Northern Spain

We had and extremely pleasant day with an old work friend, catching up on 26 years of life, a lot has happened but little has changed, maybe the hair is a little greyer and the knees creak more, but it we if that time was only a few weeks. He has made Taramundi his home and made his home in Taramundi,  literally, he has rebuilt a house from what  was a derelict shell, and what a wonderful job he has made of it, but that was always his style.  Just by chance there was a fiesta in Pontenova with a firework display at the old iron kilns, so at 1130 pm we headed back there for a spectacular show including a portable stage with entertainment. A wonderful end to the day. Back to the van for an overnight in his driveway. Thank you N and R.

At Foz we also had WiFi, so we did a little more planning and found a Via Verde nearby at Pontenova. Via Verde are literally green ways, in most cases, old railway track open to walkers and cyclist. The motorhome aire and service point was at near the start of the VV so very convenient. We cycled the length of the VV a total of 11 km, 22 km return, almost level with 4 tunnels and a viaduct, very interesting. Three of the tunnels had automatic lighting that turned on as we entered. The 4th tunnel was short and didn't need it. We decided not to stop at the aire for the night and moved on to Taramundi for the night. An old work college lives near Taramundi so it is our intention to visit him in the morning.

Camper Parks are half way between a Aire de service, Area de Autocaravanas in Spain, and a campsite. There are the usual basic services plus electric hookup toilets and in this case washing up area, showers and, the main reason for stopping here, washing machines. We were running short of clean clothes so we booked in for 2 nights for washing and get the batteries fully charged. We were camped next to a couple from Manchester, so it was also a good chance to practice our English. The weather also took a turn for the worse with very strong gusts especially overnight, next door lost their table, we were more fortunate. We intended to cycle to Foz, but the wind was still a problem so we walked it. Foz is a seaside holiday town with one of the large beach of golden sands, but as is to be expected, very quite at this time of year. Found an ATM for some money and back along the beautiful footpath back to the van, most enjoyable.

A pleasant aire with the basic facilities.  We set of on aborted cyclemtrip to Foz. The going was a little hilly at first, that wasnt much of a problem, but the river crossing was over a busy main road bridge with no cycle path. Foz will have to wait. The following morning was a walk on the beach before heading for  Camperpark Atalaia the other side of Foz.

Very good aire on the cliffs tops overlooking a sandy cove, a number of surfers of several nationalities came and went during the time we were there. No facilities so just a good place for one quiet night.

Arrived middle of the afternoon. The parking was on a bit of a slope so we pick the best bit as we were the only ones there. A very nice beach but at that time of the day was in shadow and the tide was comming in so after a leg stretch it was back to the van to tea. A Swiss lady arrived a little later so we didnt spend the night alone.

After breakfast we headed of north down the Senda del Oso allong the river Quiròs. The trip began trough the woods with very little to see, a gentle downslope required very little pedaling and more freewheeling, not a good sign for the ruturn trip. The morning was quite cold and without internal heating from pedaling we both got cold, especially the hands. After about 5 km the view opened out and we passed and crossed the  Reservoir Valdemurio. From then on it was more lije the other branch of the Senda with tunnels and bridges. After 11.4 km we arrived at the junction of the Entrago route of the Senda, the one we completed last year. We retraced out path back to the resevoir forma quick lunch and back to the van. As it was only 2 pm we decided to move on to Play de Aguilar.