We’re still feeling lucky today – more so because we realised that we’d parked the van on a downhill slope facing the cliff, and we’d been sunbathing on the bit of beach directly underneath. How fortunate that our would-be burglar wasn’t the sort to take the handbrake off and watch it roll. It would have been a nasty end to our holiday, to the van, and indeed to the Spanners.
Things were put into even sharper perspective when we heard war photographer Giles Duley on a BBC World Service broadcast (and how CAN they be thinking of cutting that?). This is a man who lost three limbs to an IED in Afghanistan, then lost his income and his home too, but who is still interested in other people's stories. I think I would feel very bitter, but that didn’t even seem to cross his mind. The link below is nothing to do with the interview we heard - I haven't even read this page because anything with pictures seems to suck the life out of our poor dongle - but I hope he still comes across as an amazing bloke, because that's how he seemed to us. It made us feel a bit pathetic and whiny actually. It's not like we're in a war zone, after all.
This morning we went for a lovely bike ride from the camperstop at Quarteira....
...along to Villamoura, which is very much the posh end of town: the gin palaces in the harbour made the ones in Quarteira look like toys. Some godawful names, though, like Crystal Princess. It soothed the envy a bit – not much, but a bit - to see such incontrovertible evidence that money can’t buy taste.
It IS a bit of a Brit ghetto here – English is spoken everywhere (often better by the Portuguese than by the Brits), and every other bar calls itself a pub and advertises Full English Breakfasts And Sunday Roasts With Pudding. I quite fancied that, but Mike wouldn’t hear of it, and I’m grateful to him now as I am still losing weight. The travelling life seems to suit me, so much so that I’ll soon need to make more new holes in my belt and even cut the long dangly end of it off. OK, maybe I’m bragging a bit, but things are certainly going in the right direction.
After the bike ride we were off to see Tommy, proprietor of the only campervan shop on the Algarve, to get our new lock fixed. Only problem was, Mike had changed the oil – without spilling a single drop on the floor – and then, getting into the general spirit of tidiness and cleanliness, I put the can of used oil neatly under the van. I'm sure you can guess the rest, but setting off for Tommy’s, we drove over it. There was a loud bang which we thought was a tyre exploding, and when we looked outside, we wished it had been. There was oil everywhere, though thankfully only a drop or two on the brand spanking new motorhome parked next door, otherwise we’d still be there now washing it off. Most of it sprayed under our own van, which I’d guess would be good on the rust-proofing front. Also on the plus side, we were very close to the beach so could easily get sand to soak up the mess. But positive thinking can only get you so far. It was , actually, a bitch of a couple of hours, and I think you can probably see that Mike was less than cheery. He may even have been wondering why I was taking pictures instead of helping, but I after listening to Giles Duley I felt it was almost my duty to document what had happened.
After the bike ride we were off to see Tommy, proprietor of the only campervan shop on the Algarve, to get our new lock fixed. Only problem was, Mike had changed the oil – without spilling a single drop on the floor – and then, getting into the general spirit of tidiness and cleanliness, I put the can of used oil neatly under the van. I'm sure you can guess the rest, but setting off for Tommy’s, we drove over it. There was a loud bang which we thought was a tyre exploding, and when we looked outside, we wished it had been. There was oil everywhere, though thankfully only a drop or two on the brand spanking new motorhome parked next door, otherwise we’d still be there now washing it off. Most of it sprayed under our own van, which I’d guess would be good on the rust-proofing front. Also on the plus side, we were very close to the beach so could easily get sand to soak up the mess. But positive thinking can only get you so far. It was , actually, a bitch of a couple of hours, and I think you can probably see that Mike was less than cheery. He may even have been wondering why I was taking pictures instead of helping, but I after listening to Giles Duley I felt it was almost my duty to document what had happened.
Mike did forgive me eventually, and I hope Mr. Duley would too. And I did help a bit.
Oh bugger - the computer charge is on its last legs, so I’ll have to write about Tommy and the Mozzie Zappers next time. We have a new lock, anyway. Safe Spanners! No idea at all if anyone is reading this, but if you are, lots of love, and don't worry - all is lovely.
Oh bugger - the computer charge is on its last legs, so I’ll have to write about Tommy and the Mozzie Zappers next time. We have a new lock, anyway. Safe Spanners! No idea at all if anyone is reading this, but if you are, lots of love, and don't worry - all is lovely.
