14th April 2024 Off to Orisson

I woke up early with a nervous belly about 0330H and hydrated well over the next few hours until Steve woke up. We finalised our bags, dressed and headed downstairs for coffee and while there met Mark and Ruth from the UK who now live in the Tambourine Mountains in QLD. We could have stopped and chatted for ages as they were lovely. We are only going to Orisson but their travel agent has them going to Roncesvalles -  they looked reasonably fit so I am sure they will be fine. We ended up leaving after them as adrenaline made another bathroom break necessary.

While waiting for Steve I spoke with Christine, the owner of the hotel who had been very helpful in the months since booking our room. She told me her parents and her grandparents had also owned it. The hotel is 350 years old. I told her about the photo in the prison/museum and asked if she knew what had happened to the archways above the windows. Apparently before her grandparents bought the hotel the precious owner had taken them off. The grandparents wanted to add a floor and put the window arches back on but the council wouldn’t let them so it remains the same.  She didn’t know there was a photo in the prison/museum so she said she would go and have a look.

We said our goodbyes and headed up to Rue de la Citadelle for the official exit by the Porte d'Espagne and started off up the hill. We stopped and said hi to some horses and sheep along the way and continued our way ever upwards. It was leapfrog with people the entire way with stops for photographs or for just catching our breath. The views were spectacular and seemingly each better than the last time I was here.

We met Terry Ogilvie and her husband, Martin, from Victoria, BC. They knew Squamish very well and while stopping for a coffee break in Hunto I checked my phone as there was coverage and FaceBook memories came up... talk about a coincidence - a memory from 17 years ago was when we were in Squamish. How amazing! Terry is part of a large Camino group in Victoria, BC and showed us a trick of how to use our WhatsApp to scan someone’s WhatsApp Q-code and then be able to get into contact again. 

Terry had noticed me taking photos and suggested that I send her through some photos as she was too old and too tired to stop and take photos herself.  I sent through some from the walk so far.

They are staying at the next gite/albergue about 800m up the hill but we all stopped at Orisson to have a drink and a chat for about an hour. It was funny really as we were just saying the refuge should be very close and I remember coming around a corner and it magically appeared. I went inside to check in while they all chatted and found out they had a cancellation of a private room for the night and they offered it to us as we had asked to be notified if that happened. The Camino has provided again!

I went back outside and we all watched about 50 Griffon Vultures circling and riding the thermals and it was quite fascinating to see. I remember only seeing one or two last time which made this even more impressive. A text message advised our bags would be here around 2pm and they were right on time. We headed off to the room to check the weather for tomorrow as we are shipping the bags again tomorrow and it looks like we will need our wet weather gear so that has been left out.

Down for the communal dinner that was a lot of fun (as I remembered).  We sat at a table for six with Rob from the Netherlands, Jason from Scotland and two German ladies who spoke very little English but are good friends travelling together.  Unfortunately it was very difficult to communicate so they spent most of the time talking to each other.

Rob and Jason were very good company and we had a lot of fun together.  We contacted via WhatsApp with Jason.

The dinner was a lot of fun – the food was simple but good.  Soup to start that had roasted capsicum in it then a delicious bean casserole (probably not a good thing to serve in a dormitory situation but we had our own room so that was ok) served with local roasted lamb with a bottle of vin rouge to share and a piece of Basque cake to finish.

The traditional introductions were done – started by a rowdy group of 10 friends from Ireland who are only on the Camino for four days so they were eating and drinking like time was running out.  Going around the room there were people from Ireland, Argentina, Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago, USA, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Netherlands, Scotland and England.  After introducing themselves they all stated their reasons for walking and there were some that brought a tear to our eyes – husbands or wives that had died but it had been their dream to do the Camino so their spouse was doing it for/with them, people (like Connie from Oregon) who was finding herself and trying to be something other than a wife, mother and friend, a couple of young girls who had just finished College/University and didn’t know what to do next, a young (25-ish) girl who had just resigned from a job and is trying to work out what next for her – walking with her father.  So many stories and a really interesting part of the night.

We stayed for a short while and it turned out the two German ladies are staying at the same place as us in Roncesvalles so I am sure we will see them again – either on the track or at the hotel.

On our way out to try to take some sunset photos I noticed Connie standing alone away from the refuge and introduced myself.  I explained I did the same thing in 2018 – I also felt a bit lost and needed to find who I was – not just someone’s wife, mother, sister, friend, work mate, confidante etc.  It is not that we don’t love those roles, it just feels like there must be more than that.  I also told her about what to expect as far as thoughts coming to mind and how I had seen many broken people on the side of the road who were trying to deal with issues from their past.  Connie is also on her first overseas trip and was excited but full of trepidation.  I think she appreciated our chat as she gave me a huge hug and thanked me.  I wished her a wonderful journey.

Back to the room to finalise tomorrow’s backpack contents as we are once again shipping our packs to Roncesvalles.

In bed by about 2130H but sleep didn’t come easily as tomorrow will be a big day and, while Steve’s knee has been really good, I worry that all the up and downs will set it off again.