Due Vagabondi: PENICHE, Portugal

Its pouring rain as we leave our wonderful little hotel in Cataplana to bus to Lisbon's Sete Rios bus station to move on to Peniche.

After meeting the lovely hosts of the Barcos a Vista guest house we're staying in and finding they've given us a free upgrade from room to a small suite we head out to explore ... buttoned up against the wind.

Peniche is known by surfers for the tall, perfectly hollow waves created by some magical mix of nature, and Nazare a few kilometres away is known by surfers the world over for waves that may reach 100 feet high.

On arrival at the sprawling, star-shaped Fortaleza de Peniche (built in 1557) we learn that its closed for major renovations.

Through the gates and over the yellow bridge to get into the fort

From behind the fort, we discover a footpath that leads to a clutch of tiny fisherman's homes built precariously on and into the huge rocky shoreline with big waves pounding at their foundations.

People here are clearly proud of where they live. We see beautiful landscaping and gardens everywhere. It seems that soil must have been hauled here somehow to accomplish that feat.

We book a boat trip to Berlenga Island. Curt told us about this lovely peaceful place that he visited many years ago. I tried and tried to get us a room in the fort for one night but was not successful ... just finding out now that the hostel in the fort doesn't open until mid-May. We need to be content with hiking around the island. Its a 25-minute speed boat ride across the open Atlantic to get there.

Today the seas are calm, yesterday a fish boat issued a distress call, disappeared and is still missing. A community is on edge, waiting.

The water in the harbour is deceptively calm. We get out into the Atlantic and there are big swells that seem to go every which way with no discernable pattern.

A bigger than usual wave comes at us and Alex slows the boat down and we ride its face up and up, then drop down on the other side of it. Other times he seems to surf the boat along the crest of the wave. What a ride. Thankfully my anti-nausea patch is hard at work.

We disembark at Berlenga Grande with the guide and Alex anchors out at sea to wait for us. Berlenga is a protected nature reserve. Visitors are limited to 500 per day, so each company can only bring a couple of boatloads of people a day.

A few fishers and their families live here most of the year - what a hardy lot they must be. It's spring now and the hillsides are painted in yellow, pink and white flowers and the seagulls are busy with mating and nest building.

We are told that before the continents split that Berlenga was part of North America. Berlenga has been occupied by many countries over the years. There are remains of a Roman lighthouse. In the 1500s monks established a monastery to help with navigation and victims of frequent shipwrecks. One shipwreck here is only 7 meters under the sea, so diving is a popular activity too.

It's only about 10 km between the lighthouses of Peniche and Berlenga. If you are lost at sea near here you will know that the lighthouse in Peniche has a red light and on Berlenga has a clear light.

This is an amazingly beautiful place: wild, barren, craggy and free.

People love to name rock formations

Normally after our guided walk, Alex would take us around the island to see some of the sea caves, but the Atlantic is too fierce today.

We learn later that there was a second bunch of tourists to go out after us but he cancels, feeling it's not safe.

It was something trying to get back into the boat. We had to go two by two. Sometimes we were held up as a big wave came in and Alex couldn't keep the boat by the landing plus we had to run as the water crashed hugely and forcefully over where we had been standing.

While the swells are big on the way home, Alex has some fun, going fast and surfing the boat over the waves. He seems to be a very skilled captain and the engine of this inflatable has lots of power. He invites Paul to sit with him at his wheelhouse for the journey back. You can find Alex on his website: BERLINGA LIVE

Going to the port to watch the fishers bring in their catch is another activity we have to forgo. Apparently, they don't go out the day before Good Friday.

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