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30 May 2024 - Stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way
It was a short 2 hour drive northwards from Pontevedra to Muxia. When we arrived at midday it was only 17 degrees centigrade and there was a very strong and chilly wind. We had enjoyed temperatures of 27 degrees centigrade in Pontevedra yesterday.
We rented a 3 bedroom apartment in Muxia through Booking.com for only Eur 474 for one week. We have a bit of a sea view and we were very pleased with the apartment. The first thing I did was put on the heating as Muxia was so cold!
We were spending a week in Muxia to do several sections of the 8 day Lighthouse Way trek as day hikes. This afternoon we wanted to do part of stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way. It is the longest section of the trek and it takes about 10 hours. We certainly didn't have time to do the whole stage!
Much of stage 6 of the Lighthouse Way is along main roads and through forests and towns which doesn't appeal to us. We like paths through open countryside so we can enjoy views. We therefore decided to do the last part of stage 6 which runs much closer to the sea than the first part.
We needed to take a taxi to Leis beach and then walk about 10 kilometres back to Muxia. There are about 7 taxi drivers in Muxia and one of them is Mathew Smith who is a Brit living in Muxia. I gave Mathew a call as we were apprehensive about communicating with Spanish taxi drivers. He agreed to pick us up in the afternoon.
The weather improved in the afternoon, although it was windy, and it was a very pleasant 2.5 hour walk. It did involve some walking along roads and forests. However, the roads were very quiet rural roads and the forests were natural rather than plantations.
In the evening we had a meal at Bar O Porto on the seafront. Mathew had recommended it but had warned us that the young waitress rarely smiled. Mathew was right as the food was good and the waitress didn't smile!
See my blog Day Hikes on the Lighthouse Way for information on planning hikes on the Lighthouse Way.
31 May 2024 - Stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way
Last night I called Mathew to arrange for him to take us to Lires Beach in the morning and collect us from Finisterre in the late afternoon. This would enable us to do a lot of stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way.
The entire stage 8 of the Lighthouse Way is 27 kilometres long and takes about 9 hours. We planned to do 17 kilometres of it. This meant cutting out the road section from Nemina to Lires Beach at the start and an uphill section to Finisterre lighthouse at the end.
The coastal scenery was fantastic but it was a hard 6 hour walk with several hills to walk up and down. Fortunately the strong wind was behind us and the weather was sunny and warm. We were pleased that we hadn't attempted to do the complete section.
The path was very quiet and we only passed one couple, and a woman walking on her own, coming the other way. That's the way I like it!
Just before we reached Finisterre I called Mathew and he came to collect us. It cost Eur 57 for the taxi there and back which was worth it, enabling us to do a beautiful hike that wasn't excessively long.
See my blog Day Hikes on the Lighthouse Way for information on planning hikes on the Lighthouse Way.
1 June 2024 - Day Trip to A Coruña
The sunny and dry weather continued today and the weather forecast is good for our entire week in Muxia. If so we are really lucky as Galicia isn't renowned for good weather!
We took a break from hiking today and drove one hour north to the large town of A Coruna to do some sightseeing. We parked at Aparcadoiro Palexco which has plenty of large parking spaces, toilets and is very close to the historic centre.
We had lunch there and then spent an hour wandering around A Coruna's old town. It is very pleasant but there isn't an awful lot to see.
Afterwards we drove over to the nearby Torre de Hercules. This is a Roman Lighthouse dating from the second century which was restored and re-clad in the late 18th century. It was closed when we got there but it is in a very nice position and there are good views from the base. There is a free car park at the lighthouse and also free parking on the street.
2 June 2024 - Stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way
Mathew drove us to Arou in the morning so we could walk to Camarinas on stage 5 of the Lighthouse Way. This is the most scenic section of the 8 day trek. It is 24 kilometres long and has had the most shipwrecks. It is known as the Coast of Death (Costa de Al Muerta).
We shortened the hike a bit by asking Mathew to drop us off at Lobeiras viewpoint which is 1.7 kilometres past Arou. It was then a beautiful 6 kilometre walk to the English Cemetery where 142 of the bodies recovered from the HMS Serpent were buried. The cemetery also commemorates the death of sailors from 2 other British vessels that ran aground in the 19th century.
HMS Serpent reached this stretch of coast in November 1890 2 days after leaving Plymouth. It was carrying 176 crew members. Sadly the ship ran aground in thick fog and only 3 crew members survived.
Shortly after the English cemetery the coastal path changed to a little used coastal road leading to the Vilan lighthouse. We followed it most of the way but cut out the final steep climb up to the lighthouse. By now the wind was ferocious and it would have been even worse at the lighthouse.
We had intended to phone Mathew to have him pick us up from Lago Beach which is 2.5 kilometres before Camarinas. However, the walk took less time than we had anticipated and Mathew couldn't collect us before 16.30 as he was hosting a lunch party.
We therefore walked to Camarinas and called him from there. The walk took about 6 hours in total and it wasn't too tiring as there weren't many hills.
In the evening we tried another restaurant that Mathew had recommended. It is called the A Marina and is very popular. We had a good seafood dinner and the staff were very pleasant and smiled!
See my blog Day Hikes on the Lighthouse Way for information on planning hikes on the Lighthouse Way.
3 June 2024 - Muxia & outing to Muros
The wind was much calmer so we explored Muxia in the morning. Muxia is an attractive, and compact, small town on a headland and we really liked it. We walked to the end of the headland where there is a church and lighthouse. Just above the church there is a granite sculpture called A Ferida (The Wound).
The sculpture was donated as a tribute to the volunteers who helped the Galician people when the Prestige Oil spill occurred in 2002. The MV Prestige was carrying 77,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil in a heavy storm when it sank and spilled an estimated 60,000 tonnes of oil.
In the afternoon we drove south along the coast to the small town of Muros. The drive wasn't as scenic as I hoped as we didn't have many views of the coast.
It was very hot in Muros and if we had brought our swimming gear we would have gone to the beach. Instead we walked around the small historic centre in the heat. The only sight is really the Church of Santa Maria which has a wooden ceiling is in the shape of an inverted ship's keel.
4 June 2024 - Stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way
Mathew drove us to the tiny coastal settlement of Talon near Nemina Beach so we could walk to Muxia on stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way.
The Lighthouse Way goes from the north to the south but we reversed the direction of this stage so we could finish the walk at our apartment. There had been a very strong northerly wind for several days. As we hadn't wanted to walk into the wind we left this stage until it had calmed down.
Stage 7 of the Lighthouse Way is 25.3 kilometres long and is meant to take about 9.25 hours. It involves ascending 750 metres in one section plus other hills. I decided to make it more enjoyable by taking a few short cuts where possible. This reduced the distance by about 8 kilometres.
It turned out to be our least favourite section of the Lighthouse Way as there weren't good views of the coast for half the walk. Also there were boggy sections and a lot of the walk was on overgrown paths with gorse and brambles scratching us.
On the way we met a young British guy walking towards us. He warned us that his wife had been attacked by a dog whilst taking a short cut to avoid walking around a headland. His trek had been organised by an agency and they had arranged for a taxi to take his wife to a doctor. We were very surprised that he hadn't gone with her!
We are very nervous of dogs so we abandoned our plan to bypass the headland as the dog was running wild on the road. We could hear it barking in the distance. The scenery on the headland was beautiful so it was a good decision.
The hike took us about 7.25 hours and we were very tired. It was a hot day and there was little wind. Sometimes the wind is beneficial!
See my blog Day Hikes on the Lighthouse Way for information on planning hikes on the Lighthouse Way.
5 June 2024 - Stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way
Fog was forecast for today. It was foggy when we woke up but fortunately it soon cleared.
I was planning to drive 23 kilometres to Arou, take a local taxi to Laxe and then walk back to Arou on stage 4 of the Lighthouse Way. However, there are very few taxi drivers in Laxe and Arou and we didn't relish communicating with them in Spanish.
I therefore called Mathew again and arranged for Lani to travel in his car to Arou and for me to follow him in our car. Due to the local law Lani had to be in the taxi. I then parked our car in a free car park in Arou and Mathew drove both of us to Praia dos Cristais near Laxe.
It turns out that it was Matthew who had taken the woman to the doctor yesterday. He told us that the dog was indeed very aggressive and the wife was badly shaken up by it all. He also found it bizarre the husband didn't stay with her!
This was the last time we would be using Mathew and we were sad to say goodbye. He was very good company and very knowledgeable and informative. We had spent several hours chatting to him over the last week. If you go to Muxia I highly recommend him. His telephone number is 34 683 36 24 65.
Stage 4 is the easiest section of the Lighthouse Way as it is only 18 kilometres long and there is very little elevation. We cut out the first 2.8 kilometres of the hike and in total the hike took us 5.25 hours.
It was a much more scenic hike than yesterday's hike. The terrain was also easier except near the end when the trail goes through a boulder field.
See my blog Day Hikes on the Lighthouse Way for information on planning hikes on the Lighthouse Way.
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