The Hammer isn't even our original hammer, or the one after that. Our original hammer was found in a campsite last year, and turned out to be super useful for hammering pegs into difficult ground. But we lost it, and so when we arrived in the Albufeira campsite and realised the ground is so hard that my usual method of finding a rock and tapping the pegs in wasn't going to work, I went to the campsite shop to buy a new hammer.

The skinny, badly made Chinese hammer they sold me didn't even make it out of the shopping bag before its head fell off, and its replacement did no better, but when I cycled to Aldi down the road to grab some supplies, I spotted a nice, half kilo German hammer for €5, and grabbed it.

The first person who borrowed The Hammer - a sixty-something German gentleman on a push bike with four packed panniers - didn't even ask. Faye spotted his disappointment when his neighbours didn't have one to lend him, so I wandered over with The Hammer, which he was extremely grateful for. Turns out he's on a multi-thousand-kilometre bike ride across Europe - next stops Lisbon, Porto, San Sebastian... He was up, packed and off next day at 8.30am sharp. 

Three Spanish lads in a car pulled up later in the afternoon, and struggled with their tent on the ungiving ground. One wandered over to ask if we had a hammer. 

"Camping solidarity! We are family! Thanks for the hammer!" he said, enthusiastically, on the hammer's return. I couldn't help but agree. They had driven down from Asturias, via Porto, Lisbon and The Algarve, and would be heading back home to the north via an inland route - a little like the reverse of our route. 

I didn't even both getting out of my seat when the head of the family in the big motorhome that arrived opposite us in the evening approached, miming a hitting movement. 

"On the table," I said, smiling and pointing. 

"Very useful tool!" he said to me, returning The Hammer later. 

Not sure what they're up to yet, but he's very friendly so no doubt we'll get the details soon enough.

Forget a cute dog/baby, it seems like if you want to make friends on a campsite, a decent German hammer is the thing to have.

In other news, our flashy computerised VW control panel has decided the leisure battery/batteries are dead, and no amount of engine running or hookup charging seems to be working. The batteries shouldn't be dead as we have solar panels, and the solar panel control app is reporting they are full, but the problem is that if the panel thinks they're dead, we get no fridge, no electric roof, no upstairs lights... basically, we're crippled.

Have tried talking to all the experts I know and annoyingly it looks like we'll have to throw ourselves to the lions and head for the nearest VW dealership tomorrow, hoping they can help without too much wait. Our first major challenge of the trip...