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  • Day 8

    Losing hours!!!

    May 15, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Slept like a log (again) and was up and ready to go just before 0800. We found a fabulous place for breakfast (chocolate croissant 😋😋😋) then set off looking for the boat taxi to take us from Caminha in Portugal to A Guarda in Spain. Marcel made an appearance, he being a seasoned salty sailor 😅 which was a good thing as he could tell us what to do! We bought our tickets, then waited... We were eventually summoned and walked on to the beach where we were greeted with a small boat thing, just big enough for 6 people. Climbing on was hilarious (the steps were 3 beer crates!), and we set off. Half way across the water the 'pilot' (I use the term lightly) asked us to put on buoyancy aids ("Police!" he said, pointing towards Spain!) but there were only 4 aids! He then just left the steering wheel and wandered to the front of the boat for 2 more 😆. Cue many gasps, nervous laughs and lots of praying🤣🤣🤣.
    Climbing off into Spain, we wandered into A Guarda for a coke and to make a plan. Of course, we were now +1 hour, and we'd already spent over an hour getting to Spain so we were, essentially, 2+ hours short on our day!
    Our real walk only started at 1230 and it was just an hour later when we stopped for lunch. What fantastic good fortune! We found a piper having a good practice - it was wonderful! We continued, walking across headlands, along busy roads and through pine forests, eventually finding a bar (supposedly open only in summer but very much open and doing a brisk business) for a very welcome Estrella Galicia (our first of this camino but definitely not our last!)
    After another 6 kms we reached Oia, a delightful coastal village and there, right in front of us, was Jose's Taxi! We'd decided that the day had been long enough for us, and losing the morning meant we'd have reached our accommodation much too late to enjoy the evening. Jose brought us to Camping O Muino where we a have a 'bijou' caravan. But it's clean and it's a bed for the night. Supper included a bottle of red (and I still have 2 bags of popcorn 😲😆.
    Jan's feet have been tended to and OurDave (her son) has already suggested she needs a new pair of boots 🙄😆.
    Looks like we may have a short day tomorrow, although knowing our luck... 😜
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