After sorting out some necessary paperwork for back home, with the help of the campsite office, we started our slow trek north. It did feel a little strange after having spent the last 37 days heading in a general southerly direction. We spent most of the day following roads across to various beaches along the Atlantic coast.
Standing above Praia da Bordeira, we could only see a couple of walkers and three surfers on the huge expanse of sand. The cliffs between there and Praia do Amado are amazing from so many viewpoints.
We continued driving up towards Aljezur, pulling off the main road again, to investigate Praia do Amoreira and looking for a good picnic spot for lunch. There were a few more surfers on this beach and plenty more pulling on wetsuits and heading down the dunes to the beach. We were intrigued to see so many different nationalities gathered in one spot; there were cars from Andorra, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and some hire cars full of German and English surfers. There were very few shops in the area and those that were there, all seemed to be surf shops. As one sticker said, “All I do is surf”……..
We ate our lunch on a headland with fabulous views out over the ocean and down to Praia de Monte Clérigo. We also had a good view of a campervan with a very flat tyre. Rodney asked if help was needed, but the Dutch surfy dude said he was fine, though he was still working on it when we left half an hour later. I hope he got going before dark, although as we pointed out, he couldn’t have broken down in a more beautiful place.
We followed the road on round to Praia da Arrifana, but with the wind still blowing and knowing the sea was cold, we just enjoyed looking at the surf today. We know that there were lots more beautiful beaches tucked in to more breaks in the cliffs, but not knowing if they were ‘barreling’ or a ‘right hand break’, whether the wind was in the correct direction, or did we need a high or low tide, we chose to do what we know best. We drove to Aljezur and ate an ice cream before checking into Camping Serrão for the night. Tonight we’ll dream of buying surfboards, strapping them on Eileen’s roof and joining the ‘in crowd’…………….
