Tuesday 22nd January 2008

We were very impressed by the site's dump facilities and the area for washing motorhomes complete with power washers. However, we decided that, rather than staying for two nights, we would push on as there was nothing to keep us. Our view of the campsite improved somewhat when we discovered that it only cost €8.20 (about £6).
We wanted to see the Peniche fort and, on the advice of the campsite owner, we turned left and headed around the tip to the other side of the peninsular. This was a revelation! Here was the pretty part of Peniche with a huge tumble of fissured rocks, stacks and huge boulders with the Atlantic crashing in beneath. It was very reminiscent of Portland Bill in Dorset although that was created by quarrying and this was a natural phenomenon. There was a sign to 'Revelim dos Remedios' pointing to the rocks and the sea. I knew that 'remedios', fairly obviously, was 'remedies' but didn't know what 'revelim' meant. I followed the sign and found a large perforated rock. I remembered that in England, passing someone through a split tree trunk was meant to cure all sorts of ills, often infertility. I decided that passing through the perforated rock would cure lameness on the basis that to get there in the first place, scrambling over the rocks, the person would have to be cured before they got there! I must use the Internet to translate 'revelim'.
We found the fort and, although it wasn't terribly inspiring, it did give us the opportunity to see the working port and investigate the local restaurants. We changed our plans and decided to take advantage of the excellent fresh fish and eat at one of the restaurants. We chose one that was obviously popular with the locals, even on a Tuesday lunchtime. Jane had Sea Bass and I had Golden Bass – both absolutely delicious, served with boiled potatoes and salad rather than chips.
The sat nav plotted the route that we wanted down the coast and so we set off for a campsite at Colares on the coast west of Lisbon. Unfortunately, after we stopped for supplies at a supermarket on the route, the sat nav suddenly decided to change the route and take us in land. It was a while before we realised what it was doing and we had to enter a 'via point' to force it back down the coast. The route was however very pretty, so it was no great loss. The coastal scenery was also dramatic and the weather continued to be sunny apart from a brief period of mist when we climbed over the Sierra de Sintra mountains.
We had found details of the campsite in our old Portugal guidebook that said that it was open all year. It wasn't and it looked as if it needed a lot of work done on it before it opened again. Fortunately we had plenty of time and headed on to Praia do Guincho and a large campsite run by Orbitur that we new was open. It was not as convenient for visiting Sintra, but turned out to be a very pleasant site next to dunes and above the sea. Suddenly we were with other British motorhomes and caravans - we saw more British vehicles in the site than we had seen in the whole of the rest of Portugal. We are getting closer to the South and the warmer weather!
Photos: The rocky Peniche coastline; Sign to 'Revelim dos Remedios'; The remedy rock???; Houses on the coast at Peniche town.