31st March A rough windy night following thunder & lightning before we went to bed but quite bright this morning. Change of plan due to the weather forecast which was rain for the afternoon; we decided to take the bikes to town for provisions & then walk the coast depending on the forecast accuracy although having looked at the satellite images on the Web, it looked accurate to me. Over breakfast I was treated to 10 seconds of very colourful language as Cathy turned the tap on before turning the spout round over sink, soaking pretty much everything within 3 feet including the fan heater. Best stay away from that for a while. Off on the bikes to the shop which took no time at all downhill. Whilst we were shopping the heavens opened but it ... read more

29th March Didn’t wake until 8.30am, it really is dark of a morning! Any road we were away by 11. I relented & we we went over to say goodbye to the Scots...boy can they talk for Scotland. They didn’t seem to understand we wanted to leave that very morning. A long drive ahead today.. The motorway once again passed through some beautiful scenery, mountains, scarily high viaducts & thousand upon thousands of acres of huge eucalyptus forests. On the tops of most of these mountains were loads of wind turbines..after on of the longest motorway climbs ever we were among them & the wind up there was really strong – it was all I could do to keep Billy in a straight line. Stopped for lunch at a restaurant with no food but had the ... read more

27th March After a late start & brunch we went off on the bikes to Luarca which is only a mile from the site. The little town is lovely, set in a cove with a small harbour & marina of sorts, just like the infamous Cornish fishing village. Rather than taking the road Cathy fancied taking the paved footpath down to the town. Big mistake. It was 1 in 3, included steps & hairpins – brakes on overtime & Cathy very scared but we made it. Had a mooch about & went into a bank to change money but they required a passport which we didn’t have. There’s a narrow ‘promenade’ around the bay which I cycled around passing an old chap drying himself off after a swim..in the Atlantic...in March. Without me realising it Cathy ... read more

25th March An awful night as Cathy did indeed get worse with an upset tummy ..so as she doesn’t feel up to travelling we’ll be staying another night. Thankfully I’m still alright so far, so I’ll do some chores & dodge the rain showers. I had lunch in the cafe bar which Google translate said was a chicken skewer but it turned out to be a thin breaded chicken slice in nice local bread with salad...& cubed potato ‘chips’...filled a hole. Did all the washing in the afternoon which was expensive (but the machines were huge, almost industrial) & whilst loading & unloading ‘chatted’ to a German couple who have been touring since Christmas- I think that they had saved all their washing for this site. Discovered that my German is on a par with my ... read more

23rd March Disturbed night sleep with the ship pitching all over the place & the fittings creaking all night. Still, this ferry is much better & quieter than the ones we used to use 20 odd years ago. Just had our petit dejeuner & now sat in the reading lounge which is very comfortable & from here I can see that I did leave the handbrake on Billy. Now we’ve arrived, an easy disembarkation & port exit. Within 500 yards Cathy had the first run in with the Dyson & we took a wrong turn haha! Only a couple of minutes detour though... 160 km drive to the first site near Gijon along a very quiet coastal motorway at the base of the mountains most of which were Picos de Europa. The windy weather we’d sailed ... read more