Thursday 15th November Day 70: Winds were very light.. We loaded ourselves up with kite gear and set off on our bikes to the beach. The wind seemed even lighter on the beach than at the van. SJ used the frenzy while I set up the large scorpion. After ½ hr of running around I got the kite in the air. We both practiced some riding blind etc. The wind picked up enough to try some unhooked rotations but it wasn’t much fun. In the evening we went into town to escape the van. We found a restaurant and ate some really good fish.
Friday 16th November Day 71: We left Peniche. The wind seemed to have moved to an easterly which A) meant gusts B) v little beach to ride on C) fookin cold. I didn’t sign up for this sort of cold! We made our way to a campsite in Madelena just south of Porto. There is a nice beach here, useless for kiting tho.. It seems to be much colder and I am not looking forward to the next couple of weeks of campsite showers. They are generally ok but the shower blocks are usually devoid of heating and windows, not good.
Saturday 17th November Day 72: Went into Porto to have a look. Interesting journey in through v narrow streets you wouldn’t want to drive a car along let alone a bus! Beautiful city in the sunshine. Looked at lots of churches again, did a bit of light clothes shopping. Ste was v pleased to find a suitable man bag and winter coat. Wandered across the awesome iron bridge on the upper level and then down to the river side for some lunch in the sunshine. Took a tour of a port lodge in the afternoon and did some tasting. Ste had to take the camera off me as I kept taking the same photo of the houses on the edge of the Douro in different light. Got the bus back, Ste was going
green because of the twisty journey and greasy lunch.
Sunday 18th November Day 73: Had a run along the wooden walkways by the beach before leaving Madalena. Drove North first stop Esposende. Saw some interesting motorbike racing on the motorway, apparently a big biker community North of Porto. Esposende was very pretty river estuary, again another awesome flat water spot had there been any wind. Hazy sunshine and cold today. After lunch drove on to Viana. Campsite is right next to beach and we were lucky enough to get a brief evening session as the wind had picked up a bit. Pleased able to do first 540 back rolls to toeside. V cold in evening had to try and warm up van with hairdryer.
Monday 19th November Day 74: V bad night sleep after being terrorised til 4am by kamikaze mosquito. Don’t know where the bugger kept hiding but he escaped Steve twice and me once, though without my contact lenses there was v little chance of hitting him. Discovered he’d got Steve in the end just to the right of the eyebrow. Had porridge for brekkie it was so cold. Pissing it down pretty much all day, got stuck at the toilet block when light rain turned into downpour. Brief trip to supermarket and rest of day in the van. Finally persuaded Steve to put the heating on, no longer have to rely on heat from one candle and the hairdryer. Awesome hot air system had the van up to a nice temperature in no time. Found and executed mosquito.
Tuesday 20th November Day 75: Got up to bright sunshine. Didn’t last for long. Had a run and then headed into Viana as tide was in and it started drizzling. Got the little ferry across and spent some time roaming the streets. Nice town with some funky clothes shops. Went up to see the church on top of the hill. Took the funicular up...was frigging scary and vv fast and steep. View from the top was cool, could see the boat yard, the bay and fields behind the sand dunes. Looked a bit like Rio and seems to have a weird tropical microclimate, probably why there are still mosquitoes. After a large pizza for lunch found some internet and booked the ferry home. Sad times but nearing the end of this part of the journey and had enough of nights in the van with zero entertainment.
Wednesday 21st November Day 76: Started the day unsure whether to drive on to Spain or see if the weather cleared and we could get a last session. The sun came out so we decided to stay. Spent the morning sorting out all the kit and packing-up kites. After lunch ummed and ahhed about whether to landboard on the small bit of sand available or risk the cold and kitesurf. Steve decided to kitesurf, I ducked out as I had a cold. Ste had a good session in the waves with the 13m instinct edge whilst I worked on my filming skills. He confirmed that it was v cold when he came in, but nothing a hot shower and cup of tea wouldn’t sort out. SD it was indeed very cold, my feet and other appendages were freezing, it was fun tho...
Thursday 22nd November Day 77: We drove out of Viana and up the valley of the Rio Lima into the Peneda Geres national park. The views were v scenic, lots of wooded hills, ye olde style building and terraces with vines on. We stopped when we reached the Spanish border for a couple of photos and then drove on. The scenery changed once we entered Spain, it seemed harsher and there was more deforestation (SD: the Portuguese are very into trees). After a while we reached the Sanabria National Park where we planned to stay the night. It was really picturesque with wooden cabins, lakes and woods everywhere. The weather was a lot colder and there was a dusting of snow on the surrounding hills. Unfortunately the campsite we planned to stay in was closed. We had some pasta and re-fuelled then decided to drive onwards to a campsite a bit South of Leon which was open. Up on the plains the landscape was pretty barren with lots of farming but still pretty nice with the sun setting behind us. When we reached the campsite it looked a touch on the salubrious side so I made Steve go into the “motel” at the side. The place wasn’t very appealing and when he came out we decided to drive onwards until we got tired. After another hour or so we were well and truly in the mountains, getting tired and irritable. We took a turn off the motorway and ended up on a single track road in the outback. With no sign of anywhere suitable to wildcamp Ste took over the driving. We headed back over the motorway to a town which may have a suitable place. There was a huge cement factory with lots of train tracks and after a couple of turnarounds we found somewhere by the railway track where a couple of lorries were parked-up. Finally stopped we cooked up some dinner and then went to sleep.
Friday 23rd November Day 78: We woke-up in Mataporquera with a good view over the frosty mountains. It had been a cold night and there was ice on the puddles on the railway track. The van took a while to warm-up before we had breakfast. Back on the road we were glad we had stopped in the mountains or we would have missed the scenic views of the Picos de Europa on the drive down. It only took an hour or so to reach our final stop before the ferry at Santillana del Mar. This part of Spain is really green and it would be nice to spend some time exploring it when it’s a bit warmer. The mountain biking looks really cool. We had a look round the medieval town and brought some artesan products for presents. The rest of the day was spent eating the remaining food we had and trying to pack some of our stuff.
Saturday 24th November Day 79: It was only an hour or so drive to get to Bilbao. A supposedly stress-free journey before jumping on the ferry. Unfortunately heavy rain during the night meant that the van had little chance of clearing the waterlogged mud and getting back on the tarmac. Our fears were confirmed when the wheels starting spinning. Steve was dispatched to head to the back and push in the rain. With very little weight in the front and a front wheel drive we still weren’t going anywhere. After searching for something to put under the wheels and provide a little grip we got the door mat and tried shoving it under the front tyre. Luckily this did manage to get us moving, and after a couple tries, more pushing and swearing we managed to get onto the tarmac. Relieved that we weren’t going to miss the ferry we drove on to Bilbao. We waited for some time to board the ferry but finally got the van on and found our cabin. We were a little disappointed at the size of the cabin though surprised that it had an en suite. The boat itself had a lot of space and things to do, but little to entertain without parting with your cash. Clientele were predominately booze cruisers whose sole aim was to drink throughout the trip and buy as many cigarettes as possible. Once the sun went down the seas got increasingly rough and Steve started to suffer from sea sickness. After a light meal of salad and fruit we got an early night.
Sunday 25th November Day 80: The disco had only gone on until 2.30am so we had a fairly decent night’s sleep. The sea was calmer and Steve had got his sea legs and so managed a full English for breakfast. We passed the time reading and playing on the PSP and finally got off the ship at Portsmouth at about 7 in the evening. 80 days, 3 countries and 4,000+ miles we were back on home soil.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Portugal onwards
Thursday 1st November Day 56: We hit the road and within 20 minutes had passed the border into Portugal. There were no border formalities. Within a few miles the countryside did feel slightly different to Spain, there seemed to be less rubbish for a start. Our first stop was cabanas de Tavira. When we pulled up we could see a couple of Instincts across the river estuary on the island. After a wander, finding the kiteshop and a bit of faffing we got a small boat across the river to the sandbank / island with some kit. Typically, by the time we got there the wind had dropped off and it wasn’t enough to kitesurf. The locals were really friendly and the local kiteshop owner was keen to gauge our interest in buying some Ozones. We had seen the second hand kites on the web and were interested anyway so we were happy to have a go on her 07 11m instinct sport. We both agreed that it was indeed a nice kite and faster tuning than the 06 and made an arrangement to meet at 0930 (luckily as the clocks are back another hour this wasn’t as early as we thought) the next day to try a 13m sport and 9m light. After some sitting we caught the boat back across and moved on to the campsite at Olhao (which definitely isn’t pronounced how you expect it). The campsite was really nice, but busy (prompting a short-lived dispute about whose responsibility it was to select the optimum pitch) and the pitch we eventually found was at the back overlooking the salt flats. In the evening we set off on the bikes to look around the local area and found ourselves making an impromptu visit to the local nature reserve which was really stunning in the evening sun. The whole area around Ria Formosa is lovely and the coast is a series of sandbars, lagoons and little islands which looks ideal for kiting.
Friday 2nd November Day 57: An early start to head back to Tavira Cabanas. The sun woke us up anyway and we made it to the kite shop by 09:30. The shop owner took us across the ria and we spent about an hour trying out 13m Instinct Edge, 12m Light and 11m Sport. You can definitely tell the difference in the way the kites are designed. There wasn’t enough wind to get on the water so we only had the chance to static fly. Limited by the choice available to us in second hand kites we decided that the 13m Edge and 9m Light would probably be a good addition to our quiver. Back on dry land we headed to the cash machine to withdraw some money for our purchases. Unfortunately the machine got a little upset and swallowed Steve’s card. Despite protesting with the cashiers we were told we couldn’t get it back for another three and a half hours. We filled the time having a great meal at the local restaurant which did a very tasty and reasonable prato del dia, and reading the latest kitesurf mag the shop owner had lent us. Finally we got the cash and the kites and headed back to the campsite....stressful day!
Saturday 3rd November Day 58: We headed off early to check out Fuseta, a short way back up the road to Olhao where it looked like there woud be lots of little lagoons and islands to explore. We got there early but the wind was only about 12-14mph and there was no-one else out so we thought we’d head to the lagoon at faro where the wind was supposed to be a bit stronger. After a short detour due to a missed exit we turned off to the Praia da Faro. We could see at least 20+ kites on the lagoon as we drove down. The only drawback was that the beach / lagoon was a good 25 minute walk from the parking. We only took the 13m Instinct Edge as the wind seemed quite light. When we finally got there we both had a good time trying out the 13m on the flat water. Although the Edge is high aspect we both found it really stable and a nice fly in the conditions. After a couple of hours we packed up as the wind had died and the lagoon was emptying. We regretted our lack of foresight as we hadn’t brought any water or food with us to the beach. By the time we got back to the van we were both v thirsty. We drove on to a campsite at Quarteira and refuelled.
Sunday 4th November Day 59: Unable to find internet we were unsure whether to head on down the coast or go back to the lagoon at Faro. As it seemed pretty windy we decided to go back to Faro as the lagoon had been mint the day before. It was a bit windier so Steve took the 11m and I brought along the 9m Light to see what it was like. Steve headed out first and had a good session doing grabs, transitions and rotations. I tried the 9m for a bit but it needed the back lines and 5th line shortening a bit so was quite twitchy first time out. It wasn’t really windy enough for it so I stole Steve’s 11m instead and practiced some lame jumps, toeside and carves. At about half two we made the long trek back and then got some good food at the cafe. We decided to head on to Amarcao that night and found a campsite. Had pasta.
Monday 5th November Day 60: We made the decision to go onwards to Alvor to see if the river mouth there would be a good spot. The beach was really nice and after a wander down to the breakwater to check out the lagoon it felt like the wind would be ok. Unfortunately once we’d got our kit together and started our journey down the path it felt like the wind had dropped. We climbed the nearest sand due and concluded that the wind was indeed a lot lighter but decided to carry on to the lagoon and hope it would pick-up. We waited a couple of hours reading, scaring off sand flies and trying out the 13m but there definitely wasn’t enough. As soon as we packed up and started back to the van it picked up a bit but when we got back and checked with the wind meter it was only 12mph or so. We drove on to Sagres. After Lagos the development petered out and the countryside improved. Down at the tip the beach at Martinhaal looked cool but the developers were already moving in. We went to the lighthouse for a gander and then found he campsite.
Tuesday 6th November Day 61: Up early we cycled to the nearest beach to have a look and watch the birds. The area around Sagres is lovely with lots of migrating birds and pine forests. We spent the day up at Carrapateira where we were told you could landboard. But there was no wind and the sand definitely wasn’t hard enough so we just enjoyed the sun and swam.
Wednesday 7th November Day 62 (two months in!): We left Sagres early and headed properly North for the first time on our trip. The countryside of the Alejanto made for some nice chilled driving and enjoying the view. We stopped briefly at Porto Covo for a stroll but then decided to go on to a lagoon further up the coast in case there was wind. There was no wind and little to keep us there so after a brief sandwich we went back to Porto Covo which was more visually appealing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. SD fell asleep on the beach and got a little sunburnt. Later on our mission to find a restaurant which was open was unsuccessful so we spent another night in the van (SD I had noticed that most of the restaurants/business seemed to be closed until mid-November but SJ didn’t take any notice).
Thursday 8th November Day 63: With no wind days forecast we headed inland to the town of Evora. The drive was nice and rustic with varying quality of road surface (SD mainly a convex bumpy road surface that caused the van to rattle worryingly). We wandered into Evora and had a look at the roman ruins, numerous igrejas, pracas and parks. After coffee and some quality cakes we decided we didn’t want to wait another 2 hours until the restaurants opened and so headed back to the campsite for another night in the van.
Friday 9th November Day 64: We drove on to Costa Caparica so we would be in Lisbon for Saturday. Much of the beach is being re-developed so there were lots of vistas of concrete. We finally made it to a restaurant for a good meal out having a top-notch mariscos com arroz and coffee at a restaurant on the front.....then headed back to the campsite for yet another night in the van.
Saturday 10th November Day 65: Up early we got the bus followed by metro into Lisbon. Did lots of sightseeing and wandering, and also had a great lunch in a restaurant just outside the Barrio Alto. SD- We found the top of the elevator that is made of ironwork (Elevador de Santa Justa), the view from the top was great although my legs turned to jelly after the dodgy spiral staircase to get up.
We had loads of time in the afternoon so we got the tram to Belem and grabbed a ferry across the Tejo to Costa Caparica. On the way we decided that kitesurfing on the Tejo was definitely out as not only is there some petrochemical depots, a kick arse current (I imagine) it was also full of jellyfish.
Sunday 11th November Day 66: Sarah was 28 today...woohoo! we drove to Foz do Arelho and celebrated by spending the night in the van and drinking. Steve made a card out of tinfoil (SD- It was a craftwork masterpiece!!).
Monday 12th November Day 67: Still no wind and forecast for the rest of the week looks poor. Went for a run, cleaned the van, did the washing and found some internet.
Tuesday 13th November Day 68: Left Foz as wind definitely wasn’t going to be nearly enough for kitesurfing. Headed to Peniche to see whether there was any potential for landboarding. Found the main beach behind the dunes. The tide was heading back in but the sand was hard enough for landboarding and there was a good 8mph or so of wind. We had some lunch then got the 12m frenzy out for some light wind action. We practiced surface handle passes and blind riding until the water got too high then headed to the campsite. The campsite was only a short distance from the beach which made a nice change as we wouldn’t have to drive anywhere to ride. After sorting out the van we wandered into town to have a look at the place, find internet and get some food. Once it got dark we headed back and spent another exciting evening in da van.
Wednesday 14th November Day 69: There was no wind when we first got up but after some food, when Steve started to take his bike apart, it began to pick-up. Bike back together (and clicking which he had thought was a broken bottom bracket resolved by simply tightening the bracket) we got our kit together and biked to the beach. The wind gradually picked up as the tide came in and Ste enjoyed practising on the 13m instinct whilst I flew the 12m Frenzy. We both had a good session, Ste managed a pop-shovit and I nailed some more 540s from toeside, got my 360s more inverted and worked on riding blind. After some lunch we went out on the bikes again cycled out around the headland, explored the town some more and had coffee and pastries.
Friday 2nd November Day 57: An early start to head back to Tavira Cabanas. The sun woke us up anyway and we made it to the kite shop by 09:30. The shop owner took us across the ria and we spent about an hour trying out 13m Instinct Edge, 12m Light and 11m Sport. You can definitely tell the difference in the way the kites are designed. There wasn’t enough wind to get on the water so we only had the chance to static fly. Limited by the choice available to us in second hand kites we decided that the 13m Edge and 9m Light would probably be a good addition to our quiver. Back on dry land we headed to the cash machine to withdraw some money for our purchases. Unfortunately the machine got a little upset and swallowed Steve’s card. Despite protesting with the cashiers we were told we couldn’t get it back for another three and a half hours. We filled the time having a great meal at the local restaurant which did a very tasty and reasonable prato del dia, and reading the latest kitesurf mag the shop owner had lent us. Finally we got the cash and the kites and headed back to the campsite....stressful day!
Saturday 3rd November Day 58: We headed off early to check out Fuseta, a short way back up the road to Olhao where it looked like there woud be lots of little lagoons and islands to explore. We got there early but the wind was only about 12-14mph and there was no-one else out so we thought we’d head to the lagoon at faro where the wind was supposed to be a bit stronger. After a short detour due to a missed exit we turned off to the Praia da Faro. We could see at least 20+ kites on the lagoon as we drove down. The only drawback was that the beach / lagoon was a good 25 minute walk from the parking. We only took the 13m Instinct Edge as the wind seemed quite light. When we finally got there we both had a good time trying out the 13m on the flat water. Although the Edge is high aspect we both found it really stable and a nice fly in the conditions. After a couple of hours we packed up as the wind had died and the lagoon was emptying. We regretted our lack of foresight as we hadn’t brought any water or food with us to the beach. By the time we got back to the van we were both v thirsty. We drove on to a campsite at Quarteira and refuelled.
Sunday 4th November Day 59: Unable to find internet we were unsure whether to head on down the coast or go back to the lagoon at Faro. As it seemed pretty windy we decided to go back to Faro as the lagoon had been mint the day before. It was a bit windier so Steve took the 11m and I brought along the 9m Light to see what it was like. Steve headed out first and had a good session doing grabs, transitions and rotations. I tried the 9m for a bit but it needed the back lines and 5th line shortening a bit so was quite twitchy first time out. It wasn’t really windy enough for it so I stole Steve’s 11m instead and practiced some lame jumps, toeside and carves. At about half two we made the long trek back and then got some good food at the cafe. We decided to head on to Amarcao that night and found a campsite. Had pasta.
Monday 5th November Day 60: We made the decision to go onwards to Alvor to see if the river mouth there would be a good spot. The beach was really nice and after a wander down to the breakwater to check out the lagoon it felt like the wind would be ok. Unfortunately once we’d got our kit together and started our journey down the path it felt like the wind had dropped. We climbed the nearest sand due and concluded that the wind was indeed a lot lighter but decided to carry on to the lagoon and hope it would pick-up. We waited a couple of hours reading, scaring off sand flies and trying out the 13m but there definitely wasn’t enough. As soon as we packed up and started back to the van it picked up a bit but when we got back and checked with the wind meter it was only 12mph or so. We drove on to Sagres. After Lagos the development petered out and the countryside improved. Down at the tip the beach at Martinhaal looked cool but the developers were already moving in. We went to the lighthouse for a gander and then found he campsite.
Tuesday 6th November Day 61: Up early we cycled to the nearest beach to have a look and watch the birds. The area around Sagres is lovely with lots of migrating birds and pine forests. We spent the day up at Carrapateira where we were told you could landboard. But there was no wind and the sand definitely wasn’t hard enough so we just enjoyed the sun and swam.
Wednesday 7th November Day 62 (two months in!): We left Sagres early and headed properly North for the first time on our trip. The countryside of the Alejanto made for some nice chilled driving and enjoying the view. We stopped briefly at Porto Covo for a stroll but then decided to go on to a lagoon further up the coast in case there was wind. There was no wind and little to keep us there so after a brief sandwich we went back to Porto Covo which was more visually appealing. We spent the rest of the day on the beach. SD fell asleep on the beach and got a little sunburnt. Later on our mission to find a restaurant which was open was unsuccessful so we spent another night in the van (SD I had noticed that most of the restaurants/business seemed to be closed until mid-November but SJ didn’t take any notice).
Thursday 8th November Day 63: With no wind days forecast we headed inland to the town of Evora. The drive was nice and rustic with varying quality of road surface (SD mainly a convex bumpy road surface that caused the van to rattle worryingly). We wandered into Evora and had a look at the roman ruins, numerous igrejas, pracas and parks. After coffee and some quality cakes we decided we didn’t want to wait another 2 hours until the restaurants opened and so headed back to the campsite for another night in the van.
Friday 9th November Day 64: We drove on to Costa Caparica so we would be in Lisbon for Saturday. Much of the beach is being re-developed so there were lots of vistas of concrete. We finally made it to a restaurant for a good meal out having a top-notch mariscos com arroz and coffee at a restaurant on the front.....then headed back to the campsite for yet another night in the van.
Saturday 10th November Day 65: Up early we got the bus followed by metro into Lisbon. Did lots of sightseeing and wandering, and also had a great lunch in a restaurant just outside the Barrio Alto. SD- We found the top of the elevator that is made of ironwork (Elevador de Santa Justa), the view from the top was great although my legs turned to jelly after the dodgy spiral staircase to get up.
We had loads of time in the afternoon so we got the tram to Belem and grabbed a ferry across the Tejo to Costa Caparica. On the way we decided that kitesurfing on the Tejo was definitely out as not only is there some petrochemical depots, a kick arse current (I imagine) it was also full of jellyfish.
Sunday 11th November Day 66: Sarah was 28 today...woohoo! we drove to Foz do Arelho and celebrated by spending the night in the van and drinking. Steve made a card out of tinfoil (SD- It was a craftwork masterpiece!!).
Monday 12th November Day 67: Still no wind and forecast for the rest of the week looks poor. Went for a run, cleaned the van, did the washing and found some internet.
Tuesday 13th November Day 68: Left Foz as wind definitely wasn’t going to be nearly enough for kitesurfing. Headed to Peniche to see whether there was any potential for landboarding. Found the main beach behind the dunes. The tide was heading back in but the sand was hard enough for landboarding and there was a good 8mph or so of wind. We had some lunch then got the 12m frenzy out for some light wind action. We practiced surface handle passes and blind riding until the water got too high then headed to the campsite. The campsite was only a short distance from the beach which made a nice change as we wouldn’t have to drive anywhere to ride. After sorting out the van we wandered into town to have a look at the place, find internet and get some food. Once it got dark we headed back and spent another exciting evening in da van.
Wednesday 14th November Day 69: There was no wind when we first got up but after some food, when Steve started to take his bike apart, it began to pick-up. Bike back together (and clicking which he had thought was a broken bottom bracket resolved by simply tightening the bracket) we got our kit together and biked to the beach. The wind gradually picked up as the tide came in and Ste enjoyed practising on the 13m instinct whilst I flew the 12m Frenzy. We both had a good session, Ste managed a pop-shovit and I nailed some more 540s from toeside, got my 360s more inverted and worked on riding blind. After some lunch we went out on the bikes again cycled out around the headland, explored the town some more and had coffee and pastries.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Tarifa - Isla Cistina
Thursday 25th October 2007 Day 49: Luckily the rain cleared and the day was sunny if getting a little cold. We went down to the local beach but the wind was cross-off and not getting up to much so we decided to go to Los Lances again. We went a bit further down this time as the lagoon seemed to be flooding all the way down because of the high tide (full moon). Steve went straight out on the instinct and was loving the flat water. He tried some new moves as I took some photos. After a while I got my board and stole the kite off Steve to see how I got on with the Instinct. The lagoon was running down so I headed for the waves instead and had some fun. When we both tired we packed up and got a coffee and some internet at the local cafe.
Friday 26th October 2007 Day 50: The day dawned with bright sunshine and no clouds. We spent some time sorting out the van and then went to have a look to see if the wind would pick up. There wasn’t enough so we went to Bolonia round the corner to see what the beach was like. It was really nice but still very calm so we spent our time climbing the sand dune and having a look at the roman ruins.
Saturday 27th October Day 51: Our last day in Tarifa. We spent the morning chilling out and practising flat 3s off a bar Steve had strung from a tree. It seemed to work well as a way of practising the handle pass and body movements, and by the end the move made a lot more sense to us. The wind was Llevante again and gusty at Valdevaqueros so later in the afternoon we had a look at the lagoon to see if it was any better and get some petrol for the journey. Steve couldn’t resist the flat water so we put our boardies on, grabbed our boards and set-up the Instinct. There was hardly anyone out compared to previous weekends and the evening it was Poniente. Steve soon discovered why....a couple of tacks down the lagoon and the wind had picked up a lot and was really no fun. Within 10 minutes or so he was back complaining about the gusts and we were packing up. That evening we went for a final meal at 100% fun and enjoyed their vanilla and hot raspberry sauce ice cream special.
Sunday 28th October Day 52: We left the campsite fairly early and made our way to Seville. The journey was nice and easy and the countryside was really pretty with rolling farmland and not much rubbish. We saw a lot of Spaniards out on Sunday shoots with their dogs. We also saw 100s of the same VW car and thought we were having déjà vu until we saw a sign to the VW test run. The campsite on the outskirts of Seville didn’t have the most accurate of directions but we got there in the end.
Monday 29th October Day 53: We got up slowly and headed into Seville for mid-morning. First impressions of the city were good. Lots of tree lined roads, fountains and interesting architecture. We spent some time wandering around, getting a feel for the place and trying to work out how to get into the Alcazar. Unfortunately it was closed so instead we headed for the Cathedral and the Giralda tower which gave a great view of the city. The rest of day was spent having some leisurely tapas, wandering the shops and the river bank and eating ice cream. There wasn’t all that much going on because it was a Monday so once we got tired we headed back to the van. We picked up a selection of cheese and some red wine on the way home. The cheese we kept buying always seemed to be quite tasteless so we decided to try a whole variety. After tasting all 8 cheeses we learnt that sheep cheese (oveja) was definitely the nicest, goat (cabra) was pretty good (as always), curado and semi curado were a bit tasteless really, queso do Idiazabal is alright (bit like port salut, sort of), and tierno doesn’t taste of much. After the cheese we settled down to watch the first episode of spooks as we’d finally got access to the internet for long enough to download something.
Tuesday 30th October Day 54: After a short detour to Decathalon and Carrefour we left Seville and travelled west towards Portugal. We had one last stop in Spain before crossing the border. West of Huelva we headed to the coast to check out the spots at Isla Cristina / Canela. Although the town was pretty touristy the stretch of coast between Antilla and Cristina was really nice so we decided to stay at the local campsite. We went for a run in the afternoon and spent some time mincing. The highlight of the day was when we discovered that the Gnocchi we’d brought had a free gift of an inflatable magnetic dartboard and three darts. Awesome! We quickly inflated the yellow plastic ring and with the aid of some dental floss Steve strung it from the cupboard door above the cab. A challenge was laid down for the first to 500 points. Sarah quickly took the lead whilst Steve lost concentration trying to decide whether it was easier to throw the darts from the sitting position Sarah adopted, or the standing position he originally went for. The game was tense but Steve never quite regained composure and despite the late introduction of an “exact points” rule Sarah managed to hit the magical 500 with two stunning final throws which hit exactly the “10 and “25” she needed. Steve’s misery at losing was further compounded when five minutes later we left the van to do the washing up and he discovered a pigeon had recently shat on his flip-flop. This hadn’t been the first bird-shitting incident of the trip; Steve had unfortunately been the victim of a direct hit by a swallow whilst waiting in a queue at the Alhambra. He wondered whether the avian world was getting revenge for air rifle days in his formative years or whether he was just unlucky.
Wednesday 31st October Day 55: We walked a few miles along the beach. There were a few guys in the water pumping on a handle, it was only later we realised this was some sort of shellfish sifting technique It looked cold and hard work as they were hit by small waves. Sarah wanted to see what was on the other side of a harbour wall. Unfortunately there was a channel of unknown depth before the wall so we turned around and had a little walk through the town, which was ok. There was a little wind in the afternoon so I took some kites onto the beach. I just managed to get the kite wet and almost dump the kite on a Spaniard’s head.
As November 1st is All Saints Day there was open air raves starting on the beach near the camp site from around at 7pm. There seemed to be about 3 competing sets of music, with the rubbish Spanish hip-hop winning. I think the last of the music died at around 6am. We really had to feel for the mainly older people on the campsite.
Friday 26th October 2007 Day 50: The day dawned with bright sunshine and no clouds. We spent some time sorting out the van and then went to have a look to see if the wind would pick up. There wasn’t enough so we went to Bolonia round the corner to see what the beach was like. It was really nice but still very calm so we spent our time climbing the sand dune and having a look at the roman ruins.
Saturday 27th October Day 51: Our last day in Tarifa. We spent the morning chilling out and practising flat 3s off a bar Steve had strung from a tree. It seemed to work well as a way of practising the handle pass and body movements, and by the end the move made a lot more sense to us. The wind was Llevante again and gusty at Valdevaqueros so later in the afternoon we had a look at the lagoon to see if it was any better and get some petrol for the journey. Steve couldn’t resist the flat water so we put our boardies on, grabbed our boards and set-up the Instinct. There was hardly anyone out compared to previous weekends and the evening it was Poniente. Steve soon discovered why....a couple of tacks down the lagoon and the wind had picked up a lot and was really no fun. Within 10 minutes or so he was back complaining about the gusts and we were packing up. That evening we went for a final meal at 100% fun and enjoyed their vanilla and hot raspberry sauce ice cream special.
Sunday 28th October Day 52: We left the campsite fairly early and made our way to Seville. The journey was nice and easy and the countryside was really pretty with rolling farmland and not much rubbish. We saw a lot of Spaniards out on Sunday shoots with their dogs. We also saw 100s of the same VW car and thought we were having déjà vu until we saw a sign to the VW test run. The campsite on the outskirts of Seville didn’t have the most accurate of directions but we got there in the end.
Monday 29th October Day 53: We got up slowly and headed into Seville for mid-morning. First impressions of the city were good. Lots of tree lined roads, fountains and interesting architecture. We spent some time wandering around, getting a feel for the place and trying to work out how to get into the Alcazar. Unfortunately it was closed so instead we headed for the Cathedral and the Giralda tower which gave a great view of the city. The rest of day was spent having some leisurely tapas, wandering the shops and the river bank and eating ice cream. There wasn’t all that much going on because it was a Monday so once we got tired we headed back to the van. We picked up a selection of cheese and some red wine on the way home. The cheese we kept buying always seemed to be quite tasteless so we decided to try a whole variety. After tasting all 8 cheeses we learnt that sheep cheese (oveja) was definitely the nicest, goat (cabra) was pretty good (as always), curado and semi curado were a bit tasteless really, queso do Idiazabal is alright (bit like port salut, sort of), and tierno doesn’t taste of much. After the cheese we settled down to watch the first episode of spooks as we’d finally got access to the internet for long enough to download something.
Tuesday 30th October Day 54: After a short detour to Decathalon and Carrefour we left Seville and travelled west towards Portugal. We had one last stop in Spain before crossing the border. West of Huelva we headed to the coast to check out the spots at Isla Cristina / Canela. Although the town was pretty touristy the stretch of coast between Antilla and Cristina was really nice so we decided to stay at the local campsite. We went for a run in the afternoon and spent some time mincing. The highlight of the day was when we discovered that the Gnocchi we’d brought had a free gift of an inflatable magnetic dartboard and three darts. Awesome! We quickly inflated the yellow plastic ring and with the aid of some dental floss Steve strung it from the cupboard door above the cab. A challenge was laid down for the first to 500 points. Sarah quickly took the lead whilst Steve lost concentration trying to decide whether it was easier to throw the darts from the sitting position Sarah adopted, or the standing position he originally went for. The game was tense but Steve never quite regained composure and despite the late introduction of an “exact points” rule Sarah managed to hit the magical 500 with two stunning final throws which hit exactly the “10 and “25” she needed. Steve’s misery at losing was further compounded when five minutes later we left the van to do the washing up and he discovered a pigeon had recently shat on his flip-flop. This hadn’t been the first bird-shitting incident of the trip; Steve had unfortunately been the victim of a direct hit by a swallow whilst waiting in a queue at the Alhambra. He wondered whether the avian world was getting revenge for air rifle days in his formative years or whether he was just unlucky.
Wednesday 31st October Day 55: We walked a few miles along the beach. There were a few guys in the water pumping on a handle, it was only later we realised this was some sort of shellfish sifting technique It looked cold and hard work as they were hit by small waves. Sarah wanted to see what was on the other side of a harbour wall. Unfortunately there was a channel of unknown depth before the wall so we turned around and had a little walk through the town, which was ok. There was a little wind in the afternoon so I took some kites onto the beach. I just managed to get the kite wet and almost dump the kite on a Spaniard’s head.
As November 1st is All Saints Day there was open air raves starting on the beach near the camp site from around at 7pm. There seemed to be about 3 competing sets of music, with the rubbish Spanish hip-hop winning. I think the last of the music died at around 6am. We really had to feel for the mainly older people on the campsite.
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