N40.2294 W7.22109 - BENQUERENÇA, PORTUGAL - Free, Services, Fresh Water Swimming Pool. 50 Places.

There seemed to be a mass exodus this morning with only three of the spaces on the Aire occupied after we left .

Had we more time and food we'd have stayed longer but we need to shop tomorrow, can't today as it appears Good Friday is celebrated as a holiday here unlike France.

Yesterday I heard my first Cuckoo of the year, I've heard them today as well.

Today we travelled more twisty, mountainous roads with huge rocky outcrops alongside and again some spectacular views of Barragems and through lovely back roads of villages. A lot of todays roads have been almost single track width.

We left the Barragem do Póvoa via the M1007 to Nisa and then took the N18 to Vila Velha do Rodão where we stopped to take some photographs.

From there we followed the N18 again and N3 to Castelo Branco where we hoped to find a shop open but we were out of luck. The ER233 took us from Castelo Branco, where there was yet another castle, to Penamacor and Meimoa . Just after Meimoa we turned off onto a small single track road to Benquerença and we had arrived at tonight's stopping place.

It's quite a big Aire although currently there are four English registered vehicles, three French (including ours), one Portuguese, two unknown registered vans (I can't see, they're tucked in a corner) and one car and caravan which I think is Portuguese = 11 in an Aire which is listed as being able to take 50!

The services for the van are all there except for electricity. There are separate facilities for guys & gals which includes toilet, disabled toilet and a cold shower. There's also a barbecue area.

The tide was out in the fresh water swimming pool which is basically a small, clear river which has been dammed up with a sluice gate put in. Presumably the powers that be have decided it's not quite the right time of year to back the water up yet as it was only paddle depth.

We sat outside on our chairs and fried in the hot sun and later Mike cooked our dinner outside again.

We haven't covered a huge distance the last few driving days because the narrow mountain roads take a lot of concentration and are tiring for Mike especially when som prat tries to kill himself right in front of you, with a stupid blind overtake, and nearly take you out with him!

That's all for tonight folks sleep tight and don't let the bed-bugs bite!