Day 2 Roncesvalles to Larrasoana

How  can I possibly follow yesterday's blog!! We said goodbye to Malcolm and he got a taxi back to SJPP, The Camino beckoned us at 0815,I am pleased to say we had no aches and pains from the rigours of yesterday , we said goodbye to Roncesvalles and came upon that blasted sign again.

We immediately started to walk through woodland and the terrain was flat for the first 3 miles which was a joy after all we had been through yesterday. We soon caught up with Ann who we met the previous evening,another Australian.I could not help but notice that the Japanese were out in force today.

The countryside was really stunning as we walked through farmyards and open fields.We heard what we thought was music in the distance as we came across this farm ,all the horses had bells around their necks and the sound was really beautiful, in fact I have never heard anything quite like it.

With all these animals about Jeremy was in his element, in fact today has a bit of an animal feel about it.Soon Richard and Sharon caught us up and we walked on as a band of five. As usual the banter was brilliant and we laughed as we strolled onto Aurizberri and beyond.

After about an hour I spotted Bizkarreta in the distance and put a spurt on so I could find us a bar and line some beers up for everyone,well of course I found one.I must say it was a much needed rest as we all were getting tired.

Half an hour later we passed through Lintzoain a tiny village and were greeted by this lovely dog sitting on a wall ,I suspect he  had witnessed countless tired and weary pilgrims passing through his farmyard

As we climbed out of Lintzoain we witnessed an amazing sight to our right and overhead ,there were a 100 or more Griffon vultures ,they were huge with a massive wingspan,I was getting a bit worried that they had noticed I had developed a slight limp and were eyeing me up as their next meal.

Up we climbed again through beautiful woods ,that had an enchanted feel about them.

Eventually we started to drop down into Zubiri,the going under foot was very tough with slippery rocks everywhere,we bumped into the American lads as we entered Zubiri in search of refreshment,I must be honest by this stage we had been walking for 5 hours and I was very tired indeed.

After a couple of beers food and some foot repairs we headed off  to our final destination Larrasoana

some 5 miles on ,up we climbed and we came across another furry friend that took a real shine to Jeremy,I have to say she was a really lovely donkey.

Well it has to end on a dramatic note to follow yesterday , a rumble of thunder bought torrential rain followed by more thunder,on came the wet weather gear.

By this time we were beginning to miss England, when a little (sorry big) bit of England came round the corner,we suddenly felt at home, he was a  Scouser hell  bent on making Pamplona by 7pm to watch the big match.We felt our prayers had been answered there is a god!!!

We watched him disappear into the murk, I could not help but think his wet weather gear was probably better than mine.We came across a beautiful village, sorry I do not know its name, we had one last photo call as Larrasoana  was 2km away and our fellow travellers  were walking  1km beyond where we are staying.

 

We arrived at Pension Tau  and are being looked after by our hostess the lovely Maria,this is a real home from home , we have had a lovely meal ,we have  decided to stay in tonight as we have got the place to ourselves and fancy an early night as we are exhausted.Tomorrow we set off at 8am for Pamplona and meet our Australian friends at their hotel at 0900am to continue our journey onto Santiago.

Another special day spent with lovely people,we have lost count how many times we have said Buen Camino to our fellow travellers as we pass them by.We have a nasty feeling it is going to rain all day tomorrow.

Statistics for today

Walked 17.30 miles

Walking time 6hrs 25 mins.

2.7 miles per hour.

456 miles to go.