At last i am on my way the journey to portsmouth proved uneventful baring a last english cloud burst to see me on my way.I arrived at portsmouth 2 hours early a shame really as jackie furnue had arranged a few HU members to see me off which i missed being early.
The ferry went as any ferry journeys do boring.
I did have the pleasure to talk to a couple on the heading back to their home in the Algave(I think) having enjured two months of rain on and off. A most delightful couple
The ext morning one old lady complained to me about a lack of that days papers on the boat she felt sure it would not be to much trouble to drop a bundle of papers from a helicopter i did not comment

As the boat docked 2 hours late i decided to give that days proposed destination Potes in the Picos mountains a miss and head for a campsite about 4 miles from the docks to get there just keep following the promanade round the bay you will eventually come to Cabo Mayor campsite on the headland. By the way i found the next day to be a nice 4 mile sroll down to Santander worth a visit catch a bus back.
Opposite the campsite, steps go down to beautiful secluded bay. Although there did seem to be a majority of single men going to the beach i felt they must be free masons.
Oh one promise readers this is the last time i will thank my friends back home for their care and help the last 3 years- Neesha and Tarun my son and daughter AL and Liz Kingston and Ray my dear friends from derbyshire Tim and Paul from Morpheus motorcycles, JAckie Furneux and Rich neil,chrisstie and the lads and lassies from ethicall fund raisers were all real gems and kept me laughing through ill health.Oh and my ex wife wished me luck on my journey good god what next.
Until level with Madrid the weather was perfect after that afternoons are very hot 38 degress ridings no problem its when you stop. Still im learning all the time before pitching camp get out of motorbike gear and just wear shorts and flip flops sorted

Now of to Portugel the Algave until now i have just used A roads and CL roads there great and empty and you see rural spain Fire blade owners eat your heart out. Sat in a village bar sunday afternoon and watched Rossi beat the beat the spaniard danny pedrosa i was the only one cheering dont know why.The headline in the sports section of a national newspaper the next day was Rossi Fabula aint he just i was weened on Hailwood and Ago but this man well what can i say

GRIPE OF THE WEEK

As my sat nav would be no good after spain i decided to ditch it in the uk and use my tried and tested navigation using old fashion map reading as i like to wear vario focals under my goggles quick checks of the map and crib card is no trouble ah you say what happens when you break your glasses well you get out your spare pair thats if you dont drop them as you get them out your tank bag and then stand on them as you step back to pick them up, great its going to be slow navigation using just my reading glasses every time i stop . Oh you say why dont you look at the map and memorize the next couple of major junctions Er i am 65 you know .

SUPER ROADS
It not hard to find superb roads in rural spain empty of traffic and in great condition they do not have to be major roads one such road the EX 101 going onto the N435 from Zafra is 120 kms of exceddingly fast sweeping bends over the mountains and no suprises, biking at its very best Ive been all over europe and this has got to be the best ever
i am in Portugel, now prices half that of Spain, my next blog will be from Morocco and hopefully the fun will start