110km Almonte to Monte Gordo

Locals check out our bikes, as we wait for the ferryA beautiful church in AlmonteAre we there yet?? That was Friedel’s most asked question of the day as we cruised towards Portugal. We’d set ourselves an ambitious goal of getting just inside Portgual by sunset to make our last day to Rich’s house on the coast, south of Faro, a relatively easy ride. Despite having a hefty number of kilometers in front of us we started out slowly, first stopping for coffee, then briefly to do some tasks online and finally for a good long lunch break. Finally in the afternoon we started to really push on, although we did find ourselves in a bar just outside the industrial city of Huelva, beers in hand. Beer and coffee are the two treats we allow ourselves after a night of wild camping. If you can’t have a shower….. After more pedalling through groves of orange trees and plastic-covered strawberry fields we reached the ferry port in the town of Ayamonte. There is a bridge to Portugal but it is part of the motorway and off bounds for us. No matter, the ferry was a nice change of scene and not very expensive at all. Soon we had our tent set up and were enjoying supper in the municipal campground of Monte Gorde, home for the night before we roll on towards Faro tomorrow.