Chasing Lighthouses

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After inland Vilalba with a new car battery and some camping chairs and a camping table, we headed to the coast and the most northerly point in Spain. We went here on the advice of a English woman that we met in Vilalba (the tourist office was really unhelpful here but this woman overheard our queries) who told us that there were some wonderful hikes in this region, and it was sound advice. It’s a beautiful area of winding roads, forests, and little, sand-sand beaches but maybe we should have done more research because there weren’t any campsites – so we ‘wild’ camped in the forest among the eucalyptus trees and ferns.

The high swaying branches of the eucalyptus overhead sounded like waves crashing on the sea. It was soothing until some twigs and leaves landed on the tent during the second night when it became windy….and then I hardly slept, my imagination in overdrive….. while Caoimhin snored beside me.  

On a bright, breezy day, we walked out to the lighthouse, Faro de Punta Estaco de Bares at the most northly point of the Bares peninsula. The lighthouse was small and ugly with unpainted concrete, but the area was wild and beautiful with pods of dolphins in the rough sea

After two nights in the forest, we packed up and headed west (with no set destination apart from the need for a campsite and a shower) until we came to Valdovino, a small, hilly town with a long sweeping beach and a lagoon which was a protected area for wildlife and biodiversity (a bit like Tramore). We liked the feel of the place straight away, looked for a campsite and found A Laguna with views of the sea and hot showers (aah, the simple pleasures).

We liked it so much – and the weather was a glorious, sunny 28C every day – that we stayed for three nights. We did some yoga sessions on the beach and we hiked lots of coastal paths and cultivated the art of doing very little(not as easy as you’d think). We trekked to another lighthouse along beaches and trail paths, Faro de Punta Frouxeira, a very modern rectangular building of blue and white blocks in a stunningly beautiful area. Honestly, we got tired of saying ‘Wow!!’ as we rounded another corner.

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A few days later, we were in A Coruna to look at a very different lighthouse, the Roman lighthouse known as the Tower of Hercules which sits on a headland just at the edge of the city.  This is the oldest surviving lighthouse – it was magnificent both for the building, the location, and the sculptures on the paths leading up to it. I don’t think that it would have the same appeal if it had simply been called the Roman lighthouse instead of the Tower of Hercules. It was so popular an attraction that we had problems finding parking – for a while it seemed that the closest we would get was a distant view from the car window as we drove round and round the streets but eventually we found a parking space. There are some great walks here along the headland near Hercules.

After admiring Hercules, we headed off to another campsite still going west….or we tried to… but Google, usually our reliable friend, kept rerouting us around the streets of A Coruna, round and round we went along one-way streets, missing our turn-offs.  We were hot, tired, hungry and a bit frazzled – so much so that we pull over at a Burger King. Junk food never tasted so good or so restorative! And we found our way with ease after that.

We keep acquiring things, a clothesline and pegs, a fly swatter, a cool box bought in Ferrol, the birthplace of Franco (his statue is no longer on public display but is confined to a military barracks in the port area). The cool box had a 12-volt socket so that it can be plugged into the back of the car which is great for keeping things chilled – especially the white wine. But we discovered how hard this was on the car battery especially if left plugged in for most of the day and night when we were camping at Camping Balcoba, a hilly campsite shaded by sycamore trees overlooking the sea.  The car battery was dead as a dodo and the car was facing the wrong way – it would need to be pushed uphill first. We looked around – our nearest neighbours were a helpful young couple in a van but they were slight and we needed more muscle and fortunately another couple down the hill spotted our predicament and lent a hand. They were travelling with two dogs (something like pitbulls) and a set of dumbbells and bench press – I think the woman could have pushed the car uphill on her own. Despite the pushing, the engine simply coughed down the hill and refused to turn over – it required jump leads. Hopefully, this will be the end of the car trouble.

 Camping in Galicia was great – we camped in three different campsites – all shady – along this stretch of the Galician coast from Fares to Paia Vilcovo, west of A Coruna. We hadn’t booked any of them in advance, but we had no problem finding a site to camp. Prices averaged around €22 euro a night for 2 people, a tent and a car.

Walking in Galicia is wonderful – suitable for everyone even those with dodgy knees.  The coastal paths are really amazing with signs, maps, good surfaces, boardwalks, and lots of picnic benches. Most of the beaches have showers, toilets and foot wash taps. In the early mornings, the beaches are raked smooth with tractors and all the rubbish bins are emptied. We didn’t do any established walks but merely walked for two or three hours along the coast from wherever we happened to be.

Although we followed our own version of a Lighthouse Camino, there is an established walk called The Lighthouse Way (Camino de Faros), a 200 km hike along the Costa del Morte section of the Galician coast which sounds really interesting – a walk from lighthouse to lighthouse along the coast of death. It begins a little further west from where we were …. And is worth googling. I think that we will have to come back this way again.

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