Friday 10th May – Day 15

It was another grey start today, but we didn’t care, we had a plan. A quick drive up the coast of 80 miles or so would see us at Praia de Mira and into a better weather pattern.

On the way there was a bit of motorway jeopardy as we used our toll card and drove through the green lane, I suppose only time will tell?

We drove through the outskirts of Figueira da Foz and wanted to stop by a road sign for Andy to have a photo with his namesake. However, we were out of luck, Figueira clearly didn’t want to welcome anyone, let alone another Foz.

Our drive was eerily reminiscent of driving through SW France, very flat and sandy and large pine forests. Some of them still showed the signs of the damage caused by the serious wildfires they had here in 2017. Skeletal trees towering over new growth at ground level.

The campsite at Praia de Mira is part of the Orbitur chain as was the site at Evora and about a 10 minute bike ride from the resort centre the other side of a frog-filled lake – the frogs clearly had something to cheer about as they kept it up all night long and well into the morning.

Orbitur is a company that is clearly buying up faded campsites and doing them up. They had done a good job on the Evora shower blocks but hadn’t got around to those in Mira yet, still it was good to be camping within earshot of the sea (and the frogs).

We cycled into town to check it out and then Lesley made the suggestion that will strike fear into her children’s hearts; “How about we go on to the next village?”

12 miles and 70 minutes later we rolled up at the next village, Praia de Vagueira! That’s a long way to tow a dog chariot, even on the flat. Still, by now the sun was fully out, there was a beach bar open and a great beach to walk the dogs on. Behind the bar the thoughtful locals had even laid on one of their senior citizens to demonstrate net repairing for the benefit of the cameras.

A fast(ish) cycle back meant we arrived just as the sun was setting and the temperature dropping like a stone so a good night for a curry!