Melbourne-Abu Dhabi

A light red yoga exercise with dinner after watching Vice, a heartwarming story about the life of Dick Cheney. Can’t say too much about the plot because “they” are probably going to read this.

Off to the world of wizardry with another Fantastic Beasts movie. Special effects at their finest.

Dark horse selection was the French epic, ‘I Feel Good’, about the good-for-nothing brother who seeks out his sister when all his former get-rich quick schemes fail him. Here, we see Jacques introducing people to cut-rate plastic surgery in Bulgaria.

The French know how make great cinematic events, but this isn’t one of them.

Off to Porto and the Douro Valley

With bags packed and restaurants booked, it’s time for Eva and Glenn to hit the road again. This time, they tackle the backroads that will take them into the wine country that is the Douro Valley. Although there are a variety of ways of heading up the valley, we chose hiring a car.

This offered us the best option of exploring at our leisure and being able to get off the (not so) beaten track. Pick up is best from the airport, as is drop off. It means you don’t have to contend with inner city traffic, especially if you are returning the vehicle mid- to late-afternoon.

It should only be a short drive to the first port of call (sorry); our hotel just out of Amarante. Motel Monverde is billed as a wine hotel. We aren’t complaining.

Don’t forget to buy a toll card before you go.

It was our intention to drop off our bags at the hotel and then drive into town for lunch. I’d tried, without success, to make a reservation at Pobre Tolo. It had received good reviews and was situated by the river. Given that the weather was fine, we hoped that not too many Tripeiros (residents of Porto) had made a similar journey to enjoy the countryside.