The McKenzie's Official world tour site
# Sunday, 16 November 2008
Portugal times come to an end for now and Macswayround moves on................

We had an enjoyable (if only a little wet!) day in Lisbon – and had great fun exploring the sights in an automatic buggy! Phil’s new toy had a top speed of 25 miles per hour which was ample around the streets and we think that they are still a relatively new addition to the city-as we got a lot of strange and bemused looks along the way!

The buggy came kitted out with a satellite navigation system and a verbal guided tour system for the specific route that we chose and we could access ‘pedestrian only’ areas if we waited for the post in the centre of the road to lower itself out of our way!

We took the very narrow, cobbled and windy backstreets of the ‘old Lisbon’ and found some beautiful little places that we would never have found either on foot or with Nessie!

As a special treat on the day before his birthday both Phil and Ben took the Portuguese barber shop experience! Phil went for the full package – hair cut, bead trim and shave with the good ‘ole cut throat razor! Phil says this is definitely the closest shave he has ever had! Ben had the shortest hair he has ever had too – and looks like a different boy now – even with a number 4 all over!

Phil celebrated his 40th birthday on November 5th and our family tradition of a firework party was put on hold for this year. In previous years our celebrations have grown and grown, and last year we had approximately 175 people in our garden! There is always a donation bucket raising money for (of course) the Devon Air Ambulance. So if any of you out there have been meaning to donate for us and have not quite got around to it yet – what a good time this would be! EVERY PENNY COUNTS!!

We found an enormous shopping centre just outside Lisbon, to spend the birthday day (after breakfast in bed!)

 The children were then amazed to be able to have only cake, ice-cream and jelly for tea – as a very special treat!

Later in the evening we used the remainder of the sparklers as these were the only fireworks in sight around here! Phil was then able to enjoy a sample of his all time favourite whisky – Glenmorangie. He had bought this bottle in Inverness back in June this year – especially for this special occasion and managed to save it for the day too!!

As ever- on the journey of Macswayround – so far – we have enjoyed the luxury of no deadlines, no pressure, no bookings.....we have an idea of our route but this has already varied along the way many times!

As the shipping company still continue to have no idea of a sail date-even having quoted for the route and taken our payment details......we were in a dilemma. How long do we ‘wait’ in the sand and mainly sunshine of Portugal for our boat to come in?!

Phil ‘s birthday provided the mile stone that we were after and following uncountable ,unproductive  emails and telephone calls we decided to take other action to get us back on the move.

Flexibility is the name of the game and so we found ourselves saying an emotional farewell to Sesimbra and motoring out of Portugal. We had befriended many many cats during our time here and three young kittens who had arrived on our doorstep a few days before. Everyone was devastated when one got squashed under the wheels of Nessie as we left .........the jokes that were created the day before such as ‘what goes meow crunch?’ – were not funny anymore.

We drove back through Portugal and into Spain. We camped at Salamanca-and found a camp that we have previously enjoyed - Camping Regio, and then came into France. We stayed near Leon at the Le Galan Castets des Landes and then near Poitiers at Le Futuriste Camp.  This whole area has been developed with a futuristic theme and has a theme park  (Futuroscope) with many space age activities and prehistoric attractions......the information leaflet was jam packed. We will keep this idea up our sleeve for another visit!

Lastly we reached Argentan and stayed at Camping Du Val De Braize, just south of Le Havre.

We took the ferry from Le Harve to Portsmouth!! YES-you read correctly.....not an anticipated route -but it does mean that we have completed a loop of Europe during the first ‘leg’ of Macswayround!! We found an English Shipping company (contacted by mobile as we drove through Portugal!)who gave us a sailing date immediately (Southampton to New York) and a quote that was unbelievably and substantially lower than our previous route! It is obviously not always the case that the shortest distance covered is going to be the best option!

After landing in Portsmouth we have been very fortunate to be able to stay with Phil’s cousin, Don and his wife, Sandy. They have been extremely hospitable and provided us with an amenable base  to organise ourselves once more and to arrange the next stage of our travels. We are so grateful to them as we have turned their home and life completely upside down!

It has been very strange as this has been our first stay out of Nessie since we left home in July! We delivered Nessie to Southampton docks where she will need to be for a few days before she is taken away! See you next in USA -Nessie!!  She will sail on the ship named Don Juan and leaves on Wednesday (19th Nov).

We have booked a flight to New York (from Heathrow) and will give the children their first flying experience! Everyone is very excited – after a re-charge –the next part of our adventures will continue........Nessie is organised, our flight is arranged and a Hotel  is booked for our first few days in New York!!

MACSWAYROUND CONTINUES!!...............................

Wild life Hit:

* A Green Woodpecker in France!


Sunday, 16 November 2008 12:46:58 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Comments [0]  Portugal

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