Only a short way

We are under 50km to go

 Well what a surprise! We set off walking today from Melide to Arzura which we thought was to be about 15km and in under 3 hours (including a coffee break) we had arrived. We even beat our luggage to the accommodation which caused us a little consternation given that at last night’s accommodation and today’s accommodation no-one spoke a word of English. In amongst my looking up words in Spanish we seemed to get the idea that the luggage would turn up soon so given there was little else we could do we headed off to get some lunch. On our return, once again everything was right with the world.

Yep - it's wet!

The walk today was quite easy apart from a couple of relatively steep sections and the rain which accompanied us for the majority of the time. The biggest problem with the steep sections was that under a couple of layers of plastic to keep out the rain you overheated. The ponchos over the top of everything did their job and we did not have water running down our legs today. Tomorrow has predicted sunny patches and that would be a huge novelty for our journey of the Camino – the sun is not something we have spied thus far in northern Spain. Some of the creeks we have crossed are certainly quite swollen so although the rain has not been torrential, it has been consistent enough to generate significant run-off.

Just beautiful countryside

We were joking that today must be a rest day for the Camino because we saw very few peregrinos. Even though our walk did not last long we probably only saw a dozen other pilgrims on our journey today. The Camino is a paradox of individualism and community. It is certainly very individual in that as you are walking along you are alone with your thoughts but you are also part of the community of pilgrims and strike up conversations with many others who you may then see a number of different times. Then there are the locals who overwhelmingly are so hospitable, welcoming and generous and are so happy to have you as part of their life. Another thing about the Camino we’ve decided is that it is a great leveller – if you want to do the Camino then there is no choice to it you have to walk or cycle the kilometres no matter who you are. Whether you stay in alberques or hotels, carry all your gear or get it delivered from place to place you have to cover the kilometres yourself and if it rains you’re going to get wet. Where you’re staying may then be the determining factor of how quickly you dry out!

These stunning lillies grow
wild on the side of the path

Today we walked through large forests of gum trees and whether it was due to the fact that we are so far from home or just that the smell is so different to the smell of dairies and wet grass that have dominated our trek so far, the smell of the eucalypts was very noticeable and almost overwhelming. It was impossible for us to not take in big deep breaths of the sweet smell. We just needed a couple of wallabies hopping across the path and we would have been right at home. Actually that is something that we have noticed – the absence of fauna. Apart from domestic animals, birds (mainly robins and finches but the odd crow) and snails and slugs (there are some super-sized ones) we have spotted one rabbit during our journey. Not even lizards in the undergrowth so whether they just avoid us or there is not much around we are not sure.

Our cottage tonight, Fogar de Lecer, is just delightful – a cottage that has been restored with the old exposed timber beams and stone walls. The other bonus is that we are sitting nice and dry while the wind howls and the rain blows sideways outside. It is certainly the time to be snuggled up with a good book (or doing a blog!).

We have two days of walking to go with a total of about 40km and we hope for better weather.

Love to all

S&E