22 June – We crossed over the Rio Guadiana, which is the border between Spain and Portugal. It seems that all the borders in the EU have no checking at all.
We stopped at an “Aires” on the Algarve coast at Altura, right on another stunning beach with very warm water. This beach was very busy as the Portuguese school holidays have started. Still plenty of room as the beach seemed to go for ever.

23 June – Back down to the beach for a couple of hours before setting off down the coast to the Olhao McDonalds in an attempt to get our internet going at a known internet site. After 1.5 hours of frustration we still had no joy. Bugger! We asked a cleaner, as we left, if she knew of a place we could go to fix our computer. (We were convinced by now that with all the fiddling we had done we had stuffed something up.) Her response was “It’s not your computer, our internet has not been going all morning.”
We stopped at a camp which had internet and got straight on. We can only assume that the other sites we had tried were also not working!! Olhao turned out to be not a great choice as the camp seemed to be in an industrial area. The swimming pool was an extra charge. Before you entered the pool you walked thru automatic showers which reminded us of a sheep dip.

24 June – Our next camp was at Sagres on the extreme south western corner of Portugal. It is the western most point of mainland Europe.
On our way there we stopped at Lagos, a beautiful port town on a river. We went for a bike ride and decided to take a boat trip along the coast. The coast has been heavily eroded forming caves, pillars and rock archways. We transferred from our fishing boat into a small speed boat to explore these unusual features. Good value for 15 euro each.

25 June – We drove up to an historic fort right on the cliffs at Sagres. This was the sight where Prince Henry the Navigator ran the first navigation school around 1400. Very interesting with spectacular cliff top views. The place was so important to the Portuguese that the word sacred was derived from Sagres.
After lunch we headed into the hills along some rough roads and thru great scenery and lovely villages to an “Aires” about 50kms inland.

26 June – A stunning morning in a beautiful country hilly area. I gave Val another haircut. I am getting quite good and it may be my new vocation when I get home! We wound our back to the coast and spied a large group of campervans parked on the cliff tops at Porto Covo, our planned stop. There were 4 beaches just down from the park. We chose the largest for a sunbath and swims. The Atlantic was really pounding onto the beach. It made Piha look like a child’s paddling pool. I had a couple thrashes in the waves. When the tide turned it flattened slightly and Val had a dip. A beautiful cove however. I must at this stage comment on the beach dress code. Gone are the bare breasts, frowned upon in Portugal, but the ladies bikinis disappear up there bottoms. Very cheeky and makes reading on the beach difficult.

27 June – Woke to a dense sea fog which cleared quickly. We rode around the town and decided to stay another night. The day was lovely but the surf was even more violent. I did not even have a swim .We walked to the town for a meal. We both had pizzas. I had the traditional, cod, herbs, onions and cream. I would have to say it was the best pizza I have ever had.
28 June – Another sea fog. We drove up the coast to a seaside town near Lisbon (Lisboa) and will visit there tomorrow. We had some problems finding a camp for campervans. Several we tried did not provide any services. Eventually we found a great camp close to a nice beach.

29 June – We caught a local bus to the ferry terminal and sailed across the harbour to Lisbon. The local transport is really great with old men arguing, mothers with children etc. Again we paid the 15 euros and used the hop on hop off tourist bus to explore the city. At our first stop we to took a tram up the extremely steep winding hill for a view. The tram was full and a local guy informed me that a pick pocket was working on the tram. A verbal battle ensued between the pick pocket and the local guy. I kept my hand on my wallet which we transferred into Val’s bag as soon as possible.
The ride was worth it as the view was stunning. We sat in a little café and had lunch enjoying the view. This was the hottest day we have had so far, (38 degrees) and on top of an open air double decker tourist bus is not the coolest place especially as the driver stopped often when he was ahead of time. The commentary was very limited. All in all not the best tourist bus we have been on. Lisbon is a great mix of the modern and the slightly jaded old quarter. Lots of people around but we felt that it was less touristy than the other cities we had visited. Tomorrow marks the half way point of our trip. The time has really flown!

11 June – We skirted around Benidorm where there must have been at least 50 high rise hotels/apartment buildings along the water front. We drove along the rugged coast line. It reminded us of the coastline north of Kaikoura with the sea and bays on one side and barren hills on the other. Whenever we left the coast there were acres and acres of shade cloth covered vegetable gardens.
We stopped at a lovely little village/beach for lunch at a Tapas Bar. This area seemed to be full of old people. We felt quite good!!
The “Aires” we were planning on for the night was closed. (first time the book had let us down) so we stopped with about 7 other campers on a beach at Calnegre at the start of the Costa Almeria, where we had a nice quiet night.

12 June – We decide to follow the Costa Almeria and tried to book a camp site at Mojacar but the guy wanted a minimum of 2 nights even though his camp was virtually empty!! We parked at the beach and spent the rest of the day in the sun. The weather is slightly cooler and the water temperature was much colder. So much for being further south. The architecture in this area is very North African with lots of white cube shaped apartment blocks. Just around the corner we found a very nice cheap camp with a great swimming pool.

13 June – We have headed inland to Granada (made famous by the Howard Morrison Quartet or was it the other way around).
The roads in Spain are great. You often drive down a beautiful smooth 2 laned road with heaps of passing bays (better than most NZ roads) and out to the side is a 4 laned highway going to the same place.
The road inland was a typical 4 laned road winding into the Sierra Navada Mountains. Huge sweeping corners carved thru any obstacles. At one stage we flew passed a sign at 100km/hour that told us our altitude was 1380m!! (4500 odd feet)
The camp we had sorted out for Granada was closed but the friendly owner spent some time drawing maps to 2 other possibilities. We are at a camp close to the middle of Granada. After diner we hopped on the bikes for a ride and ended up in the centre of Granada. As the weather had improved, many people were out for a walk along the wide avenues. We got slightly lost coming home despite having a map. With help from some locals we arrived back to “Lefty” just after dark!! No lights on the bikes!

14 June – On the bikes again and we rode to the Alhambra. This is a fort, Palace, and Gardens all build by the Muslim rulers between 1100 and 1500. The whole complex is built on two hills over looking Granada and was well worth the 16 euros each. The Palace was particularly spectacular. The intricate plaster work was amazing.
Back down to the town for a beer and a sandwich, before back to “Lefty” and off into the hills and the olive groves for the night. Our first “Aires” did not feel safe (first time we have felt that) so we moved on to a great “Aires” in a small village overlooking the olive groves.

15 June – Down to the coast today at Malaga and the Costa de Sol. Back to the concrete jungles populated by poms. After a shop up we found a quiet camp out of Malaga with a nice beach and a good pool. A lazy day on the beach. The water is still chilly here. Walking passed the pub (full of poms) we realised the NZ v Slovakia world cup game was on. We debated if we would stop and watch it but the beach won. Called in on the way back to discover that NZ had snatched a draw. We watched the goal on the internet.

16 June – We decide to spend an extra night here as the beach is good and we need to catch up on the washing. We had decided to replace the front tyres on “Lefty” at the first opportunity. Coincidentally a lady was walking thru the camp selling tyres which they fit on site. After some haggling we have purchased 2 tyres and they will be fitted in Seville on Saturday morning. A young German couple (both over 6ft) on their honeymoon have been camping beside us. They had an immaculate red Fiat 500 and had driven all the way from Germany and were returning over the next 5 days. Watching them squeeze chairs, a table, tent, and everything else into the Fiat was interesting. They could only drive at night as the wee air cool motor overheated during the day!!

17 June – Left the camp and drove down the Costa del Sol to Gibraltar. We parked on the Spanish side of the border and biked across the border with passports in our hands into Gibraltar. We decide to take a guided tour up the windy narrow roads of the rock. The tour included a visit to the St Michael’s cave, the top of the rock, and the tunnels.
St Michael’s caves were fascinating. A walk thru limestone formations with huge stalactites and stalagmites and then into a huge cavern where an auditorium was set up for concerts. The caves had been used as a hospital during the war.
The top of the rock had great views and plenty of cheeky monkeys.
The tunnels thru the rock were great. First built in 1729 during the Spanish siege of the British garrison, the tunnels have many cannons. They have been expanded over time and there are now 52 km of tunnels in the rock. There are more tunnels than roads on Gibraltar!
Lunch in the town and onto our bikes and back to “Lefty”. The peninsular is so small that the main (only) road bisects the airport runway.
We drove west past Tarifa where we had a great view of the African continent, being the mountains of Morocco. We stopped at a beach camp and had our first swim in the Atlantic Ocean.

18 June – A great drive thru Cadiz and up to Seville. Lovely farm land with crops of sunflowers, wheat and corn. We arrived at our proposed camping site at about 1430 which was closed. Bugger! We spent the next 2 hours driving around Seville trying to find a camp and eventually found one. When we checked in the guy said “and your tyres will be fitted tomorrow at 1030”. What a surprise. How they knew that we would end up in this camp is anyone’s guess!!! We cooled off in another great camp swimming pool.

19 June – Carlos arrived with tyres on time and had them fitted and balanced in an hour. An efficient service. A young couple from NZ camped next to us. They were the first people we had seen on our trip. We caught the bus into Seville and wandered around the city. Many beautiful buildings again with a North African influence. We went to the cathedral which is the largest in the world. We climbed the 35 levels to the bell tower for a great view of the city. The population of Seville is 720,000 but, because everyone lives in apartments, you could easily see countryside all around. No sprawling suburbs in European cities like NZ.
We also visited the oldest Bull Ring in Spain. We don’t think we have the stomach to go to a Bull Fight. They kill 6 bulls a night! There have only been 3 Matadors killed in the 20th Century. Bulls don’t get much of a chance!
When we arrived back at camp we meet another couple from NZ. Never rains but it pours.

20 June – A leisurely drive back down to the coast where we are in a huge camp with another great beach. On our way back from the beach we watched the last half hour of the Italy v NZ game in the bar. The locals must have thought Val and I were mad.
The camps in Spain are a bit different then NZ. There no kitchens. Only an area to do dishes. Every camp has a restaurant and bar. Most people seem to eat all there meals there. The toilet and shower areas are great. Usually beautifully tiled but no paper in the toilets.

21 June -We have decided to spend two nights here relaxing. Our internet is a problem. We have not been able to connect for the last couple of camps. It may be something we have done. We will try and upload this blog tomorrow before we cross into Portugal.

6 June – After saying in the last blog that the weather was perfect, that night the skies opened and we had a beaut electrical storm with lots of lightning and rain. In the morning it was still raining lightly so we head down the coast to an “Aires” at Peniscola. We were 100m from a great beach between two busier beaches. Thought we would do a shop on the way, only to find that virtually everything is closed on Sunday.

7 June – We hopped on the bikes and rode 5 km to the castle (1450 ish) at Peniscola on the headland. Great views and a fascinating place. We have followed the local custom and have been having a siesta after lunch in the heat of the day, back down to our beach for more sun and swims. The water is really warm now. We are back to our perfect weather.

8 June – We had a big shop before bypassing Valencia and stopping at a camp at El Saler, 10km down the road from Valenica. After washing virtually everything we own we walked to another beach in sight of Port Valencia. We walked into the village of El Saler for a birthday dinner. Great paella!!

9 June – Off on the bikes for a huge ride (25km) on great cycleways back to Valencia and the America’s Cup harbour. It all seems a bit deserted now! They were setting up the streets for the European F1 Grand Prix in about a fortnight.

Cycling in France and Spain has been great. There are cycleways everywhere both in the cities and even the small towns. NZ has along way to go if they think they are cycle friendly!!

We drove, after lunch, up into the orange groves and are in an “Aires” with orange trees all around us.

Very peaceful. We were the only people in over night.

10 June – We headed down some smaller roads thru the mountains back to coast. This was a magnificent drive passing some lovely mountain villages. Some of the mountain scenery reminded us of Yosemite National Park in California. We had lunch at a little village before dropping down to the coast. We are now on the Costa Blanca near Benidorm. We biked to the local beach for a swim and got completely lost coming back!!

31 May – Off to Spain today! After posting the blog at McDonalds and picking up propane (gas will be a problem in Spain but with two 13kg bottles we will be fine) we drove down the coast road thru the last of France and into Spain. We found a camp site in Lloret de Mar. This is a largish town with two beaches. We cycled to the first for a look. There seems to be lost of English and Spanish on holiday here. Unlike France, they locals seem to have bowelled over all the old traditional buildings about 50 years ago and erected 5 story hotels and apartments. At the street level the shops sell either, beach gear (including blow up lilos and animals), hats, shoes, fake tattoos or takeaway food. All a bit cheap and nasty.

1 June – We cycled thru the town to the main beach which was steep and had a dumping surf. A bit like Napier with Kaiteriteri sand. Back to the smaller beach near our camp for sun and a swim.
After lunch we moved on to another camp about 20km down the coast. Here the campervans were right on the beach. Before I turned off the motor I had a pommie guy telling me how bad the Dutch and the Germans were and having a general moan!!
The beach at this camp was much nicer.

2 June – We drove the 50kms to Barcelona. We are in an “Aires” here called park and ride. The area is just a parking area in between motorways with security 24 hours a day but the tram leaves from outside the gate. We purchased a 10 ride ticket which is good for all transport and headed of to explore. After some transfers we arrived in the centre of the city. We decided to buy a 2 day pass on the hop on hop off open air tourist bus. This is a great way to see the sights and you don’t miss anything important.
Barcelona was modernised for the 1992 Olympics. It is a beautiful city with wide tree lined avenues and a mix of old and new buildings.

3 June – Back into the city for the other hop on hop off route. A really great trip and we hopped off several times. Antoni Gardi has had a big influence on some of the buildings in Barcelona. He designed in the art nouveau style. The buildings are very weird with bits everywhere. His most famous work is the Sagrada Familia which is a huge church which is still not finished. I think he was having everyone on just to see how outrageous he could be!!
Back to “Lefty” in our park. We could easily lean out and touch the campers either side of us, but it is a great place to stay so close to the centre of the city.

4 June – Off down the coast south again. We stopped off not far from Barcelona at a nice beach camp.(Vendrell Platja) The beach was great and just over the road. Low rise apartments on the beachfront which would have been at least 10kms long. In the evening we road about half its length. Put the duvet away and hope it will not be out until we are Scotland. Even bought a sun umbrella for the beach!!

5 June – Off south again following the coast. Camped again right on the beach at Els Prats. Another different beach. More like an NZ beach with trees along the beach without a high rise building in site. Several swims and sun bathing again. Our site is next to the camp beach restaurant where, as I write this, the band is pounding out Frank Sinatra songs.
We will stop for another couple of nights before hitting Valencia.
I have not mentioned the weather. That’s because there is nothing to say. It’s the same every day. We wake up with sun and about 20 degrees. It is sunny all day topping at 28 degrees.