The time had come where the sale of our house meant we needed to get back to the U.K. to do the final packing and get the house ready to hand over.
We needed to gauge how much stuff to send over to Portugal, how much to take back in the car and how much to keep with family or friends for another day.
This meant, of course, having to take the dreaded COVID-19 test in Porto de Mos before we could travel, not that we thought we would have the virus, but to tick all the boxes and show we were clear to travel. Netty was fine and never even flinched, but with the amount of operations Wayne had had on his snout the inevitable gag reflex kicked in and his eyes watered for some considerable time!
Once all the documents were in order and printed off, we loaded the car, locked the doors and gate and set off at about 5:30am for Santander to catch the ferry.
Not much to report on that part of the journey, it was quite pleasant, being a clear sunny day. Although during a stop for fuel across the Spanish border, it became clear that although sunny in Spain, it was also gibbering cold!
We enjoyed a brief picnic at a chilly exposed layby and another fuel top up before reaching the port, so our journey on the UK side would be uninterrupted.
Getting through registration and passport control on the Spanish side was fairly painless, and we boarded after the inevitable wait in queues of vehicles on the jetty. At least it had warmed up and was sunny.
The ferry ‘Galicia’ was amazing. It was only built last year and was pristine. Everything was of great quality with easy to follow signage throughout and VERY friendly and helpful staff, making the start of the passage a breeze.
Apparently our cabin came with access to one of the premium lounges which was fantastic. The ship seemed half empty and there was loads of space everywhere you looked. The COVID measures were controlled excellently too, with staggered meal times and hand sanitizer throughout the ship. We never felt we were in any danger of transmission or catching the virus at any time.
Then we arrived in the UK at Portsmouth on a very pleasant evening, we got to our car when called and didn’t have to wait too long before disembarking. That is when the trip started to go down hill. It seemed to take forever to get out of the harbour. We waited at least an hour before being guided to passport control queues, then another hour getting checked before we could continue. Why can’t they do any of these random checks while you are in the car waiting to disembark from the ship? I really feel for any bikers going through this on a cold wet windy day!
Then once we were out onto the motorway, we hit the first roadworks in less than 10 minutes, they seemed to go on forever and very frequently too. The other thing we noticed was how shocking the roads surfaces were compared to the motorways in Portugal and Spain. When we left Portugal the only road works we passed was at the border crossing and even then, we were clearly taken around them and the crossing was a breeze. Nothing to slow us down or any roadworks works all the way to Santander, over 800 km. It has to be said it was not enjoyable driving on UK roads.
Also of note, was that even though our 2 year old Audi A5 was bought in the UK, and was right hand drive, we matriculated it to Portuguese plates as cars are way more expensive to buy in Portugal. Clearly British drivers do not like being over taken or are happy to treat foreigners as secondhand citizens on the road. Such bad driving is really noticeable when driving foreign plates!
Although it will be great to tie off all the loose ends, and restrictions permitting, see family and friends again, it will be good to get back to Portugal.
Now… Anyone know a cure for stir-craziness while in quarantine????
Our Portuguese Life 