Very little to report today, which in our case means “no news is good news”. An amazing overnight at the small and very quiet Praia de Mañóns, near to Boiro. 

Before long, after our arrival, the three or four people on the beach had gone and a short boardwalk away from us was a small square wooden covered area. This is where I set up the chairs, and I only came indoors much later when the late evening chill set in. Stunning, idyllic, tranquil, and an incredible view with more jumping fish than I’ve ever seen in one sitting. 

Back at the ranch we were even able to sit in our bed with the front blind down so as to keep taking in the view, as the moonlight poured in from above. 

After several hours work in the morning I then retired to my special vantage point at the beach and just drank it all in. Whilst I was outside in the shade keeping cool out of the 27C minimum heat, Sophie was sweating in the kitchen preparing me a cooked meal, which she does expertly, from time to time. My theory is that she was trying to earn extra brownie points to help deliver the message that we would not be staying a second night, as she knew she might have a job shifting me from this place. 

Anyway, after a lovely lunch outside across the boardwalk I then planned a route of Park4night waypoints and we set off. 

I should mention that there was another motorhome beyond us up in the trees, and we hadn’t seen any activity there. It turned out to be an elderly German lady travelling on her own. Sophie will pick up on this at the end of this blog post. 

As we drove through the closest town to the beach we saw a Lidl, which was a surprise and it would have been rude not to have popped in. So we stocked up but sadly there was no pastry section, which was a shame because our lovely Portuguese cakes had finally run out. We then headed on our journey around the next major Galician West coast promontory. As we hit the next town, we couldn’t believe it when we saw another Lidl. Sophie insisted we check for pastries and we now have an abundance of cakes once again. 

Most of the Park4nights around coastal areas can involve a narrow winding road for the last kilometre or so, and given the time of day, and the desire to make progress we didn’t explore them all. We were definitely impressed by the stop at Prai de Queiruga, where the Atlantic Rollers were pounding the impressive, and undeveloped beach. It’s not that we don’t have this at home on Jersey’s West coast, it’s just the backdrop of mountains gave it a very impressive feel. 

Before long we found ourselves near Noia, at virtually the far North-Eastern end of this Galician promontory. We’re on our chairs again, a rare luxury in Spain, and have the beach, with dunes in front of us, then an estuary, with the final North-Westerly corner of Spain beginning just over the water. There is a road bridge not far behind us, but Sophie was keen to stay, so that’s good enough for me and it doesn’t seem overly busy with traffic. 

Progress so far:

Sophie also wanted to add the following:

Just said goodbye to an unbelievably inspirational lady I just met.

Michael and I have been pitched up beachside here in Boira and parked up in the trees was our only overnighting neighbour, a German registered van. 

This morning, that same van came on down and pulled up near us, and out, rather gingerly, climbed a rather elegant looking lady with crutches and a water bottle for filling at the fountain.

We thought (rightly or wrongly) that surely someone else was with her. It’s fairly rare to see motorhomers travelling alone, and almost unheard of to see women solo travellers.

When having filled her water bottle and deposited on board, she carefully climbed back into the drivers seat. At this point we felt certain she must be travelling by herself. I said to Michael that I must go across and say hello and tell her how much I admired her.

I had a lovely warm welcome from Hannelore, who marvellously spoke superb English, and straight away I told her how much I admired her. She told me she is 80 this coming birthday! – this of course only added to my admiration of her, if that was possible!

She told me she has sadly been a widow since 2000 I think it was. She and her husband used to tour on the van together, and after a horribly hard year of coming to terms with losing him, (when as she beautifully put it, she once again could hear the sound of the birds), she decided to put her toe in the water, and see how it would be to travel alone. As she said to me too, their van was so new, it would have been such a shame to have given up using it. I’m thinking she felt sure her husband would have approved.  

That first brave trip alone all those years ago went well and gave her the confidence to do more journeys solo with their beloved motorhome and brilliantly she’s been doing that ever since! She travels all over the place, for many weeks at a time and as I said, as free as a bird!

She looked fabulous, with her pearl earrings, matching necklace and casual but elegant clothes and hair twisted up into a clip (the way I do mine). I said to her, that when I’m her age, I hope to look like she does.  

The crutches as it turns out are as Hannelore has fairly recently had two knee replacements, has yet to have hip replacements, and clearly (credit to her) is unstoppable!

What a truly inspirational woman! We exchanged email addresses, she was given a Sophie hug and kiss, and we wished each other a good journey before Michael and I waived her on her way.

Wow! What a lady! As I said to Hannelore, her husband would be so proud of her, and rightly so!

All the very best to you Hannelore! Keep on being an inspiration! Keep on enjoying the beauty of God’s creation as you journey along!