It’s only just over 3 weeks since we arrived home, after our long bike ride back to Provence from Devon, and it’s time to head off on our last little adventure of the year. Our first long-distance A to B walk, along the coast of Portugal from Sines to Lagos.
You can Watch a short video from today, here
The last couple of days have seen us doing all those little jobs that we’re constantly putting off, simply to pass the time. But, the time has gone and by yesterday evening, the rucksacks were packed, our clothes for today were laid out, and we were tucking ourselves into bed, at 8pm, with every possible alarm set for 1.30am.
There is always something exciting about an early start to a holiday. I think it dates back to when I was a child and we would set off, in the early hours, clambering into the back seat of the car, only after we’d had a bacon sandwich. Even now, as I approach my 60th birthday, I still have that feeling of nervous excitement, and surely that’s what travel is all about.
Even though we were in bed ridiculously early, we were quickly asleep, despite the worries that the alarms may fail, (which saw us waking regularly to check the time). We needn’t have worried, as they went off bringing us out of a dead sleep, our eyes staring and our nerves jangling.
Within 30 minutes, we were showered, dressed, slightly less bleary-eyed and in the car, on our way to Marseille. The journey through the narrow back-roads, and down the twisting Combe de Lourmarin is never much fun in the daytime, but in the dead of night, with the shadowy shapes of wild boar, at the side of the road, it turns into a nerve-wracking drive.
But, today the boar stayed in the shadows, and we arrived at the airport in plenty of time. Checking in, the man on the desk raised his eyebrows as we placed our rucksacks on the belt to be weighed, and stowed in the hold. Was that all we had? Did we not have any other bags?
The simple answer was no. For the next 16 days, I will be carrying everything I need and the whole lot only weighs 5kg (without water) and Andy has 5.6kg. We enjoy travelling light, but I don’t think we’ve ever managed to cut it down, quite this far!
I always fond myself wondering what else people need to take on holiday – in fact I don’t think I own enough clothes to fill a suitcase!
Arriving in Lisbon, the first light of the new day was painting the sky with fiery shades of red, above the heavy clouds. All we could do was hope that ‘red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning’ wasn’t going to be the weather omen for our first day.
By the time we arrived in Lisbon the skies had cleared a little, as we made our way out of the city, across bay, over the incredible 17 kilometre long Vasco da Gama bridge.
We passed electricity pylons covered in stork nests, many still occupied by the graceful birds, peering over the edge. According to our driver the pylons have been redesigned to allow the birds to build their nests, without affecting the wires. They certainly seem to relish their new, safe homes.
By 10am, we were waving goodbye to the driver, and had our first look at the trail that will be our home for the next 2 weeks. And we liked what we saw.
Before us lay a boardwalk that led down towards the beach, so we pulled on our rucksacks, tightened the straps and headed off, with the sound of the surf, for company.
We soon spotted the blue and green painted marker posts for the trail and started walking along the path, with the road to our left and the Atlantic ocean to our right.
We were grinning from ear to ear. The adventure that we had booked, so many months ago, had started and now, all we had to do was walk.
We followed the road for a short distance, before turning off, by a pretty little house, and heading onto the paths across the sandy coastline.
There was a constant view of the sea, that stretched out in front of us. It was spectacular and just got even better, as the day continued.
We may have been a bit tired, after the early start, but the gentle sea breeze and the scent of the sea, woke us up a little and we walked along with a subtle spring in our step.
The path soon became very sandy, which made walking a little slower, as our feet dragged through it, but it was still easy-going.
We only had about 10km to do today, and it was nice to be able to take things slowly, enjoying the views and stopping to just absorb the fact that we were here.
We found ourselves walking alongside a stunning beach, which instantly reminded us of Widemouth Bay, in Cornwall, even more so, when we spotted that there was a surfing competition taking place.
Behind the beach was a bar, so we sat with coffee, just enjoying the bustle of the event, and watching surfers ride the waves, with an elegance that I could never have achieved, in a million years!
It was all very gentle.
But although we weren’t in any hurry, we knew we needed to get on again, so ambled on, along the beach, before finding a spot where we could climb back up, to rejoin the trail.
The trail climbed up sandy slopes, until we were high above the sea, giving us amazing views in every direction. We certainly did more stopping and staring, than walking.
We had read that the trail here is very sandy, and people had recommended getting gaiters, to help stop sand filling our shoes. Within a relatively short time, we realised that we needed to put them on, so took the opportunity to slide down a steep sandy slope, onto a deserted beach, where we could stop for lunch too.
We stripped off our shoes and socks, and cooled our feet in the sea, enjoying the peace and the sensation of the surf around our ankles
It was an idyllic spot, and we had it all to ourselves.
We sat on the sand, munching our sandwiches and letting the sun dry our feet, so that we could brush the grains away, before putting our shoes back on again, and protecting them with the gaiters.
Then we made our way back up the slope, which with the deep sand was like trying to get up the ‘Travelator’ off the Gladiators, but once on top, were happy to find our shoes were totally clear of sand, and we pottered on.
The trail stuck to the edge of the cliffs, with amazing views, along the coast towards Porto Covo….
…. before we started walking past a series of stunning coves, with rocks protecting them, the pale green waves lapping gently on the sand.
We had thought the earlier part of the coast had been like North Cornwall, but this took us back to the long walks we used to do, along the coast, when we lived there. It was stunning.
Before long, we were walking into the pretty, old town of Porto Covo, where we found a bench and sat, for a good hour, watching the waves tumble over rocks below, whilst we waited for or accommodation to be ready.
It was just what we needed. After the early start, very little sleep, and a longish walk on sand, we relished the chance to simply sit, and absorb where we were. In fact it’s now dark, and we’re back on the bench, listening to the sea and watching the lighthouse, as I finish writing this post.
We popped out for supper tonight, more to keep us awake, than to satisfy our need for food, It wasn’t the best meal we’ve ever had, but sitting at a table, in the little pedestrianised street, we found ourselves feeling very content.
A band was playing on a stage in the square, there was a gentle babble of voices (from so many different nationalities), and our adventure was underway.
We have been blown away by the beauty of the coast here, the pretty white and blue houses of Porto Covo and the gentle, laid-back atmosphere of this part of Portugal
I wonder what tomorrow will bring
Have a lovely time !
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