After a gentle evening, in the pretty town of Odeceixe we slept well, and were up early, ready to head on, with a new member of our little team.
We can’t carry too much, in the way of souvenirs, but I found this rather lovely little keyring in a little artisan shop in the town, and it’s now attached to my rucksack, and will come with us for the rest of our walk.
Today started with a rather lovely breakfast, at a small coffee shop in town..
We always want to get going, especially when we have a longer day, and even more so, when it’s predicted to be hotter than average, in the afternoon.
By the time we had enjoyed our breakfast, we didn’t start walking until nearly 9am, which in many ways, felt a little late…
It was going to be a very different walk today, as for the first time, we wouldn’t be walking along the coast, but instead following a route that would take us through the coastal hinterland, across country to Aljezur.
We started, walking up through Odeceixe, passing its pretty church and houses, with their vibrant, blue paintwork..
Up to the old windmill, sitting on the hill. A stunning old mill that dates back to the late 1800s, with wonderful views across the town
And back along the river, to the coast…
It’s beautifully restored, and so different to the stone mills, with solid wooden sails that are in the villages, near us, in Provence …
From here, we continued up hill, getting slightly lost as we left the village, having lost the red and white markers for the route
Happily, after a little look at Komoot, I managed to find a way through , so that we could rejoin the Trail. It turned out to be a happy mistake, as we spotted a little Shrike, sitting on the electricity wires, which was rather lovely..
Rejoining the Trail, we walked along the tarmaced road, with a spring in our steps, as there was no sand, and for the first time, we didn’t need to wear our sand-gaiters ..
The sand soon reappeared though, as the tarmac petered out, replaced by a mix of gravelled paths and sand.
After the last 5 days along the coast, it was lovely to walk inland and to get a sense of the Portuguese countryside
We ambled through woodland planted with eucalyptus trees, their tall spindly trunks, so different after the low scrub of the coastline
Passing cork trees, their bark stripped below a certain point, slowly growing back. It appears that the bark is harvested every 8 to 14 years, and different trees had different depths of new growth.
It’s amazing to see, as on any other tree, ring-barking like this would kill the tree off, yet the cork trees just continue to thrive.
It proved to be a delightful walk along the quiet paths, and the first signs of autumn were evident. From wild quinces & medlars
To bright fungus growing in the leaf-mould
And heavy, ripe squashes ready to be removed from the fields..
Unfortunately, we were so absorbed by the differences to the coast that we missed a marker post, and suddenly realised that we were no longer on the track. We had overshot it by such a long way that it was easier to continue and walk a different way into Rogil, where we found a bakery and sat down for a coffee..
Whilst there, we got the little guide book out and made sure we knew where we had to go next, so that we didn’t go wrong again.
When we walked on, it felt as if we had left autumn behind, and were back in full summer. It reminded us of the summer cycle ride when we were stopping in almost every puddle of shade, just to cool down..
Today, we were doing similar
We found a little tree in a field, pulled off our rucksacks and sat down to enjoy lunch. There is nothing nicer than sitting in the shade of a tree, simply watching the world go by,
And we enjoyed a peaceful hour, listening to the Sardinian Warblers chattering around us..
And a very lovely pastel da nata too!
Eventually we dragged ourselves up, and continued on, following the sandy, gravelled tracks towards tonight’s stop at Aljezur, enjoying seeing different birds along the way
It had been a delightful walk through the countryside, a very different day to hiking along the coast path, but still very lovely, and the views into the hills has made us want to come back to explore Portugal, a little bit more
Before ling, we caught sight if Aljezur Castle, in the distance
And walked up old cobbled streets into the town, where we’re staying tonight
We’ve walked more than 100km now, which hardly seems possible, and are looking forward to heading on again tomorrow
