We have been to Oporto and done the port warehouse tour and port tasting where we started to learn a bit about port and I managed to stop David spending a whole month's budget on port. Food and drink in this part of Portugal is really cheap – we can get extremely drinkable red and white wine for €1 a litre. Everyone (locals and yotties) are really friendly and we are so impressed with Portugal (language is a bit strange, but we are managing). I have to say that I find reading phrase books fascinating and compulsive. In a couple of years, my aim is to be able to:

·        order beer

·        ask where the toilets are

·        ask for the bill

·        ask for the nearest internet café

– in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Greek and Turkish! Two down (Spanish and Portuguese), four to go! I guess these phrases demonstrate where our priorities lie.

Rooftops in Oporto.

The cultural bit – Bethany and me marvelling at the azulejos (painted tiles) in São Bento Station.

Port heaven.

More piccies from Póvoa de Varzim

Ben Hur on trikes.

Dastardly and Mutley ride again…

Uptown Póvoa de Varzim, with the bright lights of its Casino.

Figueira da Foz

This coast of Portugal is just one long beach with no shelter and nowhere to anchor, so it is marinas or bust. Overnight passages are out due to the hundreds of unlit pot and net buoys along the coast and quite a way offshore. Our next stop at Figueira de Foz was short – just 2 nights, mainly because this was the most expensive marina so far at €40 a night.

Acres of sand and sports facilities at Figueira de Foz.

The children, however, had a whale of a time with an accumulation of about 10 boat kids of at least five nationalities. The lack of a common language didn’t stop play for a second. One inspired yottie parent had found a large lump of rock on the beach and handed it over to the children, who set to with lump hammers, screwdrivers and various other tools pinched from yacht tool boxes (while dads weren't looking) and cutlery drawers (while mums weren't looking) to break it up to get at the 'crystals' inside (a voluntary form of hard labour for kids). This kept the kids occupied for the whole of the 2 days that we were there – remarkably without loss of any digits or eyes poked out (although some of the tools and cutlery didn't fare as well).

As a follow up to this, we then did a school mini-project on the rock cycle, the three types of rocks (which I had forgotten from the days of ‘O’ level geology are igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary), and tried to identify the 'crystals'. We have since met up with John and Frannie (BARBARY DUCK) who are on their way to the Caribbean for a year. John, who is a professional geologist, confirmed that we were right in thinking that we have a piece of metamorphic rock that is, in fact, rose quartz! It's amazing what you can pick up on the beach!

Nazaré

We are now in Nazaré, still in Portugal, and still having technical hitches. The windlass died in Baiona, which means that we can anchor, but we have to (more accurately, David has to) pull up a 25 kg anchor, plus oodles of 10 mm chain by hand. This is a serious threat to David’s back, temper and our mental well-being, so we have a new one on order (to be picked up in Lisbon on Monday). We have also had a problem with the oil return pipes on the engine injectors, but managed to get the parts sent out from the UK and David fitted them today. We are reaping the benefits of an old engine that has not been very well maintained! Never mind, at least the sun is shining on us when we are doing repairs!

Traditional drying of fish on the beach.

We have been cruising in company with another couple (Mike and Mandy on TENGY) who are the same age as us, are great fun and are cruising for 6 months. Mike and Mandy met John and Frannie a few years ago after crossing the Atlantic to the Caribbean with the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers). They don't have kids themselves, but were delighted to have the added excuse of the kids to go to the water park. It is the first time the kids have a) been to a water park and b) were tired enough to go to bed before 9 pm! The adults weren’t too far behind for a change.

The water park – which we had to ourselves all morning!

The water babies ride again, and again, and again...

Mike, John, David and Bryn discussing the serious business of synchronized splashing (all hitting the water at the same time with me trying to catch the moment on camera).

We are hoping to head further downhill in the next couple of days towards Cascais (pronounced Cashcaish) and Oeiras (pronunciation update to follow in next blog) as a jumping off point from which to explore Lisbon with Mick, Mandy, John and Frannie. However, John and Frannie have been trying to leave for the last three days and keep getting distracted by water parks, boozy evenings and the promise of beach cricket, so we might all end up staying just one more day…