Island hopping.

Today I went to the Island of Ons, one of those islands out in the Atlantic that make up the Parque Nacional del Atlántico, off the coast of west Galicia. It's a nice island, not quite as spectacular, in my opinion, as the Islas Cíes, but still worth a visit. The same rules apply: leave nothing there and take nothing away. So you have to take your rubbish away with you and you can't pick flowers or collect seashells. 

Boats go there from Sanxenxo. At the moment they only run on Saturdays and Sunday's but after next weekend they will sail daily until the end of August. So if I was going to go during this stay, I really needed to go today. It was hot but I went provided with fruit and plenty of water. I'm not sure how far I walked but I gave up on the idea of getting to the lighthouse. It was altogether too hot to carry on walking on paths that were largely without shade. The Islas Cíes have the advantage of having at least one walk that is largely in the shade. But on the Island of Ons, I gave up and went and sat in the shade to cool down. I had thought I might have swum in the Atlantic but the sand was too hot to contemplate making my way to the water. 

 On the boat I had a nice chat with an Irish family. The father and son, the latter aged no more that 12, had done a section of the Camino de Santiago and the rest of the family had flown out to join them. As you might expect, they have been very impressed with Galicia. 

While I was out gallivanting Phil was slaving over a hot chessboard. He began playing at around 5.00, when I was catching the boat back from the island. I checked up on him and then went down to the pool to cool down. An hour later, he was still playing. I went for a drink in the bar. Another hour later he was still there, pushing the pieces around. There was quite a crowd standing watching this, the last game to finish. A friend told me he was "luchando como un campeón" - fighting like a champion. He needs to win like a champion, that was the thought that went through my head. 

Over four hours at the chessboard is a little excessive. And then he lost. How very annoying after so much effort. But tomorrow is another day. 

There will be more photos of my jaunt to the island tomorrow as well.