Sunday 15 March 2015

Time to move on so after our usual bacon and egg breakfast, we serviced the van, paid our dues and once again said goodbye to Barry. Our destination today is to cross the border to Portugal with vague ideas of where we were going to stop. There wasn't much point in avoiding it, so we took the toll-free Autovia out of Seville, stopping briefly to cure a rattling pan we hadn't put away properly, when Barry caught us up again! However he was heading to Faro to park up his van and catch a plane home (for a funeral unfortunately) so we’ll not see him again this trip – probably!

Crossing the border, we registered for the automated motorway tolls, which we won’t use unless we have to, then turned off and headed north for a barragem (dam) we had spotted on the map. Often these have parking areas where it’s permitted to stay overnight and they are usually very nice. But not this one, so we headed back down to the coast for an aire we’d used before at Manta Rota. Unfortunately it seemed that the stories we’d heard about the French refusing Morocco and instead stopping in Portugal were true – it was packed with no chance of getting parked up here.

However, whilst Terry was investigating, Bren looked at a list of possible stopovers that Barry had passed on and realised that we’d been halfway to them when we tried the barragem. So we retraced our steps and set the satnav for Alcoutin, about 40 mins north along the Rio Guadiana, which forms the border with Spain. But it was only small and already full, although a nice Frenchman said he’d be leaving so we could have his space – in a couple of hours! Not wishing to chance it we put the second site into the satnav which took us to a lovely river quay parking spot under the walls of Mertola, and there was room for us, and a couple more too.

So we parked up, had a very late lunch then settled in. We’ll probably stop for a couple of days although, apart from a water tap and rubbish skip, there aren't any facilities – but no matter, we’re supposed to be self-contained.

Sorry, no photies today!