another 20 days to go befor ethey are all gone, i dont think i can hold on any longer!!!!
beam me up scotty
Author Archives: hairygoose
it rained today
but only for a few minutes.
i miss the rain. when it hammers down i am going to go outside and get drenched !!!!
do you think Rui was a bit miffed at me ???
the end of another week
well, what can i say? the pictures added today say it all i guess……..more beach time with minha namorada and also with luis, a friend from lisboa.
luis had never tried surfing before so i had to take him in. Sandra on the other hand was too chicken água e muito frio´ maybe next time, when the surf is on on the south coast, its a little bit warmer there!
a busy week at work and i am expecting the same again this week.
James is still way up north, spoke to him this week but told him the place was heaving with tourists so dont bother coming back until september.
the local winds are keeping the temperatures here cooler than elsewhere, many places hitting low forties now, forrest fires raging all ove rthe place and no sign of rain yet. water rationing is becoming more of a reality each day.
yet still my neighbours sprinkle their lawns and wash the pavement and road with a hose pipe……….sometimes they can be a little too stupid for their own good.
my car is really dirty at the moment but in the interest of saving water – i dont clean it – well that is my excuse anyway.
have many visitors next month, Alex, dean, rupert and christine , all in one month…….gonna be messy no doubt.
well, time to go , but please come back soon, and feel free to leave me a message
çiao bebes
this weekend i will run away and hide
height of tourist season now, getting really messy.
tonight there is an all night rave at the fortaleza, that will start when the bars close at around 3 and go on until at least 7 in the morning.
today i think i will take my beach tent, head up to a previously uncharted beach (for me anyway) and stay the night there – peaceful, quiet and no tourists. the name of my chosen destination today? praia barriga – in english, belly beach!!!
ok, i gotta go, i left sandra in bed to come and do some shopping and make my update.
check in tomorrow for some cool nightime beach shots.
çiao bebes
sunset surf?
didnt quite work, tide wasnt in far enough !!! got some cool photos though , will add them soon
i like tourists – but i could never eat a whole one
roll on september when all of the grockles have gone home.
just nipped to ponte ruiva at lunchtime to check out the surf, guess what? not really that good but a million emmetts in the water washing around like empty crisp packets!
i think next august i will leave sagres and go and work somewhere else for a month. they all drive like morons and look so stupid in all their new holiday clothes…………!
there is one benefit though, the bubble lounge makes lots of money, and good luck to them too – they deserve it!
çiao bebes
wayne
a most excellent adventure
think back to friday afternoon, what were you doing?
i decided to head north to aljezur to look at houses.
i headed off in a t shirt on my motorbike along the coast road, across the mountains and through the forests. great twisty roads and the smell of pine and eucalyptus to keep me company.
wasnt long before i found myself shuffling across the seat and sticking my knee out for the corners as they came up , not something recommended on a cruiser with leaky front forks and a knackered rear shock!
i got to aljezur and had a scout around, gorgeous little place, even took some photos for the site. when i left, i headed to arrifana and took some more photos.
riding away from aljezur i remembered a tip about a secret spot up there so i peeled off onto a dirt road and had a cruise along, a little like steve McQueen in the great escape. after a few kilometers, i found the secret spot, completely deserted but i was still on top of the hill. i looked down the dirt road that lead to the beach and decided that i could get down it – lets go.
a little bit bumpy and rocky, would have been much more fun on a pukka dirt bike ( pukka, that reminds me, Jamie Oliver has a TV series over here ) but i made it all the same. when i got to the bottom, i met a couple of locals on dirt bikes, i think they couldnt believe their eyes when they saw my bike and had watched me ride down the hill ( over here we are called ´bifes´or whities)
anyway, checked out the beach, was perfect, then i realised……….there was no way on earth that i could ride my cruiser back up the hill i had just ridden down.
there were a couple of dirt tracks leading away from the valley……..which one should i take? the one heading inland or the one heading along the coast?
i opted for the one heading inland. i dont know if this was a big mistake or not, but it wasnt a good choice.
heading inland, my mind kept telling me that at some point i had to meet or cross the main road that i had ridden down. no such luck!!
i must have taken every wrong turn at every junctioni came to, i was low on petrol, low on water, low on phone battery and my arms were burning in the sun, i left the suncream at home.
finally , i saw a farm and decided to head there and ask for directions. as i got closer i could see a dog the size of an elephant that wasnt chained up………discretion or valor???? i turned around and wheel spun back the way i came, to the last junction.
there were lots of tyre marks at this junction so i figured i should follow them! big mistake – terrain like something from the paris-dakar rallye, the last thing i needed now was a puncture…………..thankfully, i managed to miss all the sharp stones.
the bike had taken a real pounding, one of the side panels had fallen off, all of the fork oil had come out of the forks, my trainers were covered in fork oil and then coated in dust – i was a complete mess.
i saw a phone mast and figured i knew where i was…….but then i thought no, its not the one i know so headded in another direction.
into a forrest – jeez, what a dumb ass! fuel getting low, sweating, even if i did call for help, how could i say where i was, i still had little idea. i decided to just keep heading straight forward.
eventually i could see some cars ahead of me, they must have been on a main road. finally i found some tarmac and the main road back to aljezur.
i sat at a cafe, completely exhausted, bought a coffee, drank my water and looked at my watch – missing in action for just over two hours!!!!!
next time, i am gonna do it on a dirk bike, with satnav!!!
empty beaches
still possible to find one or two even in the onslaught of tourist season – if you know where to look
August is nearly here
expect the crowds as from this weekend, i am gonna hate the place for a month guaranteed. the only thing that will keep me sane is the knowledge that from september to march. it will be completely emtpy again, and not very busy up till the end of june next year.
My beloved Sagres is about to change into a tourist hotspot….
this morning i am headding north slightly, to Aljezur, checking out some houses up there. 22 miles north and the prices drop dramatically. nearest local beach is the glorious arrifana, will take the camera and get some shots for you all to see.
çiao
tomorrow
i am gonna get on my motorbike and ride up the coast road to Aljezur to see what houses are there for sale. a gorgeous twisty mountain road through pine and eucalyptus trees, should be good.
will also look at buying a ticket for the portuguese equivalent of glastonbury, dirt cheap at only 65 euros for the weekend, free camping and can ride the coast road again on my bike to get there, with tent and sleeping bag strapped to the back.
check out the bands that are playing – http://www.rtp.pt/wportal/antena3/index.php?article=1164&visual=1
some great names over four days, could be real cool.
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