After leaving Ribadesella we drove onto Santiago de Compestela, a city that many people end up in after walking the Camino de Santiago route. One of the images that is stuck in my head was the amount of people sitting on the steps of the cathedral with knee bandages! We were only staying for one night here as my hubby wanted to see the burial site of St. James.
St. James’ remains are reputedly buried within the grounds of the cathedral, which was consecrated in 1211.
The small town is easily seen in one day and very interesting. There are wonderful alleys to wander up and little shops to browse in. We always buy something from every place we visit, a t-shirt, tea towel or some useful kitchen utensil. We both bought t-shirts this time from a small boutique.
Above the door of a liquor shop
View through the arches
Monastery of San Martiño PinarioCathedral of Santiago de CompostelaLooking up at the cathedral ceiling
That concludes our mini trip to Santiago de Compostela. It was great to spend some time here exploring and glad we made this part of our Spanish road trip.
We decided to get away again for a couple of days to go up North to see the wildflowers, or what was left of them! Our destination was Dalwallinu which is just over three hours from Perth. Anthony wanted to take a less than direct route so we travelled up the coast to Cervantes where we picked up the Indian Ocean Road. This road is dotted with huge white sand dunes along the way, and you can see glimpses of the miles and miles of the West Australian coast. Taking this route did put some extra miles on the clock but we were in no hurry.
We stopped for a bite to eat and stretch our legs at Nilgen Lookout.
looking out over the Indian Ocean
Banksia flower
Banksia flower
We stopped once more in Badgingarra for me to take photos of the endless green wheat and bright yellow rape fields.
Badgingarra Nature Reserve
Endless wheat fields everywhere you look, with grain bins edging the fields
Arriving at the Dalwallinu Wheat Motel around 5 pm, we checked in and then went for a walk into “town”. This takes around ten minutes from start to finish. It only consists of one main street for shops with houses around the back of the main street. There is a bakery, cafe and tavern. We had a quick drink in the tavern and headed back to the motel for dinner. The motel has a fairly large restaurant and the menu boasts Asian and Australian food. Not too bad for a small wheatbelt town.
There were many couples like us out for an evening stroll and then back to the motel for dinner.
Dalwallinu
Nearly every country town in WA has old and rusting farm machinery on display, at least it’s put to good use!
The next morning we ate breakfast in our room and then had a walk to the bakery to pick up our lunch. The bakery was doing a roaring trade as everyone else had the same idea!
Our first stop of the day was Xantippe! I was super excited as I thought great, my X place for my A to Z travels. Disappointment soon set in, there’s nothing in Xantippe except a large concrete water tank which we missed anyway and by the time we had travelled so far down a dirt track we gave up. Not such a great start.
There are maps of the wildflower trails which take you around a loop, but I also wanted to get off the beaten track to look at some other “attractions” that were listed. From Xantippe we drove back over to Wubin and then up to Perenjori.
An old rusty Holden
The Old Covent, established in 1923. In 1933 it became a Catholic girls boarding school. It was never a covent!
Some of the many wonderful flowers along the way
Alpacas, goats and more wheat bins
Our next stop was Buntine Rocks. There is a large granite rock here that gives amazing views from the top. I surprised myself and managed to climb to the top!
Along the drive the railway line cuts back and forth between the road, we only saw one train. There are no level crossings, you just have to look both ways before you cross!
Just checking!
Okay, all clear
Some of the places on the map don’t have anything there at all except a few rusty farm machines, like Maya. It was once a thriving community with an estimated population of 140 in the late 1930s to 1940s. It had a post office, a store and a school plus a cricket and football team and tennis courts. But times change and people move on.
We finally reached Perenjori late afternoon and I asked my dear hubby if he was getting tired of all the driving, but he said no it was good to let the car stretch its legs.
We then headed up to a placed called Camel Soak. This was a man made watering hole for the men and their camels to have a drink in the 1900’s whilst building the rabbit proof fence
The road leading here is full of pot holes and ridges in the dry earth, then once you park the car it’s a bit of a walk and climb, but we both thought it was worth seeing.
Backtracking then to Perenjori to see the famous wreath flowers that are a national treasure of WA.
These flowers are also way off the beaten track and even when you park the car, you do have to hunt for them.
Our last stop of the day before heading back to Dalwallinu
Walking along Cottesloe Beach today my friend and I saw this little guy just casually exploring! A cute Bob Tail Lizard. I think he was a little lost as he was heading towards the road! As the weather is warming up maybe we’ll get to see more of these.
Quang Nam Province is where the Unesco World Heritage town of Hoi An is situated. It is a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese and French style buildings. Hoi An sits on the banks of the Thu Bon River and there are many waterways around the area. We have stayed in Hoi An twice before and visited on a number of other occasions while staying in Da Nang. It gets busier with each year and there is hardly any room to move crossing over the little bridge.
The two hotels we stayed in were just outside of the small town, Hoi An Historic Hotel and Hoi An Beach Hotel. Early evening is the best time to go into Hoi An Ancient Town as it’s a bit cooler then, although not much!
Hoi An Beach Hotel
Hoi An Historic Hotel
Fishing for the daily catch, views from our balcony
An Bang Beach
The beds are so close, no social distancing here! Crawling from the bottom is the only way to lie on them! No secrets are safe here.
Restaurants and Bars in the walking area of Hoi An
Bikes and doors
Views of the other side of Hoi An
My nightly cocktail – Pina Colada
Hoi An is such a wonderful place to visit but so many places in Vietnam are. It is one of my favourite countries to visit.
Hanoi Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, where we spent four days a few years ago. Hanoi was not a place that interested me as I had heard it was quite industrialised due to the influence of communism. However it was somewhere where Anthony wanted to visit, and I can’t always have my own way! After…
I took these two photos today on my weekly walk along Cottesloe beach. Glorious winter sunshine, although today the breeze was quite chilly. I saw all the surfers trying to catch a wave and wondered how they don’t knock each other off their boards. Walking along the the pathway was so busy today, we were dodging cyclists, runners, dog walkers and other walkers but it’s so nice to walk along by the sea. One of my favourite places to go, although I will wait until the hot summer months before I take a dip!
I have to say I am completely stumped with O and cannot think of a place I’ve visited that is worthwhile posting about. So I’m just going to display a few photos and see if anyone can guess where they are. Some easy, some hard or maybe not if you are well travelled!
Nagasaki was part of our 9 day road trip through the Kyushu Islands a few years ago and we spent two very busy days and nights here. There were four of us on the road trip, me, hubby and our two good friends Cheryl and Vaughan. Vaughan and hubby did all of the driving. We…
A few years ago we did a road trip from Biarritz to Porto. We ended up in Porto purely for the reason that it was convenient to fly back from. Anthony had been many years ago and said he wasn’t very impressed. Well we were in for a wonderful surprise. I had booked an apartment for two nights overlooking the Douro River and we couldn’t have had a better view. Although the apartment could have done with a bit of work it was more than okay for two nights and the view made up for any complaints.
View from our balcony of Luis I Bridge
We only had two full days here and we made the most of every minute and explored as much as we could.
There was a fabulous tiny restaurant attached to the apartment belonging to the owners and we had dinner there the first night. The food was amazing especially the grilled sardines.
The door to our apartment!
The next day we set off early and walked along the river and took in the views. We stopped off at the Sao Bento Railway Station as someone mentioned it was a place we must see. The station had the most amazing murals decorating the walls.
Traditional Ribellos
Above a slideshow of the murals in the Sao Bento Railway Station representing Portuguese history and daily work.
Next we had scheduled a walking tour over Luis I bridge to visit the Port houses on the other side of the river. There were five included in the tour, we managed two, but for me there’s only so much port I could taste!
Waiting for our guide to start the tour
Reflections of Porto
Inside Adriano Ramos Pinto
We crossed back over the river and found a bar to have a bottle of wine and some tapas and found we were just in time for the annual procession of the saints. Good timing for us as we had front row seats.
The sleepiest little drummer boy
The next day we were already checking out at 11 am. We found a souvenir shop to leave our luggage, which was very handy because when we were in Vigo there was nowhere that would take left luggage. We headed up to the cathedral and stopped there for a while to enjoy the amazing views over Porto.
Views of Porto over the rooftops
Enough time here and it was onwards and downwards to town to look for lunch and a spot of shopping for you know who!
So many steps
Stone work
Art work
Too many options!
Shopping time!
Modelling his artisan waistcoat – “Made in Porto”.
Two days in Porto is just not enough and we will definitely be back to explore more of this beautiful city and the rest of Portugal, whenever we can get on a plane again!
I have to say I am completely stumped with O and cannot think of a place I’ve visited that is worthwhile posting about. So I’m just going to display a few photos and see if anyone can guess where they are. Some easy, some hard or maybe not if you are well travelled! No. 1…
Nagasaki was part of our 9 day road trip through the Kyushu Islands a few years ago and we spent two very busy days and nights here. There were four of us on the road trip, me, hubby and our two good friends Cheryl and Vaughan. Vaughan and hubby did all of the driving. We…
