Day 24 - Lighthouses, Dolmen and a beach of seaglass

 Well no more noise from the wild boar last night. This must be one of the quietest places we’ve stayed all the time we’ve been here. Literally nobody arrived between when we parked up and when we left today mid morning weather is very changeable today, but Graham got a chance to pop up the tower again before we left. Don’t think he could resist it!

There’s a loose plan to head to Finisterre today but looking at the map there are a few other little things nearby that might be worth a small diversion. We set up a route that links some of these together and set off. First stop is only 10 minutes down the road and it is a site of some petroglyphs. Almost as soon as we set off we are on a ‘proper’ road , very different to the one we arrived on and it makes us realise that perhaps we weren’t so isolated yesterday as we thought. The road to the petroglyphs is very narrow and when we get to the bend where the footpath goes off there’s nowhere nearby to park. The weather is a bit drizzly and it looks like this would be quite a long walk from the car so we decided that this one a pass and head for the next possibility which is a dolmen. Before we reach it, we pass a lovely viewpoint as the sun comes out.

 We get to the Dolmen de Dombate at 1pm and it closes at 2 for lunch so hopefully just long enough. This one is a fenced attraction with a visitor centre but no charge for entry. There’s a section of information including stones showing a representation of the interior which can’t be seen on the original. The original is in a large covered building for preservation and is a combination of excavation and reconstruction. Academically interesting but maybe lacks the ‘feels’ of some other sites. 

From the Dolmen we make a route to Faro de Laxe. We are only a couple of miles down the road though when we see signs to Castro de Bornero which has a layby right on the main road so can’t resist a look. The castle is an iron age settlement with a few numbers of buildings and is quite impressive, another worthwhile stop. 

Back on the road but I have discovered an inviting sounding ‘crystal beach’ just short of the lighthouse, so another diversion is added. When we get to Luxe is an impressive sight itself,  a very long, very white sand beach no doubt very busy in summer . We divert to the ‘crystal’ beach which involves some tiny roads and walk down to the cove which is more spectacular than I imagined. 

Years of sea wash over dumped bottles have produced a beach almost entirely composed o sea glass. It’s a stunning thing and having read pleas not to remove any it’s difficult not too! I usually get excited at tiny glass finds , this is incredible!

It’s not far to the Luxe lighthouse but another impossible route winding through tiny streets. The lighthouse itself is not the best looking but the setting is great. This one is covered in ceramic tiles and solar panels with the tiniest lamp housing but no doubt does the job and prides itself in minimising light pollution. There also a path to some stones carved with the manned of seafarers and their lovers. 

 By now it’s lunchtime and we enjoy lunch by the cliffs but in the van it’s chilly! If it had been warmer the picnic benches here are impressive… modelled on the Iron Age settlements of the area , very clever touch! 

Another lighthouse next… it appears Finisterre may not be the most westerly point of Spain so we are going to get to its competition. 

On the way we see some signs to more Dolmen and whilst I pop into a supermarket at Vimianzo to do the shopping , Graham does some research and there’s one more very close to our route. We are following Google when I notice a ‘brown sign’ and we follow that instead- what an adventure ! After going through the tiniest hamlet it becomes a track clearly marked either a car on the sign but maybe it should be a 4x4 in the picture! 

The track ends literally at the opening of the dolman. It’s only small and you could pretty much touch it from the car window. Turning around before we get out it’s a challenge not to knock it… inside the Dolmen itself we are told there are some markings but neither of us can see them … this one was all about getting there!!

Thankfully we don’t see any cars on our return trip but there is a  cat that refuses to leave the road until we get out and shoo it off! 

The diversion to the Cabo Touriñan lighthouse is quite a long one. It goes down lots of straight roads that go nowhere except for to the end and after six or seven minutes we arrive it’s not the most dramatic of lighthouses but it is a really dramatic location and there we are on the Western and most of mainland Europe

Doesn’t feel like this sort of place to spend the night. It’s quite a small car park and where you park you wouldn’t really see anything so we’re gonna crack on towards Finisterre even though it’s getting quite late now. We walk out to the outcrop first and watch the sun for a little bit it’s getting very low now but shining and it’s a nice evening after all. 

As we approached Finisterre we have a look to see if we can see any park4night site and pull in to 3 or 4 that don’t come to much , but then we find one that’s only a small concrete carpark but is right up against the dunes with a path to Finisterre running in front of it, this is gonna be where we stay tonight. You can hear the sea clearly and at the moment we’re the only people here. Keen to catch the last of the light we don’t even turn the van around but head straight out and onto the beach. It crosses the reed beds and dunes alive with birds, and then down onto the beach which is covered in seashells. 

There’s a sign asking you not to pick them up because they!re an important part of the habitat so I manage to leave them all there, but it’s very tempting. We walk along the beach till the sun sets  and then cross back across the dunes and walk on the path back to the van . 

By the time we get to the van there are two other vans in the car park so any worry about it not being allowed has gone now and that’s it. We’re in for the night. Turn the van round get the kettle on!

Cumulative Mileage:1094

Overnight: Praia de Langosteira, Finisterre

Spending:Supermarket, €38.90