Speedometer: 129,082 km's

Thursday 4th December
After crossing the river from Tui in Spain, we entered Portugal at the town of Valenca do Minho at about 3.30pm. Within 10 minutes of being in Portugal we got pulled over by the Police. The guy was actually surprised to see 2 Aussies driving a French vehicle holidaying in Portugal. He asked us if we owned the car and then let us go on our way after about a minute. That's Police Stop No. 2 for the trip.

From Valenca do Minho we headed south east along the EN303 through Paredes de Coura and on to Ponte da Barca where we stayed for the night. This village was beautiful and we spent a good 1.5 hours taking photos of a cute bridge you cross to enter the village and walking along the river before sunset. We also managed to get a heap of information on Peneda-Geres National Park, Portugal's only National park, where we would head to tomorrow. The guy at the tourist info place was really helpful and spoke really good English. Overall it was a great first day to our Portugal adventure.

Friday 5th December
Got up early and headed into the Peneda-Geres National Park via the Mezio gate. We finally stopped at Saajo where we started our 5km walk. We ended up choosing the Percusa Curta track on the advice of the guy at the tourist info place the day before. We're glad we did. It was such a beautiful walk, not too long, not too steep and through some lovely villages and scenery. The scenery actually reminded us of Australia, lots of Gum trees. At one stage we did venture off the track to explore a waterfall we could see at the bottom of a valley. This little side track was well worth it, the waterfall was crystal clear and we had it all to ourselves. We spent a good hour or so here, just chilling and taking photos.

We returned to the car and had lunch and then decided we'd explore the national park via car. We drove over 100k's through the park, even briefly driving back into Spain. The scenery was incredible with massive mountains, winding roads and the colour of autumn leaves. It was past dusk by the time we made it to our campsite, which was fine as the moon came out and we got some lovely photos. We also decided on a campground, Campo do Geres, for tonight, it had been a while since we both showered and our washing was overflowing again.

Saturday 6th December
The morning was spent cleaning, washing and all the domestic duties that come with van life. The campgrounds had a restaurant so we treated ourselves to toasted ham-and-cheese sandwiches - it's the small things you miss.

After lunch we finally got back on the road. We headed south out of the National park along the EN307, through Terras de Bouro and onto the EN205-E and finally into Braga. Braga was a cool little village with a nice atmosphere. Not a lot to see or do but we walked the main shopping district just enjoying the warm sunny day.

After lunch we headed South East along the EN101 and into Guimaraes. We managed to time our visit with some sort of street parade so navigating our way through the town took some time. We finally stopped at Castelo De Guimaraes, a 10th century castle at the top of the town. We were there just as the sun was going down so we had some really nice lighting. Lots of photos. We also walked into the Church of St Michael, which just happened to be the church in which the first king of Portugal was baptised in. Bit of random trivia for us all.

That night we ended up sleeping in the castle carpark with a few other motorhomes. Another great day even if the morning was spent cleaning.

Sunday 7th December
We were up and gone early to try and avoid the church goers in the morning. We headed south west along the EN105 through Urgezes, Vila das Aves and Santo Tirso. We turned right at Enfermaria onto the EN105-2 and through Guimarei, Vale, Ermesinde and finally into Porto. We did pass over the 'Rio Tinto' (River Tinto) along the way. Another bit of random trivia.

Finding a carpark in Porto was the easiest, the road we came on led straight to it. An added bonus was it free on Sundays. Score!! So we locked Hugo up and headed into the city. Our first tourist stop was Torre dos Cherigos, a tower at the top of one of the hills. The line was 30 minutes long but the 360 degree panoramic views of Porto was worth it when you finally got to the top of the tower.

After the tower we decided to do something a bit different and headed towards the Car and Tram museum but unfortunately it was closed so we turned back and walked along the river. We stopped at the very popular Riveria near the bridge and had fish and chips with cider and beer for lunch. The sun was out, the weather was warm and there was no wind - beautiful.

The afternoon as spent on the other side of the river at Taylor's Port Cellar. We decided on doing a port tour. It only cost $5E each and that included 3 port tastings and tour of the cellars. Was quite interesting and the tour guide was quite knowledgable. We both now say we've had Port in Porto in Portugal…….

That afternoon we headed out of Porto and followed the Douro River until we found a little spot beside the water at Castelo to stay for the night. Another awesome day in Portugal.

Monday 8th December
The fog this morning was incredible. It was so thick and it made for some amazing scenery along the N222 as the road rose in elevation. There were points along the road where we could see both above and below the fog, which made for some interesting photos. We finally stopped for lunch at Peso da Regua and it was only then that the fog completely lifted. And the timing couldn't have been better. From Peso da Regua we followed the river along the N222 and the scenery was quite spectacular. The vineyard covered hills with the Douro river snaking it's way between them was beautiful. We had the GoPro on the front of the car recording when the memory card filled up so unfortunately we lost some of the footage. The scenery was so good that we decided to turn around and drive back and record it all over again. We're so glad we did.

We continued to follow the N222 after it left the river and headed up into the hills. Here the vineyards changed into olive farms and the scenery was just as spectacular. What a beautiful part of the world. We finally stopped on the side of the road just past Almendra for the night. We were going to go have a look at some rock art that afternoon but the tourist information place was shut. Not to worry, we'll do it tomorrow.

Tuesday 9th December
We showered this morning, we were due for another one. After lunch we headed back to the tourist info place to have a look at the rock art. The lady there spoke no English but we managed to understand that we needed to go to the museum first to book a tour. So off to Vila Nova de Foz Coa and the Museu do Coa to book in. The next available tour wasn't until the following morning so we headed back into the town, did some shopping, Brenden got a hair cut and then found a parking spot next to some derelict old building that had been abandoned to camp for the night. Pretty cruisy day really.

Wednesday 10th December
Another foggy morning. We got up early and headed back to the museum. We did the tour of the museum first and then headed off on the rock art tour. Our guide, Angela, was great! She took us to all the sights plus one that they don't usually take visitors too. Because it was only the two of us we learnt heaps, not just about the rock art but also about the fauna around the local area. The hour long tour was well worth the money.

After the tour we drove south east along the EN332 until we reached Figueira de Costelo Rodrigo where we turned right onto the EN221. We then drove through Pinhel and into Guarda. The scenery along this road was quite nice with rolling hills scattered with olive farms. The fog had also lifted shortly after we left the museum so it was a beautiful sunny winter's day.

Shortly after Guarda we stopped on the side of a road and had lunch. From here we followed the EN18-1 through Vale de Esrela until we turned right onto the EN232 at Valhelhas. The cops followed us as we drove this road heading towards Manteigas until we turned left and headed up the side of a beautiful mountain and an awesome windy road to suit. We put the GoPro on and enjoyed the scenery. At one point we had to stop for a herd of goats crossing the road, which looked pretty cool on film. At the top of the mountain we stopped and climbed a rock formation that looked interesting. Great views from the top.

From here we continued on the EN232, briefly taking a side road to look at a dam. The dam wasn't much to look at but we had some nice lighting. We turned left onto the EM1125 and then right onto the EN339 and started our descent down the hill. We navigated our way through Seia until we ended up on the EN17 and continued south west. The sunset was amazing as we drove, a really deep red filled the sky.

We finally came to a stop at a small village called Barril de Alva and camped at an Aire for the night. A big day but a good one nonetheless.

Thursday 11th December
After filling up all our water bottles at the Aire in the morning we headed south west zig-zagging our way across the country and eventually we made it to Coimbra. Here we spent the morning walking around a well preserved Roman City ruin museum. Both of us had never seen one before so it was quite interesting to walk around imagining all the orgies that took place in the communal wash rooms. No seriously, it was quite interesting and we were both really glad we did it.

After having lunch in the car park of the museum we continued south west and ended up on a beach at Salgado. It was just us on the beach as the wind was blowing 100 miles an hour and the surf was huge. It was nice however to see the ocean again after being inland for the past week. It was also a lot warmer here which, was a nice change.

Friday 12th December
It was quite nice waking up in the morning with the beach to ourselves. The sea was still pounding so there was no swimming but we did decide it was 'bucket shower' time as we were heading into more populated areas over the next couple of days. So after removing the 'smelly hippie' from us, we got back on the road and headed south along the N242 until we found ourselves at 'Obidos'. This beautiful, white, walled city was one of our highlights of Portugal. The place had such a nice atmosphere and the area within the ancient wall is quite special. We spent a good 1.5 hours walking around admiring the views. We even bought some cherry flavoured liqueur and some little cups made out of dark chocolate to drink it with which we have put away for Christmas. If you ever come to Portugal, make sure Obidos is on your itinerary and the liqueur and chocolate cups are on your shopping list.

After Obidos we continued south along the EN8 and into Sintra. From what we'd read this is another 'must do' of Portugal. Unfortunately for us the weather had started to turn, well, s***. 'Pena National Palace' is perched at the top of a hill surrounded by a beautiful manicured garden that overlooks the city and is quite spectacular in the photos we'd seen. To get to the palace gardens you first have to drive up a winding and narrow road up a steep hill which we found to be quite slippery in the rain. As we arrived at the entrance we proceeded to walk through the garden to the Palace in amongst the thick misty clouds and it wasn't until we got about 50 metres away that we could actually make the shape of it out. What we did see was quite beautiful and if you pay the 11.50 Euros you can take a visit through the palace itself, which we did, and thoroughly enjoyed. We'd never been inside a palace before so it was quite nice to wander around in awe of all the chandeliers and extravagant rooms. It was also nice to get out of the rain.

If it wasn't for the weather we would have liked to stay in Sintra for a day or 2. There is so much to do here but it is really designed to be done on foot, outside, and we weren't really in the mood for walking around in the rain. So after the palace we headed west to 'Cabo Da Roca', the most westerly point of Portugal and also Europe. We did miss the sunset over the Atlantic as we were too late however we wouldn't have seen much due to the weather which, by now had turned into driving rain and wind. As a result we didn't see much point in trying to find somewhere away from the tourist destinations so we just slept in the car park at the point.

Saturday 13th December
Last night is what you would have called a 'wild night' in the van. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with anything the occupants of the van were doing. The wind and the rain kept us awake for a large percentage of the night and the wind was rocking the van quite extensively. To add to all this there was a f***ing dog that seemed to think it was the guard dog to the whole of the tiny village we parked in as it roamed the streets yapping at anything that moved all night long. When we finally emerged from bed at about 8am we quickly chucked some clothes on and went and took the photos at the point and then raced back into the van. This was the third time in a row where the weather had been s*** when we were at a farthest point of a land mass. Maybe we should just stick to the inland roads.

After breakfast we headed down the coast road along the EN247 through to Cascais and 'Boca Do Inferno'. An impressive hole in the ground that is much like the 'Beach of Cathedrals' in Spain. Definitely worth the stop but the weather hadn't cleared up so we didn't stick around to enjoy the view for long. From here we found a shopping centre and did our weekly shop before heading down the N6 along the beautiful coastline towards Lisbon. We say beautiful because it is although is wasn't when we drove it due to the weather. But we can imagine on a clear sunny day it would be.

Our stay in Lisbon was a reasonably short one. The N6 lead us straight to 'Belem Tower', probably the most visited landmark in Lisbon. We didn't go inside, we're getting a bit sick of castles and churches. We did however walk along the boardwalk to 'Rosa Dos Ventos', a six storey tower and paved square which is dedicated to all the discoverers of Spain. It's got quite a nice viewpoint from the top where you look down on a huge compass rose with a map of the world showing all the Spanish trade routes paved into the square below. It looks quite impressive from 6 storeys up.

After lunch we simply strolled around the laneways of Alfama, enjoying the unique boutique shops and dodging the trams as they came racing up and down the hills. We did manage to find ourselves in what was called the 'Alfama Market' which was just someone's house that they'd let people set up little stores in and were trying to sell you stuff. It wasn't as it bad as it sounds, they had a bar where you could buy wine, beer and sweets and there was a DJ playing beats that echoed right through the neighbourhood. It had a great atmosphere but it would be better if it was just set up as a meeting point as oppose to a market place. We both did really enjoy the walk around Alfama.

The trip out of Lisbon this afternoon started with the 'Vasco da Gama Bridge', all 11 kilometres of it, over the Thagus River along the A12 before turning right into Montijo and onto the EN5, which would take us to 'Alcacer do Sal', our destination for the evening.

Album of the day: Offspring - Americana

Sunday 14th December
The evening before was full of beginning woken up by rain and drunken hooligans walking home from a night on the town - oh how we don't miss Sunday hangovers. From Alcacer do Sal we headed south on the IC1, turned left onto the ER261 before we got to Granola, drove through Melides and then onto the beach near 'Aldeia de Brescos'. This beach was as long as the eye could see and we were the only ones on it. Maybe because it's f***ing freezing cold. So we took our photos and then jumped back in the car and continued south. We bypassed Sines, it looked too much like an industrial town, and then then turned left onto the IC4 and then left again onto the coastal road. The scenery here, as always, was beautiful. We started to notice a lot more camper vans from about here, both here and parked up. We'd finally caught up to everyone who was avoiding the European winter weather.

Heading south along the M1072 we finally stopped and had lunch at 'Vila Nova de Milfontes'. A nice little town with a nice little inlet. We made a right hand turn here and headed south through Longueira, Almograve, Cavaleiro and Zambujeira finally meeting up with the N120. The scenery along this stretch really reminded us of the scenery back in Australia, we think it was the gum trees scattered along the side of the road.

Once on the N120 we continued south through Aljezur, Vila Do Bispo and finally coming to a stop at Cape St Vincent. The cliffside beaches here are breath-taking. We watched some crazy fisherman fishing off the side of one of the cliffs and then all the surfers brave the bitterly cold water and wind whilst watching a beautiful sunset from the safety of our van. Was such a great way to end the day. We'd done about 240k's today, our biggest thus far, so it was great to relax, chill and enjoy the views.

Album of the day: Daft Punk - Alive 2007

Monday 15th December
Quite possibly our best day yet. We started fairly early, Jodi did some washing and Brenden changed the oil in Hugo. We were on the road by 10am. The weather was amazing. Clear blue skies with a fairly crisp breeze but hey, you can't have everything. It sure beats the wind and the rain we'd had a few days previous. We headed back through Vila do Bispo and onto to the N125 towards Lagos. We made a brief detour through Salema, a small little village right on the coast. Simply beautiful. We've marked this on the map as a possible retirement destination. We stopped then at Praia da Luz, another gorgeous spot on the beach. One of the things we noticed here was the amount of English pubs. We're guessing a lot of Brits would come here to holiday or retire- why wouldn't they really?

Our next stop would be Ponta Da Piedade. A beautiful rock formation situated just outside Lagos. We spent a good hour walking around the point admiring the different shapes that the ocean has carved out over centuries. After this we headed down to the beach, Praia do Camilo for some sunbathing. The cliffs provide a completely different experience when you're looking back up at them. We also had the beach to ourselves so that was an added bonus.

After having lunch in the carpark at Praia do Camilo, we headed east along the 125 until we hit Lagoa. From here we headed directly to Praia Da Marinha. Another magnificent stretch of cliff-side coast with little coves of sand you can explore, sunbath and explore for kilometres. We spent the afternoon sunbathing on a little patch of sand we had all to ourselves. We even had a pod of dolphins swim past us. The water was a bit too cold for swimming although Brenden did brave it for about the whole of 1 minute.

The afternoon was spent walking the stretch of cliff-side coast admiring the scenery, the different colours and eating cheese and crackers whilst the sun went down. It was an amazing day. Everything came together, the weather, the car, the scenery and the isolated beaches we had all to ourselves. It's going to be hard to top today.

Album of the day: Porter Robinson - Live at Hull

Tuesday 16th December
Unfortunately our last day in Portugal :( The past week had been fantastic and to be honest we were both a little disappointed when we finally crossed the border back into Spain. We were going to start the day off with a walk to watch the sunrise but we woke up and looked outside and it was mostly cloudy so we decided against it. Brenden did get up to take some photos and ended up speaking to an Israeli woman for about 40 minutes. We swapped a few travel ideas before setting off.

For our last meal we decided to head to the beach and grab the last bit of sunny weather. One of the last beaches before you get to the border is Ilha de Tavira. Well it's actually an island, which you can't drive to. You have to park on the main land, then there is a small walking bridge across to a somewhat improvised train station. From here you can either get the train, which is more like a train you see at a fair or fete, or you can walk the 1km next to the train line until you get to the small group of shops on the other side. We walked along the nearly deserted, absolutely stunning beach for about an hour and watched fishermen in a boat just 20m off shore trawling for something. We followed this with a lovely (expensive) lunch here. Although the clouds looked very ominous we did mange to avoid the showers around us. This area was really beautiful and it was a great way to finish our Portugal adventure.

From Pedras Del Rei we travelled along the EN125, stopping briefly at Castro Marim to refill our water as we were down to our last 5 litres. We were lucky enough to run into a loud and proud naturalist who had moved to Portugal from England. While we waited for him to finish filling with water he gave us a lengthy description to why he left England and how he is quite unhappy with most of society and therefore has decided to basically hide out in Portugal and prepare himself for an apocalypse like situation, all while smoking a joint in broad daylight. The scary fact was that he is a highly trained compound archer who is very happy to show off the gear he has readily available. Before leaving he gave us his email so we could soon contact him to let him know how our travels through Morocco went and we will be sure to keep in contact with this fine specimen of society….

We then finally finished our adventures in Portugal as we drove over the slightly impressive bridge back into Spain at about 4pm, heading in the direction of Morocco for Christmas and NYE's.

Album of the day: Triple J Hottest 100 - Volume 6

Speedometer: 130,790kms