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Camino Del Norte 2022Camino Del Norte 2022
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Camino Del Norte 2022

July - September 2022
First time walking the Camino del Norte Read more
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  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 33

    Unquera to Llanes

    August 20, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We taxi from Pechon to Unquera, we are off the Camino trail and the 2 km into Unquera is way too dangerous to be walked (this road is busy, narrow, winding and downhill with sheer drop-offs 😳). Unquera is the last town in Cantabria and as we cross the bridge between Unquera and Bustio we have crossed into our 3rd region of Spain - Asturias.
    Fun Fact: We have walked 203.55 km in the Cantabrian Region, a lot of this walking was done on asphalt surfaces.
    Our first few hundred meters are up a steep road, once at the top, the views are spectacular - on one side we overlook farmland dotted with houses and cows, and on the other is a river system with the Pics de Europa in the background, there is also an obstacle course laid out about 10 metres off the ground that runs along the side of the road for around 100 metres. We come to our first town of the day and it looks like they are midway through a fiesta, the flags are hung and stung across the narrow streets, we see towns folk in traditional clothing and we are blessed to hear the sound of bagpipes and drums as we make our way through Colombres. We hit a dirt path soon after leaving and it seems that the Camino trail in Asturias may well be on country dirt roads or dirt paths for the majority of this region, this is a very welcome change. We cross a major road but are still walking on a lovely quiet dirt road that will lead us into a cool forest where we will be hidden from the sting of the sun that is high in the sky, we enjoy the drop in temperature and our surroundings, we come out of this little oasis, cross another busy major road and a railway track and will spend the rest of our day fully exposed to the sun, the sight and sound of the multiple blow holes that dot this part of the Asturian coastline make it worth it! This is one of my favourite days on the trail so far. It will take us all day to get to our destination as the coastal beauty that surrounds us is holding us here, begging us not to leave. We walk slowly, stopping frequently to watch and listen to the sound of these sea beasts (that’s what they sound like anyway). We hit a section where it sounds like a storm is fast approaching full of thunder and anger, but we work out it is the roar of the sea beasts coming up through the blow holes and reverberating off the mountains that are causing all this noise. We finally get to our destination, it has taken us all day, but man o man what a day on the trail…. Again we have missed lunch and will have to wait a couple of hours until the bars and restaurants open for dinner, but at least we can sit and relax with a couple of vinos, we have a lovely bartender that will let us know when we can go in for dinner, he ends up walking us round to the restaurant because these blonde brains are no longer working for today, he comes back and checks that we are ok after an hour or so and to make sure we have been feed. It’s been a fun night at the restaurant, we had a waiter that threw his hands in the air and walked away, he just couldn’t deal with us and our limited Spanish, we couldn’t stop laughing, thankfully he sent a lovely girl over to us to take our orders, who spoke better English than we did Spanish. With full bellies, laughter in our hearts and broken feet, it's now time to say goodnight to this most fabulous day!    Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 35

    Llanes to Ribadesella

    August 22, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After a rest day in Llanes exploring this lovely coastal city, we set off on the longest day we have planned on this Camino. We have a 30 km day ahead of us and neither of us is particularly looking forward to it, our preferred km range is between 15-20 km. Anyway, we leave our lovely accommodation at 7:00 am, it is dark and we don’t have headlamps (we sent them back home thinking we wouldn’t need them 🤦‍♀️). It doesn’t take our eyes long to adjust, we start our walk in Llanes and soon enough have reached the outskirts of town, this first stretch has small villages spaced around 3 km apart which helps to make us feel like we are making progress. Llanes was still sleeping when we left this morning so we haven’t eaten or had our morning coffee, we keep our eyes peeled for an open bar, but it won’t be until around 11:00 am that we will come across one, when we do, we sit for a solid half hour enjoying this morning ritual. The weather is changeable, our rain jackets are on and off regularly throughout the day. We have a bit of everything on our walk today from beautiful coastal walking along the headlands, to forest and rural dirt roads and paths with ascents and descents. We have noticed that the Camino path in Asturias is not as well marked as in previous regions, the markers are less frequent and it is pretty easy to get off trail, today is not the day we want to be adding more distance to our walk though, so we are vigilant at checking our maps and watching for markers. We stop at a supermacado in Nueva and buy some rolls, ham and cheese, we will find a place to have a little picnic on the way today. We end up walking around 3 km before we come across a spot where we can sit, make and eat our lunch, it’s someone’s land right beside the dirt road we are walking on, but it’s past 1:00 pm and we are both buggered, hungry and our bodies are feeling broken. We throw our rain jackets on the ground and fall onto them, we make our lunch, remove our shoes and socks and try to find a comfortable position to rest in, the whole time wondering how we are going to get up and keep walking for the next few hours…. But it’s amazing what food, water, rest and a little foot massage will do for you, we have taken our time and we are both ready to tackle the final 9 kms of our day. We finally get into Ribadesella feeling broken, it is very hot now, we are unable to book into our accommodation until 5:00 pm, so we wait out our time at a bar just down the road from where we are staying, there is a park right near the bar with lots of families enjoying the green space with their kids, it’s lovely to watch and hear all the laughter and fun times these families are having together. We finally check into our apartment, we shower, go to the supermacado to get food for dinner, then we eat and call it a night, we are both exhausted and in need of rest. Fingers crossed we are able to get out of bed in the morning and continue walking….Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 36

    Ribadesella to Colunga

    August 23, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    We wake this morning feeling surprisingly good, we thought our feet and legs would be killing us, but thankfully they don’t feel too bad. Our day starts in the picturesque town of Ribadesella, we were so tired and sore when we arrived yesterday that we were unable to check out the offerings of this town, (this seems to be the theme song to our Camino life!!) our path runs through the belly of the town, which takes up residence on both sides of the Rio Sella, a long bridge connects them and the shop front windows look out to the peaceful views of the river system, this is a really pretty little town. It’s a beautiful day, there is a slight crispness in the air that will disappear in the next hour or so. As we make our way through town we talk to our families, taking plenty of photos in the process, Lisa’s knee has been sore the last few days so before leaving we find a pharmacia and she gets a knee guard to help support the joint. We get to the outskirts of town and our climb starts, this tests out our legs and feet, we have a 20 km day and towns are plentiful, we hit the first one in no time, then another, and by the time we get to our third town for the day we are ready for a drink and a sit-down, there is a descent into the town, and on the outskirts we find a lovely bar which is playing music and is situated near the beach, we take our time soaking up the vibe and enjoying the rest. I am starting to feel off - a bit headachy and body achy. We continue on, making the climb up and out of Vega de Ribadesella, the views are spectacular! We spend the rest of our walk today along the coastline, meandering up, down and over headlands, lots of families are out and about enjoying the last few weeks of this European summer. We get to the 15 km mark and I am done, I am feeling sick, my headache hasn’t lifted, my body is aching all over and I need to get to our destination and try to sleep this off. We come to a bar on the outskirts of La Espasa, Lisa calls me a cab and we are at our accommodation before we know it, we check in, shower and I try to sleep, unfortunately our beautiful walking day cut short….Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 37

    Colunga to Villaviciosa

    August 24, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    I am up at 5:00 am and in the bath, I still don't feel the best, my body is aching and I feel quite dehydrated. I try to go back to sleep after my bath and some electrolytes and I manage to drift off for a half-hour or so, but I am just so uncomfortable and all I am doing is tossing and turning. I decide to get up and get my backpack packed, we need to have our backpacks down at reception before 8:30 am ready for pick up. We then go and have a cuppa and some toast. After breakfast we go to the tourist Information office to enquire about buses, I am not up to walking today, so it's now a forced rest day. We catch a bus to Villaviciosa at 12:30 pm and it costs 1.75€, it's about a half-hour drive up and around narrow, winding coastal roads, with lots of pedestrians, cyclists and other traffic, our bus driver does well to negotiate his way through. Once we arrive in Villaviocsa we find a place for lunch, then it's a taxi ride to our accommodation that's situated out in the country and well off the beaten track. We arrive to find a beautiful 17th-century restored home that has 10 hotel rooms, we book in for dinner tonight, and then I'm off to bed - trying to sleep myself better. I wake up just before dinner at 8:30 pm, and we are served vegetable soup, it's delicious and just what I needed. We then go back to our room, catch up on some social media, whilst enjoying the sound of rain and thunder in the background. It's easy falling off to sleep tonight, the stars have aligned - rain, thunder and and a big old comfy bed. Night all 💤Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 38

    Villaviciosa to Deva

    August 25, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    I just had the best nights sleep, this bed is the comfiest so far on Camino, I didn't wake up at all last night, I slept sound until my alarm went off at 7:00 am, I turn it off, roll over and go straight back to sleep until 8:00 am. I still feel quite off today, so we have decided to catch the bus again. It's overcast with steady light rain. We head down for breakfast, normally there isn't a lot of people up and about at 9:00 am, but this morning a lot of the people staying here are already up, including the lovely family with the beautiful black lab - he lies under the table, so well behaved. Food is in abundance at the breakfast buffet, it's hard to choose, it all looks so good, but I end up with some fresh oj, cheese, walnuts, a mini cinnamon custard pie, a slice of some sort of teacake bread and a cafe con leche. Chatting to one of our hosts Danny, his face lights up when he finds out I am from Australia, he recalls his time spent here, he had 3 months in Melbourne Victoria a few years ago, he loved it and met some really special people who took him in and treated him like family, I really appreciate and enjoy hearing stories like this about Australia. We finish up breakfast, check out, order a taxi and leave this beautiful, rural slice of paradise, with full bellies and great memories. We get dropped off in Villaviciosa, I'm in need of either a different pair of trail runners or some inner soles with arch support and some different types of socks, my current ones are way to tight around my ankles. I end up finding one pair of socks, but have no joy with the shoes or inner soles. We have an hour before our bus arrives to take us to Deva, so we decide to have a drink at this very cute panaderia, it's still raining, so the outside tables are out of the question, we have no trouble finding one inside and spend the next 40 minutes sipping our drinks surrounded by the delicious smells of freshly baked pastries, cakes, sweets and breads. It's now time to go, our bus will arrive shortly and we don't want to miss it as the next one doesn't leave until 3:30 pm. We get on the right bus, this is always a bonus, we are getting better at public transport as this is our second day in a row of catching a bus, we even downloaded the app and purchased our tickets online, then used the electronic ticket which was so much quicker then yesterday's process. We get off at our stop which is out of town on the side of the road, thankfully Lisa was on the ball and heard the driver tell some other pilgrims that this is the Deva stop. We hop off in the rain, get the map up on my phone and start walking on the side of the road to Deva, we stop at the Campgrounds which has a restaurant, so we decide to have some lunch, we then catch a taxi to our next hotel which is 2 km away, again out in the country. Our hotel setting is on a golf course and it has a hydrotherapy pool, this is the second one this trip. We get to our room, shower then go and book in at the pool, each session has a 2 hour time slot, we collect our robe, swim cap and the coolest makeshift thongs I have ever seen and then head to the bar for a drink while we wait for our session time to begin. We get into the pool and it is 35 degrees, the view out of the ceiling-to-floor windows is of the golf course and they have lilo’s scattered around the floor space facing out to the golf course, it's a perfect area to relax with a drink, wrapped up in your swimmers and robe on an overcast rainy day as you spend the afternoon hoping in and out of the pool. We eventually head back to our room for a shower before dinner. We are both tired but are feeling so much better since our session at the pool, it's amazing just how good it makes those sore muscles and joints feel. We go to bed feeling rested, relaxed and ready to tackle another day on the Camino del Norte.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 39

    Deva to Gijon

    August 26, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    We wake up this morning feeling great, we both had a great nights sleep, I think the hydrotherapy pool may have had something to do with it, as well as super comfy beds. We start getting ready, we need to be at breakfast at 8:30 am this morning. We are just finishing off getting ready when the phone rings, it is reception letting us know the correos is here to pick up our backpacks, I quickly finish packing my pack and we both hurry down to the lobby to hand them over. We then head for breakfast, check out and step outside, it's raining again today, we decide to call a taxi, we will be in Gijon way before check in time at our hotel and don't want to be wondering around soaking wet until 4pm when we are able to check in. It's only meant to be 7 kms today. We get into Gijon 9:45 am there isn't much open in this city yet, it's still sleeping but all that changes over the next hour, we pop into a bar for a coffee, this gives us time to Google all the sport stores and work out our plan of attack. We spend the best part of the day trying to find what we are looking for and by 7 pm tonight our mission is finally accomplished. I have finally found a pair of replacement shoes to walk in. It’s not until I buy my new pair that I turn my old pair over and realise just how worn out they actually are. It's then that the penny drops and I understand why my feet have been gradually getting worse, my shoes are done, finished, kaput, they have served me so well up until recently, they have carried me and my backpack up and down many hills on all kinds of surfaces for the past 40 days and would have travelled over 500 kms. Thank you Altra’s you have been amazing!! I hope these next shoes serve me and my feet as well as you did.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 41

    Gijon to Avilés

    August 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    We are back on the Camino at 9:10 am this morning, it’s going to reach 26 degrees and apparently our walk today is 24 Km, (we’ll see when we get to our destination). Our packs feel very heavy today, it’s been a while since we carried them or even walked on the Camino. I am excited to be back on track, not really knowing what we will encounter or what our day will have in store for us, but to me that’s half the fun! We walk beside a massive steel production plant, it reminds me of the one out of Baz Luhrmann’s - The Great Gatsby. The sun already has some sting in it, and we are feeling it as we climb inclines in the road, I fear we may have lost our trail legs! I will know for sure by the end of the day. We walk on quite country roads all the way to our first town, we stop at the church there, it’s locked but it has a cute little library exchange on the grounds and there are a few cement benches positioned under the shade of big old trees, we pick one, take off our packs, shoes and socks, and sit, the cold cement on our bodies, legs and feet feels so soothing, we sit here for 20 minutes or so, just enjoying the break in the shade, then it’s time to go again. We get our socks and shoes back on, then heave the backpacks on and just like that we are ready to continue along the road to Santiago. We walk on a very quite country road, the scenery is pretty with rolling green hills, small crops and homes dotted here and there. We come to the next town, we have done 18.02 Km, it’s 3:00 pm and we are looking for lunch. We get to a bar and order a drink, but this bar has no food. We sit and drink our drinks. Louie’s feet are killing her today, she has struggled on all day and has done extremely well to get this far, we get a taxi the last 9.23 Km. We get to our apartment, drop our backpacks off, there is a bar just outside our place, we go there but can only get drinks, no food, so we have a drink, then go in search of a supermarket, they are all closed as it’s Sunday. We go back to our apartment hit the showers then order pasta through a food delivery app. It arrives, the portions are a good size and the food is yummy. We then lie down and rest our weary bones, if we fall asleep, so be it.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 42

    Avilés to Muros del Nalón

    August 29, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We sleep in this morning, there is no need to rush, we don’t have to be out of here until 12 noon. We sleep in until 9:00 am then rise n shine and start getting ready for our day, slowly. We check out and start heading to the train station at around 11:30am, we get side tracked on the way there, by a bar which we stop at for a cafe con leche, we sit back, taking in our surroundings, this is a very busy town, that is full of people everywhere, this is the first really busy town at this hour of the morning that we have encountered. We finish up and continue on, we walk down one of the main streets packed with shops and people, when we get to the bottom and it has flattened out, we come across market stalls that take up the entire next block, we meander our way through, nothing really taking our eye, our packs are already heavy and we both know how one more thing can change your pack from being manageable to debilitating. We finally make it to the train station. We encounter a very helpful train attendant that points us in the right direction for what we need, the next helpful train attendant helps us purchase our tickets to Muros del Nalon, she tells us what train to watch out for, that it will be roughly 45mins wait and that we need to be on platform 2. We go, take a seat and wait patiently for our train to arrive. Meanwhile trains come and go, people hop on and off. A lovely older lady sits down beside us, it starts thundering and she is talking to her friend and Lisa about it, we strike up a very broken Spanish/English conversation, by the end she knows we are from Australia and that we are catching the train to Muros del Nalon. The train attendant comes down to us to let us know our train will be arriving any minute now, we thank her very much, next minute a train pulls in to platform 1 and our lovely older lady friend tells us that this is our train, we follow her instruction, hoping nothing got lost in translation 🤞. We board and take a seat, she lets us know that she will let us know when we have to get off and she sits close by with her 4 friends. We feel very looked after and fortunate to have crossed paths with these lovely women. The train ride takes about an hour, true to her word she lets us know when we need to get off, we bid each other goodbye and thank her very much. We step off the train and into rain with a little bit of thunder, our accommodation is roughly 1.2 km away and we set off hoping not to get too wet before we get there. Our walk takes us through the main square in town and out the other side, our accommodation is in a rural setting, we arrive, check in, then head down to the bar for lunch. The waiter informs us that the chef has gone to hospital and that he can make us a salad but no cooking, we both have a salad with some fresh, warm bread and chilled wine. We spend what is left of the afternoon talking, relaxing and sorting through our packs. At dinner time we head to the square for dinner, nothing is open, a neighbouring village is on fiesta so they are all off partying. We get some microwaveable meals take them back to our hotel and get our lovely waiter to heat them up for us. He not only heats it up but serves it to us in lovely bowls. After dinner we call it a night, but sleep evades us, the sounds and excitement of a nearby fiesta envelopes us and we are caught in this Spanish way of life life for another night….Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 43

    Muros De Nalón to Soto de Luiña

    August 30, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Sleep found us in the wee hours of the morning, so we end up sleeping in later than we had anticipated. We both get up bleary-eyed and start getting ready, we have a 16km day ahead of us which will turn out to be closer to 20km. We have some breaky with coffee and head off. Our walk today is overcast with the odd shower of rain here and there, we have a beautiful walk through forests that leads us into our first town El Pito, as we enter the main part of town and are waiting to cross the road, a man walks up to us, bids us a “Buen Camino” shakes our hands and gives us a little gift, it is a little plastic hand that has Camino del Norte on it, it was a lovely surprise and another little memento we will keep from this journey. In this town you will find Quinta de El Pito referred to as the Versailles of Asturias, this place was built by the sons of a local grocer, unfortunately, it was closed to the public when we walked through, we were looking forward to checking it out, but it wasn't meant to be so we push on. We are soon back in the forest enjoying the birdlife and sounds that are always in abundance in these areas. We get 3/4 through our walk and come to a ‘T’ intersection, to the right the sign says restaurant 200m or to the left we can continue on the Camino path, we decide to go right off the Camino path, we are both hungry and in need of a sit-down. We walk for what feels longer than 200m and eventually come to a beach, at the far left end there is a restaurant, we ask to be seated and we are seated, but we both get a distinct feeling that we aren't really welcome/wanted here, we quickly eat, drink and get back on track. We crisscross over the train tracks multiple times throughout the day, we also walk through lovely little towns and when we reach the higher sections of our walk we feel like we are walking in the clouds, we have mist all around us with the views of rolling hills, lucky for us there are seats positioned halfway up these hills alongside the road to rest our weary legs. We arrive at our accommodation for the night, tired and ready for a shower, we do this then head out to the terrace for a drink. This place is super interesting - it was built in the 1890s and has served as a priest's house, the headquarters of the guardian civil, a prison, a tailor's shop and a guesthouse. We have a lovely dinner here at the restaurant and enjoy an early night for we are both tired and had little sleep last night, we are lulled off to sleep by the sound of rain, it doesn't get much better than this.Read more

  • TravelerCamino Del Norte 2022
    Day 44

    Soto de Luiña to Cadavedo

    August 31, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Decisions, decisions, decisions. We wake this morning to light rain outside, we get ready and then head down for breakfast, whilst eating we chat about which route we will take today - the mountains or the road??? We asked our host and her advice was to stick with the roads where we will pass through plenty of villages and we will have pilgrim support the whole way. Our Camino app provides feedback from pilgrims who have walked the two different routes and the reviews are many and varied. We are torn - whilst we love walking in forests up in the mountains, there is no support and the walk will be longer, harder and way slower, but if we take the road our feet and joints will be throbbing and sore in no time, we are over all the road walking on the Norte. We have organised to take a packed lunch with us and in the end, we toss a coin - heads we take the mountains, tails we take the road…Heads win, mountains it is! Our walk starts on a fairly busy bitumen road, the only one coming in and out of this village, vehicles whizz by and we are happy to get onto the country path and be heading into the mountains, the first few hours are great, with beautiful trails, scenery and sounds. Then the rain starts and we come across bog holes that we need to divert around, the track becomes overgrown, and hard to follow, at one point we take the wrong trail and have to double back after realising our mistake. I take the lead as Louie is not a fan of long grass and has a fear of snakes, I’m ok with snakes and I don’t mind the long grass, but once we start hitting all the spider webs and I start seeing these massive scary spiders I am OUT, I just want off this mountain! Clearly, we are the only idiots that decided to ignore the local’s advice of ‘stick to the road’, it looks like no one has walked this path in months and I am pretty sure if pilgrims were on this trail this morning the spiders couldn’t have rebuilt their intricate webs that fast, there’s just way too many of them! So now it’s Louie's turn to take the lead, she does an awesome job leading us out of this spider-infested overgrown jungle!! We GPS our location and end up taking a road down into Ballota, we stop halfway down at a church to eat lunch and rest for a while, and then we continue on. We get into Ballota and decide to train/taxi or bus the rest of the way to our destination today we have been walking for over 6 hours and have walked 15 hard kms and we are done. We go to the train stop but can’t work out how to buy a ticket or when the next train is due. So we walk to a bar, have a drink, sit down and enjoy the beautiful singing of some locals that have gathered here for a long boozy lunch, their voices, music and atmosphere is beautiful! After a couple of drinks of agua con gas, we order a taxi and enjoy the ride to our destination. The rest has worked wonders and once we have settled into our apartment for tonight we decide to go to the supermacado and get ingredients to make chicken and veggies for dinner. Louie prepares dinner and cooks it, it’s my job to keep her wine glass topped up, get some pre-dinner nibblies ready, and then clean up after dinner - this system works a treat. Dinner is delicious as usual, we sit and chat for a while solving all the worlds problems, before calling it a night - sweet dreams everyone ZzzzzzRead more

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