Day 2 - Orisson to Burguete (23 km)

Hola from Spain

Another glorious day. The remaining ascent over The Pyrenees was relatively easy and the scenery stunning. The descent through the woods was steep so slowly, slowly keen to avoid a fall but walking through the forest was cool and tranquil ... so why hurry? Only my second day and already I feel time is slowing down. My timetable is becoming less important as I struggle to find a reason to rush through. No doubt there will be plenty of stages less picturesque that I may want to pass through quickly but, for now, I'm taking my time.

I arrived at Roncesvalles, the usual first pilgrim stop in Spain, but continued on for another 3km to Burguete as I'd read it was a more beautiful village ... And so it is. No albergues or refugios here but a few charming hotels. I'm in a delightful room in Hotel Burguete where Hemingway stayed in his visits to Pamplona and surrounds. I'm happy to have a beautiful room to myself. Last night at the Albergue Orisson was great but not much sleep after 4am. Once woken by two of my room mates who could take snoring to competition level, I did not have any luck getting back to sleep.

Apart from the wonderful scenery, another observation is that I am yet to meet an Australian in The Camino. No doubt I will but so far mostly Europeans and Americans. Having said that I spent much of the morning walking with Patrick, an architect from Wales. His wife is Australian - from Northbridge, just down the road from Crows Nest. When they first married they spent some time living in Sydney, in Waverton - down the road in the other direction! And - this is amazing, Peter and Pam - the daughter of the family who run Lake Barrine cafe up on The Tableland is his wife's best friend. He told of ringing them the night of the cyclone early in the year to make sure they were safe. To think we were there for breakfast just a few months ago when Rosanne and I visited.

Before I sign off for today a word about the technology. Sorry if you have emailed me and not received a reply. I seem to be able to receive but not send. Won't be able to buy a Spanish sim card until Pamplona though, Rosanne, that Orange France one you gave me still picking up 3G so maybe it will keep working in Spain! But sending emails still quite random.

And hi Pat at chez Max and Zoe. Thank you for your lovely email. Tried to reply from public Internet at Roncesvalles earlier today but no idea if it went. Can you email or text to let me know if you received it? If you did, apologies if it appeared that, in immersing myself in local culture, English has become my second language. In my defence, I'm all for individuality and cultural diversity, but I think there's a lot to be said for an international uniform standard when it comes to keyboards.

Buenos tardes. Adios ... for now. J x