It is a very rare occasion when our peace is disturbed at night when motorhoming. Last night was the first time on this trip. Staying over at a beauty spot near a well-populated town always comes with the risk that local youths will come out late in their cars and try and out do each other with the sheer volume of music they can blare out.

Last night was one of those nights. Fortunately they turned up not long after we’d turned in, and they’d probably gone within the hour, but it felt longer. Normal very peaceful conditions were resumed. As Sophie philosophically put it, we were essentially in their space, and, notwithstanding the annoyance we were experiencing, they weren’t disturbing anyone else. Wish she was that understanding with my misdemeanours 😉.

It was a great stop overall, and whilst we’d highly recommended it for a day stop, we’d suggest you find somewhere else to drive to later on to get your head down, unless you want to risk it.

We didn’t rush to get up in the morning, then caught up with blogging. We thought we’d pop into Castro Verde, 20 minutes up the road, and use Intermarché’s motorhome facilities. This supermarket is an essential provider of these services across all of Portugal, and without this it would definitely be more of a struggle for “wild-campers” to top up and tip out. Last year we also found them best value for diesel, in a country with pretty high fuel prices. So they get our custom in return.

Before dealing with these essentials though, I’d seen a very highly rated TripAdvisor restaurant in town, and we reckoned we were due our first Portuguese meal out. De Castro restaurant at the top of the main street was good. Helpful staff, with decent English, and good flavours throughout. A large glass of red wine at €2 and coffee at €0.90 were also welcome prices.

We then aimed for a Park4Night out in the sticks overlooking a reservoir. There is the option to park in the empty car park or the one with half a dozen motorhomes in it. So here we are on our antisocial own, and it suits us so much more. Of course, they might all know something we don’t 😉.

PS Road report – faith has been restored in the Portuguese road system today. Here’s hoping it lasts.