7th October (misty, cold and raining) 0 km

After crawling into our little retreat last night, once we’d eaten and gotten everything set up, it was just a matter of lying there listening to the wind and rain lash the tent and hope that our little palace stood up to the onslaught. Julia couldn’t get comfortable during the night. When we’d gone to bed it was cold, but during the night she unzipped her side of the sleeping bag as she was too hot, I meanwhile, spent the night cuddled up or flicking giant slugs off the outside of the inner tent. The weather forecast doesn’t look good until Tuesday morning and with the terrain and lack of options for accommodation, we are stuck. Even years ago when we would cover huge mileage, cycling in the rain just to reach a destination seemed senseless, as you don’t get to see what’s on offer, only the road twenty feet in front of your handlebars, as you slog it out through the elements.

Great weather for slugs - only they seem to prefer it in our tent too.  Had to keep zipped up to stop the little
blighters from coming in all the time.  This one snuck in overnight.

This delay however, means we will be even further behind in our schedule and a train or plane trip further south seems imminent, but once again there are issues with that too. Spanish rail won’t just let you board a train with your bikes loaded, it seems that you have to box them up, that causes other problems.

Woke this morning to rain, with the wind gently blowing and fortunately, a dry inner tent. With what’s to come over the next two days, we can but hope that our Vango is a sturdy home and not the one built by the first two little pigs.

The morning drifted by very slowly. Over the following few hours we breakfasted and threw around some options for making up some ground and seeing what we’d come to see. Flix, a bus service runs on a regular basis, but after looking at that, they are always fully booked and we can’t afford to wait. A plane is another option but there is the hassle of boxing the bikes, something we only want to do at the conclusion of the tour. So, now it’s the car option. Thank goodness I got an international driver’s license in New Plymouth, just in case, at the last minute. So currently we are looking at hiring a car to make up some ground.  It’s after 11am as I write this. We are sitting in the restaurant/café, inside, as it’s bitingly cold outdoors. The sea is full of white horses, that’s if you can get a glimpse through the mist. Hard to believe the change in a day, but we did know it was coming and our plan to get here was successful, so we’re not complaining. We are however at the top of a 3km steep hill, so neither of us are in a rush to get supplies, in between squalls. 

Looking out to sea from our campground - this was one of the few occasions you could actually see the sea today!

Julia is currently researching car hire from Bilbao, which would then allow us to get close to Portugal having seen the sights, we picked from NZ.

After spending the best part of the day in the café/restaurant, drinking the best coffees we’ve had since we got to Europe and for a good portion of time charging the phone and battery charger in the toilet block, we still don’t appear to be any closer to… booking a car or booking hotels for a couple of places we want to visit. You get on these sites, fill in the info and they either won’t let you go any further, or you have to call and no one speaks English, which means the enquiry stops there.

Ate pizza, and drank beer and wine, before our third coffee of the day, then slipped out into the rain and freezing cold to our little abode, which we hope will do the business for us again tonight. The forecast gives us a possibility of moving on tomorrow, but it’s in the lap of the Gods.