Today’s distance 37 km
Elevation gain 442 m
Elevation loss 478 m
Total distance from Almería 1,420 km

We walked for 2.5 km to regain the camino track this morning. We took back streets, secret lanes, winding hills and finally came across a yellow arrow.

The camino route takes us through more narrow residential streets high above city and then onto a good sand track through beautiful woodland.

And there was sun! It was peeping through broken cloud. It was so very welcome. There was no sign of rain. It was fresh and bright and the scent of the woods was better than the most expensive perfume.

The sign for an upcoming bar is always welcome, but it must be kept in mind that more often than not the bar won’t actually be open – so much false hope!

We were in the woods for 4 or 5 km I guess, some of it in sunshine, some in dappled shade. Nina walked ahead whilst I happily played with my camera in the dry – oh joy!

The woodland has a variety of trees, beech, pine, oak and many others I don’t know the names of. There are ferns, foxgloves, daisies, wild honeysuckle – so many colourful flowers, all dripping with last night’s raindrops. The path is soft underfoot, the views over the estuary are fabulous and all is well with the world.

We reach Redondela after 15 km. I stopped overnight here when I walked the Camino Portuguese central route back in 2014. But this time we continue through the city and the suburbs and are then treated to another woodland track.

24.5 km brings us to Roman(?) bridge at Arcade where we stop for a drink and tostada con tomate. It is a pretty town on the estuary of the Rio Verdugo.

When we set off again the sun has disappeared behind cloud and we don’t see much of it for the rest of the day. But I am just happy that it is dry

We get yet more woodland tracks between sections of quiet country road and it isn’t until we approach the city of Pontevedra that the walking becomes less enjoyable – along a fairly busy road and through the suburbs for 3 or 4 km.

But other than one short section on the horribly busy N-550 on the approach to Arcade and the last few kilometres, today’s walk has been fabulous. And after walking another long stage, we are back on track to reach Santiago on time to catch my flight home. Only three walking days to go. I have to admit that I am beginnning to feel ready to go home – keeping up with the blog is getting harder every day.

At Redondela the Coastal Route joins back with the more popular central route and we start to see droves of pilgrims. Well, groups of threes and fours making their way along the track. But tomorrow we are taking another variant along the Espiritual route, so perhaps we will lose the numbers again…I hope so!