The wind from the coast made for an eventful night. The rooftop tent is sturdy, so no worries there, but the howling wind kept us up occasionally. But that didn’t bother me so much; the fact that we were finally camping and getting in touch with nature was great for me. Before bed we made some quick sandwiches from the groceries we picked up earlier in the evening. Sleeping outside, sandwiches for dinner... I’m loving the simplicity!
We took advantage of some time this morning - in between the drops of the forthcoming torrential rain showers - to re-arrange our gear in the back of the Land Rover. We figured that everything had its own assigned place when packing before we left. But now that we’re on the road, those previously assigned spaces aren’t quite right. For example, some of the things that fit perfectly way back in the unreachable areas were the same things we needed a bit more frequently (and thus more accessible!).
We made it to Portugal today in what became our longest day of driving yet despite the heavy rain. The Landy is getting decent mileage considering its heavy weight and cruising at 60-70 mph. The 111hp 2.5L four-cylinder turbo diesel gets around 7.5 to 8.5 km/L (that’s 17.5 - 20 miles per US gallon). I haven’t pushed the limit yet for range; to be honest I’m not sure yet of its total capacity! It has an 80-litre tank plus a gravity-fed auxiliary tank which is between 25 and 40 litres. The gauge shows close to empty after about 100 litres are burned, so I’m guessing the aux tank is on the lower end. The two 20-litre jerry cans on the roof rack will come in handy in the Sahara.
We stopped in Braga in northern Portugal and, after taking some time to find parking (a task I’m sure will be a challenging one in the cities), there was just enough daylight to get some pictures of the beautiful cathedral. Afterward we managed to squeak out an order at a local diner... turned out to be cold pork sandwiches with Fanta drinks... not necessarily a typical Portugese dish, but for a grand total of 4 euros (total), I couldn’t resist! The traditional Portugese meal will have to wait until another day (sorry Tash!).
One more thing about the rain... all four of our Land Rover’s doors leak from above! We’ve had to pay attention especially to the back two doors as much of our gear is resting on the back seat, making it a perfect target for the incoming rain water. Nothing is damaged beyond repair (yet!), but we’ll have to make a plan for a fix soon. Nevermind our gear; we’re thinking of those who will be joining us along the way and we don’t want it to be mandatory for them to wear rain ponchos. ;) They say it’s not a Land Rover if it doesn’t leak in some way - from above or below!
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