Island life

 If you look at the map below Dark Tarn was anchored at the little anchor symbol at the south end of the Praia de Rodas.

We rowed ashore and walked towards the campsite which was in the process of being assembled. Its possible to rent a tent or pitch your own if you wish to stay overnight, or you can always arrive aboard your own boat!

There is a causeway connecting the campsite area to the northern part of the island, this can be impossible to cross at certain states of the tide, the lagoon is also known as the aquarium due to the profusion of sea life its possible to see.

the road carries on towards the ferry pier, this disgorges tourists during the day but at this time of year the island doesn't feel at all crowded.

A little further on is yet another stunning beach the Praia de Figueiras.

It seemed a good spot for a swim and a sit......

Later we climbed up through the Eucalyptus forest heading for the Alto de Pricipe.

This is a well known viewpoint and has a collection of weirdly shaped rocks adorning the summit.

 There is a precipitous drop down steep cliffs on the Atlantic side. The views are again outstanding.

The sunbaked rocks are home to many lizards and as Alex has recently acquired a large lizard as a pet ( a bearded Dragon, called Madison) he was fascinated and fairly desperate to catch one!
He also insisted in giving his mum a heart attack by getting too close to the edge, the rock he is on in the photo below is known as the" throne".

We wandered back through the cool woods unfortunately Lynne twisted her ankle in the rough track which would influence our plans considerably in the next week.

We walked back to the campsite area and continued on to our favourite beach on the island, the Praia de Nosa Senora,( Our lady beach) this overlooks the southern island of San Martino.

A final swim and we left the island after a very interesting,  (and hot ) day on what must be one of the loveliest islands in Galicia.
That evening we were joined in the anchorage by another old friend Aros Mor and its skipper Ian who we had last met on the north coast a year ago. Alex and I sank a few beers in the bar ashore which was open for the first time in the year. Ians crew was Brian who was flying home from porto on the same day as Alex. Lynne was confined afloat due to her strained ankle. We would undoubtedly bump into Aros Mor again as we sail down the Portugese coast. The following morning we had planeed to climb to the lighthouse but Lynnes ankle and a foggy sea-fret persuaded us to sail back to Cangas.