Kiwi Roaming

We woke to walkers walking past our window at 6:30am – long before sunrise – for us with Imogen still not 100% we were closer to 10am by the time we’d had breakfast and packed up. Starting from half way up the hill however was fantastic and we joined the long trail of folks heading up the hill from Redondela.

Today we were walking from just north of Redondela to Pontevedra. This was a big elevation day again where we walked on forest paths. I don’t think I have mentioned the topology of the forests here in northern Spain – the main trees are Oak and Chestnut, so underfoot we are not only navigating tree roots and stones but also masses and masses of those spiky chestnut husks with their sharp burs, and acorns galore. There are still Eucalyptus although decreasing in numbers slowly, and an increasing number of pine trees.

Olya caught up with us on one hill so she and Imogen walked together to the top where they settled into one of the many temporary stores entrepreneurial folks open up in clearings, selling drinks and trinkets and offering shade and a seat. They had bought us a juice each and were sitting with a German student and an English / Belgium guy who was offering Olya advice on her moving to Luxembourg after the walk.

We walked down to a town called Arcade where we crossed an ancient bridge and were surprised to find it was also a car bridge, sending the tens of walkers on there to the sides as each vehicle appeared. From here we followed the river, Imogen and Olya had chosen to take one of the alternative routes already but Steve and I continued beside the road on the official route – only to be diverted onto the alternative anyway part way along. It was cooler beside the river and softer underfoot than the road surface.

People – in Portugal we met many Germans, Americans and people from a range of other European countries, there were plenty of people on the path but we also had long periods walking alone. Everyone was also friendlier then too, saying “Bon Camino” as they passed or acknowledging they had met us before when we saw the same people again and again. After Vigo this all changed. The Coastal, Central and Literal all merged so volume increased naturally of course. The composition of groups also changed. There were loads more cyclists for a start and heaps of very large groups. These large groups included guided tour groups, family groups, large groups of Spanish folks with small packs on. It’s quite different walking now.

Pontevedra is a lovely larger town. To get to our guest house we followed the Camino path through the old part of town and bumped into Imogen who was heading to an Italian Sandwich place who advertise they don’t speak any English and offer Vegan options. We wound down alleyways and through little squares full of restaurant tables. It was Friday night and the town was humming. Families with kids running around or kicking a football, groups of after work drinkers, lots of noise and laughter.

We had a 2 rooms with ensuite, Steve and I a queen bed and Imogen a 4 bunk room off ours, there was a shared kitchen dining room for all of the guest rooms. Every room had an electronic entry lock and we perceived some had shared bathrooms. It was on one of these squares which posed to be quite an issue until 2:30am when people finally seemed to stop drinking and singing!

I’d been scoping out food options and settled on kebabs of all things! I was feeling like an iskender, so we walked past about 50 tapas places to King Omar Kebabs. Our Spanish waitress played with us a while before saying “we will speak English instead” after we fluffed our ordering. We were all eating our yummy food when she came back to ask if we knew a name “Martin Crowe” to which I said – you mean the cricketer? this acknowledgement warranted a wave from the chef who was thrilled to learn we knew this one minor fact and made us a new friend for life. He was Pakistani and attended the 1992 Cricket World Cup in ChCh, and he loves cricket – wish Don had been with us – but we smiled and nodded and asked questions about his ability to watch cricket in Spain, and he was very thrilled to have met us.

Steve and I took our washing to a laundromat and read Spanish Hello magazines / did the daily quiz while the 30 minute cycle ran through, Imogen went back to do some yoga. Then to the Froize for supplies before back to the guest house, which was very cute but the noise was intense. Not much sleep that night at all.

Also time to start watching where Hurricane Gabrielle is coming ashore.

Steps 28,940 or 19.44km