Days 7 & 8 – Onto the Camino del Norte

Bilbao Harbour to Castro Urdiales, 23Km

There were just a handful of foot passengers on the car ferry, as usual. Few people would travel to Spain by boat if they weren’t burdened with a car. Flying may appear quicker but the EU has just launched their new immigration system and there are long queues at airports while everyone registers their fingerprints and lots of people have missed their flights. However, the new system worked well this morning as I led the handful of foot passengers through immigration, scanned my fingers and was away in a minute.

The Camino del Norte is just a few kilometres away but I managed to slip on a mossy path, gash my knee and rip my trousers. I may convert them to shorts.

I clambered onto the Camino del Norte and struggled on towards the huge sandy beach at La Arena where I found a bar and ordered my first cafe con leche. I looked at the blood streaming down my leg (ok that’s a big exaggeration) and considered returning to the boat but soon the first pilgrims arrived and I remembered what it is like to be on the Camino.

I walked with a nice group including a man from London, another from Vancouver and a Dutch woman. The weather is fine. We walked along the beach, then the cliff top, followed by a bit of quiet road and finally an old railway line and tunnel into Castro Urdiales. I’m on my way.