Safe Return Doubtful

I’m moving north tomorrow after three weeks here at the camping area at Barril. It’s free and provided by the community, based around a few beaches on the river and a cafe that always does good business. It certainly wouldn’t be my scene in the summer, but at this time of year there’s two or three other vans here most days, with a few more at the weekends. 

There’s the Estonian guy who I mentioned before, a vegan chef who says he is between jobs, and waiting for the local mechanic to repair an issue with his motorhome, which should be next week. His work tends to be seasonal anyway, so he says once it’s repaired he is likely to head back to Estonia for a few weeks before the season starts. 

There’s a Croatian couple in an extremely old and well-loved motorhome who are trying to buy some land in the area, and then build. I get the feeling they don’t have as much money as many expats who come to settle and build in the area. They had an appointment viewing postponed last week, and have been here six weeks now, but only seen two potential plots of land. 

There’s some good hiking around, without it being mountainous, rather just gentle hills and eucalyptus forest. Over the three weeks Roja and I have explored the four directions trails lead into, my preferred being along the Pinheiro valley to the north, and the hills above Vila Cova which get up to about 400 metres, and are the site of some newly built and expensive homes (of expats, usually Dutch). 

Roja’s gastroenteritis has cleared up, and he is getting back up to his usual weight of 30 kilograms. He’s back on his usual food, and having had a couple of days of shorter distances and times out, in the last few days has been back to the usual three hours or so on the trail each day. 

My hand has almost recovered. I’m in the medical centre tomorrow, but will move on after that. 

The weather has been another reason not to wander much further into the Serra de Estrela. Here in the valley there have been plenty of clear days with temperatures in the late teens, though cold night with a few below zero. The sun is high enough in the sky, even in early February, to provide enough solar power to balance what the van consumes each day. There was only once, in the week I arrived when the two storms hit back to back, that I needed to hook up to the electric which is available here at four euros. 

It’s been an entertaining weekend of rugby, with the second round of the Six Nations. I’m enjoying watching the Under 20s almost as much as the main tournament.