Pestana Golf Resort Gramacho Carvoeiro

... and hešs out too. Išll stop there, youšve got the picture, this surf donšt suit us!! Bring on Bozzy (Boscombe) artificialdom, we canšt wait to try that new manmade surf reef. From now on wešll stick to the mosh pit wešre used to - one with a live band and a load of exuberant front rowers! Ok, roger for Annabelle, Lymšs going to enlighten you on the rest of the day...

Tail between our legs, we head back to Luz beach, enjoyed our first ...

... since we left the UK). We learn that there is a campsite in the town centre. Initially we viewed this with some trepidation and indeed it was less than rural surrounded by apartment blocks, however, cheap (euro 10 a night) clean and run by a very friendly Dutch lady; ideal for a couple of nights of cosmopolitan living (Lym gets to put his jeans on for the first time since leaving the uk).

so Saturday night on the town... for starters we had a ...

... above the river Odeceixe which runs out to the Atlantic. This was an idyllic location and though the tide was all wrong to surf, we parked up on the river bank within sight of the ocean: an absolutely fantastic location which was all ours complete with open fire. We commented on how different the Portuguese attitude is to free camping; its almost part of their constitution!

... hostel in town, and B) located next door to the other hostel. The choice was obvious, and I quickly ditched the kiwis to join Kirsten next door.

By another random coincidence, I ran into an older American traveler who was staying at the hostel in Faro with us, and who I had talked to earlier that morning. Over breakfast I had made an effort to score a free ride with him to Lagos, but had been unsuccessful. He was just ...

I'm anxious to get to know Daniella and Frank, now that I've gathered a bit of info on them. They came in last night, but I never really met them.
This morning I met Daniella in the kitchen, she was already well into breakfast prep. I helped her finish up, then over our own breakfast of stale bread and cheese, discussed chores for the day. The first task is to make bread.

"I don't really like to make bread" she tells me, as she haphazardly dumps an unknown quantity of water ...

An excursion to Lagos’s Marina followed by a boat trip to Ponta de Sagres (The most western point of Europe, from where the Portuguese sailors started the discovery of new worlds) will allow to enjoy the
natural beauty of the rocks, especially the famous and most impressive caves of Ponta da Piedade, wild beaches and the sea waves on the cliffs along the coast and also some of the ‘highlights ...

... 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

The kiting in Alvor is supposedly one of the best spots in Portugal, because of a huge shallow lagoon, however the wind was in the opposite direction so we ended up kiting on the sea side in the waves. Exhausting, but very fun to launch off the waves. We met a wicked ...

... 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

... enjoyed the fresh air and stretching our legs after the long bus ride the previous day. Unfortunately, the balance of the day was wet with stormy weather. Today, we put laundry on, hung it to dry and then hiked for a little over an hour exploring the area. The skies are completely blue today but the wind is very cold and so is the Atlantic Ocean - takes the fun out of our holiday so we chose to catch up on our reading and internet. Wešll have to go to ...