A reasonable night's sleep in sturdier bunks. It was Anne's birthday and the hostel gave her a slice of gateau basque with a candle at breakfast and the pilgrim brotherhood sang happy birthday! She liked her buff!

The sunrise was quite stunning over the mountains. Anne suffered bladder problems before we left (no connection with being 63!) and once this was sorted we hit the road at about 8 am. It was a long struggle uphill and our poles were beginning to prove they were worth the extra hold baggage charge! The scenery on the way up was stunning and it was a beautiful day. After about 2 hours we came across a van selling drinks and much to our excitement Bananas!! We flopped down, socks off and enjoyed our elevenses even though it wasn't 11! We stopped for lunch just off the track and Fiona found a novel way to dry Bridget Jones' style knickers by stretching them over her backpack! Not an attractive look and not to be attempted if you are looking for love on the Camino! We reached the top at 1.15. There was a free wi-Fi spot so we all got excited again (too much excitement on one day!).

We decided to take the shorter harder route down. It was covered in loose stones, slippery and steep. We were joined by Piet from Amsterdam who shared his quite remarkable story. When Piet was first teaching in Amsterdam he lived in a block of flats where a young Croatian boy and his mother lived. The boy spoke no Dutch and was struggling at school. Piet offered to teach him Dutch, free of charge, and did so for 2 years until the boy's Dutch was a good standard. The boy was a diligent pupil and fast to learn. when Piet stopped teaching him the boy's mother, who was very grateful, said to Piet if you ever want any one thing from my son you will have it free of charge. He thanked her but said he couldn't think he would ever need anything from the boy. 3 years ago he was diagnosed with Cancer. His doctor said if he could afford it he should see the leading specialist in Holland. He googled him and found it was the boy he had taught Dutch to all those years ago. He was treated at no cost and cured. They are now firm friends!

Eventually we arrived in Roncesvalles and saw the huge ex monastery, now an Albergue for pilgrims. It was a big place! Clean and modern and we all had our little cubicles of 4 people. Dinner was included and served by a miserable waitress but we didn't care! Cava was only 14 euros a bottle and we could afford to have a few glasses to celebrate Anne's birthday. The food was pretty basic and a bit 'boil in the bolsa!' Snoring bearable in our corridor but roncadores were rife in the corridor next door!