Gama Clube Apartments Carvoeiro

16 Nov - "Back to Nature"
2 nights of urban living in Lagos and we decided it was time to head for the hills, which meant relocating to Luz on a rather more rural campsite in terms of its locale. Luz is a beautiful beach town with a beach circa one mile in length, a good deal of which has a backdrop of multi coloured rock face. Its a lot smaller than Lagos and out of season, certainly uncrowded. Having pitched our tent, we decided a lazy day ...

... have proved very difficult, hence we decided to move on. We continued to hug the coastline checking out the waves as we went. Nothing tempted us to jump in (the weather being poor also), however the coastline proved absolutely stunning between Odeceixe and our next destination Lagos. We were continually overwhelmed by the rugged beauty of the coastline coupled with the power of the ocean; we have some wonderful images which we will add to this blog ...

Another typical Porto Covo morning: bright, blue and upon inspection, very large swell; too large for us. Decision time - do we stay or move on? It was easy and unanimous, time to break camp and hit the road once again heading south. We looked at a couple of likely surf / camp destinations, until opting for Odeceixe, a town which straddles both the Alentejo and the Algarve ...

... demographic. As the kiwis marched forward I walked with Kirsten, a tall blond policewoman from Hanover. She laughed a lot, and spoke fluent Portuguese. I must admit I'm not the best traveler in the world, I often can't be bothered to learn the most basic of phrases in the local language; but I'm pretty darn good at traveling with good travelers.

We arrived at the hostel to find that it was A) 7 Euros more expensive than the ...

... you'll have to leave."

I'm left with no choice, I'm not going to put up with this *********. He offers to take me to the train in the morning and I accept.
The other volunteers and Frank's son put up a protest, trying to get Frank to change his mind. But to be honest I don't want to stay, not now.

I've got no back up plan.
That night, I don't sleep a wink.



Dinner tonight is Daniella's gig. I'll help out, but basically its her opportunity to teach me

... the kingdom of Dom Manuel I, the headland already had a beacon kept lit all night by the Capuchin friars. With a range of 95 kilometers, the present-day lighthouse is one of the most powerful in Europe. From the fortress of Sagres a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean is unforgettable.

Night show at Hotel Algarve Casino was spectacular. The dancers and the light show were truly unforgettable.

... it was pretty tame until one of the toreadors almost got trampled by one of the bulls, the dude was lucky they dulled the tip of the bulls horns.


http://picasaweb.google.com /Jonny.D.Lawrence/20091016Albufeira?aut hkey=Gv1sRgCImA4oCXitDO5AE&feat=dir ectlink

... tons of mussels on the bottom, also not fun. The road to get to this lagoon was really sketchy, there's a video in the link below so you can see for yourself.

http://picasaweb.googl e.com/Jonny.D.Lawrence/20091012Alvor?au thkey=Gv1sRgCN_Jy47QxsiTwAE&feat=di rectlink

... not "surfers" but we we’re much less scared of getting tossed by the big waves this time. We also came to the conclusion that it maybe wasn’t us that, but that it’s the size of the board that was hindering our performance....

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jonny.D .Lawrence/20091011Sagres?authkey=Gv1sRg CMmMtI7egbGKvAE&feat=directlink

... the Intermarché Supermarket and Cepsa petrol station on your right. As soon as you arrive in the main square of CARVOEIRO, turn left and go up the hill. The Tivoli Almansor is on your right after about 1 km. Upon arriving in the Algarve we found a noticeable change in weather it was much warmer then in Lisbon. On our drive we discovered long stretches of sandy beaches, small quiet bays, calm clear ...