Gijón to Avilés, 28Km
I had a rest day yesterday in Gijón. Opinion is divided about taking rest days. Most people prefer to continue walking but I like a complete break. I wandered on the beach, explored the old town and had a quick look at the restored Roman baths. I saw Heidi sitting on a bench and stopped for a chat. That was my rest day.
There’s no pretty way out of Gijón. The Camino takes you through the city and then around an antiquated steel works. After a rural interlude which featured a eucalyptus plantation and a lot of pasture, we descended into the industrial zone and a lengthy walk along a busy highway.
The pilgrim guide actually suggests taking the bus today but I quite enjoy the city life and the industrial architecture so I plodded along. I met an American called Dan walking with David, a Spaniard and joined them for awhile. We stopped at a bar and I ordered a cafe con leche. They make it very strong in Spain so I tried ordering a one shot coffee with lots of milk. What I got was a regular cafe con leche plus an espresso. I won’t try that again.
Two Japanese pilgrims arrived. I’ve greeted them before and I said hello and tried in vain to dredge up some of my Japanese. I told them I’d walked the 88 Temples on Shikoku and they were mighty impressed, “o henro” they said and bowed.
Pilgrimage 
Love the chap standing in the sea, pic 2. He’s either trying to walk on water, or his kayak has sunk.
Fertiliser plant?
Keep up the good work Tim!!
Correct! You’re very good at these photo competitions. I was expecting Martin to snatch it with his fertiliser experience
You didn’t fancy the coastal route then? Looks like you missed a couple of good beaches. When are they expecting to complete the Roman baths?
The Camino runs inland so it isn’t meant to be only a coastal route. I’m just following it. As for the baths, I think they’ve restored it all. Difficult to tell as it was all in Spanish.
Hi Tim – Rest days a good option! I remember the eucalyptus plantations in Galicia and always felt they were a bit out of place in Spain – non native trees planted to feed the pulp and paper industry.
I know that from your fine books! Eucalyptus plantations are a nice little money earner but it is wrong to import plants
Kia Ora,
Tim, yes, my answer would have been fertilizer or a place that trials different combinations of fertilizer on various plant – shade house/greenhouse was the clue for that idea. Certainly not such a picturesque trail at present. Regarding the comments about importing foreign plants such as eucalypts, I don’t imagine English oak is used to print The Times! I agree about the rest days. They were the days when I could really immerse myself in daily life and follow the locals to their favourite watering hole. Kia kaha.