After 3 nights its time to move again.
How do we say thankyou to a town?
Not good for sight seeing.
We passed some Roman ruins on the plain below Marvao.
The ambulance passed us a few hundred meters before we arrived at the rollover.
We continued to be careful.
We think an aquaduct for Evora. A very long and high aquaduct. Another walled town.
The people we know that most built aquaducts were the Romans which would make it quite old! According to our favourite guide book there's a Roman era temple in the center of the old town.
Really not a good idea to stop in the rain. Still very heavy. We are headed just a few km west and may come back this way.
The colours and shapes among the cork trees caught our attention.
Lazily taken from the truck window as we ate lunch. Warm and dry inside.
Lots of menirs (standing stones).
Cromeleque Almendres is the largest on the Iberian Penninsular (Spain / Portugal).
About 100 menirs. A handful had faint, abstract, engravings.
In keeping with other gps coordinates we've tried to use for Portugal those we had for the cromeleque were about 8km out. Why do people bother? Grrrr!
For the record! Its at 38.5599N, 8.0615W (WGS84 datum). 406m above sea level for the pedantic!
Late neolithic, about 7,000 years old. At least the arrangement, the stones are of course older!
Its believed initially a sort of open horseshoe shape but later closed and other circles added.
Its also believed there is a relationship with the positions of heavenly objects, solstices, and so on.
Archeologists only became interested in this area in the last 50 years or so. Some of the stones have been returned to their original positions.
The surrounding cork groves have a slightly muddy soil and grass. Around the stones, the car park, and the road in is granite sand. I'm taking bets that it was muddy in neolithic times! And maybe a bit of grass.
Who would have thought there were so many ways to arrange stones! I guess we'd call it a "henge". At least a "stone circle".
Walled town of Evora in the distance. The skyline of the cathedral looks an interesting shape.
Indigenous.
The bark is harvested. The red bit is where its been removed. The rest looks lichen laden and ancient.
When we looked carefully we found a few "acorns" on the ground.
About a km away.
There are reputedly engravings on it. Coarse granite and the ravages of time made them invisible to us.
Its aligned with the cromeleque at sunrise on the Summer solstice.
We couldn't see the cromeleque from here.
Either the neolithic builders were taller, there were fewer trees, or tall flag poles!
We would call it a long barrow. An anta is a dolmen.
Around 5,500 - 6,000 years old and in use for about 2,000 years.
Same problem with coordinates. Its at 38.5374N, 8.0131W
Being granite the stones are rounded rather than the more square sedimentary stone we're used to in barrows.
Thus, these stones don't fit together well. They seem to lean in a bit to touch each other as they can.
Just like the Cromelesque is the largest on the Iberian Peninsular so is this Anta.
There are other cromelesques (stone circles), menirs (standing stones) and anta (dolmen / burial sites) in this area west of Evora.
We plotted a course for Sagres.
This aquaduct is just outside Valverde.
We were able to drive under it.
A bit odd I thought. Maybe they use a narrower gauge in the mountains.
Need to check! We didn't stop with the tape measure.
We haven't seen any trains in either Portugal or Spain but the line looks used.
Not the usual shape.
We also saw melons.
And beef.
As we head south we are in rolling hills and it feels like the temperature is a bit higher. The agriculture is certainly changing.
We wondered what a largish sub station was doing with no power station chimney near! Then all became clear as we turned the corner.
Room for sheep and goats to graze underneath. I hope the goats don't chew the wires.
We think for pumping water.
We couldn't see any sails.
About 20 km north of Sagres.
We saw a small road and followed it.
Nothing between here and North America, and we have no desire to go there.
It makes it a bit windswept and wave bashed.
The car park has about 10 camping cars in it. And us. A different sort of clientele - shorts, surf boards and curly sun bleached long hair instead of chic apres ski fashion.
The surf school and camp is closed for the winter.
We now know of a smaller beach, just to the south, accessible only by 4wd. Maybe an alternative to spending a night near the Cape.
Maybe its the warmer temperature and sunshine. Maybe another step closer to Morocco and a well earned (we think so!) long stop.
Important things were how to remove the paper wrapper from the butter before it melted, and how to get the last of the marmalade out of the jar without making the knife sticky. We've almost mastered balancing the marmalade on the end of the knife!
After half an hour this was the nearest any came to catching a wave. About 3 seconds standing on the board.
Marginally more successful than us waiting to catch a surfer catch a wave.
But what a wonderful place to be.
Today we drove at least 15 km to "second beach" where we had "second breakfast".
Followed by elevenses, lunch and little lunch.
At first no name for our new beach. About a km south of Praia do Amodo if we walked. A Dutch couple walking along the coast had a map. Thus, I think, Praia do Mericao (spelling?).
The pinks and blues are just as nice.
The road in is thought of as a 4wd track so we mostly had it to ourselves. A couple of fishermen and a French couple in a Landrover camper. GPS knew about the track. Just a bit steep and a bit awkward getting onto the flat bit at the bottom to camp. 37.1555N, 8.90721W
Praia do Almodo further to the north where we previously camped and took a few photos from that middle outcrop.
A right good mixture of sedimentary rocks.
I'm stood in front of the white building that was on top of the hill in the photo three back!
The track angling across the hillside opposite is how we got there. An easy 1 in 5.5 (19%, a meagre 10°) or thereabouts.
We've now remembered to read the "Walks in the Algarve" that Jane and Duncan (remember Manchester) gave us.
We've been promising ourselves slower progress for what seems like a lifetime.
So here we are, stopped, with time and place to "recover".
Its difficult to "do nothing" but we are trying our hardest.
Sun (if a bit weak and low) all day for the solar. Fully charged batteries.
Rain last night but forgot to put the buckets out!
Temperature just right for us, 22°C inside with windows open. Relative humidity about 50%. Just a tad cooler outside in the breeze. Not yet shorts for us.
Yesterday a walk east on the north side of the valley, found a track across, then back west along the south side. The same lovely views along the coast.
Today just soaking feet in the Atlantic. A couple of fishermen drove their landrover down from that white building on the hill top. Now we know what the rope down the cliff is for. And the Dutch couple walking with a detailed map. Provided by a Dutch "adventure holiday" agency.
One could be forgiven for thinking this was the edge of the world.
A new meaning to "long lines".
Now there's a military aerial farm for communicating with who knows what or whom.