Oleviroa ➡ Finnisterre.
We were woken with a foggy cold morning; the mist hung around us like a damp cocoon. We were wrapped up in our still soggy jackets, which left my light top underneath feeling clammy. We found breakfast at around 4 kilometers. Coffee and a croissant in a tiny cafe on the edge of the track. It was packed full with patrons having breakfast, like us not wanting to go back out into the eventuating rain. the wind was picking up here as well, and halfway through our coffees the power went out. That was our cue to keep moving. While dithering Royce overheard two fellow pilgrims talking, Royce being Royce got chatting to the two girls, and we headed out with them back into the wet autumn morning.
As it turns out, our new walking buddies were sisters, one of whom Jessica is actually a fairly successful travel Vlogger herself. (@homemadewanderlust) They were on a sisters trip hiking the El Camino together before younger sister Montanna went off to college. Jessica also known as “Dixie” on her YouTube channel said the Camino was a unique hike for people like herself that have thru hiked the long and extensive United States trails. The Camino has just so many more people on it! Royce and I spent the day chatting to them about Blogging, The United States, New Zealand and many of the similarities and differences in culture and experience.
At shortly after midday we got our first sights of the ocean, the fog had cleared and the sun peaked out from the clouds to show off the sparkling blue waves that made my heart skip in elation. Coming from an Island Nation where a body of water, or the beach itself, is normally no more than an hours’ drive away, the ocean always feels like home. I itched to go dunk my toes into the water, but the air temperature held me back when we finally made it down onto a sandy cove.
Taking photos and video clips meant the day’s walk stretched out much longer than we had hoped, and it was early evening, the sun low in the darkening sky by the time we made it into the township of Finisterre. We found our way to a hostel run by a Hungarian lady where could finally get out of our wet clothes. Coming into town we bumped into Chad, one of the pilgrims who had started on the same day as us all the way back in Saint Jean Pied de Port. Together we found a bar and caught up with him, and a handful of other pilgrims we weren’t expecting to see again.
The following day after as good a sleep in as you can get in an eight bed hostel room, we got up to go walk the final 2km to the lighthouse and marker 0.0km. the sun was shining and the walk was pleasant as we walked the along the roadside and stared out at the beautiful expanse of the Atlantic Ocean before us. A large cross marked the edge of the walkway up to the lighthouse. A man played the bagpipes as we passed by the crowds of people and strode out onto the rocks, to the edge where there was nowhere left to walk. It was a sad moment; the music remenisce of my childhood struck a melancholy chord of the windswept point as we sat backs to the rock and looked out into the blue horizon. We had finished another milestone. We would still walk to Muxia, but getting here, it was starting to sink in that our trip was nearly at its end.
We stopped at the small restaurant also on the point and had a celebratory glass of wine before walking back as the weather began to turn. Finisterre is not a large town, but it kept us busy for the afternoon walking around. We booked into a hotel for the night then headed back out to pick up our certificate, our achievement for having walked from St Jean Pied de Port all the way to Finisterre. That evening we caught up again with Jessica and her sister Montanna for a proper fresh Paella. I had been waiting to reach the coast before ordering the delicious Spanish dish of seafood and rice. Lecer the small restaurant and takeaway we sat down in did not disappoint! A massive pan of of Paella for three of us to share was sat down at the table (Montanna opted for one of the best topped vegetarian pizzas I have ever seen!) Not only did the pan take up most of the table, it was full to the brim with seafood and delicious!
Our plates set down, we picked up our forks to eat and out goes the power. We laughed as the restaurant kindly got out a collection of torches and the four of us ate our dinner by torchlight. Stomachs full to bursting, the lights flickered back into life just in time to get the card machine working for us to pay!
Thanks for tuning in, hope everyone is doing ok in isolation! Don’t forget to hit the like button and leave a comment, would be great to know how everyone is keeping sane in these uncertain times. Subscribe to the mailing list so you don’t miss out of the next adventure as we make it to our final destination of Muxia and partake in some proper pilgrim tradition! Till next time, stay home and find your adventures online!
The Travelling Shepherds 