15 September 2022 - The Costa Vasca

Miles driven today = 53

Total Miles to date = 947

I'm still struggling slightly to get my head around just how heavily subscribed a lot of the aires and campsites still are in this part of the World given it is now mid September.  Our British neighbours headed off from the aire at San Sebastian this morning at 8:49 and by 8:50 a German van had already taken their place.  Crazy!

We weren't that far behind our compatriots.  Winding our way initially inland along the verdant and twisty Rio Oria valley.  The town of Oria itself was less appealing and seemed to be little more than a succession of abandoned ceramics factories.  This was quickly followed by Zarautz, which our Rough Guide to Spain describes as "overdeveloped".  Despite a nice looking beach we could see little to disprove their analysis.

So we followed the N634 around the rocky coastline to the next settlement of Getaria, where we found space for the van in the €1 an hour motorhome parking area.

The first thing that caught our eye was a huge monument to the town's most famous son, Juan Sebastian Elcano, whose ship was the only one of Magellan's fleet to make it back home and is therefore reckoned to have been the first person to have circumnavigated the globe.

Getaria has a couple of great looking sandy beaches which were all but deserted.

Narrow streets leading to the 14th century church of San Salvador.

A lot of the older buildings have plaques attached giving information about some of their more notable occupants.  Many were either Sea Captains or merchants who made their fortunes in Mexico or the Phillipines.  This one belonged to the Campos family who ran a successful fishing and whaling business in the town.

This tiny archway leads under the church to the harbour.  The info board on the wall shows how the roadway follows the course of an old stream which is now presumably buried underground.

Judging by the number of refrigerated lorries leaving the dockside warehouses there is still a thriving fishing industry here, but there was only one large trawler currently docked.

There were lots of smaller fishing craft though.

Back on the coast road we stopped for lunch at the Mirador la Salve viewpoint.  This is the view looking east, back towards San Sebastian.

We continued along the coast road past the towns of Deba and Mutriku, both of which looked charming enough but had height barriers to deter us from investigating further so we continued to Ondarroa where we found a large open parking area behind a school.

Ondarroa is set into the steep sided valley of the Artibai Ibaia River.

Much of it has a fairly earthy feel to it, being as it is, away from the regular tourist trail, but there are still some quaint little alleys to explore in the old quarters.

The main church is set high on top of a rock which is accessible either by a steep path or by a rather incongruous glass elevator.

Final port of call today was Lekeitio and our first stop here was the lighthouse, which was supposed to be open to the public but clearly wasn't.

There were some fantastic views up there though and it looked a tempting place to stay the night but we were warned that the police fine anybody who does so, so we headed into town.

We pulled in at a free aire which has 25 dedicated motorhome spaces. But, surprise, surprise, every single one of them was full.  So we got the books and phone apps out to ponder an alternative when a very nice German Herr approached and told us he was just about to depart so we could have his space.  "You are very lucky" said his Frau.  Thankyou, indeed we are!

From the aire it's a 10 to 15 minute stroll into the town centre.  At first the place seemed deserted as we were a little early for the evening bar opening time.

The town's beach has powder soft sand and is split in two by the Rio Lea as it enters the sea.

The Isla San Nicolas is accessible via a causeway at low tide.  We just got there as the first waves lapped across and so quickly dashed back again.

This is what the town looks like viewed from the island.

There's a great selection of bars dotted around the harbour.  

Lekeitio is definitely a worthwhile destination for stopping over for a day or two and we may explore a bit further before we move on tomorrow.  Bilbao is also a short drive away now.  Time to get planning!

 16 September 2022 - Domestic Bliss