Day 10 - More dinosaurs and some pretty (but wet) villages

 Great sleep last night. Our best wild camp yet, super peaceful and watching the light fall across the river was lovely. The weather this morning, not so lovely! It’s grey and a bit drizzly and predicted to just get worse. We briefly contemplate returning to the Bufones this afternoon with reports of rough seas and high tides but decide that there’s a good chance we still won’t get water spouts and we’ve driven that road a lot now so more dino prints instead!

First though we pop just along the coast to the port of Llastres. Literally five minutes away and on the ‘most beautiful villages’ list. Indeed it’s really pretty, even the grey skies can’t damper it too much. It’s a proper fishing village with building stacked into the cliff little somewhere on the amalfi coast. It’s a mixture of styles with some palace-style buildings evidencing its heritage as a prominent whaling port.

 After a bit of a wet wander we head on to Tazones. Not far along the coast but a half hour drive as there’s the Villaviciosa River outlet to cross. The ‘slow road’ takes us up one side of the river to the first bridge and then back down the other. It’s a huge wetland and an important bird life habitat but it’s very wet and windy today and hard to see much movement, though a probably sighting of a Western Marsh Harrier was pretty exciting. 

Tazones is also on the ‘prettiest villages’ list and certainly is. Most familiar comparison this time would be Cornish though. It feels like visiting Mevagissey in February! Not many shops but those that are selling shells and souvenirs. There are a lot of shells around. Many houses have some shell decorations and one is completely covered. 

The port beach is the site of some spectacular dinosaur prints (when Graham eventually finds them). This time of the more familiar three toed kind. 

Walking back to the car park it’s apparent that the village is also big on fancy fish lunches and there are expensive cars lining the road with Saturday lunch visitors now in the previously empty restaurants. For the first time we see the waiters poured no the local cider from a great height as is the tradition to get a little fizz into it. 

Before we move on Graham is keen to find the other nearby prints. We understand they can be reached from the road to the lighthouse but it takes a while to identify the path and the weather is getting very ropey now. 

Whilst I sit in the warm , Graham makes the descent to the lighthouse beach. Some locals parked in the same track tell him that there’s are no footprints here but are acting a little suspiciously so it feels like they are covering themselves …. Possibly poachers? It’s very wet and steep and with the weather against him it’s a challenge but he eventually finds some worn prints and unusual erosion. 

The trip backwards to the Bufones is still tempting but it would be so disappointing if there’s no change so we crack on to Gijon. It’s half an hour away and when we near it it’s apparent that it’s much bigger than expected. We had planned to use the aire at the port, and the road to get there involves a Google tour or the university and the city outskirts but we make it. It’s a bit disappointing… jam packed and right on a busy roundabout, so we change tack and head into the city to another car park recommendation. We’re cold and wet and it’s fine so it a hot meal and bed . Hopefully tomorrow’s weather will allow us to do a little exploring…

Cumulative mileage: 487.5

Overnight: P4N 33207  A carpark between the police station and a school! 

Spending: nothing today!