AUSSIE SLOW TRAVELLERS

After a sleep in and leisurely breakfast we set out to reconnoitre our route for tomorrow. Google Maps said we could walk on the Puente de la Constitution de 1812 (a big bridge) to El Puerto de Santa Maria,  but we wanted to make sure.   We took a scenic route to the bridge, noting the many beautiful gardens, statues and buildings. There were lots of people about, including a flamenco fit class, dog walkers and tourists. In the port there were two massive cruise ships, and opposite them a statue of Blas de Lezo brandishing a sword to warn them off - or at least that's what it looked like. Blas was a Monty Pythonesque never-say-die figure we learnt about in one of our favourite podcasts, Half-Arsed History.  When we got to the bridge we found a lane for 'authorised' vehicles only. We assumed that included Australian long distance walkers but when we checked at the tourist bureau they gave us a firm 'no'. They did stamp our pilgrim passport however. We now in...

We made a later start today as we only had 15 km to walk. The first part of the walk was through a marsh and we saw lots of the black winged stilts, with their impossibly skinny legs that look too weak to hold up their bodies. We enjoyed the muted colours of the plants and derelict buildings. As we got closer to Cadiz, we had impressive views of the whole bay. In Cadiz we found our first signs of the pilgrim path which starts from here, in the form of roughly painted yellow arrows and later on, the scallop shell. After a drinks break at a café on the beach, we continued along the beachside esplanade, finding lots of interest, such as: - the workers whitewashing the walls to spruce them up for summer - the lines of lamp-posts - the well-used bike path - the many soccer nets set up on the beach - the public toilet which also served as an advertising board. Not sure if the toilet part was working as there was a red light! After some Roman ruins and the Cathedral we cut through some ...

A later start today as we walked out in bright sunshine through quiet streets.  After a little while,  we found our old friend the bikepath Eurovelo 8. This time it was a dirt track, then a paved path through a nature park.  There were lots of fellow walkers and cyclists out enjoying the sunshine.  The bikepath took us briefly past some large resorts then moved into agriculture,  with vineyards,  olives,  wheat and horses noted.  There was an abundance of wildflowers again,  and the GR 145 made a brief appearance.  We stopped in a little bar for lunch at the pretty town of Chiclana de la Frontera. We were the only tourists and it was fun trying out our Spanish again.  We enjoyed wandering the streets for a while before taking a dirt track through the marshes, finding lots of birds. The whitewashed walls of San Fernando were evident from a long way out.  Just before we crossed the bridge to enter the city,  we came across a...