Motorcycle Camping - Touring Spain and Portugal By Motorbike

Good morning from central Portugal. We camped here last night in the middle of the national park and we had a great night's sleep here. It was actually really warm. Em's over here, she's making breakfast already. Good morning. We've had showers, nice hot showers here, it's been great. Cost 12 euros for two people and the bike and the tent for the night. Yeah and you've got like a river running through so all night you could hear the water trickling past you which was really nice. There's so many birds here. There is, the birds were tweeting most of the night last night. Yeah really loud. It was nice, everything went well though and we're going to be heading down to the coast today after we've had breakfast and packed up because everything's a little bit wet. It is yeah, it was a bit damp last night. The sun's just coming out now so we can feel the heat on our backs already and it's drying the stuff off but everything else worked well. There's the tent there, take you for a little tour in there. These down sleeping bags were great last night, they kept us warm but the helmets inside so they didn't get wet and the jackets and stuff we put in the panniers of the bike because we know they're nice and waterproof. Also these rack pack bags are they? Yeah the rack pack from Touratech right? Yep these were great because they're fully waterproof so we just sealed them up and they stayed on the floor last night and kept everything dry. Yeah because it was a pretty heavy dew wasn't it like all of the grass was still quite wet this morning but everything was stayed dry which is a great accomplishment for the equipment. And we're going to have some breakfast now, I've made a burger. Yeah we had these powdered packets, we got another one? Yeah I got another one in here. At the bottom somewhere. Yeah we do tend to keep as much dry packaged food as we can. This one is the one that we've been liking at the moment. Yeah these from Greenforce, they weigh like almost nothing and yeah just add a bit of water and cook them up and they seem to work but it hasn't even stuck to the pan which is amazing. Yeah look how good this looks. It's not traditionally a breakfast food but well we're quite hungry this morning. The other thing that we've been absolutely loving since camping is these keep cups, they are fantastic for keeping stuff warm. I mean we make it as the first thing that we make when we turn the stove on, put the lid on and by the time we've cooked like pasta, at least two or three dishes they're still warm and you have to take the lid off to cool them down. Yeah they're still piping hot. So these ones I'd really recommend because I don't like to drink my coffee straight away, I like to like more of it. You can't drink coffee and then eat your breakfast and then stages when all together. Yeah. So yeah just going to finish off breakfast and then we'll be back on the road and we're heading to the coast today. Continuing on the N334 just from our campsite last night, been on the road for about an hour and we just stopped at this breathtaking vista point here. You can see the way the river is meandering its way through the valley looks absolutely spectacular. There's lots of dirt tracks there as well so if you're in the mood for having a play there's no shortage of places you can go and play in Portugal. This is where we are on the map, that being Portugal. You can see we're just following this road here along the river here and our destination is going to be down here this afternoon. Whether we stay or not it depends on what time we arrive but we're also not too far from Lisbon which we'll be going to either today or tomorrow. So let's continue on these fantastic roads, they're really quiet today and the sun is shining. It's going to be another fantastic day in Portugal. We're here in the Lizarra Fort overlooking the big waves behind us. They're not so big today as it's not the peak surf season but they're still really impressive. There's some power in the sea that's for sure. Yeah it's a really nice viewpoint to come up here, you can see both sides of the beach either side and you can watch the waves for as long as you want. They're kind of mesmerising up here because they're crashing onto some rocks and you can also see some islands in the distance. Yeah I'm not sure which ones those are, there might be some boat trips to them. There's also a surf museum if you like surfing. It's got all the boards of all the past winners. Yeah it's two euros entry isn't it to get in and it's like a five ten minute walk from where you can park and so it's a great spot when you come and visit Lizarra. Yeah and the views are great watching the waves crash on the rocks. Just stopped at this supermarkedo or supermarket just to get some food and there's a coffee shop in there as well. Across the road I've just spotted what I think is a mark one escort and it's absolutely fantastic condition. Look at that sat there. It's beautiful and there's a little doggy in the background there. It's also a Citroen AX which was my very first car. I remember that car quite well. We've just found this little track there seems to be some abandoned buildings here. It leads to the beach I think. We're just going to have a little check out of this and then we're going to head to Lisbon. Lisbon's about an hour away and then we're going to stay in the Lisbon city probably two nights. We're going to go around the city tomorrow. It's a beautiful city is Lisbon so it's definitely worth having at least a full day there but so far the coastline looks absolutely spectacular. We're going to hug the coastline a little bit later on in the trip if we head to the south of Portugal in the Algarve region. It's a bit quieter there and yeah I think the roads are a lot closer to the to the sea so it's a nicer ride there. So yeah just going to check this out and then we're going to head off to Lisbon. But so far these gravel tracks or like these little dirt roads are... there's so many of them in Portugal. You struggle to pick one but this was right near the road and as you say it looks on the map like it goes directly to the beach. Hopefully it'll lead to a nice little vista or viewpoint. Should do yeah they're all yeah they're all available to ride on. There's no restrictions. Are you still in road mode for this type of surface or? I've put it in enduro. I don't know if it was entirely necessary but there could be a little bit of loss of traction where the back wheel needs to to keep spinning. Is that what enduro does? Yeah it's uh I think turns the traction control off of the back wheel and lets the abs well it reduces the abs I think or turns abs off on the back wheel and keeps it on on the front wheel. All right the gravel track didn't quite make it to the beach but it did make it to a form of abandoned church with like a little what would you call that? It's like a mini viaduct. It is I think it has got like a water trough on the front so it must have brought them fresh water from somewhere. All right should we head back in the direction of Lisbon? Yeah let's head to Lisbon and hopefully we'll get there around about 6 30 maybe 7 o'clock and then we can just head out for dinner then. Sounds like a plan. Okay after about an hour and 10 minutes on the motorway we have just arrived in the outskirts of Lisbon. We've chosen a hotel not in the city centre so that we don't get trapped in the very hilly districts that Lisbon is made up of and we also hopefully have found a hotel with underground parking which are our kind of our two priorities when we look for hotels in a city. So that's right then yep so bike will be safe and it's not going to be too stressful to get the bike there. But so far Lisbon on a Monday night seems rather quiet. The roads are fairly empty and I must say the Portuguese drivers are really patient here. They don't seem to be in too much of a rush so it's not so much of a stressful country to ride in. This is nice. Yeah and that's the University of Lisbon that way. Oh are we going down? I think we're going down there aren't we? I'll chance it. Yeah I think you're right there. Okay that was good. Didn't see any of this when we flew in. It's nice to see a bit more of the city. It is actually yeah. We arrived at night as well didn't we? Yeah. A little bit busier. Going straight here but lanes are gay. Sat Nav has no idea where we are in the cities. I'm thinking of going. Shall I go down the P section? No no keep following the road. Follow the road. Are you sure? Yeah. I think we're going down there. I'm going to go down there sorry. I made a decision. Who's right? I think you're right aren't you? Well that was your original thought. It was my original thought. I went back. I should have gone with my thought. I went with past bunny. Sometimes past bunny is great. This is a nice street. It is isn't it? The old Astra estate was great. Nicely parked. Come on mate he's got it in one. Nice one. Pedestrian. Doesn't want to use the pavement. That's all right. Oh it's a bit trafficky down here. It is a bit. He's got his parking warning lights on. All right I think we just go straight. Follow where those cars are going. No is it? Oh that's all right. That'll give me time to think. I think it's there. I think it's to the left. Just up there the pizza place. Yeah the left of the pizza area. And then we're basically there. Do you remember what it was called again? No. I think I recognize it. Hopefully. I don't want to drive past it. I don't want to drive around the block again. As long as no random tile falls off and hits us. Let's get this bike parked up. Checking done. And let's get some food. Oh the famous tram. It's always packed. It is isn't it? It is a tiny tram. Hotel here has got great bike parking. It's 10 euros a night. I've taken the bags upstairs. Em's just having a quick shower. Then we're going to head out for dinner and have an early night because tomorrow we're going to do a full city tour of Lisbon. So check out the next episode which is going to be Lisbon walking tour.