From Playas De Luz on into Portugal and Casa Chicken Run (138km)

On Thursday morning we got up to another beautiful day with a gentle costal breeze which was very welcome. The plan was to do the 25km bike route Chris had found on Wikiloc, and then head off to Portugal.

Before we headed off we had a chat to the neighbouring brits who were also heading off to Portugal today and they had driven over the border on their motorbikes yesterday to check there were no issues at the border crossing. Although they said there had been a lot of police and military doing checks, there had been no issues.

We had an amazing bike ride along dirt tracks and bike lanes, through some local towns and then a lovely route along the beach promenade before heading back into another local town and marina to pick up the little ferry back to Isla Cristina, and the final push back to the campsite. As we were at sea level everything was completely flat so the ambitious distance on a hot day proved easy with a cool breeze.

 

Once back at the Motorhome we had a quick dip in the swimming pool to cool off before packing up and having a quick sandwich before heading off to Portugal.

We crossed the border with no sign of police or military checks. 

We had already registered online for the autoroute payment so headed smoothly on past the junction we would have taken to dads if he had been in Portugal and on past Faro, Albufeira and Portimao to find our little family run campsite 'Casa chicken run' where we parked up in a big space next to some orange trees and a small pond with croaking frogs. There were chicken roaming around and a few resident dogs as there were a few long-timers here - all British. It was a strange mix between being in the middle of nowhere and in a British retirement community, although the retirees were all lovely and very welcoming.

 

 

 

Once settled, Chris and I cycled the short but very steep ride up to the local village and bought some provisions including some large steak from the butchers for supper. We then had a very peaceful evening in this charming quiet part of the world with BBQ steak and salad.

On Friday morning Jack and I headed off with Winnie for a walk while Chris had a video call for his Friday work meeting to catch up on everything at work, before heading on to Sagres for lunch.