December's Dash South

Boarding the ferry was slow but straightforward enough and whilst my cabin was large and comfortable it wasn't the bespoke luxury I remembered from the 2014 sailing - Brittany Ferries now just offer these slightly larger cabins with access to the Commodore Lounge that now has the spectacular forward facing views and provides a steady supply of drinks and snacks throughout the crossing - well worth the extra cost.

 

 

As always leaving Portsmouth was a fascinating experience with one of our two aircraft carriers at anchor with the usual 24 hour police presence alongside. The other is laid up in Rosyth with a propellor issue - so much money wasted on these projects whilst health and social care suffer. Similarly Portsmouth itself seemed to be making little effort to reduce it's energy consumption - surely this should go hand in hand with its Low Emission Zone, which incidentally ignores the damage caused by the ferries and naval vessels.

 Anyway I settled in for what would fortunately prove to be a very calm crossing, brief phone signal as we passed close to the Brittany coast allowed a quick catch up before I resumed my regular visits to the CL for delicious food and a glass of wine or three - last year's journey had been so unpleasant that I failed to make use of any of the onboard dining facilities.

 

A good evening meal was provided for in the fare (£500 one way which is a significant increase but avoids the lengthy drive through a chilly winter France) and I settled in for a comfortable second night before we docked in Santander at daybreak.

Disembarkation and border control were swift so before long the sat nav was guiding me out on to the motorway heading south, avoiding toll roads as usual as those charges can soon mount up.

With a good getaway and only a six hour journey time indicated I messaged Gary to say I would be arriving a day early and headed across the interior meseta on again largely empty roads.

At Casceres I filled up with supplies at the large Carrefour and stopped for cash at Valencia D'Alcantara where using the ATM conversion would have given £30 less on a withdrawal of 300 euros : always proceed 'without conversion' and in shops select pay in local currency, usually a numbered button on the device.

Camping Asseiceira looked as lovely as ever with heavy recent rains leaving the rivers and streams full with some standing water in the fields. I was soon tucked away in my usual spot and after offloading the bikes settled in for the night.

The following day I organised the van, caught up with Gary and took a walk in to the village via the country tracks to see what little had changed. Post Brexit our UK phone roaming is not only limited to 12G a month (despite my unlimited date package) but there is also, with '3' at least, a £2/day unlock charge for use which includes calls or texts - thank you the Brexiteers, yet again.

 

Anyway on the Friday Gary, Joao and myself went in to Portalegre for an excellent Chinese buffet - 9 euros for all you can eat and then to the local electronics store as Gary needed printer cartridges. Whilst there I decided to get a Lycamobile SIM for £8 with 20G of use valid for 30 days - my intended time in Portugal that also includes 12G of EU roaming should it still be valid when I move on to Spain. Back in the van I then put this SIM in my old unlocked Honor 8, turned on the wifi hotspot and then put my regular phone in to airplane mode and switched on the wifi. Thus I now have excellent coverage with no daily fee and whilst phonecalls, texts and OTPs won't arrive most people use Whatsapp or email and I can verify most transactions by fingerprint. If the SIM expires I will just buy another one for Spain and then eventually Morocco as whilst the initial bundle is a good deal ( to get you in) the top ups are less generous. An amusing byline to this process is that the number is obviously recycled so I have had (and ignored) erratic calls from India and Portugal and been part of various Whatsapp Groups including the Lisbon Flat Letters and the Olive Pickers - all blocked or deleted and now arriving less often.

 

 

Heavy rain that had encompassed my first few days (whilst the UK shivered

 in the first cold snap of winter) lifted on the Saturday so I enjoyed a 37 mile ride through Beira and its station to the Povoa e Meadas reservoir where the bankside mimosa has been heavily cut back. Staying overnight is now restricted to the official aire which after an expensive refurb now offers showers, water top up and electricity for a very reasonable 5 euros a night but of course parking up in the fenced compound loses some of the magic of pitching round the water's edge. Round at the dam excess water was roaring out in to the valley and a solitary stork had arrived early for the nesting season. New lambs in the field were enjoying the fresh grass - with an average temperature of 15-17 degrees it was growing well and hopefully all the reservoirs and aquifers will fill after a long summer drought.

 

 

 As it would be a few days until Gary sets off for the UK I decided on a week long excursion so stocked up in Portalegre where I also found Camping Gaz 907s at the Bricomarche for half the UK price - about £16 before heading north calling at Penela with its church contained within the castle walls and overnighting  in a park up occupied by a number of semi permanent Portuguese vans and a large MAN 4x4 expedition truck that looked unlikely to be crossing the Serenghetti any time soon.

The schist villages in the Serra De Lousa were fascinating as they clung on to the steep valley sides - the heavy rains had caused some slips and rockfalls and I found a lovely camping area up in the mountains for another visit.

HIgh mountain roads took me through stunning scenery - a large HGV was delivering part of a turbine tower and had reversed a long way up one of the access roads to negotiate a hairpin with its independently steered rear axle cluster : very impressive.

Thus the region has a thought provoking mix of old mills and new turbines - one cluster of twenty or so of the former had been refurbished to provide unique accommodation. However they and the adjacent restaurant were closed and could well have been a victim of the Covid related downturn in tourism. 

After a night in Poiares on a perfectly adequate, if barren looking, aire I arrived at the southern end of the Ecopiste de Dao cycle track. I had called at a smallholding that offered overnight parking but there was no one around and their parking area was, despite being gravel, super saturated and I nearly got bogged down - indeed on leaving I heard a thump as I crossed a rough bit and later discovered the grey water tap had taken a hit - fortunately no real damage as the spout was already crook so I can still seal it with a bottle stopper!

I cycled up to Tondela and back on a sunny afternoon and then moved up to Viseu for two nights to allow me to cycle from the northern point back to Tondela with a couple of welcome cafe stops in old repurposed station buildings. Viseu is a large city but has a compact old centre that I walked in to to enjoy the Christmas displays, brightly lit shops and decorated streets and alleys.

It was a quiet second night and before long I was away in to the mountains again with more remote villages including Piodao and lovely swooping roads. I stopped for lunch at the Santa Luzia barragem and would have stayed the night but with Monday forecast to be wet I decided to move on stopping briefly at the viewpoint for the dam. Here a spectacular waterfall over the spillway was visible from the top of the adjacent via ferrata. It looked a really good one and I was sorely tempted to give it a go. However soloing is not recommended so it will have to wait for another opportunity and I dropped down to the newly opened aire at Pampilhosa da Serra where I am enjoying good wifi, 16 amp hook up and an excellent facilities block for a very reasonable 6 euros a night. There was even a jet wash so the van looks clean and tidy after the the last couple of months of muddy mountains in Wales, Cumbria and Portugal.

I prefer wild camping but also feel that if local communities provide good, well cared for facilities it is only fair to support their initiative. The Campaign For Real Aires in the UK is trying to educate local authorities, National Parks and utility companies as to the benefits of welcoming the ever expanding van life community rather than adopting a default position of zero tolerance.

Many of those areas experiencing difficulties in recruiting seasonal workers due to a lack of affordable accommodation should look at this issue as it could well be a partial solution to the problem.

 Anyway I am warm and comfortable here and will return to Marvao tomorrow for my Christmas/New Year fortnight so until the next post I wish you all a Happy Festive Break - enjoy more pics  HERE

 

A November to Remember

In recent years to reduce my carbon footprint I have left my winter departure date until December so November is usually a month to put everything in order on various fronts before I head off.

Thus in early November the van had an MOT, despite the one in June to ensure that all is well for what could be a fairly extended trip. I had the gearbox and engine oil/filter changed, air con regassed and a lower suspension ball joint replaced before heading back to Wales almost immediately. I would have liked to spend longer with Mandy's brother who was over from Canada but as he tested positive for Covid soon after arrival I couldn't risk me succumbing and thus being inelligible for my forthcoming booster.

After a day looking over a friend's demountable rig at Talybont I headed down to Penwyllt in the Brecon Beacons.  I stayed over at the the South Wales Caving Club Headquarters after a brief but enjoyable trip in to the top entrance of Ogof Ffynnon Ddu where I shot a short Go Pro video. As Go Pro no longer provide a video editing suite I used an open source online version with reasonable success given its complexity.

During our trip we reflected on the selfless actions of dozens of cavers a year ago who had extracted a casualty from the far and constricted reaches of Cwm Dwr - look for it on BBC IPlayer : Trapped: 54 Hours Underground. 

Good fireworks at the hut provided entertainment and on the Sunday I headed down to Swansea to see an MBA colleague as the Area defibrillator needed checking for a possible software update, fortunately the latest version is installed so there was no need for it to be returned.

Ian, Arthur and I enjoyed a day out to Llandrindod Wells to visit the excellent National Cycle Museum, this was instead of a trip on the Heart of Wales line which had been affected by flooding.

 

The following week saw various medical check ups and tests plus a Covid booster and pneumonia jab before I had a couple of days in Llangurrig on hook up. I enjoyed a night ride up to the nearby bothy, Fenix had kindly replaced a burnt out cycle light under warranty and the replacement performed well as I followed the dark trails and tracks.

Two nights at Dethick gave me a chance to catch up with Pete and Nina who are still patiently waiting for their new van and Mandy arrived after a local walk to join us for a lovely evening in their Winnebago.

We are lucky enough to have a fortnight in the Lake District each year - a true taste of luxury so decided to head off a few days early to explore an oft overlooked area of coastal Lancashire.

Thus we arrived at the old port of Glasson where the pub was part of the Britstop scheme and on a murky night took a quick walk round the docks, marina and canal basin. Next day we came across the smoke house which had a remarkable range of smoked fish, game, meats and cheeses plus a host of other chutneys, jams, jellies and crackers. We stocked up before moving on to Carnforth Station where we enjoyed a decent coffee and cake in the 'Brief Encounter' cafe before enjoying the museum dedicated to this classic film. We watched it in the mini cinema before moving on to Beetham where The Wheatsheaf also allows stays and we were booked in for a very good meal. The sturdy church is worth a visit and the following morning we walked over to the local woodland which includes the Fairy Steps : an interesting feature in the local limestone.

 

We then moved on to park above Arnside and walk up to the viewpoint on Arnside Knott where the Lakeland fells were visible but rising up in to low cloud. The expanse of Morecambe Bay at low tide stretched in to the distance with a low sun reflecting off the exposed flats. A lovely coast path took us in to Arnside itself where the Cumbrian coast trains rumbled across the viaduct we had crosssed a year ago on a day out whilst staying at the Dent Snow Huts.

 

From there it was a short run to the Plumgarth's Farm Shop just north of Kendal, another Britstop, although the Gateway Inn across the road might be better for larger vans. After a quiet night we bought a few more goodies as a thank you, did a big shop for the next two weeks in town and then called at the Lakeland store at Windermere which is always worth a look round.

As we turned in to the Langdale Estate all signs of last year's storm damage were long gone and a replacement Land Rover sat where the previous one had been crushed. As always the lodge was warm and clean and we were soon unloaded and settled in.

Sunday saw a good walk up the Great Langdale Valley with blue skies and autumn colours enhancing the already striking view of the various pikes, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. At the NT campsite we made enquiries for the following weekend as Mandy's brother was likely to stay and then headed up over Side Pike with its narrow squeeze and returned via Lingmoor Fell after a heavy shower caught us out just before lunch.

 

Over the next fortnight we enjoyed a walk over to Ambleside, a bike ride down to Coniston and back up the east shore using some of the new traffic free routes now available in the area, a similar ride down to Ambleside and back via Grasmere and a tough climb behind Loughrigg, a walk to Grasmere over Silver How and a number of other local walks. Friends joined us for the middle weekend with an excellent meal at the Britannia and Mandy's brother appeared on the Monday but otherwise we enjoyed the place to ourselves as in recent years the break has been overshadowed by events on both sides of our families.

The pool opening hours are currently limited by staff shortages but we headed over most evenings for a swim and soothing visits to the steam room. As a treat in our final week we also took advantage of the spa deal giving us the opportunity for more indulgence, the remarkable experience of the outdoor pool and a glass of fizz. In appreciation of our good fortune I also sent the equivalent amount to wateraid, a charity I began supporting in a different life thirty years ago when on the farm I began to really appreciate how lucky people are in this country to have clean, reliable water on tap.

24 hours in Sheffield gave me the chance to repack the van for the winter trip and catch up with Penny over a curry before heading down to Winchester. The impressive cathedral was beautifully lit for Christmas although the ubiquitous Christmas market occupying dozens of wooden cabins in the rear courtyard seemed as always at odds with the original spirit of this period.

Anyway I am now lined up on the hardstanding at Portsmouth awaiting the 21.30 sailing to Santander which should arrive after a 33 hour crossing. The weather looks more settled than last year so I hope to be able to enjoy the Commodore cabin, reserved as a treat to myself for once. 

Arrival near Marvao in Portugal is scheduled for Thursday evening so the next post will be from there.

Piccies from November here.