Port, storks and two lovely buildings

Peso da Regua - Sunday March 23rd

We left our little oasis, that's really how it felt. Istas Garden is a great place to stop and the owners and staff are very helpful and welcoming.

We left Porto calling into a supermarket first. Google wanted to take us through the middle of Porto so I worked out a very convoluted route which took us a very long way round but I don’t think Richard noticed, but he would have if we had gone through Porto!

Our journey took us through the mountains (and under), the scenery was stunning with lots and lots of small white villages. The mountainsides were all terraced for wine and, more likely, port.

The road we were on was the A4 which is known as one of the most dangerous motorways in the country, particularly the descent from Campo to Valongo. Many improvements are being projected by the government in this respect. We went into a tunnel which seemed to go on forever, in fact it was 3.5 miles long. There were also lots of viaducts, some of which stretched a long way. It was started in May 2009 and opened in May 2016.

The road has a lot of lorry runaway tracks, some of which go up and up!

Our stop for the night was Peso da Regua where we really did wild camp beside the Douro river.

We took Rio for a walk along the river bank keeping him firmly on the lead as the river was running extremely fast.

A really lovely spot, one to definitely go back to.

99 miles

Peso da Regua - Park4night

Area Montamarta, Zamora - Monday March 24th

We were due to cross from Portugal into Spain today. We had enjoyed our miles on the Portuguese A4 but, oh dear, as soon as we were across the border the road changed from a super straight dual carriageway to a two-way road with a very poor surface.

As well as putting our watches forward an hour onto Spanish time we were able to put the dashcam back up. Dashcams are not allowed in Portugal - goodness only knows why!

We had had a good, dry drive up to the Spanish border but I think we caught up with the weather front as we started getting some showers, though nothing as serious as we had in Porto. I kept looking at the weather forecast and was in no doubt that we were travelling with the weather front.

Our stop for the night was in a small village called Montamarta, where there is an Aire which has been made by the local council. It is on the edge of a children’s play area, an outdoor swimming pool and a basketball court, and has about 6 motorhome spots. There is fresh water and facilities for grey and black water. We were the only ones for an hour or so until we were joined by a German van. It looks over the Esla Reservoir which, even with all the rain, is looking very low.

We looked right over the hermitage of the Virgen del Castillo. The Hieronymite friars founded the Monastery of Santa María in 1404, but In 1534 the monks requested that the monastery be moved to the city of Zamora due to the unhealthiness of the place,

Montamarta is popularly known as the "town of the storks", due to its countless nesting sites. The storks come every year attracted by the wetland of the Esla reservoir and the proximity of the Villafáfila lagoons. However we only saw one and it was too far away to photograph!