To get the best chance of viewing whales on the way back, we need to be on deck at “first light” – unfortunately the heavy sea mist severely restricts visibility. I do manage to see a lone Striped Dolphin and a couple of Gannets along with some smaller sea birds, but the weather precludes photography.

The crossing is rougher than coming out (maybe “rough” is too strong, but certainly “rockier”) – Despite all this we make good time, and arrive back in Plymouth only half an hour after the scheduled time. Passport checks are much more rigorous entering the UK than Spain – presumably they don’t expect illegal immigrants to Spain to be entering on a passenger ferry from the North…

I share a cab to the station with Sheila and Tim. They have quite a wait for their train, but mine is already in and being cleaned (an open ticket may have been more expensive, but it definitely has advantages) so I am soon on my way home…

8:30 Breakfast and 10 AM departure again, as for the previous two days, except this time we need to be packed ready for departure when we leave.

We are taking the “scenic” route back, with a couple of stops where the scenery, birds and parking all permit, before we arrive at the town of Proaza where there is a small bear museum run by the Asturias Bear Foundation, which is a chance for those who had been unable to get bear postcards earlier to stock up. About 1km further on is an area where the foundation has a couple of captive bears. They were orphans rescued from poachers and have been here for 15 years. They have just been fed when we arrive, so are sitting in plain view munching oranges – If only it were not for the bars we could claim a really close encounter. One of the bears rapidly retreats to her indoor enclosure, but the other wanders about foraging in the grass, never quite getting into the perfect position for a picture devoid of fencing, before settling into the shade of a part of the enclosure furniture.

There are picnic tables here and a mountainside opposite where we can see more Golden Eagles, so we eat here and plan for a “comfort break” at a service station as we will soon be joining the motorway.

Unfortunately the service station we stop at is not the friendliest. The toilets are closed for cleaning when we arrive, and while they do let us use the staff toilets these have a broken flush and no towels… If there was a jar on the counter for tips I would feel justified in helping myself on the way out.

We have been informed en route that the ferry is running 2 hours late, so we won’t now be departing until 11 PM rather than 9. This gives us plenty of time to explore the city, and luckily we are able to load all the cases into one minibus (the other has to be returned by 6) and the local agent will stand guard while we disperse to explore.

The ferry is comparatively empty on the way back – about a quarter full) so boarding does not take too long, and we are able to make up some of the lost time, departing at around 10:30

The plan for today is very similar to yesterday. After breakfast we drive up a different bit of mountain, and what Rob describes as “exciting” hair-pin bends to the start of another lake trail. This one does not seem to be quite so high, and is a lot less shady and windy, which makes for a very hot walk! We stop to look at birds – especially the Golden Eagle – butterflies and lizards, so only get part of the way to the lake before turning round and returning.

We drive back through the village at the start of the trail to a mill-pond for a roadside picnic in what little shade we can find. Gerald spots a Red Admiral butterfly as it flits past, settling further down the road. Both Trevor and I have shorter lenses on our cameras as we have been shooting the scenery, but Gerald encourages us – “It will probably let you get closer.” – However it deciders to fly as soon as I take the first step, so sorry, no photos.

Our bear watch tonight will be from different point – the car park at Llamardal, which is about half way between La Peral and where the bears actually were. It is a lot lower down, so Gerald decides we should climb the hill opposite, which is a bit of a scramble, with one tricky point involving a barbed wire fence, and a number of ant hills on the summit. Never the less we manage to set up and start scanning the hillside, which is quite a lot closer, sadly to little avail. Although we can see the Cats and Dog at the cattle farm, the only wild life we see are a few chamois and some birds (mostly Griffon Vulture and Chough). We return down the hill a bit earlier, to ensure we can see our footing, then continue to look from the car park until the light goes.

That evening Jerry announces he had promised Gerald a bottle of wine if he found us a Golden Eagle, and as he found two, he has bought two bottles of champagne. It is pointed out to him that we actually saw four – three adults and a juvenile, but he says he’s only counting the first two! We have previously gone over the checklist in the restaurant, but it is too noisy tonight, so we retreat to the hotel and find a lounge we didn’t know existed…

Having successfully seen the Bears we have the luxury of starting the day with an 8:30 breakfast – not only that, but rather than just toast and coffee, we have bacon, eggs and fruit (not necessarily at the same time). We head off at 10, driving further into the national park and up to a mountain from where we can take a gentle stroll down to a small lake, with the usual bird and butterfly spotting on the way. There are Griffon and Egyptian Vultures flying around the peaks, and a Buzzard flies quite close over head.

After the walk we drive back down the mountain a short way to a field with some old traditional shepherds’ summer houses (Teito) – dry stone walls and thatched roofs that the shepherds would use in the summer while tending their flocks in the high pastures. We have lunch here before returning to town.

In the evening we return to the same Bear Watching point as last night. There are far fewer people there when we arrive, and there seem to be fewer animals and birds about too, although we do eventually see both Red and Roe Deer. More Spanish Bear Watchers turn up – one of whom finally spots the Bears. It is the same two we saw last night, and in a similar position, although amongst the scree and bushes, so less easy to spot, particularly without the aid of telescopes, although I think everyone in our group does manage to seen them before the light goes and we return for dinner and bed.

Our last chance for wolves. A 7 AM start, and we head off once more for the Villardeciervos roadside site. The animal sightings start early when 2 Red Deer run across the road in front of the minibuses. It is a cloudy morning, so is still quite dark when we arrive, so we wait in the bus until it gets light enough to see into the valley.

The valley is clear of must, but also of animals. There are a few small birds about, but nothing we’ve not seen before, and nothing posing close to the path. We do see some canine shapes amongst some trees, but they are just dogs, probably from the farm that is in that direction. It starts to spit with the rain, which gets heavier until we retreat to the minibus – it soon passes, but we have no more luck when we return to the watch.

After breakfast and paying our bar tab, we load up the busses and head off for bear country. We take route 66 towards Leon, stopping for a coffee and a comfort break at a service station en route, before turning off to head for the mountains, and a picnic lunch besides a stream. It is an attractive spot and a short walk discovers a number of birds and butterflies.

Our base for the bear watch is the small town of Pola de Somedio, a picturesque setting surrounded by mountains. We settle in before heading out to look for bears at 6pm. Our watch site is at La Peral, a short walk up the hill from the car park, and there are a number of people already there when we arrive. We practice by spotting the Chamois, Cattle and Goats on the mountain opposite, and watch a large flock of Griffon vultures (or maybe a committee or even a vortex of Griffon vultures if you want the correct collective noun…) fly around the peaks.

Rob has just spotted a perched Short Toed Eagle when one of the watching Spaniards sees the Bears – Their location is soon passed around the rest of the watchers, and as they are on an open patch of grass, are soon found with both telescopes and binoculars. There are two Bears, which we are told are probably about three years old. We are able to follow them for about an hour, although they become harder to find with binoculars once they move into more broken or wooded terrain as they get lost behind trees and/or rocks.

Happy with our success we return for dinner. The hotel restaurant is actually in a separate building just around the corner from the accommodation.

A slightly later start of 7:00 now we know what time it actually gets light! It looks a nice clear morning form the hotel, and we set off towards Boya and the site of our Friday night viewing. As we drive along we can see there is a mist in the valley, which starts to burn off as the sun rises making a very attractive scene. Unfortunately a heavier layer of cloud rolls in behind us soon after, and by 8:00 we cant’s see the valley at all.

We wait for a while to see if it well clear, looking at small birds amongst the trees along the path (Spotted flycatcher, Chiffchaff), but it looks like it is here to stay, so we go back down to the Villardeciervos roadside site from yesterday morning. This is lower down and fog free – in fact it is very sunny. There are some Spanish wolf-watchers already here, but they have seen no Wolves, and little of anything else. There are a few Deer (both Red and Roe) but otherwise little of note, and we head back for Breakfast.

Lunch today is by the River Esla that we crossed on our way here – it is about an hours drive away, passing over an attractive stone arched bridge. While Rob and Gerald set up the picnic we go for a scramble up some rocks to get a commanding view of the valley and the bridge. There are Sand Martins and Crag Martins flying around, and a variety of butterflies too. Then as we are about to leave we see a Griffon Vulture soaring overhead and a Woodchat Shrike sitting in a tree by the side of the road.

We stop at the bridge on the way home, to look back at where we’ve just been, and see more Griffon Vultures, both Purple and Grey Heron. We can hear Kingfishers, and while we are looking for them we hear a squealing sound and a rustle in the undergrowth that turns out to be a pair of squabbling mink. It appears to be some sort of territorial dispute, with one of them sent packing…

I go for a short walk around the village of Villanueva del Valrojo when we return – a mixture of well maintained and tumbledown buildings before we all return to the roadside wolf watch site at Villardeciervos, where we ended up this morning. Sadly it seems devoid of mammals, although a couple of obliging birds (Stonechat, Spotted Flycatcher) do come and pose quite nicely close to the path for me.

At dinner tonight Maria gives everyone a free glass of what she describes as “Pineapple in Caramel”, that appears to be a very sweet Pineapple liqueur of some kind.

A 6:45 start (without Breakfast!) to look for wolves again. We go to a different spot this morning, just off the side of the road near Villardeciervos. It is not as muddy here, and we have a good panoramic view of the valley. There are some distant Wild Boar early on , then as it gets brighter some Red Deer make an appearance – including one stag who is quite close, but runs off as I reach for my camera (can you see a theme developing here…)

We return for breakfast of toast and coffee and a brief rest before driving out to a lakeside for lunch. As we have only just had breakfast we go for a short(ish) walk first, where we see lots of butterflies, a young lizard, a variety of birds and a helicopter!

After lunch we return again for a brief siesta before heading out for a third wolf-watching site at around 5:45. Another Hilltop view in a pine forest. The most noticeable creatures here are the horseflies which keep up a constant drone and distraction, though fortunately bites are few. Very little large mammal activity tonight, and not a huge amount of bird life either (a flycatcher turns up just as the flies give up for the night).

I noticed that the hotel bar has a dark beer – Mahou Negra – which I decide to try tonight. As he opens the bottle, the barman spots that it is not full, so he opens me another one. He then tries the first, declares it to be fine and gives me that one as well…

More excitement at bed time as Tim and Sheila’s lock has broken and they can’t get into their room. This is eventually remedied with much banging and a variety of (often improvised) tools.

Breakfast at 8 for a 9 AM departure to Wolf Country! We make a brief start mid morning for Rob and Gerald to buy the food for lunch, and for the rest of us to get a coffee (and make use of the facilities). I had discovered this morning that the bottle of insct repellent I brought with me was actually an empty bottle of insect repellent, so having spotted a pharmacy I manage to obtain some despite the pharmacists English being about as good as my Spanish!

We are heading for a nature reserve/bird hide by a lagoon for lunch, with a short detour to look for Great Bustards. We lose count of the number of Buzzards and Kestrel we see on the way! While looking for the Bustards we see both Marsh and Montague’s Harriers, then a distant group of Bustards, before spotting a closer group of around 8 birds. There is also a Short Toed Eagle soaring overhead. We see it (or another member of the same species) much closer while we are eating lunch. Of course it has moved away by the time we can swap food for cameras!

There is quite a variety of birds on the lagoon, but the water is a long way from the hide, so identifying them is only really possible through telescopes (The great egret is obviously an exception to this general rule!)

After lunch we head straight for the hotel, although our minibus is stopped for a random document search by the police. There is just time for a quick coffee at the hotel before we go out to look for wolves. The view point is up the side of a hill alongside a railway track near Boya, looking down into the valley. There are no Wolves in evidence, although we do see several Red Deer and a couple of groups of Wild Boar.

Back to the hotel for dinner, which is Hake, followed by a choice of desert. Gerald recommends the “local tart” to the general amusement of all. (You don’t need to go to Blackpool to enjoy the “McGill” postcard sense of humour!)

It is quite overcast when I first get up, with a strong headwind at the front of the boat, and it takes a while before we see anything. The early sightings are a variety of sea birds, generally small ones that I need someone else to identify for me – a mixture of shearwaters with some terns and skuas – although I am on safer grounds with the gannets (mostly juvenile, it seems). There are also a few common Dolphins early on, then there is a lull in activity, so I go for breakfast.

Predictability, when I return I have just missed some Pilot Whales. Fortunately we do get other sightings of these during the day, but I am never in a position to get a good view of them (When the whales are near the ship, it is not a bit of the ship I am near). I am luckier with the Fin Whales and the Cuvier’s Beaked Whales, both of which I get good views (and reasonable photos) of.

There are also some none sea birds, obviously migrating South early to beat the rush – including a pair of yellow wagtails and a turtle dove

We arrive on time in Santander where it’s a short drive to the Hotel Victoria (I have to admit Spain is not the first place I’d expect to find an “Avenue Queen Victoria”)* They have a set dinner menu – 4 courses + wine + coffee for 21 Euro. The food is delicious and attractively presented, so money well spent! They also have free WiFi – but even with the password I can’t connect to the Internet

*It is probably named for Queen Victoria Eugenie, wife of Alfonso XIII, who was a grand-daughter of our Queen Victoria, and grandmother to King Juan Carlos.

I get to New Street station in plenty of time, in fact if I hadn’t bought a “specified train only” ticket I could probably have just made the earlier one. As it is, I have to hang around in the foyer until the correct platform is displayed. The journey down South is smooth and incident free, and after spotting their “Naturetrek” labels, I meet up with two of the party, David and Pat, on the platform at Portsmouth. We share a taxi to the harbour, where we appear to be the first to arrive, although we are soon joined by one of our guides, Rob, with most of the others turning up not long after. There is a slight holdup as two of the party have run into problems with the train in Oxford, but they still manage to make it before we start boarding at 4pm.

The cabins are very well appointed and the ship is large and comfortable. As I set out to explore I bump into two more of the group, Brian and Trevor, so we join forces for a while to check out the sun decks and watch as we pull out of the harbour. As we are waiting to leave we hear the bagpipes from the Hebridean Cruise ship – if I was cruising the Hebrides, I don’t think I would start in Portsmouth!

We are to rendezvous on deck at 6:30 in the morning as first light is hoped to be a good time to see the whales as we cross the shelf – or at least that is the theory!