Back to base and a catchup.

After Cares Gorge we returned to Cangas for a another night before planning our trip back to home via a dozen stopover locations to research for Club Motorhome.

5 days later and we arrived back at our base, unloaded and parked the motorhome back in its secure storage all ready for our next trip in about 6 weeks - MOT and service time in the UK, Oh well.... one has to pay for the pleasure eventually! :)

PHOTO Map showing general route and the majority of the stops we made during the trip.

Conclusions? Galicia is STUNNING! Asturias less so but still lovely - the northern coastline is not a patch of the western Galician coast. The Asturias does however have the Picos de Europa which are magnificent - especially on clear days when you can see them! All in our humble opinion anyway :)

Right, where's the maps? Which way shall we head to the UK? Planning has started!

Cares Gorge

Day 24 - 8th June

The car park filled rapidly as the daytrippers arrived for the cable car rides so we moved across the road to the day parking area to not get in folks' way. Once we'd walked Digger and breakfasted etc we set off to the start of the Cares Gorge which is renowned for its spectacular walking.

The place was busy with parked cars and we only managed to find somewhere by a lot of manouvering, including reversing through a tunnel, and squeezing up against some guard rails at the side of the road.

PHOTO Parked at Cares Gorge

We spent the next couple of hours walking some of the path. In total its 12kms long and then 12 back so we only did a bit of it. We had thought we would be meandering along the River Cares but no, the walk is a succession of steep inclines and by the end I'd certainly had enough, but again the scenery was worth the effort.

PHOTOS Cares Gorge

After our walk we headed back to Cangas again - its a useful base when in these parts.

Picos de Europa

Day 23 - 7th June

We had the co-ordinates of a potential wildcamping spot on the other side of the mountains so we set off to see what it was like.

The roads were predictably winding and the drop offs were predictably BIG but the views en-route were well worth the slow pace dodging oncoming vehicles of all shapes and sizes. The scenery of the Picos is something special, our route followed a gorge through parts of the mountains. I think Caroline got a better view than me though as I had to watch where we were going a bit!

We reached a fabulous lake and found the spot, it was a little near the road for our liking but would have been a lovely place to overnight.

PHOTO Lakeside parking

We moved on though as it was still relatively early and we knew of a parking place by a cable car station further on. When we arrived we were disappointed to see no motorhomes overnight signposted :(. I took Digger for a walk and realised that we were in the car park next to a Parador and the cable car was across the road. There was another motorhome already parked up but I couldn't see anyone in it to ask. I called in at the little shop and asked if it was OK to stay overnight? - No problem was the reply.

We parked up and settled in - beer poured and feet up! Then spoke to the other English couple with the other motorhome. They were desperately seeking some sunshine in Spain following a wet holiday in Scotland last year. They only got off the ferry the day before and had spent a very expensive night in a campsite so far. They were seriously considering bolting for Barcelona to find the sun!? We told them about our trip so far and that it would be a lot nearer to go back to some of the places we had been.

Another English van came in and looked around then disappeared. I later saw that it had chosen to go and park in the prohibited area - great for the reputation of responsible motorhomers! (probably the type to moan when they get fined by the Guardia).

Another day in Cangas

Day 22 - 6th June

The weather was still shrouding the mountains around us in cloud so we decided to stay where we were for another day.

Great views are only great if you can see them!

The Circus Comes to Town

Day 21 - 5th of June

Waking around 9am Caroline said that she could hear lots of different animal sounds outside - I asked her if she was still dreaming? Taking Digger out I was surprised to see, around the car park, ponies, donkeys, highland cattle, a lama and a camel...... the Circus had moved in during the night.

PHOTO Circus

We thought we would get some more admin done today so decided to stay put until tomorrow when we'll venture into the mountains.

Digger got a good walk to the edge of town and back. This town really comes to life on a Sunday, loads of pavement cafes and restaurants catering for lunchtime needs - fantastic smells as you walk by.

By 5 o'clock the dodgems have started up again but we're confident it will go quiet again at a reasonable hour......

As its Sunday we have our usual paella and despite the limited space it cooks up OK!

Back to town

Day 20 - 4th of June

Digger had a restless night and seemed a little nervous of the local cow's clonking bells, he wasn't too impressed when he saw them close up in a field yesterday.

PHOTO Cows and Bull

We found him curled up in the footwells rather than his usual bed space under the table - he is a funny chap!

Another morning walk on the deserted beach before breakfast (the surfers seem to be later risers than us) then we made plans for the day.

PHOTO Surfers still asleep

We needed some essential laundry doing but rather than find a campsite just for that Caro used the shower tray as a big bowl and did some handwashing to see us through, we reckon we have another couple of weeks before we'll be home. Now needing fresh water and to empty wastes we decided to return to the service point at Cangas de Onis to replenish  and empty our tanks.

Leaving this beautiful beach location we again inched our way through the access hole in the rock and got on our way via a Mercadona at Arriondas to stock up on provisions too.

Settled back onto the Aire at Cangas de Onis we got our jobs done and went for a walk along the rushing river that goes through the town, its signposted to be a salmon area so we were hoping to see one or two leaping up river - apparently not today though. Digger waded into the river at a calm stretch and cooled himself down.

We walked back through the town centre to find some wifi. There was a bar with a wifi sign up and the kind lady said that we could take Digger in with us. Returning with our laptop we settled down with a beer to upload some blog. The beer was good but the wifi just wouldn't accept a connection so we finished our drinks and left to find somewhere else. The tourist Office was open and told us of a particular street that is a free wifi zone so we headed there.

Another bar and another kind lady who let us take Digger inside, more beer and success this time so the blog got uploaded, Digger curled out fast asleep under the table - he really is a great 'pub dog'! A great bar, not unlike an English pub so we spent a lot of the afternoon there - hic!

There was a bit of a fiesta feel about the town and a fairground belted out some techno stuff from the dodgems until late but all went quiet just before midnight so we all got a good night's sleep.

PHOTO Fun on the dodgems

Another lazy day....

Day 19 - 3rd of June

What a place to wake up! Another gorgeous location, again with no one on the beach. I took Digger out first thing for a run on the sand which he really enjoyed - he does that puppy mad few moments when he will run madly in all directions with the apparent intent of colliding with something/someone any minute! Absolute madness but lovely to watch him having such a great time, he's certainly seen some changes in the last few months.

PHOTO Digger Madness

Back at the motorhome we had breakfast and decided that we would definitely stay another night, meaning that today would be a lazy one - perhaps with a little housekeeping thrown in.

The cove is busy with daytime visitors and its obvious why, the place is beautiful (did I already say that?). When the tide is out its possible to access another part of the beach by the large rock formation known as the drinking horse. A young family in a Czech motorhome took advantage of the seclusion to bare all and just have a nice time on the beach.

PHOTO The Drinking Horse

At the time of writing this its mid/late afternoon and there's not much housework been done! Who cares? - this is a holiday after all :) The Guardia Civil have been and gone and are obviously not bothered with sensible motorhome parking. No one is abusing the site, it was great to see some youngsters who arrived in their surfer's vans yesterday, to enjoy last evening here tidy up after themselves - every one of them took their rubbish to the bins as they left.

Some more photos to sum up the day and the location:

PHOTOS of Playa de Cuevas Del Mar

Still no wifi so the blog will not get uploaded yet.......