Time to move on. Both Faye and I were up at 5.45am, way before dawn: Faye to head off on her 33-mile(!) training run, me to prepare my mix for tomorrow's livestream. By midday-ish we were both done, so we had a final lunch of peri-peri chicken from the campsite bar, with a home-made salad, and hit the road (forgetting the washing line - doh!).

We decided to head for a campsite in the middle of nowhere, so stopped at Lidl to buy food for several days. Was impressed that a trolley-load of shopping came to only €70 - will have to use Lidl more at home, because they had practically everything. I wanted to clean the van, too, but it seems Portuguese petrol stations don't go in big on jet washes, so Rusty remains dirty for now.

It was a slow and pleasant drive, no motorways and many minor roads, through small villages, tree-lined promenades, fertile farmland, forest, the odd glimpse of a river or a reservoir, and all the time watching the mercury rise. I was certainly pleased to see it hit 30C, but not so pleased when Dylan declared he was going to be sick, only 10 minutes from destination. Poor lad filled a sick bag and wasn't feeling too clever for a bit.

We arrived at our destination around 6pm, a rural campsite on the banks of a reservoir, truly in the middle of nowhere. There's a shop that opens an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon ("or if I'm not too busy here, I can open it for you at other times" the receptionist told me), a small restaurant, and lots of open pitches dotted around the lake.

The very best spots are taken (well, we did arrive at a weekend) but we found a good pitch with wide-open views, and under the shade of a couple of trees. I reckon the stars are going to look pretty spectacular from here tonight, and there is absolutely zero road noise from anywhere - just crickets and the rustle of the breeze in the leaves above our heads.

I cooked a coconut dal with turmeric rice for dinner, using curry leaves, black onion seed, lime and real chillies - the kids are getting pretty keen on chilli nowadays which is great for Faye and me, but these ones turned out to be pretty tame. Double dose next time!

Not sure what the plan is but we'll definitely stay here for a couple of days minimum. The pool is shut (COVID-19) but you can swim in the reservoir, and we finally have somewhere we can use the kayak, so I'll be getting that sorted tomorrow too.