Kiwi Roaming

Sadly the cold took Imogen overnight, she really struggled to get up and join us so Steve and I went to a lovely breakfast where everyone in the breakfast room spoke English and we saw the result of not looking after your feet! eek. Great croissant too.

Today we are walking from Ramallosa to Vigo, a large port city with a Decathlon (yay) and other shops we are looking forward to.

We eventually left Hotel Arce with a very sick Imogen at 11am and she valiantly managed to walk for a couple of hours before Steve and I called it. We found a nice bench in the shade and rested while arranging early checkin and an Uber. She was collected by Oscar, in a Tesla model 3, who spoke no English but took her on a scenic trip to Vigo using google translate to provide her with commentary on his hometown. She took my bag with her and we’d transferred everything heavy into that meaning Steve and I could walk a reasonable pace despite my very very very sore knees.

Today was unusual in so much as it was fairly flat – little did we know this was the last properly flat walking we would be doing. The track took us onto beaches for short bursts but was also often in suburban streets. We found a fantastic restaurant overlooking a wee bay for fresh calamari and tuna salad – one of our best meals in Spain. Then continued walking. There were way less people on the path which could have been how late in the day we left or could have meant most opted to take the Coastal Route for this segment, many bloggers say to avoid Vigo but we wanted to stick with the seaside.

Vigo is very like Wellington in so many ways, our walk took us through the affluent seaside outer suburbs with long driveways, large walled gardens and security gates protecting massive houses with wonderful views. Close enough to commute but some were also clearly holiday houses. As we got closer into the city the density increased and in Vigo itself there were mainly high rise apartment buildings.

I do have to mention the beaches, they are spectacular with people sunbathing and occasionally swimming our whole walk. The most popular beach however was the nudist beach, wow it was packed with mostly middle aged men but a few women – and the very next beach along was a family one.

Our wee apartment had a washing machine so Imogen had washed our clothes which took no time to dry having had a decent spin cycle – yay clean clothes! She’d also had a good sleep so once Steve and I had showered we all headed up the short walk from our apartment to a massive mall to visit our favourite store Decathlon. I got poles there (overdue purchase tbh) and we looked for a new lightweight, breathable, sun protecting top for Imogen as my old running jacket she was wearing just doesn’t breathe well enough with the vents covered by the pack. 4 more stores later we gave up finding athleasure wear in Spain is like home and very synthetic.

Into the Hypermarket and 2 minutes later Imogen – who was severely flagging at this stage – found a linen blend top! yay. Heat and eat meals secured we headed back to the apartment to write blogs and enjoy a mosquito free nights sleep.

Steps 30,444 or 20.17km