What’s blacker than Burgos during a total blackout? Nothing. Within 10 minutes of returning to my room from dinner, the lights went out. A small emergency light flickered, dim light caste shadows in the foyer outside my room, but our power was gone. No TV, no chargers , no wifi , no nuthin’. As luck would have it, the entertainment began on the streets below. The well dressed Spaniards, moments earlier strolling along arm in arm enjoying the evening, went scurrying like rats to avoid being mugged, or worse, by some opportunist. That was enough to amuse me. That, and the sight across the street of the locals resuming their lives by candlelight , unaware of the bored Australian across the way, observing their equally dull lives through the prism of his own blacked out existence. ... read more

Where can you get an Australian adapter plug in Spain? In the Albergue in Atapuerca, 21kms back from Burgos, that’s where. Last night I left the hotel at A. at 9.45pm and casually unplugged my phone and iPad from the communal powerboard in the dorm. You know how sometimes you have those,” I must do that ...” moments but never follow through. Well I had one a few hours earlier and it went like,” I must tape those 2 sections of my adapter together to stop them coming apart”. I didn’t do it. Tomorrow I will search out the local ‘Chinese’ shops, ( the hotel receptionist’s description, not mine), and hopefully match it up. He pulled out a big bag of chargers left at the hotel and gave me a USB charger. The sticker on it ... read more

I never knew opening an envelope could be so liberating. During the night I came to a decision that my Camino was becoming a bit of a group venture. It started out as a private enterprise but I’ve let it slip. The village I was in was terrible and not worth a look around, and now I was booking a bag through, booking an albergue, and therefore making a commitment that I hadn’t been so keen on. I canceled the albergue at 5am, and after preparing 2 backpacks last night, one to send on, one to carry, I combined both and opened the forwarding envelope. It felt very empowering to take the €5 and put it back in my wallet. My group, who are all very nice people, left before breakfast, and I stayed on to ... read more

Early morning call for Mr. Sherry. If anyone is wondering what goes on on the Camino in the middle of the night, with strangers of all ages, nationalities, genders, and desires, I can only relate my experience. At 3.37am this morning I received a call from the aged care facility in Australia where my mother lives, to advise me of a slight change in her medications. There’s no need for permission, it was just to let me know. So, at that time in an albergue, there is about 20 exhausted people, all in close proximity, snoring and sleeping in the hope to be energetic enough to walk the route the next day. Then came the shrill noise from under my pillow. Drowsy and confused, I grabbed the phone from under my pillow, answered it, said nothing, ... read more

Today the impact of the 28°c heat was softened by a cool breeze that accompanied me all the way to Estella. It was a varied walk, combining steep hills, lovely villages, long slightly undulating paths and good company. I walked alone most of the time which I enjoyed immensely. I’m back to a good pace and catch up with known accomplices along the Way. It’s a good mix of time to think and time to chat. I spoke to two South African women at a pharmacy today and they were over it. Not quitting, but certainly never recommending the Camino as a good thing to do. I think that approach will change and they are still hurting from the first 2 days. They were there for blister patches, I was there for Cortisone cream. You can ... read more