From Northern Spain to Portugal

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Sunday 23rd September

Lovely sunny day today and was tempted to stay and paint the view from our van as the light good; however thought best to push on on a Sunday when roads quieter. I must have felt homesick as had few tears leaving Pat and John who we had begun to feel like friends; not helped by pulling off site to sounds of Simon and Garfunkel - Homeward Bound. Needed to be positive and after hearing Sgt Pepper for a month now it seemed a small improvement! Decided to head for the Picos mountains a national park which were extremely dramatic and very steep - actually most of northern spain is very mountainous and with it quite wet creating a lush green landscape. Pampas grass grows everywhere and eucalyptus trees giving a very different feel.The beaches are wonderful and totally under developed which make them a paradise to be on. However the flip side of this is that inland the towns are quite poor and in some places very 'third world'. Today definitely white knuckle ride up and down. Very sad moment when we saw a bassett hound lost and abandoned wandering on the central reservation of the motorway; thought of this poor dog has stayed with me.

Headed for city of Gijon and suddenly hit crowds of people so stopped van and followed on and ended up at a massive market where we spent an hour or so before deciding to head to the coastal part of city. Bit of a mistake in one way as roads quite tiny and meant I had to keep hopping out to get Andy round the tiny roundabouts. However, despite this it was a fabulous place - bit like Biarittz altho the Spainish are not quite as good at this as the French. Stopped for cup of tea and discovered only one of Andy's shoes by door - oh blast! Decided to re-trace steps and eventually discovered said shoe by side of road near market! There was no camping places here so went further north to a place called Candas. What a dive - drove through the biggest industrial area we had ever seen with oil refineries and huge industrial chimneys pumping out goodness knows what emissions and when we found site nearly died - terrace after terrace of caravans which had been there years - no way; would rather sleep by side of road. Drove into town which was a cross between Jaywick and Canvey (sorry Jaywick and Canvey!). That done it - back to map and more driving. Shame in Spain they do not cater for motorhomes.

Headline news of day: Headlights worked!!! ALL DAY! Thanks May and Ivan for repair tips. Perhaps we need another trip to Lourdes to sort out air conditioning!

Arrived at about 6 at a place called Tapia de Casariego (on N634) and stayed in what was someones garden - tiny but with the most fabulous facilities - huge toilet and shower blocks, absolutely immaculate, filled with flowers. Sadly only got 9 points as water in shower could have been a degree or two warmer! Fig and lemon trees grew around us in the most well kept garden with proper grass - felt like home! Another English van parked up and also a tiny tent containing a family of Spainiards - two adults and a 5 year old and a baby about 2 months! After all the driving set off for a walk down tiny road which led to a fantastic beach. Had a paddle and watched sun go down and headed back up hill for some tea. Spain does not have the shops like France and we were getting low on food so had a tea made of emergency supplies - tin of chicken and rice!

Monday 24th - cloudy day so set off early for an inland town called Mondonedo purported to be very interesting. We did not find much to see so after a hastily munched packed of donuts (quite desperate for food by then) we got back in van and headed towards La Coruna a city and port on north coast. It poured for the whole 100 miles; Not sure how we found the one camp site open but we did at about 5. Had a cup of tea and decided to catch bus into the city. In Spain everything closes between 2 and 5 and you cannot get anything to eat until 8 unless you want Tapas. After a 20 minute (1 euro) ride got to city centre but place was so large we did not know where to go or what to see, so had a mooch around and caught bus back to site. When we stepped off bus found internet cafe open that took memory stick so dived in there also Andy desperate to check yesterday's football results. Both very satisfied with outcome we came back home for a pizza and chips which was cooked by 10.30; tired and full we slept well.

No arguments between us (yet!)and we have a routine for van life and the limited space. The main problem for me is the clothes washing. I last did a wash at Lourdes which took me to the middle of Spain to get dry!

Tuesday 25th. Lovely site we are on -though expensive. Filled with hundreds of types of deciduous and evergreens interspersed with large marble and stone modern art pieces and brilliant blue hydrangeas. Picked some chestnuts and saw another red squirrel. Decided to stay another night as it was lovely and again only ones on whole site. After leisurely breakfast walked into Santa cruz the suburb of La Caruna we are staying in. Quite surprised how big it was. Headed down to small beach and watched waves roll in and then out to a castle at sea, accessible by a long footbridge. Had a wonderful few hours wandering around the place, scrambling over rocks with chance of getting soaked; my idea of a perfect day. Andy took loads of photos today which I will try and download. Wandered up the hill from the main town as we had seen an unusual church spire. It must have been ugliest church in whole world - made solely of concrete blocks - absolutely dire but the spire, made from the same was massive and could be seen for miles. Later came across a kind of hypermarket; first in Spain so bought a few light bits we could carry and headed back for tea after a truly lovely day.

Wednesday 26th

Headed off early this morning for Finisterre - the furthest point west in Spain. This was a place on our hit list. Dora the explorer cut out in middle of Caruna so sweaty moment which we survived after few choice swear words. Arrived at about 2 and wandered about the cliff face before heading back to a place called Corcubion where we hoped to find somewhere to stay night. Nice town but no joy for kipping. Sat and enjoyed calamares with a beer in town square and Andy found a perfect 'blue' shop, Aladdins cave of boys electrical and other bits. He gesticulated to dour Spanish owner wanting a plug (for when polarity is electrically reversed on sites) and after a lot of gesticulation (painful) man said Oh you come from England and where. He apparently had lived in Nottinghill and his equally dour looking wife joined us for long chat of pros and cons of living in Spain V UK. Drove back to Finisterre about 5 and walked along the most wonderful beach; pure white sand and turquoise sea. Dashed back for costume but water really too cold. As it was getting late decided to go back to Finisterre cliff face to watch sunset. Once there decided to get camper van pushed back into a rock crevice and stay there the night. Must have been mad as the wind howled all around us and we kept feeling we were going to fall over the edge. Of course, the other thing we had not considered was the massive rush of cars at 8 coming to see the sun rise! It actually was wonderful moment watching sun go down and turning east to see a full moon! 12 hours later where the moon had been was now a wonderful sun! Andy cannot get over to this day, finding a condom outside van next morning - jokes we had about that. Mainly was that we thought it was the wind banging against side of van - sorry to the fainthearted amongst you.

Thursday 27th

Left fairly early as did not want to get blocked in car park. Stopped for breakfast at a scenic point along route.Then had the most wonderful 1 and half ride along the west coast of Spain. Totally unspoiled - no cranes, half finished pavements, builders putting up more apartments! Beaches equivalent to Caribbean - wonderful. Found a nice little site just outside Noya. Sun was out and wind blowing so mad dash for washing machine. Two hours later washing washed, dried and ironed! Then we walked down to the site's private beach and had a paddle. So much nicer on west side of Spain. Sat outside for a late dinner and watched sun go down.

Friday 28th

Decided on another day at site as weather good. Walked around beach into the village harbour which was quite large and watched fisherman unload their catch and all the associated goings on of a fairly large port. The town/village school was right on the beach with a fence going around and a playground made of sand. Children seemed so happy especially with mix of ages. Had lunch back at van and then spent afternoon sunbathing on beach. Only ones there for an hour or so until a Spanish gentleman(?) appeared and plonked himself down 5 yards from us. Boy did Andy curse - all that beach and he sits there, blah blah blah!

Saturday 29th
Planned another day here but weather cloudy and bit iffy so headed of to Santiago Campestela the main place for pilgrims in the area, 2nd to Rome and Jerusalem. Kept seeing these poor people trailing along with back packs bigger than themselves, in pouring rain looking totally exhausted. Felt a big pang of conscience whizzing along in our four star residence. Found the one and only site in the town and Andy in his wisdom decided to reverse up the vertical slope to a pitch at the very top. 5 minutes later and burning clutch which had stunk out the van we decided to walk the two miles into the city and enjoyed time in the cathedral and got to see the alleged tomb of St James. The symbol of the area was the clam shell, representing James and seen symbolised in our own church windows. Was even allowed to go behind the Madonna and child at the high alter. Strange experience looking down from the very high alter to people sitting in the pews. Enjoyed an hour wandering around the medieval streets with hundreds of other tourists and got back very late via a walk on the motorway as got slightly lost and it was pouring by then to spoil the magical moment. Cooked a meal and had a drink in the camp site bar with all the other pilgrims slightly cheerier by then!

Sunday 30th
Pouring with rain since 5 am so decided to move on whilst roads free from mad Spanish lorry drivers. Lovely journey to a place called Aurense altho site about 5 km west. Parked van on small site as part of riding stable and found a walkers path along the river at bottom of site, so put on our walking boots and hiked along an attractive river walk spoilt only by pesky flies buzzing in our faces the whole time. I don't know if Andy is trying to get rid of me now, as I have my suspicions. Lets leave the signed path and try up here! Honestly where we ended up I will never know but I did get panicky we were so high up and no sign of life for miles and miles. After 3 hours made it back to site after seeing the most wonderful sights, which I was pleased about for Andy as it is difficult for him to drive and view.

Monday 1st
You just know when its going to be one of those days! Andy decided to refill washer to windowscreen wipers and guess what the bottle was difficult to get at and impossible to fill. Had a go at it but then could hear water running out somewhere else. He was mad so not good start to a Monday; him moaning for hours about Fiat! Anyway as things do, they only got worse as we headed for Portugal. Dora the explorer told him and me that he needed to take a left turn at foot of mountain. He said he wanted to go right. Well so much for girl power. We started up a mountain and the road got narrower, steeper and non existant. To start with we laughed as the scenery was fantastic but all turned to tears when we eventually made it near the top (20 miles later, crawling along at 5 miles an hour with no other vehicle in sight - thank goodness (altho this told us we were in trouble). It would have been bad enough in a car but our7 m vehicle was starting to whine and things inside crashing about due to no road surface! Eventually we reached Portugese border at top of mountain only to find it closed and signs saying no entry on route down. We were stuck; could not go back. An hour later and poor Andy's blood pressure long since left the roof we reached a place where we could have been able to stop as brakes and clutch burning badly. However, that was not to be. Handbrake had seized so we had to roll. At this time met one other car - you guess it, another motorhome with GB sticker. Stuck head out as we coasted by (all we could do) that journey would not be good idea and to meet back further down at a little village with a bus park. Later the man said he could not get enough traction to reach where we were so we knew it was bad. Once everything calmed down; tempers and brakes had a long chat with couple named Carol and Phil, who it turned out were doing exactly same as us. It was great swapping stories and we also swapped phone numbers to keep in touch. One thing Phil told us was there was a Fiat garage 30 miles down road who had looked at his van. So we found a most beautifully natural camp site to park night - it really was lovely next to a waterfall and massive boulders; especially as only ones there. Went out for walk to calm down and found the town of Geres to be lovely. Ladies sat outside making lace, men playing cards and interesting little shops that sold everything. I rang garage and booked van in tomorrow to sort out air con and now the window washer which Andy wanted to work! I was not fussed about it but then not driving it so who was I to complain.

Tuesday, 2nd
What is saying "things can only get better" no in our case worse. Had programmed in GPS longtitude and latitude for trip to garage and then left sat nav on all night so dead as a do do on the one day we needed her to take us into a city called Braga. Told Andy she was sulking after he had been swearing at her all day! Dont know how but we found garage and the most wonderfully helpful Portugese garage.The place was huge inside but access via a one way street with continual traffic, bumper to bumper and parking either side all the way. Well eventually got up the ramp and into garage and he said leave it with us til 6 (this was at 11). Went back at 6 after quite a tiring day walking around the city to be told they had sorted water and could possible fix air con tomorrow as system was leaking and it was quite a job to repair - whole dash to come off. Agreed to take it back at 9 am Wednesday! Fortunately found site about 400 yards from garage so parked up exhausted with thought of doing same all over again, To make things worse (at time Sat Nav refused to fire up, so went and bought power charger from electrical shop. I have to say at this stage the Portugese altho appearing a bit dour are the most helpful people we have met so far; if you ask they help and so willingly. At one time today found the local market which was enormous and a man appeared and asked us if we knew where we were going. We said the market and he advised us to keep our bags close to us and that we could preview a motor show being held at the Exposition building next door, the following day. Found an internet cafe, but again no luck with memory stick so will try elsewhere tomorrow, Wednesday.

Wednesday 3rd
duly arrived at Fiat Garage at 9 am after better nights sleep to be told the man in charge in Lisbon and mechanic dealing with our van not in. Not sure what situation is so left it that I will phone tomorrow to get some news from someone. Honestly we were nearly there in sorting everything out.

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