Portugal trek august 2015 anyone?

Vincemcdonald · Oct 16, 2014

I have a (mostly) off road route from Central to Southern Portugal which I am planning to follow next year but I need a few like minded people to join me.

Meeting place and date would be the campsite at 'Coja' probably on the 17th or 18th of August. I do have a small amount of flexibility with dates

Accommodation will be at campsites.

The route starts at 'Torre' which is Portugal's only ski resort and heads south ending up at Lagos in the Algarve.

As a guess, the route should take 5 to 7 days so the whole lot including travel should fall within 2 weeks.

Anyone interested?

Vince.

Vincemcdonald · Nov 17, 2014

New date, 20th June.

Meeting place and duration still the same.

Convoy number currently stands at 2 vehicles.

laracroft · Nov 17, 2014

I'd be interested - but I am posted to a new unit in the new year, and it largely depends on leave dates for which I can not foresee. Also, what would estimated costs be for the trip...?

Vincemcdonald · Nov 17, 2014

The largest part of the cost will of course be getting to and from Portugal.
The more sensible way would be to use the Santander or Bilbao ferry, then it's an 8 hour drive to the meeting place.
I will be going the long way, taking the channel tunnel then driving through France and Spain. My sister lives in Limoges so we usually stay a couple of nights there.
The ferry to Spain can be quite expensive, however, adding up the much cheaper Dover to Calais crossing, plus fuel, plus motorway tolls, plus accommodation, the final cost normally works out much the same.
Camping in Portugal is generally fairly cheap.

laracroft · Nov 17, 2014

Sounds all good, but I will have to let you know much closer to the times depending on ops and stuff. But surely I could be very lastminute.com and just let you know...?

Vincemcdonald · Nov 18, 2014

Yes, no problem. You can be as last minute as you want. If there are any changes or further details I'll keep you informed via this thread.

laracroft · Nov 18, 2014

Cool, cheers!

james6546 · Jan 24, 2015

Hello. Sarah and myself would like to put our names down for this please.

Vincemcdonald · Jan 29, 2015

Excellent, so we now stand at 3 vehicles with 'Laracroft' as a maybe.
If like us you intend to do the long drive, and you would like to travel in convoy, we will be crossing using the channel tunnel late afternoon on the 15th June and camping at 'Liques' near Calais for the first night.
We will however be spending several nights at my sister's place near Limoges so if you get a later crossing you may be able to catch up.
Is your truck equipped with a CB radio? If not it would be a good idea to buy or borrow one as they are so useful when in a convoy.

Cheers, Vince.

james6546 · Jan 30, 2015

Vincemcdonald said:
Excellent, so we now stand at 3 vehicles with 'Laracroft' as a maybe.
If like us you intend to do the long drive, and you would like to travel in convoy, we will be crossing using the channel tunnel late afternoon on the 15th June and camping at 'Liques' near Calais for the first night.
We will however be spending several nights at my sister's place near Limoges so if you get a later crossing you may be able to catch up.
Is your truck equipped with a CB radio? If not it would be a good idea to buy or borrow one as they are so useful when in a convoy.

Cheers, Vince.

Ok, so we could maybe meet up somewhere after Limoges then? Sounds ok to me.

Yeah, I will have a CB fitted by then, just got to fit a new bracket as my aerial got torn off before I had even connected it to anything!

Vincemcdonald · Jan 30, 2015

After Limoges, my plan as it stands is to spend the night of the 18th at Conti plage (on the Atlantic Coast just south of Mimizan).
Then spending the night of the 19th at 'camping El astral' at Tordesillas, Spain. Here they serve the beer in glasses straight from the freezer and as the beer is poured in it partially freezes and lumps of iced beer form slowly floating to the surface as they thaw.
We normally visit here every year and from its about a four hour drive to 'Coja' from here.

james6546 · Feb 3, 2015

Vincemcdonald said:
After Limoges, my plan as it stands is to spend the night of the 18th at Conti plage (on the Atlantic Coast just south of Mimizan).
Then spending the night of the 19th at 'camping El astral' at Tordesillas, Spain. Here they serve the beer in glasses straight from the freezer and as the beer is poured in it partially freezes and lumps of iced beer form slowly floating to the surface as they thaw.
We normally visit here every year and from its about a four hour drive to 'Coja' from here.

That sounds pretty cool, if you don't mind us two tagging along for that bit?

Vincemcdonald · Feb 3, 2015

No problem.

Looks like we're mechanically similar. I'll be in my Disco 1 300tdi (with working air-con).

The other vehicle with us is a Discovery 4 with one of those off-road trailer tents in tow.

I have the route drawn on 43 pages of A4 with 345 way-points which I have entered into my sat nav, but because I don't trust it, I'm currently entering them all into my GPS as well.
If you would like a copy of my proposed itinerary and waypoints please send me your email and when I've done a decent copy I'll send it to you.

Only 19 ish weeks to go!

laracroft · Feb 3, 2015

I know I'm still a maybe. Will have some better idea of time off in a month or later, but can I get a copy of the route?

james6546 · Feb 3, 2015

Vincemcdonald said:
No problem.

Looks like we're mechanically similar. I'll be in my Disco 1 300tdi (with working air-con).

The other vehicle with us is a Discovery 4 with one of those off-road trailer tents in tow.

I have the route drawn on 43 pages of A4 with 345 way-points which I have entered into my sat nav, but because I don't trust it, I'm currently entering them all into my GPS as well.
If you would like a copy of my proposed itinerary and waypoints please send me your email and when I've done a decent copy I'll send it to you.

Only 19 ish weeks to go!

Yep, I'm pretty excited to be honest!

I'm gonna take a lot of spare parts and hopefully a lot of them will be transferable.

I wish I had aircon

Or a d4!

Vincemcdonald · Feb 4, 2015

laracroft said:
I know I'm still a maybe. Will have some better idea of time off in a month or later, but can I get a copy of the route?

Will do (may take me a week or so).

laracroft · Feb 4, 2015

Vincemcdonald said:
Will do (may take me a week or so).

No worries. Like you say. Will be another 19 weeks or so til it goes yet!

PumaPete · Feb 23, 2015

Hi Vince.

How difficult or 'damaging' is the off road driving likely to be? I don't want to sound like a wuss but it would be good to know in advance of any decision.

Thanks.

Pete.

Vincemcdonald · Feb 24, 2015

Hi Pete,
The truth is that I don't really know. However, I'm expecting the route to be mostly easy with a few bits of medium difficulty.
If any of it looks to be damaging there is always the option to turn around and miss that bit. I bought my Disco to abuse and eventually wreck so I'm not too worried about damage, but car number 2 is a shiny Disco 4 who has no intention of damaging it so you wouldn't be alone with your desire for vehicle preservation.

Cheers, Vince

PumaPete · Feb 26, 2015

Thanks Vince. I'll check the diary when I get home. On my way back from Arctic Circle trip (Finland and Norway). Brilliant time.

Pete.

Portugal trek august 2015 anyone?

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