What a difference a day makes

Monday 16 May

Vigo to Cesantes
Distance : 18ks
Other peregrinos:  0 walking with us, but  a group of 12 were in Redondela
Weather: Brilliant sunshine

Great day for walking, clear skies, lush trees  and the air filled with spring birdsong.
Staying in a Refugio tonight, should be interesting👍
After all that hard slog in the bad weather today when I should be skipping along I have a sore heel slowing me down, bit of a pain but we will get there. Graham took my pack today for a while to take the weight of it, fingers crossed will be better tomorrow.

.Sunday 14 May

Day off in Vigo

Lovely relaxing day, Vigo turned on all its charm's .

Off to Vigo we go

Baiona to Vigo

Distance: 26ks ( lots of hills)

Other peregrinos: 2 (English mother daughter)

Weather:  Rain, rain, mist, rain

Baiona is such a lovely little town. Population 10,000 aprrox,  that swells to 50,000 in August when Spaniards escape the heat of the south and open up their holiday homes in  Baiona. There is a beautiful castle, Castelo de Monterreal, on the water front with cabbage trees and Pohutukawa in the gardens. 

The local speciality is Mariscada which showcases the fish of the Atlantic, so of course we had to try some.

The old town is a maze of little alleyways with twists and turns. 

So after a night in Baiona we hit the trail to Vigo. We knew this would be a big walking day with the hills and the potential to miss arrows as you enter Vigo city but nothing ventured.....

The weather was bad, really raining. We thought we were the only ones on the trail until we heard a voice behind us and turned and saw a mother and daughter walking along in the rain in jeans with umbrella's, no packs,  so we thought they were just locals walking to the next village so we kept going. About an hour later the 'locals' were still behind us so we stopped and let them catch up, they were English and it was their first day....such a bad day for them to start but good on them.

The track was through little hamlet's in the hills, muddy, slippery but lush green sping colours. We knew we were high up when we were level with the city communication signal tower! Whilst today was not major kilometers the up and down slowed your speed and it took longer through the down hill slushy bits.  Amazed at the size of the slugs here, check out the slug size below

We passed so many pretty spots, old traditional style grain stores, chickens, horses and the birds song was beautiful.

At one stage we had to pass under a roadway beside a stream, think underpass, the stream was flooded due to  the torrential rain so the underpass was flooded....what to do? No other option, our feet were wet any way so Graham went ahead in the dark and walked through safely and I followed carefully behind, the water was calf high...oh well we were soaked anyway.

We made Vigo, wet, tired, tuckered out but with a real sense of achievement and bonus...our hotel has a bathtub! 

Day off the trail tomorrow to dry shoes and clothes out and a sleep in....after all this is a holiday.;-)

Over the mountain

Oia to Baiona

Distance: 18ks

Other peregrinos seen: 0

Weather: Overcast.....but no rain 

Loved the walk today, a bit coastal, a little bit of road and then over a mountain pass to the right of the hill in the lighthouse picture below.

All along the coast we have seen Pohutukawa trees, some clipped and shaped but all just about to burst in flower.

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On the mountain pass we stumbled upon a shepherd  grazing his flock. The goats and sheep had bells around their necks which meant you heard this lovely sound as you came closer, I think the shepherd was actually asleep until we were closer to him.

No other peregrinos seen today......just us😊

Staying at Pension Mosquito.......the name is terrible as this is a dandy pension and not a mosquito in sight.

The sun came out today.....

A Guarda to Oia
Distance: 14ks
Other peregrinos: 2
Weather:  Driving rain, showers and a snippet of sunshine 

You guessed it,  we set out in rain. Torrential rain at first and the streets were running water like rivers, dry shoes and socks lasted all of 10 minutes👎.  So shelter sought in a local cafe and 'dos  cafe  con leche' later we set out again when it was just spitting.  Slippery tracks, wet rocks, hill walking and coastal walking, every so often the most beautiful spring apple blossom scent would waft across the breeze from  the little allotment plantings  beside the coast.

We thought we were the only peregrinos on the trail today as we didn't see anyone all day until Oia village where we came across couple of gals  from South Africa and Australia. 

 We passed through sleepy little coastal holiday areas and no place to stop for a snack but good walking once the rain stopped.

Walking into Oia the little cove is dominated by the spectacular monastery Santa Maria la Real, a Cistercian monastery dating back to the 12th century.  The stone sea wall protecting the monastery is incredible. The monastery is now privately owned and being restored into an hotel. It has a great history, monks firing gun powder at invading Turkish pirates, a prison in the civil war....shame we couldn't go inside.

Oia is a charming little traditional village and with the sun shining it was  the perfect place to end our  walking for the day. (Click in pics to get a better look😀)

From Portugal to Spain today

Wednesday 11May      Acorna - Carminha - A Guarda
Distance: 15ks
Other peregrinos: 1
Weather: Showers and sunshine

Our first day without rain.........until the last 10 minutes. We literally zoomed along with the sun  and a good walking track from Ancora to Carminha on the banks of the Minho river, the boundary between Portugal and Spain. Short ferry ride for €1 and we walked off the boat into Spain. (I have to say the volunteer yellow sign markers must have used all the yellow arrow paint not used on the Viana do Costello leg of the trail on today's part of the route.....yellow arrows every few metres👍)

Caminha  is a fantastic little village, amazing old houses with tiled facades and a central square where everyone gathers to share the local goss/news. 

From the ferry port we had a 4k walk through a wee village perched on the hillside over looking the river and Carminha...a great spot. Walked through a eucalyptus forest and the scent from the trees was beautiful.    

Our hotel, a converted convent right by the port in A Guarda, is stunning.....the artworks and antiques are incredible.  

Hotel Convento San Benito, A Guarda if you are ever in this neighbourhood....you can't  go wrong!

Where did all the arrows go?

Tuesday 10 May.          Acorna

A day in Ancora, resting up and planning the next few days. This is a great little town, all festooned with flowers for the spring fiesta and a cute little port and sheltered marina. Lots of surfing ....even a surf school called Koala Surf Academy.

Monday 9 May           Viana do Costelo to Acorna
Distance:  18ks
Other peregrinos:4
Weather: Rainy, chucking it down :-(


After the inland route yesterday, we headed back to the coastal route between Viana do Costello and Ancora.  You guessed it, it was chucking it down with rain when we left, grim walking and we only saw two Aussies and two America gals that braved the weather.  The American gals said "what happened to all the yellow arrows, we didn't see any!". True, took a bit of savvy navigation in parts as some of the coastline was really rocky so you had to go inland and hope the farmers roads were not dead ends....had to think positive as the rain dripped down the rain poncho covering the pack...but eventually the sun came out. Time to take off socks and dry out our feet.  Then the last walk into Ancora along the beach, tuckered out and ready to grab something to eat before siesta time and everything shuts.

Not many photos today, too wet, such a shame as some of the historic forts and coastal scenery is stunning but it was too much like hard work to whip the camera out in the driving rain.    We did have a lovely meal at the end of the day with a delicious bottle of local wine, another day of walking under the belt 😊