Tuesday 1st March 2011

Well we had a great week! Matthew arrived 30 mins early, so we had just said goodbye to Sarah and then walked down to arrivals and within a couple of minutes he was there. We were chatting so much on the way back to the van we missed our turn coming out of the airport! Still it’s only a few kilometres from the camp so it didn’t matter.

Matt was really lucky with the weather, it was the warmest week we’ve had this year, with some days being really hot! We ventured out in the car a couple of times, firstly inland where we drove along some scenic routes up in the hills and then later in the week to Vilamoura, which has a large marina and is described as one of the biggest leisure resorts in Europe.

The scenic routes were lovely, with lots of twisty roads and great scenery. A large area is national park which is covered with walking tracks which take you through orchards of cork trees. We stopped for lunch and ventured a short distance along one of these, where Matthew continued to experiment with his new camera, I did my best to find him interesting shots!

Vilamoura was only a short drive away and by that I mean a couple of kilometres! We had read it was east of Albufeira but didn’t realise how close it was until we started driving through Quarteira and saw signs for it. The marina and boats were impressive as were the hotels and restaurants surrounding it. We all agreed it would be nice to own an apartment there, with a boat to match of course. We had a drink overlooking the marina and then walked round to the beach which was one of the best we’ve been on. We had another drink in a beachside bar overlooking the ocean, the views were amazing. It was the place for the local 20 somethings to hang out, boys going surfing, girls sitting in bikinis on the sundeck getting a tan. Matthew was impressed with some of those views too! Had a late lunch on the beach and watched the dinghy races out to sea.

Other days were spent around the van, going for the occasional walk or cycle. We took Matt to show him the posh houses by the golf course, which we have now found out cost over a million euro just for the plot! The smallest apartments cost just under a million! And they’re sold as second homes!

It was great to see Matt and even better to take his money playing cards or table tennis!

Now Sarah is back having had a nice break at home, but happy to be back in the sun, even if it isn’t quite as hot as it has been.