MORE SEA & LA CORUNA

Sunday, 23 October 2011

Nothing to report on our day at sea from Gibraltar to La Coruna, our last stop before heading for the Bay of Biscay and Tilbury. There was a bit of bouncing around which started people off to their cabins and with worse weather predicted, our cabin portholes had the heavy weather steel covers bolted in place and the movables about the ship were all strapped down again with gaffer tape. I had a look at the forecast maps which seemed to imply that the weather would worsen but that it would be better tomorrow. We’ll see – they haven’t been too accurate in their forecasts so far. Early on, Rab overheard one bloke asking about the likely weather at one of the ports and when he was told that they didn’t have that information yet, he suggested they log on to the Internet and get it from there. Not a bad point!

I felt a bit flat when I woke up today, I must say, although there seemed to be no good reason for this. I slept well and we only got up at about 08.00 in the end-unheard of for us. There were some hardy souls on deck – because there was some sun – but it was nippy out there and one couple we spoke to admitted that they had finally given up trying to find a warm enough place to sit and read and had retreated to the inside lounges.

I won’t recall any more of the sundry complaints raised because of the potential damage to my sunny reputation, but I will record what must be the daftest question of the voyage. so far. When our lunch companions realised we were from Australia, the question was….. “How did you get here? Did you fly?”. I bit my tongue and said that we had indeed, forbearing to say we had walked the entire way.

So we just loafed around the whole day, reading and eating and sleeping – and ignoring all manner of temptations to games, quizzes and handicraft sessions. I suddenly remembered the caramelised almonds we had bought in Ajaccio (seems like months ago we were there) so I started on those because we will not be able to take them into Australia. Books back to the library – apart from the books in the library which have to be signed out when the librarian is there, there are also two shelves of passengers’ swaps. You can just leave your old books there and pick up any that have been left behind. A great idea and Rab has picked up a couple of good ones which she has read and returned.

The comedian – Andy Rudge - was on again tonight, so we went to early dinner in the bistro so we could go to the early show at 20.00 rather than the late one two hours later. There were very few people about and we thought they had succumbed to mal de mer, but there was a pretty full house in the end, so I guess these old folks are hardened sailors. They should be with all the voyages they have undertaken.

Andy was excellent again and we had many a good laugh at his jokes and his songs. And so to bed, rocked to sleep on a sea that did get a bit wild during the night and woke me a couple of times as very large waves made the hull ring.

Monday, 24 October 2011

After rocking and rolling through the night we woke to a very wet and dark La Coruna. Of course we could not see anything from our cabin because the storm covers were still on the portholes, but they were disembarking from the deck above and that gave us our first view of the day.

The ship had come alongside at a little before 08.00 and sunrise was not until 08.58, so the first tours went off at 08.30 in the dark. We had decided to do our own thing today as the tours described in the booklet did not sound very interesting for us at this stage of our journey when we really would not be able to absorb anything from the torrent of information the guides provide. So we had a leisurely breakfast, on the basis that shops would not be open before 09.30, according to the Newsletter. We went out on deck to check the temperature and the weather. It felt warmer than the predicted 15C and had stopped raining, but, guessing the direction the weather might come from by the movement of the clouds, it seemed there might be more on the way.

Ashore at about 9.45, we found a cold wind made us feel quite chilly and with a temperature of 11C we were glad we had opted for our warm wet weather gear. We were moored within easy walking distance of the town, so we set off. There was a lovely building at the end of the quay, which turned out to be the local parliament and behind that was a very nice square. It was cordoned off with that red and white tape that police use to keep crowds away from a crime scene – for what reason we couldn’t ascertain, but since the locals were simply ducking under the tape and walking through the park, we did too.

There was a very unusual memorial in one corner of the park and I’m hoping that brother Pad, or, failing him, Wikipedia will give me a bit more background to this area. In the rear of the monument were obelisks like Stonehenge, while in the foreground were carvings of animals that looked almost Aztec or Toltec. Very odd. The handout with the Daily Newsletter had said that this was an ancient Celtic land, so perhaps it is one of those areas with a plethora of old burial mounds and stone circles. In which case it might be added to the list of places we are considering driving around if and when……

We crossed a fairly busy road, learning that, apparently, the “green man” on a pedestrian crossing means that some cars may exercise their option to slow down a little – there seems no requirement to actually stop, a point we had noticed in Barcelona too as we dodged the traffic. We walked through the empty streets and alleys in town, realising that although there were indeed some shops open, most only opened at 10.30 or later. There were some good photo opportunities though with wet streets, not much light and few people – arches too which always get me clicking away. Rather like sunsets in the tropics, which I also find difficult to resist. It was always a joke on Lake Kariba every time we went up there that we would NOT take any more sunset shots, but we would inevitably reach for cameras as the dust in the atmosphere created the most wonderful of sights and colours.

We reached the main square and I was looking at a memorial to a feisty lady by the name of Maria Pita who seems to have done some pretty good infighting with a spear in one of the attacks on the fortifications – at least if the panel on the memorial is to be believed (another Wikipedia look up later) – when there was a loud bang and the heavens opened. Rab had her umbrella open already because it had been spitting intermittently, but I was soaked pretty well before I could get mine out of the backpack. We legged it across the square to the large, and very good looking, building that formed the focus and sheltered on it’s wide portico.

There were some magnificent doors there – and two excellent archways at each end with eminently photographable views, so I was happy there until the storm passed. Within ten minutes the skies were blue and shortly after that we had the first sun of the day. By the time we sailed it was clear skies everywhere.

Rab was hunting down a mantilla, although it turned out that these items are part of the dress in the South, rather than here in the North. We hadn’t seen any, but she asked a bloke who was also sheltering from the weather and he gave us directions, so we set out in accordance with those in due course. The shop he had guided us to was near a very curious little square. All the sculptures in it were odd – for example the one fountain was a fat cat with the water coming out of its mouth and there were two stone benches on opposite sides each with a man lounging on it with room to sit next to them. Inscribed in the base of the square were cartoon characters and even a caricature of Oscar Wilde. Very odd and amusing.

As we headed back to the boat, most of the shops were open, but for once we didn’t buy anything beyond a Grande Italiano Cappuccino which was up to Melbourne standards. A short shower sprinkled us as we got back to the ship and the male nude statute waved us goodbye, as the female nude statute had welcomed us. We set sail soon after 14.00 and as I write this we are bouncing over a very interesting sea – the roughest yet – as we enter the redoubtable Bay of Biscay. One more day at sea and we’ll be back on dry land and heading for home.