Today was the easiest walking day so far. Temperature was cooler because of cloud, the path was under the shade of trees and there were no big hills. The path was mostly compacted clay. It makes a huge difference to your legs and feet depending on the surface.

The very worst is probably ankle deep mud and cow dung. But after that the surface from worst to best is: uneven cobblestones, rocky ground, concrete, asphalt, compacted clay or dirt. The last with a layer of dry leaves is absolutely the best. You can tell what the path has been like by the tenderness of your feet and the tightness of your leg muscles.

We crossed over a huge abandoned civil engineering project today. At first I thought it was a canal, then maybe a motorway. Turns out it was part of the high speed train network, abandoned in the 2008 financial crisis.

We didn’t see our adopted singing children today but did spy the blue stealth bus, lurking in a quiet farm lane.

We had some walking alongside a busy road but the vast majority was through woodland. A lot of eucalyptus again today. Several of the 134 Australian species were introduced here in 1865 for use in construction, for which it proved to be unsuitable. It is fast growing, has no natural controls, drives out local species, messes up the ground with its leaves, nuts and bark and is enormously consumptive of water. Today the only difference we have noticed is the Australians we meet are enormously consumptive of alcohol.

Today was our penultimate day, only 15km to Santiago. We are definitely looking forward to a rest. We have kept fit, healthy and strong but there is an accumulating background fatigue that is slowly wearing us out.

The secret to our camino has been Barbara’s ‘Revive and Restore miracle muscle balm’. She was first introduced to it at the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. It is anti-inflammatory, muscle building, tendon and ligament strengthening, circulation promoting and scar tissue reducing. It contains organic beeswax, organic hydrosol of manuka, arnica and calendula infused in almond oil, castor and rosehip oils, oils of black pepper, cajeput, elemi, eucalyptus, radiata, ginger, immortelle, lemongrass, nutmeg, peppermint, lavender and vetiver. The 21st century miracle needed to complete the Camino.

Saints are pretty big in Spain. I can only think of two towns in NZ named after saints: St Arnaud and St Bathans.

A brief biography of St Barbara: legendary virgin martyr, allegedly killed ca. 303. Her father imprisoned her in a tower to keep her from men’s eyes. When she became a Christian against her father’s wishes, he nearly killed her, then handed her over to a judge who condemned her to death. A lightning bolt killed her father. Barbara protects against sudden death and is the patroness of things that go boom: lightning, artillery, mines and explosives. Emblem :the tower.

A brief biography of St Paul: Roman, known as Saul before his conversion on the road to Damascus. With Barnabas, took the message of Christianity to gentiles all over the eastern Mediterranean. Missionary and writer. Beheaded in Rome. Emblems: sword and book.

Ipod theme song for the Camino :Louis Armstrong, When the Saints go marching in.

We are travelling in the footsteps
Of those who’ve been before
But we’ll all be reunited (but if we stand reunited)
On a new and sunlit shore (then a new world is in store)

Oh when the Saints go marching in
When the Saints go marching in
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When the Saints go marching in.

No mist today. The mist has gone away. This means instead of it staying cool until midday, it stays cool until about 8 am. A hot day. We are in for a shock when we get home.

A long day, 30km, over six river valleys. Climb up a hill, across a ridge and down a hill, cross a little river, climb up a hill, across a ridge etc. All day. Very nice country though. A lot of shade from the trees. There is a lot of eucalyptus which was introduced for paper pulp and lumber. It thrives here, but their forests are relatively sterile with little bird life. There were also woodlands of birch, willows, ash and oak shading a large variety of ferns. At the rivers many people took the opportunity to cool their feet. The rivers weren’t quite big enough for swimming.

Since coming over the mountains at O Cebreiro there have been far fewer wild flowers. No poppies! We so miss the poppies. They had kept us company all the way from Roncesvalles. Now it is just dandelions, daisies, thistles, etc. The usual stuff alongside a well used path. We haven’t seen sun flowers at all. Probably too early for them.

We walked with the same group of teenagers for a while. They had fresh tee shirts today and are still full of energy. They are so friendly and they like to sing. Barbara wants to teach them the words to “The ants go marching one by one, hoorah, hoorah,” It’s all a bit hard to explain and translate.

And still lurking in the background is the big blue bus. It is here at the hotel again tonight. The guide is a big guy with a pot belly but quite young. He likes to strut around as if he owns the Camino. Maybe he works in the off season at Oktoberfest.

Just two more stamps to get for our passports. Today, by paying a euro, we also got a blob of red wax with the impression of two feet stamped in it. We are now not sure if this was a good idea as it looks so different to all the other stamps. I also missed getting a photo of the wax being melted onto the passport. Oh well, I’m not going back.

Since we entered Galicia there have been white obelisks about a metre tall, with the distance to Santiago on them. Their location is completely random. Sometimes within fifty metres of each other and sometimes nothing for several kilometres. The distance given is down to a metre eg 143.864. The figure is never rounded off to five or ten. Weird or what!

Every little village church has a story or legend. This one was from the church of Santa Maria at Lobreiro, which we passed today:

A heavenly odour and, at night, a shining light emanated from a nearby fountain. Villagers dug up an image of the Virgin there and placed it on the altar of their church, but the next day could not find the image, for it had returned to the fountain. This happened for several days, until the villagers carved a tympanum for the church entrance and dedicated the church to her. At this point the image remained calmly on the altar. This Virgin, with the lovely smile of someone who has gotten what she wants, is still in the church. In the 1960s some villagers believed that she returned to the fountain every night to comb her hair.

Theme tune for today (not on the Ipod):

The ants go marching one by one
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The ants go marching one by one
Hoorah! Hoorah!
The little one stops to suck his thumb
And they all go marching down into the ground
To get out of the rain
Boom, boom, boom, boom!

There are now so many more people walking the Camino. I can understand how people who have walked hundreds of kilometres in quiet contemplation hate the last 100 kilometres.

As we left Potomarin we got mixed up in a large group of teenagers. They had so much energy and enthusiasm. Hopefully some of it rubbed off on us. The boys were playing pranks on the teachers but the teachers had thick walking sticks to deal with any nonsense.

After the kids had raced ahead we were behind a group of about twenty Spaniards. At their front was a very loud lady who at about every hundred metres waved her arms and yelled out what sounded like whamo, whamo, whamo. I thought if this goes on for six hours you’re the one who’s going to get a whamo, lady. They also stopped to take lots of group photos and when they get home will wonder who the strangers were who kept popping up in the back row.

Potomarin was an old village each side of a river in the bottom of a valley. In 1956 they decided to build a dam for hydro electric power. The church and some other historic buildings were dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt on higher ground. Then a new town was built around them. The old town was then drowned.

Mist again this morning. This seems to be the pattern since we have crossed the mountains and entered Galicia. It makes for very pleasant walking. Today is our tenth day in a row of walking. Our previous longest had been nine days between rest days. We have three more days to Santiago.

Barbara has named a new species of pilgrim: coconut ice pilgrims.  As we are moving east to west, the sun is always behind us. For those who have come from winter, or who just don’t like the sun, the backs of their legs are sunburnt and the fronts still white. Hence coconut ice.

We are being stalked by the big blue bus we first saw yesterday. It was at our hotel last night and was at two cafes today. It is at our hotel tonight. They are a group of about fifteen with a guide and seem to do a bit of walking each day. They are dressed like they are going shopping at the mall. They travel very light, maybe carrying just a drink bottle. At dinner they sit at a big table and have a briefing from the guide. Unfortunately we can’t understand a word.

We have to get two stamps per day now, so we stopped at a tiny church to get one of them. There was a priest stamping the passports. He was talking flat out in Spanish the whole time. We didn’t realise at first but he was blind. I got an upside down stamp in my passport and Barbara got a stamp on the back of her hand. All the females got a stamp on their body, maybe he wasn’t quite so blind.

One of the most interesting things we saw today were the remains of a Celtic Fort, Castromaior. It was only about 50 metres off the Camino path but we were the only ones there. The sign and information board were slightly off the path and I think everyone else missed it in the morning mist. The fort was occupied up until about 1 AD. It has been partly reconstructed but the houses, streets, walls etc are all there to see.

Ipod theme tune for today: Cliff Richard, Travelling Light.

I got no bags or baggage to slow me down
I’m travelling so fast my feet don’t touch the ground
Travelling light, travelling light
I just can’t wait to be with my baby tonight.

Today we started a new camino.

Our old friendly camino is finished, gone, just a memory. Today we walked alone, strangers among over 500. Where are all the familiar faces?

Tom and Eileen we haven’t seen for two weeks, Roger and Bryony for ten days, Victoria and Craig for a week, Janie for a few days, Trish finished in Sarria. Helen, Carolyn, John, Alison, Vee, Jackie and Peter all have a rest day in Sarria and we won’t see them until Santiago. The path and the cafes are full of people and they are all strangers.

The path was very crowded for the first hour with groups of eager, chatty, even singing pilgrims. We decided there are some tell tale signs to distinguish the newbies from the seasoned :

Their John Brierley guide books are clean and tidy. Ours are tatty, ripped, dog eared and held together with tape.

They smell like they have come from a perfumery, we smell like we slept in a barn.

Their shoes are pristine, not a speck of cow dung, ours are muddy, scruffy, half worn out and reek of something dead and rotting.

They wear white tee shirts that are spotless and still have the fold creases in them, ours are raggy, shapeless, stained, soon to be binned.

They are well groomed and have neat hair, we are in desperate need of a haircut.

They don’t limp, they haven’t suffered. Yet!

They walk too fast, they haven’t settled into the Camino shuffle.

Their outfits are all matchy and colour co-ordinated. Don’t they know your least dirty top goes perfectly well with your least dirty pants.

Their legs are a uniform colour, not deeply tanned on the back and pearly white on the front.

They twirl their walking poles like cheerleaders ‘ batons. They don’t wearily lean on them dragging their feet.

They are noisy and talk, talk, talk. They will learn that after 30 days everything you could possibly want to say to your partner has already been said – many times.

John Brierley, whose knowledge and wisdom of the Camino is second only to God, has warned us :

“Note for seasoned pilgrims: beware of signs of irritation at the intrusion on ‘my’ camino – remember that many of the new arrivals may be nervous starting out and the last thing they need is aloofness built on a false sense of superiority. A loving pilgrim welcomes all they meet along the path with an open mind and an open heart… without judgement”.

I must go within myself and find some humility and piety. It will be buried very, very deep and may take some time to find. I remember our first day. We were so excited, nervous, hyped up, keen to get going. To see this again in others is lovely.

But they are carrying so little. Not even a day pack. And there is a huge blue coach parked in a farm lane. It has just done a 27 point turn in a tiny farm yard.

We walked and talked with two irish girls, they were about 18 or 19. They were very friendly and excited and had just started today. They asked where we started and couldn’t believe this was our thirtieth day. I nearly said when we started we were just as young looking as they are, but I didn’t want to scare them.

Two other changes on the Camino. The kitsch level has gone up about ten fold. Shops selling all the rubbish you can imagine. There was a little of this before but now at times it is in your face and you almost have to step over it to go on your way.

The other is the prices seem to be increasing. There is a buck to be made and that’s okay. The Camino is a wonderful experience and we are happy to support the Spanish economy.

The new pilgrims today would have had a wonderful introduction. Gently rolling hills slowly climbing until a drop into a river valley. A patchwork of green fields, narrow lanes between stone fences or rows of brambles. The smells and deposits of the dairy industry. Heh, heh, those pristine shoes didn’t last long!

Ipod theme tune for today: Old Friends/bookends by Paul Simon

Old friends
Old friends
Sat on the park bench like bookends
A newspaper blowin through grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes
Of the old friends.

Entering a city never seems to be quite right. It feels much more natural to be walking in the countryside and stopping in villages. Sarria is a town of 13,000 and is a major starting point for pilgrims with a limited amount of time. It is just outside the required 100km minimum distance for those wanting a Compostela. We expect to see a big increase in the number of pilgrims from tomorrow, all fresh and eager, and no doubt a lot faster than we old hands.

Sarria signifies a change in attitude for us. Until now we have not thought about getting to Santiago. The distance to go was so beyond comprehension we did not do a tally each day of kilometres done and kilometres to go. From Sarria it is about 110 km to Santiago. This is the same distance as Raumati South to Wellington and return, which we have done twice. So we can now get our heads around the distance to Santiago.

Now we have to get two stamps per day in our passports, signed and dated in order to qualify for a Compostela. All the previous stamps count for nothing.

For the first time we arrived at our hotel before our maletas (suitcases). It is always very reassuring to walk into reception and there at the counter, patiently waiting for us, are our maletas. They are not guaranteed to be delivered before 4.30pm. There are many stories of bags going missing, being delivered to the wrong hotel or just not being picked up. It must be a heck of an operation each day delivering hundreds of bags to dozens of hotels in dozens of towns. Ours arrived a couple of hours after us.

Another magic morning, we again set off in mist but it quickly lifted. The shortest route was also the more scenic for a change, going through many farms. Lots of cows in this area and the paths which are also sometimes mini streams are awash with cow shit. Not that many cafes today but just enough for a short day. We didn’t feel like stopping to eat as the farm smell was so strong. It wasn’t a fresh cow pat smell but a very potent fermented cow pat smell. Something to do with the farm animals being kept in barns and not feeding on grass.

Ipod theme song: Roy Rogers, Get along little dogies.

Whoopee ti yi yo, get along little dogies
Its your misfortune and none of my own
Whoopee ti yi yo, get along little dogies
You know that Wyoming will be your new home