Orreaga/Roncesvalles

So an Irishman, a Spaniard, two French men and a French woman take shelter in a rescue hut on the Camino on the trail over the Pyrenees. It’s not raining or snowing but the wind which was supposed to gust to around 50kph is now blowing constantly at around 85/90kph.

As they stand at the doorway and debate what to do, an Australian who is bent at ninety-degrees into the wind, and has his walking poles ‘lefty’ and ‘righty’ firmly planted in the ground, slowly appears into their field of view as he is blown backwards by the wind – this isn’t the first time it had happened today, and nor would it be the last. The Irishman and the Spaniard quickly race out and drag the Australian into the hut with them. Six people are now crammed into a small space and the Spaniard starts making jokes that only he can understand, and then laughing raucously at his isolated sense of humour. The Irishman tilts his head to one side, starts nodding, knits his brow, and asks the Australian: “are you OK?” One of the French guys who looks to be about 30+ pulls out some food from his pack and urges the Australian to take it. The Australian looks at the vacuum pack that is given to him and recognises it as having the same pureed contents that his Grandchildren are fond of. He accepts it gratefully and starts sucking. The Australian’s humiliation is complete.

Man, what a day. It started out with perfect weather and I was making good time until the winds started. I’d been enjoying the scenery and making contacts along the way but then nature conspired to put a spanner in the works. It resulted in me experiencing probably the hardest physical challenge that I’ve ever had to face. And another thing, while we’re on it. Just two years ago, I was the one asking others if they were OK. It happened to me three times today! I’m going to give it another few days before I decide whether this is a trend or an outlier but my confidence is shaky.

On the positive side, I made it through the hardest day on the Camino Frances (in my opinion), I saw free range horses with bells around their necks grazing and ignoring the weather, saw mares nursing their foals, I made some good friends that I hope to see more of along The Way, the Pilgrim’s meal tonight was simple but fabulous, and the accommodation here at Roncesvalles is really comfortable. Speaking of which, I overheard the Receptionist here, telling someone who was hoping against hope, that all the hotels and the huge alburgue (hostel) here at Roncesvalles are full. Made me feel good about having booked all my accomm ahead of time.

Tomorrow, I’m off to Akeretta and one of my favourite Camino stops. For those of you who have watched the original movie The Way, you’ll remember the courtyard dinner scene early in the movie where Michael Sheen starts arguing with everyone. Same hotel, and Joseph, the innkeeper, makes a fine beef stew.

From today’s Efren Gonzalez video, you can see that Efren’s and my experience on this leg were quite different.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm7q6uCulN8&amp…

Distance today: 27.7 kms
Total distance travelled so far: 27.7 kms

Buen CaminoRead more