DAY 74 - PONTEDEUME to VALDOVIÑO - Friday 05 July 2024

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Our host gave us a very good 7am breakfast, which meant we were out in time to catch the morning light on the inlet and historic bridge. After that, it was uphill all the way to the first bar, where we had a refreshing drink. Following the arrows backwards was challenging today, and twice we had to adjust after going off track. It wasn't as easy as in previous days as there seemed to be fewer pilgrims marking the way. 

We did see some cows today, but mostly it was horses. These seem to be tethered, rather than in a fenced paddock. Later, we also saw a donkey, some goats and some chooks.

There were fine views down to the estuary but we were ready for a descent. Eventually we started going down, on a loose gravel path, before sharing the tarred road with a few cars. Again, people stopped to check we were going the right way. We had a chat with Norma, who is Italian but living in Noosa, and Madeleine, who was born in the US but now living in Sardinia. Norma had lived in Byron Bay for seven years, so knew exactly the location of our little village. They hadn't found the first day of the Camino Ingles too bad, but we warned them that the way ahead was 'up and down'. That might have been an understatement, apologies Norma and Madeleine if you're reading this. 

We continued into Neda and had another refreshing drink in a bar. We were served a couple of slices of salami on bread with our drink, a free 'pinchos'. As we were a little early, we decided to stop when we were leaving Neda for a proper lunch.  

We crossed the bridge and said goodbye to the Camino Ingles. We'd completed almost all of it at just under 100 km, but we were turning off to continue to Spain's northernmost point.

We stopped at the restaurant as planned, but they were fully booked from 2pm, so we continued on. This road was quite busy and uphill, so we were very happy to discover a bar a few kilometres on. They served us a pincho of potato and chicken, so that kept us going along with some of our reserve muesli bars. 

We found a quieter road for a couple more kilometres and by the time we met up with the main road again the traffic had quietened and the gradient had switched to downhill. We had an enjoyable last 5 km with fantastic views down to the sea and a distant lighthouse. 

We enjoyed wonderful views of the Atlantic Ocean as we approached Valdoviño this afternoon
Leaving Pontedeume this morning
Continuing northwards on the Camino Inglés 
An honesty box, some road walking, smelling the lilacs, and foregoing the opportunity to rest on a path-side lounge
Continuing on the Camino Inglés 
Some pilgrim paraphernalia on the way
Some interesting sights on the Camino
Just before Neda - a traditional ceremonial selfie to mark the 1,500 kilometre mark of our walk
Shortly before Neda with Norma and Madeleine. They were going the other way, but were happy to stop for a chat. 
Neda
Leaving the Camino Inglés after almost 100km
The road to Valdoviño 
On the road to Valdoviño
Ocean views on the approach to Valdoviño
Entering Valdoviño
Valdoviño - enjoying the view from our accommodation
Horreos
Horses
Animals
Birds
Day 74 - Map

Day:                               74
Distance:                      29.37 km
Walking time:              6 hrs 15 mins
Elevation gain:            673 metres
Cumulative distance: 1,517.01 km

Comments

  1. Murray and Sandra16 July 2024 at 12:44

    Black Redstart?, Turtle Dove (we missed seeing these in Europe), some sort of gull

    ReplyDelete

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