Tooth trouble

Weds 26th nov
A filling came out a couple of days ago so decided last night that this may be the place to get it fixed; touristy with lots of brits, fairly large and only 20 mins walk to centre from campsite. Ask at campsite reception and they direct me to the central clinic. Walk down into town, find clinic and explain what's happened. Within 20 mins i'm in the chair. No messing with anasthetics, straight in with drill and scrapers. Turns out to be quite a large cavity but 10 - 15 mins later all done with very little discomfort. All the while they addressed me as Meesta Feelip. Brilliant. Go to pay the 60 euro fee but they won't accept debit card; leave passport as security, find ATM and go back to pay in cash. Worth it rather than risk toothache in some out of the way place.
Take walk round Quarteira and find second hand bookshop with books in many languages. Looked at buying english language novel before but they cost 9-10 euros new and as I can read a novel in an evening or 2 it would be expensive. These were 3 euros plus you got 50% back if you returned it.
Very cold evening so early to bed and read.

Thurs 27th nov
Finished novel by 21:30; Trading Reality by Michael Ridpath. Not bad but weak contrived ending. Very cold night, normally unzip sleeping bag and use more like a quilt but full on bag treatment last night. Decide to carry on East so take book back and exchange for another. Back to pack and off we go.
Horrible journey. Very busy road with lorries passing too close for comfort. Not sure if rude gestures are the same in Portugal but used them frequently today. Grotty urbanization along most of route.
Reached Olhao and made for campsite on Eastern edge. Pitched up and had look round. Best on-site supermarket i've ever seen, good range of stuff and open all day. Treat myself to bottle of Super Bock, as not had a beer for a while, and buy fresh bread, pate and salad for tea.

Fri 28th nov
Railway runs right alongside campsite. Trains go thundering by but either they stopped at night or I slept through it. Cloudy day with light showers so lazed around. Took quick stroll into Olhao outskirts but not very pleasant; tower blocks and graffiti.

Sat 29th nov
Very windy night and torrential rain last night. Dozed in clothes whilst waiting for chance to dash to shower block. In morning found bike blown over and water channel formed in the sand that just missed the tent.
Another bad weather day so take opportunity to reorganize panniers to try and make more room. Stripped out redundant pages in road atlas and campsite book.

Sun 30th nov
Weather uncertain, not sure whether to move on or not.
Walked into centre of Olhao, bit better than outskiirts. Narrow cobbled streets and quite busy. Wanted to find bookshop but no luck. Plenty of chinese bazaars which are really common along this coast. Bought cheap radio to keep me amused in evenings.

Mon 1st dec.
Weather better so pack up, which takes ages because of all the damp sand on everything. Set off for Monte Gordo. Sunny day but cold wind almost needing winter gloves. Arrive and pitch up then walk into centre. Quite a few shops but none of real interest, more of a permanent market. Christmas decorations are up and christmas carols played with synthesised pan pipes come from speakers around the town.
Back at campsite I notice people have dug trenches around their pitches so water runoff looks to be a problem. Starts to rain in evening but not enough to worry about.

Tues 2nd dec
Time to head into Spain. Catch ferry from Vila Real de St. Antonio. Nice trip across Rio Guadiana to Ayemonte. Centre of Ayemonte really bustling and attractive but no book shops. I really need more info on campsites in spain and ideally a better map than my 1cm=4km road atlas. Head for Isla Christina as map show campsite there. Find it ok and its open. Pitch up and explore Isla Christina, not very nice, cheap bazaars again many of which were closed.

Weds 3rd dec.
Try to plan next stage. I know the site at Punta Umbria is open but would prefer a site nearer Seville. Two are shown on road atlas but not sure if they are open. Plan a loop to each site and set off. Well, best laid plans and all that. One site didn't exist, other site was closed. Weather miserable, arrive at Aljeraque, follow signs to Punta Umbria and come to roundabout. The exit I want says no bike, pedestrians, tractors or livestock, it seems its been upgraded to motorway status since my map was produced. I can see a cycle track on other side but can't work out to get there. Follow possible alternative but that ends at industrial estate. Ask someone. They tell me the only way is to cross the bridge, which is in fact the slip road coming off the main road. Wait until no oncoming traffic then rush down slip road. Steep banks down either side but find lowest spot. Hoist loaded bike over crash barriers, down sand and gravel bank and across ditch to cycle track. Judging by all the tyre marks i'm not the only one who's had to do this. The track runs from Huelva to Punta Umbria but without access from Aljeraque which is about half way between the two. Cycle into Punta Umbria but can't find site. Ask chap and he tells me it's 10k back roughly the way i've come. Cycle back and eventually find it. I had passed within 1k of it when I came off cycle track but there were not any signs so I missed it. Campsite is dead and i've not had chance to get food, visit café but i'm the only one there. Cup of coffee with crisps and nuts will have to do. Starts raining again. What a day.

Thurs 4th dec
Dull, cloudy day but rising sun catching clouds quite nice. Take cycle track back towards Aljeraque and on to Huelva. Make way to centre and to tourist info according to basic town plan in road atlas. Wrong place but they direct me to right one. They have basic map of Andalucia with actual position of campsites marked on which is more useful than current map but no opening times; bloke tells me most of them are open all year. Find bookshop but nothing of interest there. Decide to cycle on to Mazagon as there is a site there. Very busy road with heavy industry and refineries ning the route. Eventually turns into nature reserve before getting to Mazagon. Campsite virtually empty and pretty basic, only other people I see are those who work there. Spend evening trying to sort out next stage of journey based on new campsite info.

Fri 5th dec
Well, three months now since I set out. Check with reception whether campsite at El Rocio is open. I think he said yes. Head off along long flat road towards Matalascanas then North East to El Rocio. 40 odd kilometres of flat sandy plain with pine trees later I arrive. Looks fairly interesting. Find campsite which looks good. Might stay a day to rest and do washing etc before making fairly long ride into Seville .