A day of lakes

Wednesday 18 April 2018 - Day 45

Today dawned very foggy and cool at Fisterra, not unusual I should imagine for this part of the world.  I woke early this morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so got up at 0430 and made a brew.  We had an early breakfast and hit the road, driving out carefully with reduced visibility.  As we started to move inland we climbed out of the fog and into bright sunshine, the valleys below us remaining enveloped.  It was a pleasant drive through some lovely countryside and villages.  They make full use of hedgerows and dry-stone walls here and, with the stone cottages and sheep and cattle in the fields, it was easy to imagine we were in the Yorkshire Dales or the Peak District.

Our destination was an aire in Fiera Do Monte, located in a wetlands conservation area with several lakes.  We were alone there and sat in the hot sunshine with a brew before following the well-marked trails, which took us along a flowing river and past lakes - including the main one, Lagoa de Cospeito - and muddy swamps reminiscent of the southern states of the USA.  There were several high wooden hides and we climbed these to watch the birdlife.  Although otters, wild boar and deer can be found here, it was of course the middle of the day, so none were seen.  However, I did see a small grass snake, sunning itself on the path before sensing our presence and slipping away.  It was a very peaceful hour and we enjoyed being out in the countryside again.  Back at the van, we didn’t fancy staying the night as it was in quite an isolated spot and there was a bit of graffiti and vandalism.  So I plugged in another aire about an hour away, back by the coast.

We’re now parked up at an aire in Viladaide.  It stands on one side of a large estuary, with hills in the distance and the town of Foz on the opposite side (which also it’s own aire looking back at us across the estuary).  On arrival, we realised we'd parked in front of Graham and Lynne, who we met when staying at the campsite at Aios a few days ago! It’s quiet here, nothing much except a few houses and a boat slipway.  The water’s calm and it looks very much like the Lake District, albeit a tidal lake! There’s a small tidal, sandy beach which we walked along and sat in the sunshine until the tide forced us to move back.  The sunshine continued all day and we were able to sit outside at 8pm to eat dinner.  We walked down to the slipway and sat on the warm rocks with our feet dangling and watched the sunset.  A couple of curlews flew in an arc and landed on the rocks over to our left and we could hear more somewhere over the other side.  I’m sat now with the sliding door open, listening to the curlews calling and watching the sky gradually deepen in colour, the hills and lights across the estuary reflected in the still water.  It’s been a lovely day; I hope I sleep well tonight.  We’re thinking of our daughter and her husband (and their cat Ivel!), who fly off to Washington DC tomorrow to start a new chapter of their life, for at least the next three years (Chris will be working at the British Embassy).  We wish them well and know they’ll have an amazing time.

Lagoa de Cospeito

Viladaide aire

Reminds us of the Lake District