AUSSIE SLOW TRAVELLERS

We travelled light today, leaving our big backpacks in our hotel room where we were spending a second night. Nevertheless, we were overtaken towards the top of the initial steep ascent by a young man with long legs and big strides.  After the climb, we walked mostly along a ridge, firstly through a hamlet and then through forest and some pasture. We shared the path with the Camino Natural for part of the way. We took a short detour off the path to Pena Furada, where we had magnificent views up and down the coast.  We continued on to 'the most beautiful bench in the world', according to a Google Maps pin which warned we might have to take turns to sit on it. It certainly had stunning views and some people took a very long turn but ended up being happy to share. There were quite a lot of people here because there was a car park and even an open chiringuito. At the chiringuito we did see someone with a big backpack and a scallop shell but we didn't stop to chat - we were

Today's walk started off with a gentle climb out of the village of San Roman de Montoxo to rejoin the main road. The morning light highlighted the old buildings and other wonders along the way.  Our climb yesterday paid off with a long descent today. Because it was a Sunday, we weren't held up by the roadworks but took lots of photos of diggers and rollers and other big machinery for our grandkids.  We escaped into a quiet country road after this, that took us under a railway viaduct and over an old bridge. Here we had a short break, including a paddle in the creek for those that were interested.  A short time later we found a few yellow arrows. The Ruta do Mar Camino weaves around this area and we shared paths for a short while.  We enjoyed rural scenery with views down to the estuary before we had to join the main road again. Luckily there was a track by the railway line which gave us a short respite before the last few kilometres into Ortigueira. In Ortigueira, we walked