Reset search
Bliss VenturesBliss Ventures
SatelliteEdit route
I am Bliss, descended from wolves, a 4000 year lineage of Siberian Huskies. I’m travelling the World in our self converted campervan Ivy with my Mum & Dad (Vikki & Darren). I love to be in nature seeking adventure. The spirit of my ancestors with me. Read more Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 47

    Happy birthday to me!

    June 10 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    It’s my birthday and I just can’t believe I am here, having this amazing adventure!
    I received lots of lovely messages from friends and family. I miss you all. ❤️
    We spent most of the day just driving through endless stunning scenery. There’s so much beauty it’s hard to describe, and I’m mindful not to allow my senses to become so accustomed to it that I stop appreciating it’s awe, so I give myself a virtual prod now and again to remind myself to soak it up.
    A good while was spent trying to find a shop that would supply the birthday essentials...steak and wine! 😂 Not as easy as you might imagine here.
    We eventually found one and stocked up our empty fridge with goodies. We then went to a nice quiet place with yet another incredible view to relax for the night with a fridge bursting with food and drinks. Strangely though I wasn’t even hungry at all, so after all the effort of hunter gathering Darren got away with it... 😂 he didn’t even have to cook! I did however accept the offer of a back rub! I’m not a total idiot! 😜    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 46

    Teddy bears picnic.

    June 9 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Time to get back out there. Feeling rested and ready to go we head off. Straight away it’s an onslaught of amazing scenery. We drove for about an hour surrounded by dramatic gorges before the road started to climb up, the further up we went the thicker the foggy mist became. We were driving through the clouds! A bit nerve wracking to say the least but eventually we descended, the mist evaporated and we found ourselves in beautiful lush green countryside. We thought it was time we went for a bit of a walk so we parked up and started walking down a steep path into some woods towards a notable waterfall here. But then I remembered that we had been told that there were brown bears in the area! I got a bit freaked out ( much to Darren’s amusement) and decided that I didn’t want to walk in the woods after all. So we went back to Ivy with me feeling like a right big baby being scared of bears 🐻 well they eat people don’t they? Have you seen the Twix advert? I don’t want to be anyone’s picnic if today was the day they decided to have one 😂
    We found a place to park for the night and had a nice safe walk in the village, no bears, just some territorial local dogs.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 46

    Day of laziness.

    June 9 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 12 °C

    The weather although not stormy isn’t very good. Rain predicted for today so we decided not to move. With the mountains shrouded in cloud and mist there’d be little to see, and whilst I hate the feeling of driving next to sheer cliffs I do at least prefer to see where they are!
    We were feeling like we needed a little bit of rest before we get back on the road so the rain gave us the excuse we needed to stay put.
    After a short walk into the nearby town we spent the day being very lazy so not much to report for today. 😴    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 45

    Severe thunderstorms predicted.

    June 8 in Spain ⋅ 🌫 15 °C

    With severe thunderstorms predicted for today and tomorrow indicating “Danger to life”! we decided that it would be best to find a nice safe aire to sit it out. Driving around mountains is probably not the best place to be in a thunderstorm. We found one on Park4night that looked nice and safe and headed there. On the way the drive was very interesting, still in beautiful mountains but not quite so remote as before. About 10km from our destination we found ourselves driving through the most stunning gorge, high cliffs perhaps 400ft high either side of the road that followed the river. It’s so hard to describe how dramatic the huge sheer cliffs were that we drove through the centre of. If you’ve ever been through cheddar gorge in the uk just times that by 100 and then double it. It was immense and went on and on. We arrived at the park up and settled down for a rest, feeling quite exhausted from all the excitement of the last few days and secretly hoping for a spectacular thunderstorm from our safe vantage point… that disappointingly never happened in the end. A few distant rumbles and that was it.Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 44

    Remote expanses of wilderness

    June 7 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today has been another strenuous day for Ivy but she refuses to let us down.🤞 We have driven for hours up and down small mountain roads and hardly seen any other signs of life. No villages, cars or people for miles and miles. Just rough and rugged passage through beautiful mountain terrain stretching from horizon to opposite horizon. It’s quite intimidating to be alone in such a huge expanse of wilderness. We could see snow on some of the peaks even though it was so hot where we were. We are being careful now that Ivy’s brakes aren’t getting too hot on the sometimes long steep descents, we check regularly and stop to allow them to cool off before we continue. Sometimes we’ll see a sign for a “Mirador” which must be the term for viewpoint in Spanish, so we’ll often stop to see. More often than not there’ll be some kind of arty installation which seems at odds with the otherwise untouched nature of a place. I found it reassuring to see at least some indication of human existence after such extended periods of seemingly apocalyptic isolation.
    We are heading to a place that has been reported to be peaceful and safe with cherry trees in abundance, we hoped to pick a few but alas when we arrive they aren’t ripe yet. It is as promised a lovely peaceful place to spend the night and Bliss is happy as she has a stream to paddle in a her own little patch of grass to snooze on next to Ivy.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    21
    Day 42

    Hot wheels!

    June 5 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    I awoke early and sat outside in the morning sun drinking my first coffee of the day whilst listening to the chirps of the birds and the local cockerel announcing his presence to the hens. Fatima ( the Portuguese host) appeared and presented me with an absolutely massive freshly baked loaf of bread, still hot from the oven and smelling perfectly divine. 🍞
    We could only stay one night at Fatima’s welcoming little camping aire, as she only took cash and we didn’t have enough euros with us for another night. The nearest ATM was over 20 miles away. All this… wine, bread, swimming pool, showers, unlimited electric and water, plus other facilities we didn’t even use, all that for 17 euros ( about £14) I cringe to think what that would cost us in the UK?
    I think we were ready to leave though tbh as the flies were already a real nuisance, and it was set to get even hotter today. As a Siberian, Bliss doesn’t like the heat much and where possible we like her to be able to cool herself off in water when she needs to, which she can’t do here. So after saying a sad goodbye to her gorgeous boyfriend Igor we set off.

    The place we were heading for, high up in the mountains had a stream, sheltered picnic tables and hopefully would be cooler with no flies, fingers crossed.
    It was a lovely drive, most of the way was through small tree lined roads with lots of shade and a few small villages which we always find fascinating due to their ancient appearance, and also worrisome that we’ll become wedged between buildings as the narrow streets are so ridiculously tight at times.
    Then we started the ascent, the road became very rough, the vibrations making out teeth chatter. The climb was very long and steep so poor Ivy was getting quite a workout, and my vertigo was kicking in every time I looked down at the enormous views all around us. This is serious exposure therapy for my fear of heights!!
    We climbed up and up through beautiful scenery towards the mountain pass with flowering Heather and Gorse covering the slopes. The vivid splashes of vibrant yellow and purple adding to the beauty. The sweet smell of the tiny flowers carried to us on the breeze was strong and heady in the heat of the day. We stopped at the peak to allow Ivy to cool down a bit and take in the view before descending on down to our planned wild stop for the night.
    The road started to descend, we were not all that far from our stop but because of the state of the road I had to keep it slow so Ivy wasn’t shaken to bits by all the potholes. It was very steep so I couldn’t rely solely on the gears to keep us slow enough to protect Ivy from damage. I was having to brake more than I was happy with to maintain a safe speed. We started to smell a hot burning rubber smell so pulled over to have a look at Ivy’s wheels. They were red hot! A result no doubt of all the braking and vibrations. Darren threw a cup of water over them and a cloud of steam came off them. We really can’t afford the risk of letting them get this hot again! We waited a good while for her to cool down and then proceeded to our park up which wasn’t very far.
    I was so happy to be there, my nerves again shattered from what was quite extreme driving.
    We got out and Bliss jumped straight into the lovely cool water of the stream that was running down from the mountain. I love mountains... but damn they can be scary!! Just imagine what it must be like up here in winter? I really don’t ever want to find out 😜
    There were nice slate covered picnic benches with pagodas over them set beside the stream, protruding slate rocks, heather and all sorts of wild flowers. I recognised a favourite of mine Thrift.
    I was feeling quite anxious about the descent from here in the morning after how hot Ivy’s wheels got in such a short distance, but Darren did his best to reassure me that we would be fine. We’ll just keep monitoring her wheels on the way back down and stop if we need to, to allow her to cool off. Sounds like a plan, but I am still anxious about the brakes failing. Can’t help it!!
    It was very late by the time we went to sleep so I slept like a log.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 41

    A highly recommended Aire

    June 4 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We decided to return to civilisation and pay for an aire for a change, seeing as so far we’ve only stayed at one place that we had to pay for before, it didn’t feel too frivolous. The aire is listed on the Park4night app and has across the board amazing reviews. Not only is it very great value but the owners are apparently sweet lovely people. We arrived tired after a long hot day of driving through countryside that was typically very beautiful. Through several villages that we weren’t sure we’d even fit through but we did...just. At one point in the middle of nowhere we had to stop as a dog was laying in the middle of the road nursing her young pups. She looked surprised to see a vehicle, it’s so remote here. Anyone who knows me will know that I wanted to get out and play with them and maybe even take them home, but of course I didn’t.
    Anyway... we arrived at the aire and were immediately greeted by Fatima, the Portuguese lady who owned the place. She didn’t speak any English so luckily there was one van staying owned by an English man called Alan and his Dutch husband who came over with their gorgeous white shepherd dog and helped explain everything.
    There were toilets, showers and a Pool, which looked very inviting to us at this moment as it was so hot. Bliss immediately made friends with the white shepherd and after a little play settled down in the shade under the outdoor washing up area. Fatima offered us a free drink of anything we wanted so of course we chose a red wine. It was unlike any red wine I’ve ever had, it tasted more like a very sweet cherry liqueur, lovely, and it immediately went straight to my head as I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. We wasted no time and took turns going in the pool as one of us had to bliss-sit to make sure she didn’t get in too! After my swim I enjoyed an extra long warm shower, which was amazing but oh boy do I miss my bath!
    We went back to the van,it was so hot outside and hadn’t parked very well so we moved to a shadier spot which made all the difference, only downside to this place was the millions of flies that were so annoying and so persistent. We spent the rest of the evening trying to stay cool whilst relaxing outside and watching Bliss with her new boyfriend “Igor” playing together sweetly. She misses her 4pawed friends at home too, and Igor is a particularly gentle sweet natured doggie who was clearly head over paw pads with Bliss.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 40

    Olive groves as far as the eye can see

    June 3 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We said a sad goodbye to our little patch of Heaven knowing that this is going to be a hard one to match, let alone beat and we’ll probably never see this Eden ever again.
    We needed to find Darren a vape shop as he was out of coils (little consumable things that make the vape work) so we head off early. With the help of Google maps we find one about 30 minutes away.
    On the route we drove through fields and fields of olive trees, some trees you could tell were very very old, likely hundreds of years. We arrived at the town where the vape shop was located, the whole town was built into the side of a mini mountain, on huge terraces. So it was a steep and winding road up to the busy shopping centre perched near the top. Mission accomplished we left as quickly as possible as far too peopley for us! We much prefer the quiet countryside, surrounded by nature.
    We continued on to the place we’d chosen for tonight hoping that it would be all that we hoped for, but knowing it was unlikely to be as nice as our last place. We had been driving for a few hours and were more than ready to stop when we turned off the tarmac road onto a bumpy dirt track. We continued on until we came to a steep gravel slope, where there was a lone horse shading itself under a tree, completely free to roam as it pleased and not fenced in at all. Unsure of the condition of the track ahead, that on the map showed it going down to a large reservoir and dam Darren got out taking his CB radio with him to check if it was safe enough to drive down. Memories of the sliding incident making us more cautious now, so we are at least learning from our mistakes . He radioed me to say it was okay so I followed down with Ivy. At the bottom we could see that the other side of the reservoir looked better, so we crossed on the dam wall and parked under the trees on the far bank. We went for a short walk around the waters and Bliss had a paddle but it was far too hot so we retreated to the shade of Ivy parked under some large pine trees. In the clear waters of the reservoir we watched a variety of fish swimming in the reeds and weeds. Unfortunately there were a lot of flies which made it a lot less pleasant as they seem to taunt you and are almost impossible to catch and dispose of. But it was super quiet and after finally getting all the flies out of the van we slept very well.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 39

    🎵Another day for you and me in Paradise

    June 2 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After the most peaceful night I slept in while Darren got up and busied himself making coffee and putting the extra solar panels out to top up our batteries. After my second coffee I thought I ought to get out of bed and enjoy this lovely morning. Lucky I did as another farmer arrived to collect water from the river. Had a brief chat with him via google translate as he didn’t speak English and we certainly don’t know any Portuguese. He looked at our UK sign on the van and thought we were Ukrainian. (Slava Ukraini!!🇺🇦) He was a nice jolly man which was a pleasant change from the grumpy people we had come across in Spain.
    I decided that rather than waste the water I’d used to wash up I’d give Ivy a bit of a wash, she had so many bug splats all over her front end. I did three sides of her and gave up as it was getting too hot. 🥵
    Darren decided he was going for a swim, regardless of the snake we’d seen only yesterday. He assured me it would be fine and because I was so hot I can’t believe it now but I just had to get in to cool off. It was the very first time in my life that I had ever been swimming in a river, let alone one that had snakes in it but it was so refreshing.
    I spent the rest of the day lounging in the hammock just soaking up the peace. There was no phone signal so the temptation to pick up the phone wasn’t even a thing. Bliss loved this place so much, the freedom to get in and out of the river whenever she liked and sleep in the shade of the trees most of the day was just perfect for her. We felt pretty safe here so it was decided a bottle of bubbles would be appropriate...🥂 🍾 and it was. 😁
    Whilst sat watching the river in the evening we again saw two snakes crossing the river,smaller than yesterday’s monster, but right where we had been swimming earlier in the day! 😳
    Just as it started to get dark a van with a young couple turned up and parked just in front of us, so Bliss had to come in and we all went to bed.
    Another peaceful night sleep was had. It’s going to be so hard to leave this place in the morning.    Read more

  • TravelerIvy’s Maiden Voyage
    Day 38

    Paradise Found 🕊️

    June 1 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    We woke up late feeling tired, seasick and groggy after a disturbed night sleep but ready to get out of the constant gusting winds. Just as we were packing up to leave about 30 beautiful Spanish horses being ridden by what were clearly very experienced riders suddenly arrived out of nowhere in the car park and stopped right outside Ivy for a rest. A lot of the horses were quite frisky because of the strong winds that were spooking them but it made them look all the more majestic and stunning as they were high stepping and prancing around each other, it was a real treat to see such an unexpected scene.

    New Flag for Ivy. Portugal 🇵🇹

    We left the windy mountain and headed off towards Portugal, excited to be going to a new country for the first time. We crossed the border into Portugal, no fanfare or border controls, just a couple of signs. Immediately we crossed the road changed from smooth tarmac to bumpy roads with potholes so progress slowed. The terrain and buildings were different too. Houses in Portugal are huge compared with the uk it seemed, well at least what we’ve seen so far. We passed through some pretty villages and eventually arrived at the place I had found on Park4night which had promised to be in the words of the last person who stayed here “the best park up ever”

    We were not disappointed, it is a little paradise. A small river, hidden from the nearby quiet road, lined by trees for shade and safe to allow Bliss complete freedom off lead to get in the slow flowing river whenever she wanted, Bliss most definitely approved of this place, she kept doing little happy dances and doing zoomies all around the trees and into the water, smiling from ear to ear.
    The place is absolutely idyllic and goes down as my (and I think Bliss’s) favourite park up so far. The best thing... strangely...no mosquitoes!
    Darren went for a swim in the river and tried his best to get me in but I declined saying I might go in tomorrow.
    There were small fish and frogs, even crayfish which we might have fully expected. But this Garden of Eden came with the full package including a 3ft snake seen swimming across the river 30m further down from where we were. That definitely put me off swimming in it! And not 5 minutes later a huge wasp that was about 1.5 inches long was hanging around the van. I think it might have been an Asian hornet 🐝 but not sure, never seen anything like it!!
    Darren did look up snakes in Portugal and assured me that they were not likely to be venomous and even if they were they are unlikely to bite as they’d sooner avoid us. The one we saw was almost certainly a Viperine water snake and harmless. Well... I hope he’s right about that! Kinda sounds like a Marvel Superhero (Viperine) so I’m not entirely sure if he’s having me on, you never can tell with Darren. 🙄
    Darren set up a hammock between the trees which made lounging next to the river with the sound of the cool breeze rustling the leaves in the trees, the water, birds and frogs just the most relaxing thing ever. I could just stay here... my version of heaven looks a lot like this.
    Late in the afternoon a chap arrived on a small tractor, we thought he might be coming to say “you can’t park there mate!” but he was just a local farmer come to collect water from the river. We smiled and waved at him and he waved back nicely… so we stayed.
    The best nights sleep was had after the most perfectly tranquil day.
    We decide one night is not going to be enough!😁    Read more

Join us:

FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English