Fate

We spent last night in Estella. It´s funny how fate shows her hand when you arrive at each hostal. Your arrival time determines who your room mates are and where your bed is in the room. Middle aged men are to be avoided for their snoring and a bed near ventilation is also bueno. last night we had 4 bunks near the toilet in our dorm - an ideal position you would expect for our middle aged bladders which can barely last the night at home ! however these toilets were designed by an aircraft engineer ! The flush was instant and high powered and sounded like an aircraft on liftoff ! Just what you needed at 5am when the earlybirds were taking off !
I must say our earplugs were tightly wedged this morning ! Our other equipment which is proving invaluable are our walking poles. 99% of walkers have them and they are a great help both going up and down hills.

Last night we also met the Aussie "Grand Dowager" of camino walkers. We found out this morning that she had walked the camino 6 times as she tore strips off some early risers who were inconsiderate enough to shine their torches into her bunk ! I must agree that most walkers show a decided lack of consideration for others when they arise early in the morning ! They don´t seem to consider that others may want to sleep a little longer....

Usually we walk in a tight little family unit - a little "pelaton" - with the lead changing at regular intervals. However today after morning tea there was a dramatic change to our walking structure !
Kathleen was brassed off at the slow service at the bar and when our overpriced bread and hashbrown arrived with a cold hashbrown she was disgusted ! Accordingly when we set out again she powered ahead splitting open the pelaton with a commanding 50m lead ! This lead was momentarily relinquished when she stopped to take a photo but then she was off again at breakneck speed. However this time Rick went with her and sat in her slipstream until she slowed to chat with an ex-Notre Dame graduate who was going to be teaching theology this year.