John & Lin's Continuing Adventure in Their Caravan: About Half Way Across the North Coast of Spain! (part 1)

About Half Way Across the North Coast of Spain! (part 1)

Tuesday 8th March 2016

Happy birthday Louise xx

Well, as planed for today we visited Fisterra - the most westerly point in Spain, but rather than the town itself, we were heading for the rocky outcrop and the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula. This was partly because a ‘little bird’ had told us to be careful of the very narrow streets in that town, but they didn’t get in our way cos we only really flitted through, and then continued on our way, (a further 2 kms) up a narrow winding road that led us to our destination.

And this was another treat - we landed (on a wonk) on the headland amongst the free roaming goats, and were the waves crashed into the rocks below us sending up plumes of spray that left a salty taste in the air.

John at the End of the Earth!

Apparently, many years ago, before Christopher Columbus's time, people regarded this point as the end of the earth and this is where the name is derived from - It used to be called Finister - Finis (end) and terra (ground)

Fisterra Lighthouse

I did wonder if I could borrow these to help with John's hearing problem (one of his hearing aids is broke), but I couldn't quite reach to get them down!

We'd half planned to stay and wild-camp for the night, but for want of levelish ground we gave it up as a bad job - requiring us to head back the way we'd come to an Aire at Carnota. In the book it’s described as being located on a beach road amongst pine trees, and this is where we found it, but rather than stop at the actual Aire we decided to continue on to the end of the road - just to see where it went. It terminated at a white sand beach with huge boulders on century duty at it’s shore, and although it was a lonely spot, so was the Aire - but this had better views so we put down our roots and claimed the spot as ours for the night!

Wednesday 9th March 2016

During the night I thought we might get washed away - not by the sea but by the torrential rain that fell more or less continuously all night long, but when we ~~woke~~ got up we hadn't moved an inch, and apart form a few big puddles outside the door we were fine. Happily, while we ate our breakfast pancakes, the rain stopped and the sun glimmered out - and that more or less set the stage for the rest of the day.

Our journey today was to be about 100 kms, some of which was over mountainous roads, and if it hadn't been for the hills we might have thought we were in Holland - I don’t think we've ever seen so many windmills😁!

We stopped and replenished our supplies at Carballo (Lidl of course), and then continued on our way to an Aire at A-Coruna which has an orange banner in our Aires book (denoting it as excellent). Now, it well and truly deserves this accolade for it’s views over a little harbour and then out to sea with it’s rocky craggy shore line, but the actual parking area is on cobbles that camber away in 2 directions - making it absolutely impossible to get level - I think the T4rdis is getting used to sleeping on a ‘wonk’ and we’re getting used to the blood rushing to our feet!

Anyway, we had a late lunch - or was that an early tea - and then went for a walk partway around the Paseo Maritimo - a seafront promenade that surrounds the peninsula. The far reaching sea views from here were spectacular as the ever angry Atlantic waves surged up over the rocks and threw their foam high into the air.

We were also treated to distant views of Torre de Hercules - a Roman lighthouse - Apparently it's the oldest lighthouse in the world that is still in use.

Additionally, other interesting things to visit along the way also include the ‘elevator’ and the Millennium monument

However, our aim for today was to walk up to the Battery that sits on the headland above the city of A-Coruna, and to get there our choice was to either take the ‘elevator’ or walk up the very long hill. So, in order to save 6 euros, and because we felt we needed the exercise we chose to walk - which we did quite briskly - so by the time we got to the top we were both huffing and puffing slightly (me a lot) - but the sights we saw when we got there made it well worth the effort.

Then it was back home to our wonky T4rdis - feet up, beer out and time to sit and admire the amazing views form our windscreen.

Coming back from Narnia.........?

John trying to throw him back - but he wouldn't let go!

Thursday 10th March 2016

Casa del Hombre - Think he needs a fig leaf!

After our brief views of the old lighthouse yesterday, we decided to get close up and personnel, and visit it properly today - a walk we thought of about 8 miles, but in the end it turned out to be much further. We set off by retracing our steps from yesterday along the Paseo Maritimo, and again we passed the elevator and the Millennium Monument, and from there we continued on past Orzan and Riazor beaches (both fine white sand), and then further towards Casa del Hombre and Aquarium Finisterrae.

And after that we left the built up areas behind and entered the green parkland of the lighthouse and further on, a sculpture park.

We paused for lunch under the lofty heights of the lighthouse, and it was here that we read the mythical story of how it acquired it’s name. Apparently in Roman times it was the Tower of Brigantia, and during the Middle Ages it was simply The Lighthouse. However, the legend tells how an infamous king treated his subjects so cruelly that they begged Hercules for his help, offering him their lands in payment. Hercules agreed and for three days the two opponents fought for possession of the area, and in the end Hercules beheaded Geryon the Giant and decreed that a great tower be built upon his skull - and since then the lighthouse has been known as The Tower of Hercules!

It's open to visitors but as the day was quite windy the balcony at the top was closed, so instead of going in and up we explored a little more the area surrounding it and found quite a few interesting sculptures along the way.

Could't resist taking this pic of John with his new friend, and the Rose Compass above depicts 8 elements - Glacia, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Mann Ireland and England and two other areas we couldn't quite decipher - probably to do with Celtic history.

A little further afield we found these in the sculpture park!

From a distance they looked like authentic monoliths, but close up it was obvious they had been sited much more recently to help depict the historic and agricultural history of the area.

From here there was still more that we could've explored but we knew our return journey was at least 6 miles so we called it a day and set off back - a very hot walk in the lovely sunshine, and one that necessitated a break on a little beach for coffee and cake.

Friday 11th March 2016

This morning we left our wonky perch at A-Coruna and headed for the town of Ferrol - a settlement with a long Naval History, a castle that houses the Naval Establishment, a pretty marina, a few old historic monuments and a garden that is home to a small nature reserve.

Now, I didn’t really get the joke but John says I've got to tell you that ‘The T4rdis is parked in Area 51’ - apparently it’s something to do with science fiction! The story goes that it’s a secret area in the Nevada Desert that’s allegedly linked with the Roswell Incident - a UFO that crashed to earth! Fingers crossed then that the aliens don't sneak on board the T4rdis while we're not looking

Anyway, once we were settled we went off to explore - and sadly we were both a little underwhelmed so we only be stopped for one night. However, as we walked along the estuary that led to the Marina we passed over a rather nice footbridge - John’s comment here was ‘look what you can get money for when your Full Members of the Club’

After that I think the highlight of the day was sitting in a little cafe in the park - the sun was shining warmly on us as we sipped a cool beer and sampled the free tapas that they gave us. Only trouble was that the many boy peacocks who were strutting about displaying there tail feathers wanted to share and they were quite insistent!