Christmas morning we bid farewell to our resting spot of over a week in Praia de Vaguiera and drove to Obidos, about a two-hour drive. We tried to avoid the toll roads travelling the national road for about 30km till we thought we had skipped the electronic tolls. We are yet to buy a card, one due to it wont let us buy it online, two we missed the payment option upon entering the country, and three as you can only buy at a CTT post office, which are closed yesterday and today. As we drove the national road yesterday you realise the devastating effects of wildfires. Kilometre after kilometre of burnt trees saddled the road. In some parts we could smell them too. How sad this is not only for the wildlife but the locals, who must battle to save their properties over and over again. If I had to estimate we passed at least 20km of burnt forestry, its heartbreaking. Once we made it onto the toll road, you don’t pass much other than toll road, incredibly boring and expensive at €17.43. Finally Obidos beckoned from the hilltop, a castle and enclosed walled town, whitewashed white houses with

cobbled streets. We parked at the camperstop right next to the aqueduct and with views up to the city. For Christmas day it still had hundreds of people by the coach load walking the alleys and cobbles. It’s possible to walk the town walls and people were doing this, being rewarded with spectacular views down into the town, but also the countryside below. This morning we decided to drive to Peniche, yet another very cool surf beach. Surfers everywhere and even a RIPCURL outlet centre. You can walk out to the cliffs and rocky outcrops and everything is here. So we might stay another night and explore this town, a fishing village with a its ancient walls surrounding parts of the town. Slowly making our way south to the bottom of Portugal after the New year.