It is still quite hot...

Well we reached Puente la Reina at midday today and are stopping at the Padres Reparadores albergue.  I am catching up on our activities for the last couple of days.  The hot weather is continuing, which is a bit trying.  Although probably better than rain!

Well back to yesterday (Thursday)…

The Melbourne chapter of the Confraternity of Saint James (a non-denominational association of former and current pilgrims, and others interested in the history and culture of Spain) meets for dinner on the last Friday of the month.  We went to the July and August dinners.  At the August dinner we met someone who was starting a couple of days after we did.  We met up with him and his New Zealand travelling companion from Christchurch (Paul) when we were having breakfast before leaving Cizur Menor.  They had already walked the 5 km from Pamplona!  In spite of good intentions, so far we are not very good at early starts!  Probably won’t see them again unless we skip forward by bus and catch up.

Cizur Menor is at about 480m altitude.  We walked to the top of the ridge, Alto de Perdon (790m) and back down to Uterga (approx. 500m).  Our bags were waiting for us when we got there and we enjoyed our private room.  We also thoroughly enjoyed our evening meal with fellow pilgrims – four Canadians and a German.

The Alto de Perdon marks the change from the Pamplona basin to a more Mediterranean climate.  The ridge is dominated by 40 windmills, which I found quite majestic.  (I will eventually work out how to reduce the file size so I can upload some photos!)  The descent from the ridge was quite steep and rocky – not unlike the descent into Zubiri, but I coped much better.  It was much easier with just a daypack.

We arrived at Puente la Reina at about midday today, having walked the approx 6.6 km with only a stop at Muruzabel for an orange juice. 

On a more personal note, Anna is not particularly charmed with the local insects, as they have taken a fancy to her right arm, which is currently covered in horrible large red welts.  I however, have also developed Anna’s “allergy to the sun” (as diagnosed by the pharmacist in Cizur Menor).  This place does not seem to like us!