On the road again...
Fisterra also known as Finnisterre; the End of the Earth.
The first thing I do is walk to the post office near the Pilgrims' Office and post 1.5km of stuff home in a box. My sleeping bag and bits and pieces I won't need and boy I can feel the difference!
Walking the quiet shady paths again; a little granite bridge over water.
It's a wonderful day to the start the Camino Finnisterra. After the bustle and crowds of Santiago I'm back on narrow undulating tracks amongst bracken, wild-flowers, oak and pine forest and birdsong. Thrushes, blackbirds, tits, robins, warblers and lots of linnets on telephone wires in the meadows. I'm alone most of the morning. I meet Felix, a Spaniard who has walked from Barcelona about 1400km. I'm a mere beginner! Then later an Italian family with a sweet little boy about 7 years old. They are wheeling one of their rucksacks on the boy's scooter through the woods!
Through oak and pine woods full of birdsong
About 11 I stop for a coffee in a nice roadside bar; there are far fewer amenities now. I order a take away ham sandwich for lunch. Everything's freshly made including the pressed orange juice.
She hangs out in all the Galician bars.
Then I'm on the road again. It's a stiff two hour slog up a never ending 300m ascent. Luckily with lots of shade because it's now very hot.
A Camino gatepost in one of the villages
It's a good long walk down the other side too, through small villages until I reach Ponte Maceira.
The weir is spectacular
An amazing place with a roaring weir and a long winding Medieval bridge. I eat my picnic sitting on the steps of an old mill watching the water thundering by and then flowing on between huge granite boulders. The village has a few houses, but it's deserted of people at this time of day.
A bridge has a lovely sinuous curve
Then a gentle shady riverside walk until I reach Negreira, where I book into the municipal albergue which is at the far end of town up another hill. I'm in the pine panelled attic in a real bed! The Italian couple and boy are opposite; I'm very impressed he's managed that hill. Felix the Swiss guy is miles ahead probably!
Negreira
Washing washed, a big Salad Mixte eaten in a local bar and then bed. I'm tired it's been an 18 mile day.
On the edge of the town