Jo’s Monday walk : Culatra- an easy amble

I’m going to be a bit lazy for my first walk back with you.  After all, I’m still in the Algarve, nominally on holiday, but in fact testing out a new lifestyle to see if it suits me.  Many of you won’t be surprised to find that it does.  I have taken you to Ilha da Culatra before, but my Stroller friends were going there recently and I just had to tag along.  I’m sure you’ll see the attraction.

Culatra is an island of fisherfolk, but it doesn’t spurn the attention of tourists or beach worshippers who make the effort to cross over from the mainland.  I regularly promote Enjoy the Algarve, a monthly online magazine full of fascinating events and details.  Culatra features briefly this month and I thought you might like to see a little more.

Smooth as a millpond
Count the seabirds?
Boats for working and pleasure

Embarkation from Olhão is an easy affair.  Ida e volta will get you a return ticket.  We chose to disembark at Farol, the second port of call on this long, barrier island, guarded by a strut of a lighthouse with a red cap.

Weaving between a few cottages and a restaurant, almost immediately you reach the beach.

I couldn’t decide quite what the waves were jumping so playfully over, but they held me captive so that I had to scoot to catch up with the others.  Of course, you can linger at the beach for as long as you like, but the walkers are single-minded folk and food was a top priority.  A boardwalk turns inland, leading back to the village of Culatra, the first port of call.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the bougainvillea
You can feel the heat!
Abandoned?
Maybe I’d stay at this one
With it’s delicious flowers

To escape the heat of the sun there are several restaurants.  As usual I was more interested in my surroundings than food, so I grabbed a quick bite and set off again with my camera.

This villa was opposite my restaurant
The shells were set into the wall
Making a grand image
Another contender for favourite flower
Half a boat is better than none?
No idea who they support?
Here’s a clue
Another pot or two
And a simple veranda

It’s a very basic lifestyle.  Sand and sea rule and necessities have to be shipped from the shore.  As I’m writing this a thunderstorm is rattling overhead and I know that the islands are in the frontline for inclement weather.  Hard to imagine on a day like this, but I’ve heard this ocean roar.

It’s a gritty shoreline
With green hued urchins
Abandoned boats aplenty
And even acrobatic seagulls
And the distant gleam of sandbars

There’s an element of scruffiness that doesn’t suit everybody.  No manicured greens to tee off on here.  But I was highly amused to find, right by the water’s edge, a miniature football pitch.  Evidence of another Portuguese passion!

And then it’s time to make for the ferry, wending back past ochre houses, idle bikes and always a twist or two of flowers.

The still calm waters of Olhão await, Becky.  No changes yet!

I hope you’ve enjoyed being back in the Algarve with me.  I still have another week or so to go.  My daughter joins me on Sunday so I expect to be quite distracted but I’ll try to post another walk next week, and keep up with comments on this one.  Take good care till then!

Please find time to check out these walks, if you haven’t already done so.  Many thanks to all of you for your loyalty and support, even while I’ve been absent.  Special thanks to Meg and to Jude for lovely birthday surprises for me.

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I am a huge admirer of this lady’s work, so thank you very much for joining me, Debbie :

Street art galore

Another lady who always produces beautiful work.  Take yourself strolling with Susan :

A Saturday Stroll at Wave Hill

A Leisurely Sunday Stroll through Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery

I wonder what Jackie might have cooked up this week?

Home cookin’

There’s nothing like good company on a walk.  Tobias has a style all his own, and I love it :

Perigueux

Les Jardins d’Eau

Candy takes me to parts of Brittany I didn’t even know existed :

Pilgrim Route and Chapels

There’s much more to Birmingham than meets the eye, and you can rely on Becky to find it :

Dragons, Rags and Shiny Things

What’s Woolly been up to?  Keeping very busy!

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk39_Le-Hamel_Australian-Memorial

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk40_Le-Hamel_Australian-Memorial-2

Jo’s-Monday-Walk-Wk41_Tank-Monument

Carol explores her own backyard, but Australia’s a big country :

Staying Up, Looking Out

I do love a garden, and Cadyluck Leedy has a really fine one to share :

Jo’s Monday Walk : Sandhills Horticultural Gardens

And a place I’ve always wanted to visit :

Jo’s Monday Walk : Mont Saint Michel, France

Why not try it Marsha’s way?  The scenery is beautiful, even if the company is grumpy :

Why We Didn’t Take the Train to the Grand Canyon from Sedona

How to Get Someone Out of a Grouchy Mood Even if you’re at the Grand Canyon

I wouldn’t have expected to miss fog, but Jude’s walk on misty Bodmin is hauntingly lovely :

The Cheesewring

And finally, Kaz gladdens the heart with a gazillion, glorious jacaranda!

Jacarandas of Woolloomooloo 

Much love to you all from my sunny Algarve home.  See you soon!

 

166 comments

  1. Absolutely stunning. My sort of place – for a holiday, I couldn’t imagine living there for long. I hope you find a place you really like for your ‘settled future’, but will you sell-up in the UK, or keep a base? I take it you will spend a good part of the winter out there to get a feeling for what it’s like in the colder months? Good luck with the project and I think you’re quite right to do it earlier rather than later.
    And oh, I loved the bougainvillaea against the intense yellow house. Now that screamed ‘heat’ at me.

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    1. We’ve been here in every season, Mari. We’ve had the house for almost 13 years and are aware of the pitfalls. ‘Our’ town, Tavira, is a thriving place so I wouldn’t be spending all my time at the beach. We intend to sell up at home, but nothing is cut and dried yet. I will be 70 next year and it gets harder to adjust, doesn’t it, so it has to be soon. Thanks for the good wishes. 🙂 🙂

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  3. Now if only I could find a walking group that liked to explore beaches then I’d be sorted! Maybe I need to move to Tavira too!! Beautiful photos Jo, as always. Love the boats and the flowers 😀

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    1. Why not? Except you’d miss your garden, Jude. Nothing is ever perfect is it? Well, only on the blog. 🙂 🙂 Come over next year and see what you think. Thanks, darlin! (I thought you were going to say ‘a walking group that likes their food’ 🙂 )

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      2. We’re off up into the hills this morning and I shall leave the wasing out, confident that it will dry. 🙂 🙂 They’re taking a picnic this week but me and Mick will probably find somewhere up there to refresh ourselves. There’s a Partridge Festival this weekend, would you believe? 🙂

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      4. It was dead as a Dodo up there this afternoon. I think the villagers are saving themselves. 🙂 🙂 Dinner was a tumbler of wine and a bag of crisps! But the walk was good 🙂

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    1. Wonderful! 🙂 🙂 I’ll pop over soon, Cathy. Sorry I’ve neglected you but I really haven’t had time to do any ‘visiting’ while I’ve been here, and my WiFi connection isn’t very good.

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  8. There’s certainly no doubt you’re having a grand time in the Algarve, Jo. It looks like summertime there! I love all the boats and the flowers, especially the bougainvillea and the “favorite contender.” It all makes me yearn for Portugal. It’s been raining and dreary here all weekend; the only saving grace is the vibrant fall leaves. 🙂

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    1. Well, I know you like Fall best, Cathy, but it can be a serious disappointment if it’s a wet one. Autumn here is such a gentle affair. It was in the mid 20s when we were on Culatra but it’s dropped to around the 20 mark now. Great for walking. 🙂 🙂

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      1. You’re right, Jo, fall is my favorite season, but this fall it was unseasonably warm for too long, then we’ve had a lot of rain. Not a lot of those crisp autumn days I love. Even the trees weren’t as brilliant as usual. The weather looks perfect there!

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      2. Last Autumn was a fabulous one at home. You seldom get 2 good ones together. Texts on Sunday said it was sunny and 6C! Today it was still low 20s, even up in the hills where we were walking with the group.

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  12. Way-hay, you’re here, and giving us a wonderful big dose of sun, blue, sea air, and fantastic flowers. Am all super-charged now to tackle a mass of jobs and even some writing. So thank you for sharing your Algarve with us. Also so glad you had a good b’day. Hugs.

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    1. Sitting here replying to comments, I think I must have brought half the beach back with me today, Tish! It was a bit breezy down there and we had to duck into a bar for shelter. 🙂 🙂 The birthday was a wonderful combination of good company and exploring new places. My kind of day. Thanks so much for the card, Tish. Much appreciated.

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    1. Thanks, Debs 🙂 🙂 We probably could have sorted something better out for this trip but, once you have it, it’s so easy to get bogged down in social media. It’s such an outdoors life here and I begrudge the time.

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    1. It’s very easygoing over on the ilhas, Ann. I can poke around there for hours. It was breezy today though, so it wouldn’t have been the place to be. Hope things continue to improve at yours? 🙂 🙂

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  18. Fabulous Jo…..can feel the warmth from here and boy do we need it. Heavy frost this morning in the south so goodness knows what Inverness will be like, which is where I’m headed this afternoon.

    Thanks as always for the link and so relieved to hear that no changes as of yet in Olhão xx

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    1. Inverness? Lucky you! 🙂 🙂 We traveled up to Lisbon by coach in the end, Becky, and actually got to see Olhao bus station, if you could call it that! It’s definitely a town with character.

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  19. Great photos, wonderful views and gorgeous photos – why sit and dine when you can use the time to explore with a camera? An element of scruffiness sounds rather quaint actually – it looks just the sort of place which would keep me and my camera occupied for quite a long while 🙂

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      1. I’m fine thanks Jo. I had a lovely sunny local walk with the dogs yesterday but it may be a bit too short to include in your Monday Walk – I’ll have to find another one 🙂

        It doesn’t surprise me that you’re thinking of moving out to the Algarve – the places you’ve featured on here look wonderful, I think I’d live there too if I had the opportunity 🙂

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