Set off at 9.06 (to be precise) to complete the last leg of our ‘Way’ – it felt pretty momentous to know that today would be our last on this trail. We only had 25km to cover but we now know from experience that distances are a poor indicator of challenge over here. But we made it!

Just to prove consistency it rained from the get go and temperatures between 6 and 11 degrees made it particularly punishing. The ride was an interesting one weaving its way through the narrow backstreets of villages allowing us to sticky beak into peoples back ‘yards’ – mini vineyards, choking pens – every house seemed to have a dog eager to bark at us, and narrow lanes seething with cats – the definitely wouldn’t have a rat problem here. Some roads, particularly as we drew near to Santiago but also lots of forest paths.

We stopped for our last pilgrim lunch today and boy did we need it. Most cafes put on hearty pilgrim meals including vegetable soup and bread (hits the spot for warming up), meat/fish and potatoes/chips and a drink (coffee for us). Was hard to drag ourselves out of the warmth and back into the rain.

As we got closer to Santiago there were more and more walkers on the route as the various ‘Ways’ merged. It was an amazing (and quite emotional) feeling coming in through the narrow streets to the cathedral – with young pilgrims cheering from the bars as the probably celebrated their own achievement.

And then we were there. – four drenched and bedraggled cyclists and 2 muddy bikes hanging on to their chains by a thread. Of course they don’t actually let you into the cathedral – not without a booking anyway- so that will have to wait for another day. We lined up to get our final stamp , present our credential and receive our certificate at the Santiago pilgrims office – feeling very proud of ourselves.

And just when we thought we’d finished we had another 600m ride to our hotel – while it is only 150m from the cathedral, it’s on the ‘other’ side of the cathedral from the pilgrim office!

By 4pm I was showered and tucked up in bed soaking up the warmth – exploring and food can wait until later , as can dissembling the bike – eeek! We are staying a stones throw from the cathedral and can see it from our window – but importantly can also hear it! Those bells ain’t quiet!

The most challenging day so far today. Only 35km but over 700 vertical metres of climbing.

Tra path from Vigo to Pontevedra was away from the coastline all day with just glimpses of the sea from above. Some lung busting hills that required a bit of walking- however pushing the bike uphill is nearly as hard as riding it. It rained for all bar the last 8km.- so on this pilgrimage our sins are certainly being washed away!

Hotel is cheap and cheerful with a fabulous owner who is an ex-professional cyclist- very lovely character who happily shared a beer with us.

But irs a successful day if you get to your destination and arrive we did. By 5.45 we were sitting in a bar waiting with hungry anticipation for the restaurants to open for dinner at 8.

Woke to crisp but dry weather this morning, trundling down to breaky round 7.30. Spanish hotel breakfasts aren’t quite as extensive as the Portuguese ones – which might be a blessing for the waistline – so we scoffed everything they offered us and hoped that we’d find cafes along the route.

Set off round 8.30 all feeling a tad weary and a bit uncertain about the big hills shown on the gradient today. As it turns out our worries were unfounded – the path was much flatter than we expected (or perhaps we are getting a bit fitter), and the weather smiled at us, with some clouds but also bursts of sunshine which had us stripping down layers.

It was quite a beautiful ride to Vigo- the path was up high above the coast serving the dual purpose of protecting us from the ferocious coastal winds and offering up fabulous views.

We stopped mid morning at the halfway mark in an absolutely packed cafe (again mostly with men) in one of the villages. They plied us with turros (donuts) cake and coffee which gave us the oomf we needed for the second part of our journey.

Arrived on the outskirts of Vigo round noon and it took almost 45 minutes (and a few grey hairs) to navigate the busy city streets to our hotel.

After a quick shower we headed out in search of lunch and an afternoon of exploring. Found about the last restaurant open before siesta and had their daily specials – steamed mussells.

After lunch strolled through the city – ending up down by the docks. I have to say these Spanish certainly take siesta seriously – hardly another soul out on the streets.

Strolled back to the hotel just as the city was waking up. Now in room having our own siesta.

Left A Guarda in glorious weather around 9am. – a bit chilly in the shade but otherwise bright sunshine . Had to stop for minor repairs on our back chain so didn’t get going for real until 10am. iIt was a bit tricky to find the right path out of town, but eventually we got to the sea and followed our noses (and the little yellow arrows) from there on in.

The coast looked amazing in the sunshine – with waves thundering in onto the rocks. Saw one or two rock fishermen, but it would be a treacherous sport here. Quite a diverse path today switching between broad coastal CycleWays , which felt a bit like following the yellow brick road, narrow cobbled streets passing through numerous small villages and some forest paths.

Arrived in Baiona round 2pm, pretty tired from the cumulated effort of five days in the saddle. Baiona is a sea port- but very upmarket resort-style living unlike the smaller villages we’ve been travelling through. While quiet now, you can see it would be absolutely heaving in the warmer months. The bay/marina is enveloped by the walls of a 14th century fort which offers great views in all directions.

We ate dinner in restaurant just near the hotel – the 8pm dinner hour is way past the bedtime of we weary travellers so quite a challenge! We are now past the halfway point of our Camino- hoping that the kind weather holds but fearing it won’t.

Set off round 9am in full sunshine and high anticipation of a day without rain. 

We had two alternatives and decided on the coast road- it meant we had head winds but the rocky beach views were gorgeous.

We stopped for some morning Pilates- some of us were more elegant than others….

Passed through some beautiful villages – a mix of traditional homes and some very modern (and huge) houses.  The wooded areas were beautiful- surprisingly lots of eucalypts.

We crossed the border into Spain late afternoon. This required a river crossing, and as the local ferry was out of service we had to do this via water taxi. The taxi was not much longer than the bikes, so it was quite a full load going over.  It was an exciting ride- lots of wind and spray and we felt a bit like illegal entrants, sneaking across the border.

Unfortunately Spanish weather wasn’t as kind as Portuguese weather had been today, so we did the last 5km in drizzling rain. Arrived in our hotel late afternoon a bit tired and absolutely starving. Only one problem…. Spanish restaurants don’t open for dinner until 8pm- so it was a long wait for sustenance!

Dinner was at a local seafood restaurant  – Rick, Bei and I sharing a feast of prawns, octopus, mussels and scallops and David having Spanish omelette and vegetarian paella.  We waddled back up the hill to the hotel full as googs.

David and I have just spent the evening paring back and redistributing our luggage- we had a message from the luggage Carter saying our bags exceeded their maximum (very modest) weight and if we didn’t reduce the weight they would leave our bags behind…. After a solid cull of all the paperwork etc that we’ve accumulated and some redistribution to our panniers (and a rush to the local $2 shop to purchase a set of baggage scales) we are now confident we are within limits- no shopping for us until we finish cycling!

Website down so unable to blog this journey in real time- instead spent evening talking with a chat bot trying to get back on line.

Today’s summary below….

Weather much better than yesterday, overcast with glimpses of sun and only a couple of short bursts of rain.  We spent the day stripping layers off as we climbed hills and putting them back on as we cooled down. 

Distances were shorter than yesterday but hills MUCH bigger. We made it up most but had a few patches that were either just too steep, too sandy or too scary to ride.

Today was spent away from the coast riding through the back streets of small villages. Being Sunday villages were quite lively. Lots of small taverns full of men sharing drinks and lively conversation (not sure where the women were). We went into one for a morning coffee – Bei and I were the only women, and while we were welcomed the inaccessibility of the ladies toilet (beer boxes piled up against the door) suggested female visitors are a rarity.

Arrived in Viana  do Castelo around lunchtime crossing the 645 metre Eiffel bridge with great views of the city and mountains behind.

After a quick lunch we walked the historic parts of town then caught the funicular up to the Sanctuary of the Sacred Heart (locals call it St Lucia church). It’s a working Cathedral and being Sunday, mass was in progress, with some beautiful singers.

Returned to our hotel for a late afternoon nap then early (for here) dinner in a local restaurant.

Our hotel room is tiny with barely enough room to hold our bags let alone open them.  We have the window open (rooms are very hot here), but are located quite close to a church whose bells are on a 15 minute chiming schedule, so not sure how long we will last before we need to shut up shop.

Last night in Portugal as we cross over into Spain tomorrow.

Distance travelled: 29km
Time on trail: 4 hrs 6 minutes.
Difficulty rating: 13/10

Well this Atlantic coast is certainly throwing everything at us. We left our (very cosy) hotel round 9am in teaming rain but (fairly) well equipped for whatever Mother Nature chose to send our way- and boy this she send it. The headwinds were enormous , rain was driving and we even had a bit of hail, but in a quirky way it was quite exhilarating.

The coastline was spectacular despite the greyness- with waves churning like a giant washing machine.

Most of the trip today was along the shoreline , alternating between structured bike paths, cobbled roads and board walks. The board walks were by far the most challenging, with sharp turns and slippery surfaces.

We’d like to pay special thanks to the lovely hooligans that swivelled the Camino pointer to send us down this track – what ended up as a 4km detour up to our ankles in mud! I can now confidently say that my Gortex boots do hold water perfectly- on the inside.

We passed through several small villages, but not much sign of human life- only Aussies and dogs go out in this weather it seems.

Arrived in Esposende around 1.45 very wet and chilly and starving but with our combined senses of humour in tact. Weather can only get better tomorrow can’t it?

Hot showers and massive lunch in a local cafe – now lying on the bed, heating cranked up drying our clothes contemplating whether 7.30 is too early to go to bed

Headed down to breakfast at 6.45am with a good dose of excitement annd all of us feeling just a tad nervous as well. After lugging the bikes downstairs we set off round 8 for the short (or so we thought) ride to the Cathedral- the start of the Portuguese Coastal Camino. We hadn’t really factored in the combined effects (fear factor) of peak hour traffic, one way streets and rain- so arrived at 8.30 having walked through some of the busiest areas.

And then- the heavens descended! Getting out of Porto was the biggest challenge of the day – the ‘yellow arrows’ taking us down steep and often stained paths, but all roads lead to the sea (or downhill ones anyway), so after an hour of combined walking/backtracking we were finally hugging the riverbank- even if a bit cold and damp. It did make us reflect on St James and his cronies doing this before the days of paths/roads and without wet weather gear.

Cobblestone streets were perhaps the highlight and the biggest challenge of the day.

Stopped for the dual purpose of re-fuel ing and warming up a couple of times throughout the day -. The lunch spot was full of characters – a family owned restaurant – dad the owner and the adult brother and sister working the floor. It took us a while to realise that the set menu (bread, soup, mains, dessert, espresso) was the only option, and needed to be strictly adhered to . Quote of the day- ‘do you have any tarts?’, ‘I’ll ask my sister’.

And finally we were here – we arrived in Villa do Conde at around 3.30pm, very damp and very appreciative of the hot showers. Washed off the mud, cranked the heating up and left our clothes to dry while we went out in search of dinner and a much needed drink.

Off to bed now pretty weary. Tomorrow’s forecast says 12 degrees maximum and 95 percent chance of rain – let’s hope we can time it for the 5 percent dry!

Early breakfast then the challenge of getting the bikes downstairs for a quick test ride. Not as easy as it looks but after a bit of huffing and puffing Rick and David navigated the narrow stairwell down from the 3rd and 4th floors respectively for a quick whizz around the hotel basement. All appears well thank goodness. Then of course they had to carry them back up to our rooms again afterwards -with rinse and repeat tomorrow morning .

David and I then went on a quest to finda bike shop to top up on a couple of spare parts ( much walking but no success) after which we walked across the bridge to the south side of Porto which is home to most of the port wine establishments. While there were some spectacular views across the river we didn’t find this side as interesting as the much more eclectic areas of the north banks. Meanwhile Rick and Bei did their darndest to see all the sights in their one day , meeting up with us for lunch in a riverside cafe .

We finished the day with a briefing from the Camino tour company (who have organised our luggage transfers and accomodation . So with maps and Camino Credentials in hand we four pilgrims are good to go – just need a good nights sleep.

For our second day in Porto we did a guided walking tour. Tour was an enormous circuit of the city., covering some areas we had already visited and some of the ‘hidden gems’ . For those places we’d already visited it was great to hear more about the history . We actually had two guides- our main guide and a ‘guide in training’ – it basically meant that David and I both got personalised treatment.

Interesting fact about statues of European men on horses (and yes, they are all men!) – the stance of the horse indicates the nature of the man’s death. For example, we know the chap above died of natural causes (disease in those days as average lifespan was 40) because his horse has all 4 hooves on the ground. One raised hoof means he died as a consequence of wounds in battle and two raised hooves (rearing) means he died on the battlefield. Except Napoleon of course who is always depicted on a rearing horse- it’s thought to make him look larger and more powerful.

Arrived back in the hotel early afternoon in time to greet Rick and Bei who had arrived up from Lisbon by train. From there the great tandem assembly race began. And the winner was………Rick by a country mile. Let’s just say there are going to be some hotel staff that are going to be a bit surprised when they service the rooms today.