All night we were buffeted and battered by a northerly force 6 so it wasn't the most restful night this trip, and this morning the wind is just as strong, with steely grey sea and sky for company. We move off the beach at 10:55 and drive the coast road around Caba Roca and into the hills towards Sintra. The road is narrow and winding, with lots of trees and very green scenery. In Galmares we run alongside a narrow gauge railway, but the rusty tracks suggest it...

Before leaving we decide to spend a while exploring Alcacer do Sal, the 'do Sal'part of its name coming from its history of salt trading. We cross the steel -girder bridge and amble along the side of the Sado river. The town is old. In fact human settlements here have been dated back to the Mesolithic period 40,000 years ago through the copper and iron ages and more recently African slavery. Buildings have wrought iron balconies and small windows, and most ...

As we are having breakfast we are alerted by a host of clanging bells and the occasional blast of a horn. We look to the far side of the football pitch and see a goatherd in a long coat and headscarf calling with the horn and leading about twenty goats to feed, their bells clanging as they walk and browse. We leave the lighthouse and head up the N-393 and IC-4 through beautiful areas of cork and mimosa. As we approach Sines we pass a large power station, a...

We service the vans and drive the two miles to Sagres Fort. The fort has a long history and is significant as the place where Henry the Navigator brought together sciences like cosmography, astronomy, mathematics, geography, navigation and naval architecture,to improve nautical exploration and technology. Eminent sailors such as Vasco da Gama, Bartolimeu Dias and Christopher Columbus all studied here. We drive into Sagres itself, an attractive but unremar...

The morning starts a bit hazy and there is a strong wind blowing across the river. We can hear and see larks swooping and dropping into the grass. At 11:30 we set off for Sagres, a town on the south west tip of the Algarve. We drive over the river and through the urban sprawl of Portimao. All around us are more storks' nests on lamp posts and chimneys, and we wonder if they are rearing chicks yet. Today there are fewer orange sellers but quite a few po...