Pagans on a Pilgrimage

Departure Day. We fly at 9pm.  Packing complete. Aim was 5kgs each - fail!. Kim 6.5kg, Daz 7kg. We are carrying our packs so every gram counts. Damn toiletries.  Checked our mailbox just before we left home. Our guidebook had arrived 4 weeks after ordering. We had given up hope. Arrived at airport 4.5 hours early. Airport empty. Check in wait 5 mins. No wait at customs. More time at bar airside. Winners. Flight appears to be on schedule, yay!

It's the night before we fly. Kim just got an SMS from the airline requesting we arrive 4hrs before departure for additional COVID checkin requirements. We only have carry on so hopefully that means more time in the bar airside rather than acting like sardines in a queue. Our destination is Bilbao, Spain. From Sydney we transit in Doha, then on to London. Stay the night before getting the 6am to Bilbao. We are doing the Camino del Norte, a 680km walk from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela. It is a Pilgrimage for Catholics. Apparently Saint James  is buried at the Santiago Cathedral.  We are not religious. We will be on the walk for 25 days, so not planning to walk every kilometer... if we like a village we'll stay a little longer, if there's a boring unscenic section like along a main road we'll get a bus. Why this walk? We first read The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho just after we met in 2002. The Camino has been on our bucket list ever since. Prep...limited. The last 4 we...