castles at Sunset! We didn’t get back to our van until about 10pm, and it was now cool enough to go inside and have a game of Monopoly Deal before bed.