I think every pilgrim at one stage or another has thought how great it would be to just stop in a small, quaint Spanish village, buy a small, cute house and simply dissappear for a while. I know the thought has crossed my mind more than once. Interestingly, we met a couple who had done exactly so. An ex editor for a large magazine in London, and a journalist from the States. And they were now living in a very small village, population 18, with chooks, cats and a dog which had also been a former pilgrim himself. Well actually he was initially a hunting dog, but was apparently hopeless and so decided to join some Australian pilgrims. He walked about 500km with these 2 pilgrims and then decided he would live with this couple. And they live happily every after.

The Spanish dogs are definitely different from the New Zealand dogs. They are especially cute, even the ones that look half dead and you worry that after patting them you have fleas climbing up your arms. Just the other day, a very large black dog called Anu, who belonged to the albergue we had stayed in that night, followed an old french women all day long, stopping every time she stopped. The women was having trouble with her feet and you couldn´t help but think that this dog was traveling with her to protect and support her along the way.

It is funny, things on the Camino just seem kind of magical. With the backdrop which is so enchanting and looks like something from a fairytale, you really feel like you are part of something quite unique and powerful. You hear so many stories from other pilgrims about things which they have experienced throughout the way. Some of these stories are significant and you really think that they cannot just be coincidences. I think that on the Camino people are a lot more open to believing that these are signs and have greater meaning. Perhaps there are just as many signs and “miracles” in everyday life, we just don´t stop, “listen” and pay attention.

One of my favourite stories from the Camino is of The Free Green Bike. Rebekah, an Australian friend of ours, was running out of time to complete the Camino, so decided she would call upon the universe to manifest herself a bike. Specifically a green bike. Bec had talked about this for a few days, and walking through a small village saw a green bike outside this church. Approaching the old lady nearby, she enquired whose bike it was. The old lady thought she was trying to steal it and chased her down the street yelling at her. So much for Camino magic!

Despondent, Rebekah carried on walking with us when we stopped for coffee at a small bar (which we do a few times a day). There we got chatting to a german man, who told us he was giving up on cycling the Camino so he could get some experience of the walk we all were doing. Nervously Rebekah enquired as to the colour of his bike. GREEN he stated. And there it was, Rebekah´s bike had come to her, and the mysterious ways of the Camino lived on.

I cannot really claim that I have had any magical moments as of yet. The closest would be that I have continued to have extremely good luck and a group of French and German pilgrims believe that I bring the sun where ever I go. And amazingly this is true. I have said along the way that I have never walked in the rain, and whenever I have walked there has been no rain. Don´t get me wrong, there has been rain on this trip, it just so seems that whenever I walk it stops. Pretty cool

Aside from being deep and philosophical we just have a lot of fun, whether it is climbing to the top of giant haystacks, 20 metres high and dancing and singing at the top of our lungs, to getting a fantastically great foot massage by a classic Italian guy who constantly yells ¨”maaaamaa miiaa”, getting chased by wild hogs when embarking on a 4am walk under the stars, to giving in to our slightly competitive sides and racing another group of friends who we called “The Click”. There are so many laughs along the way!

I am keeping a journal on this trip and I thought I might finish this blog with a section from it.

We are staying in a very small town tonight, Marajun, the highest village of the Camino. All that remains in this town are ruins if a former village. Now there are just piles of rocks lying beside the road.

Thomas´s son, Fernando, is making dinner. He says he was “surviving” in Madrid until he moved back home to live 2 years ago. In the guide books it talks about Thomas, and his unique albergue - a remote hamlet home “is a throwback to what albergues must have been like in earlier times. What the albergue lacks in basic amenities, such as beds, privacy and cleanliness, it more than makes up for character and personality…”

We are now in the Galicia region - and 90km from Santiago. Having now walked 780km I am extremely excited as it is the culmination of a lot of planning, and on average a 32km walk a day, which has often been a little tough going. We have also decided to walk the additional 93km to Finisterre on the coast of Spain… which the Spanish believed was the edge of the world, and where monsters be. Exciting prospect! Here it is tradition to burn your shoes and interestingly and discustingly in the old days this was done because the pilgrims would have not washed their clothes the whole trip, so they really needed to be burnt(!)

PS: Oh and mum, don´t be angry, but I have to tell you something… I sent my Aisics walking shoes to Santiago… 3 weeks ago! I would like to add, that it was a decision I did not take lightly - I actually took it very seriously. I contemplated it for almost 12 hours. My Keen sandles were just so much more friendly to my feet. Whilst Jacqui went on to get a bublle toe, which threatened to take over her whole foot and then the world, my feet continued to happily hang out together. Happy happy joy joy!