Paying the gift of the Camino forward - leaving Bertie and Ella for the volunteers to use

A graffiti sentence in a tunnel struck deep in us- 

The Camino is a gift, Pay it forward...

We have left Bertie and Ella for the Dutch and other volunteers to use in Santiago.  The enthusiastic volunteers come in for two week stints, welcome pilgrims arriving, help with information and whatever they can... There is always a cup of coffee, biscuits and a lovely chat waiting ...

This is our bit to paying it forward...the volunteers will use the bikes to get from their hotels/ albergues/ pensions to get to the pilgrims office and around the city...

Day 40 Finisterre, the end of the earth.. And the Camino... 0 km left..

Finisterre, the last Shell Post.. O km left.... The ritual is to find your own shell on the beach and as the sun sets, to wash away the old self, welcoming in the new self... Whatever way one does this journey it's  a life changing experience...

O km it says on the post...

We drive with Aldo and Sophia, Mexican couple, to the lighthouse at Finisterre where there is the traditional burning place for clothes...

I look at the ashes, someone has even burnt their boots, their rucksack and their glasses...!

Bronze boot on the rock next to the crucifix commemorating the pilgrims journey!

Lunch with Aldo and Sophia, glorious day here...Aldo sporting his new t- shirt..

The bay at Finisterre..

We go for a walk along the beach and it's siesta time for the fish, I promise... And also the seagulls... It's catchy, because Rob has also got into the habit!

A delicious sea food meal together..

And around 10 the sun sets, the sea is a silver lake..

Rob in his cycling wind jacket (he's impressed that it reflects so well at night...and the end of another lovely day...

Day 39 from Santiago to Finisterre the end of the world

We leave Ella and Bertie with the Peregrino office while we go to Finisterre.  We plan to leave them for other pilgrims  to use... More when we return to Sntiago..

We drive to the sea with a Mexican couple, Muxia..

Where there is a famous rock.  This is where the English oil ship ruined the coast line with its oil spill, and it took years to recover..we climb to the top.... Pretty scared scrambling up the last bIt...

Views from the top are amaZing...

A pilgrim left her shoes... And others burn their clothes as a ritual for the ending of their pilgrimage.  I would too if I had another change of clothing!

The lighthouse of Muxia..

Even next to the sea is a vegetable garden..

The crucifix if even at the top...

Then we drive to Finisterre, meaning end of the earth, where we will stay for 3 days! Yay! Not so long ago people thought they would fall off the earth here... This is the view from our Albergue...

Day 38 Santiago - the Botafumeiro and the Mass

The mass today - the Botafumeiro has been lowered and the incense lit- great puffs of smoke rise, which in Catholicism is a form of prayer.  It takes 6 men to swing the Botafumeiro using a careful system of pulleys..  The cathedral is one of the 3 most holy places of Christendom.  The church was begun in 9C , somewhere around 820 AD ..  A simple hermit saw stars in a field and when the field was investigated, a funeral monument was discovered with 3 bodies inside - the head of one of these had been cut off and the inscription read, Here lies James, son of Zebbeddee.  The apostle James after preaching in Spain had been beheaded by Herod in 44 AD and his disciples put his head and body in a ship going to Galicia.  Queen Luga in Galicia helped them bury  the saint.  She gave them bulls to pull a cart to a burial ground.  To the amazement of all, the bulls behaved like oxen completely tame and at one stage stopped and wouldn't move.  So the saint was buried here.  A simple church was built around this, and eventually the city of Santiago...

Here it is being lowered.. There is an air of anticipation and excitement..

The lighting...6 men in maroon and a number of priests in white..

It swings right up to the Gothic arches, and I cannot believe how high it is swings.. Will it touch the roof ?   But it doesn't... And after a few minutes settles and gently swings before it is caught and raised again...

We go to the Francescan Church to fet a Compostela celebrating 800 years since St Francis of Assissi was in ?Santiago having completed the Camino...a simple monk with no airs and graces.

We plan to be on the road again, riding to Finisrerrw, the end of the ?World... But will it rain ? 

Day 37 Santiago Compastelo

We have arrived- Santiago cathedral- the magnificence is overwhelming... And we attend a special mass ... And at the end the botafumeira is swung- I find the service very moving...

The botafumeira.. Spectacular and so much more to experience it..incredible organ and music..

This morning the ride was again through Forrest ..

And eucalyptus trees..

16.5 km to go...

A man working on his farm as we ride by..

Rob waiting for me... I dawdle in the Forrests reluctant to leave , knowing we will be hitting the hustle and bustle soon..

Cute cats watching ...

A different water fountain.

Capella church 

With beautiful Madonna inside..

This was in the last tunnel we passed through...

And the poem..

Entering the suburbs of Santiago..

We come into Santiago alongside the main road..

The city..

Some pilgrims we have met along the way...

And others..

Standing in the queue to get our compostellas...

The sky around 10 pm..