Well that worked out well. Had our well-lit car park to ourselves & no nocturnal visitors. A damp, but relaxing morning, but still a great view. After some photo backing up by me, which is no mean feat given the sheer volume of pictures taken, some dough preparation for further experimentation by Sophie, and cheese on toast, we continued our travels.

Using Beja as a guiding point, we headed North-West. A quick check for fresh water on Park4Night indicated a free-flowing drinking fountain en route, so we topped up there and even filled a number of our plastic water bottles given the quaility of the water. Even Sophie thought it was good, and she’s not a great fan of water, as such.

Beja gave us the opportunity to visit our first Lidl in Portugal. We’ve been without proper ice-cream rations for what seems like ages, so we now have a litre of coffee ice-cream in the freezer. Lidl still do my favourite local red wine, a Duoro, so I grabbed one of those to taste later, and all being well, quite a number will be returning home with me. So while I enjoyed myself in the supermarket, Sophie soldiered on with the fruit & veg, and other important stuff.

We’d initially said we’d ignore Beja town, then Sophie Googled it and said we would visit. At Lidl the wind was crazy and cold, and so we decided against a visit. As we pulled out of the carpark, the heavens opened, and within moments the temperature dropped from 12C to 5C, and with wipers on double-speed, we were out of Beja.

The rain soon subsided, and the sun returned, so this meant wonderfully dark skies and stunning sunlit scenery. On a day when we have mainly just driven, I’d anticipated not many photos, but Sophie’s been clicking away.

En route to our spot for the night we checked out Intermarché’s motorhome facilities at Moura. For these, you need to pop-in and get a key, but everything is free. As it happens, we’re in pretty good shape, so might pop by tomorrow if en route.

My objective for the night was the Barragem d‘Alqueva, another reservoir. I’d heard that these were popular haunts for motorhomers, and a quick check on Google Maps showed a spacious area, so that if it was busy, we wouldn’t have to cosy up with the other van dwellers. As it turned out, there are only another half-dozen motorhomes, so we can all enjoy our personal space.

Sausages, beans and onions are cooking in the background and that Portuguese red is breathing nicely. There’s a little light rain, but we’re in a great spot, with an excellent view, and look forward to a peaceful night.