Travels Past & Future

Monday, 4th May 2026 – Rest Day We kicked off the day with a late breakfast and a stunning view from our window. The Parador overlooked the water, which glittered in the morning sun—just gorgeous. But by the time we were ready to head into town, the rain had started. So instead, we explored the Parador itself. Honestly, it felt like wandering through a museum—every corner filled with art, tapestries, and ornately carved tables. There were little lounge areas everywhere, perfect for sitting, reading, or just doing nothing. After a while, we checked the weather again and set off along the walkway around the old fort wall. Naturally, we got a little sidetracked along the way. The fortress is preserved in spectacular condition. A full three kilometers of defensive walls encircle the peninsula, and you can walk along most of them . We followed the Paseo de Monte Boi—a looped walk that offers breathtaking 360-degree views of the bay, the Cíes Islands, and the wild Atlantic beyond . Also, on...

Sunday, 3rd May 2026 – Rain and the Coastal Climb We were down for breakfast by 7.30am and ready to head out the door at 8.30am. That's when the rain started. So—ponchos on. Kim and Allison had briefly considered putting on their gaiters before we left, but the rain only got heavier as we walked along the coast. Soon enough, they were wishing they'd worn them. As for me, I was testing out a different pair of hiking pants than last time. Bad idea. These ones soaked through immediately. My old ones never did that. Before long, the fabric was sticking to my legs, and rain had run straight into my socks. Every step came with a squelch. Around the 8.5km mark, we stopped for morning tea. Kim was wet, cold, and feeling her cold getting worse—especially with those soggy feet. She made the wise call to ring a taxi. Off to the Parador. Who wants to walk when you can sit in luxury. Alison, Julie, and I pressed on. We decided to take the coastal route over the mountain instead of the li...

02/05/2026 Saturday Today we walked from A Guardia to Oia. We started out around the port on a beautiful sunny day.  We mainly walked along the coast on dirt tracks with some walking on the pavement next to the road.  In Galicia the government has embraced the Camino and on the well trodden paths they have dedicated walking tracks so pilgrims don't need to walk on the road. We had a relatively short day of 14km and arrived at the hotel in time for a late lunch just 2 doors down and we even bought take away dessert to take back for dinner later that night. After lunch we made use of the laundry and washed our clothes, even the ones that didn't quite dry from the previous days. I left my poles at reception while our hostess Carmen was showing us around her beautifully renovated bed and breakfast with lots of antiques scattered around, including cast iron irons, tea cups, tea pots, plates and water jugs. The tour even  included their secret garden which looked over the ...

01/05/2026 Friday Today we walked from Vila Praia de Âncora, Portugal, to A Guarda, Spain. We started along the coast, passing donkeys and goats, plus a peloton of cyclists up on the highway—we could hear them coming long before they arrived. A celebration race for May Day, a public holiday. When we reached Caminha, we found a water taxi and crossed the Minho River into Galicia, Spain. We ordered tea and a cold drink at a café, though Kim and Alison only got half a small cup of tea. Then we ate our bread rolls in a park and decided our routes. Kim and Julie took the long, flat coastal path, while Alison and I tackled the hills to see the Celtic village ruins. When we finally reached the first house, I told Alison to look around while I waited. She took two steps up and said, "You have to see this." She was right—it was amazing. The village houses were built of stone in circular shapes, packed so closely together that you couldn't walk between some of them. Was the climb w...

30/04/2026 Thursday Another 20km day today. We were down for breakfast by 7.30am, where we also made a bread roll for lunch, cake for morning tea and filled our travel cups with fruit. Todays walk was listed as having very few services, so we made sure we had enough food. It was raining when we were about to leave, so we put on our ponchos and headed out. That's the last we saw of the rain. It started out as overcast and steadily improved throughout the day. Our stop for morning tea must have only recently reopened for the season. We ordered a cup of tea and ate our cake. We tried to only stop every hour, not counting the times everyone waited for me to catch up.  Walk an hour - 5 minutes rest. Walk an hour morning tea, repeat, lunch, repeat, afternoon tea. Our walk was a combination of boardwalks and forests with welcome shade, with the occasional road thrown in. We were going to walk the final part into Ancora along the boardwalks, but the sand dunes had totally reclaimed ...

29/04/2026 Wednesday Rest day today.  We all slept in, apart from family making calls at the normal time because we didn't tell them about the rest day. We finally made it down to breakfast by 9.30. We had planned to see the town, but rain changed our plans. We went to the laundromat to wash our clothes and bank to change the large notes that the Australian banks or Travelex gave us. Had pasties and frozen Acai with fruit for lunch and went back to our rooms and read our kindles. Dinner tonight was at the restaurant downstairs from our hotel. Last night was a quite affair, tonight, not so much. We sat down lucky to get a table of 4  and after we ordered, the musio started, then she invited someone up to sing, he was brilliant, then karaoke started. We stayed until dinner was finished, enjoyed the karaoke singers that could sing,  then left at around 10.00pm, a late night for us walking the trail. We should sleep tonight, but can still here the vibrations from downstai...

28/04/2026 Tuesday Today was a 26km day. We asked for a breakfast box, which sounded good. But the bread was stale and no butter. Ham and cheese sandwich, chicken bread roll, egg, orange and juice. We ate breakfast and put our luggage downstairs. Once Kim's hiking poles arrived (the taxi driver had given her the backpack yesterday, but not the poles and she was in too much pain to think),  we set off along the foreshore for a short time and then said goodbye to the coast for the day. Street walking was the order of the morning, hard on the feet and calves. Oh, and up hill. Lots of hills today. We stopped at Cafe O Lampiao where we received a nice cup of tea and Maria biscuits with peach  jam. Perfect. He also gave us a bowl of shell peanuts. We instantly thought of Dad watching the football with a bag of shell peanuts and a plastic tub for the shells.  Watching football with Dad also meant shelling and eating  peanuts. Back on the trail we eventually came to a b...