I was really excited to cross the border into Navarra and return to the home of the Basque people where I`d spent my 2004/2005 high school exchange. Euskal Herria comprises of the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Navarra and the Basque Country, plus three regions on the French side. Immediately we started seeing road signs and restaurant menus in Basque as well as Spanish; and the political graffiti increased the deeper we got into the Basque region.


The hills started getting greener as we got closer to the coast. On our way to Pamplona we crossed the Camino de Santiago route and followed near to it for about 20km. We were astounded by the  number of people trekking and cafes in the small towns were full of pilgrims.

Public art in Ochagavia

Camino pilgrims stock up on coke and ice-cream on a 30 degree day

Entering Pamplona was a bit of a shock to the system as we hadn't been in a busy city for over two weeks. We settled into a dorm room and met up with fellow Oamaruvian Jeremy Smit for a beer. The town was ramping up for San Fermins which was starting in a month; it was a far cry from the dark and quiet town I visited in the middle of winter in 2004. After leaving Pamplona the next day we had a couple of shorter days before arriving at my host family's place in the heart of the Basque Country.

Arruazu where I spent Christmas 2004

Sarah spotted some pig (her favourite animal) inspired street art

We arrived in Legazpi after a wet day of cycling interspersed with coffee breaks to escape the worst of the rain. My host father, Joxe-mari, welcomed us and we had a great dinner with him and Isabel, and my host sister Maddi, her husband Xabi, and their son Markel.

Maddi and Markel

The next day we went for a look at Isabel and Joxe-mari's hobby farm before heading to their 'food club' for lunch. These clubs are a Basque institution where friends and family get together to cook and eat in a communal kitchen. They have been credited with renewing interest in traditional Basque cuisine and helping the region become the world class gastronomic destination it is now. We were treated to cured hams, seafood paella, steak, and Basque cider.

Txispi at the farm

Me, Txispi and Joxe-mari

Paella

Staples - cider and ham

There was an annual fiesta on in one of Legazpi's neighbourhood that night. After dinner and a few beers in town with Maddi, Xabi and a few of my classmates from my exchange, we headed up the hill to check it out. Dodging hoards of 10 year olds with cherry bombs we went on a bit of a pub crawl through the neighbourhood until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday was filled with more good food and drink as we spent time with my host family.

Dinner with Maitane, Maddi and Ane

Dessert at my host Auntie`s place

Go-karting competition as part of the fiestas

We can`t thank the Alkortas enough for their hospitality and it`s amazing knowing we have this home on the other side of the world. After saying our goodbyes we headed off towards the Basque coast and San Sebastian/Donosti.
We'd booked into a hotel for a couple of nights for Sarah's birthday and also because she had a job interview via Skype and wanted reliable internet. There was also a fair bit of rain forecast. We got up early so Sarah could start her interview at 6am (what a way to start your birthday!) and I left her alone to go out to try and take some sunrise photos. Overcast and rainy weather thwarted those plans but I managed to stay away from the hotel room until Sarah was finished.

Early morning in the Plaza de la Constitución

Anyone who has been to San Sebastian will know that the famous pintxos bars can be a little intimidating for non-Spanish speakers; so we decided to take a 'pintxos tasting tour'. We spent a great three hours sampling some amazing food and drink and learning about pintxos culture - how to do it like the locals. Our group consisted of four Irish, two Aussies and us, so we all got on well and went for a drink after the tour.

Typical San Sebastian pintxos bar complete with cured hams hanging from the roof

We rounded out Sarah's birthday with a siesta and then a few more pintxos in San Sebastian's old town. The next morning it was still raining be we loaded up our bikes and set our sights for the French part of the Basque Country.

  -  David

After almost a week of 65-75km days in hilly terrain we were looking forward to a few shorter (sub-50km) days we had planned. The morning we crossed into Aragon was very cold but a hill climb up to a pass at 1380m warmed us up quickly.


We arrived in the pretty mountain town of Campo in time for lunch and headed to a restaurant for the 'Menu del Dia'. The three courses were great value at 12 euro per person including a beer/wine - Sarah had fish and a salad and I had huevos rotos (Spanish style 'broken' eggs) and rabbit. We checked into a hostal for the evening as there didn't seem to be any campgrounds around, and spent a lazy afternoon catching up on photos etc.

Campo

The next day was even shorter so we had a sleep in and then headed over the hill to Ainsa - another pretty mountain town (northern Aragon is full of them!). The campsite was a little way out of town so after a shower and a beer in the camp bar we biked the 3-4 km to see the stone houses and narrow streets of the medieval old town.

Ainsa

La Peña Montañesa (2295m)

We were excited about the next day as we had read about the quiet roads and impressive canyons through the Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido, although there was also a little apprehension about the 2100m of climbing. It turned out there was so much impressive scenery that the hill climb didn't feel too bad, however it was pretty disappointing to make it to the top of the pass & find out the cafe had sold out of ice-cream! We settled for a cold coke and a chat with a Spaniard who had just spent a year working and climbing NZ.

It's hard to get a sense of the scale of this canyon until you spot the little speck of Sarah on the left

Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido

Traffic jam

We decided it was time for a rest day and so booked into a hostal for two nights when we arrived in Jaca the next afternoon. Jaca was the biggest town we'd been through in a while and is a base for hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter. We spent a great day there relaxing, visiting the fort, and exploring the town before a tapas dinner.

A long tunnel (bicycles allowed this time!)

Wild flowers at the citadel in Jaca

Churros con chocolate

The following two days were on quiet mountain backroads. The scenery was stunning; varying from wheat fields to snowy mountains, huge canyons to green valleys. At one stage I heard a squeal from Sarah as a 1m+ long snake crossed the road just in front of her. We had seen heaps of road kill snakes on the side of the road but this was the biggest we had seen and it was very alive!

We crossed this medieval bridge when leaving Jaca

Poppies!

Memorial to a Basque climber who had died in the mountains

Lunch spot at the top of the canyon

  -  David

We caught a train from Barcelona to Figueres which would be the starting point for our trip through the Spanish Pyrenees. We planned to cycle through the foothills of the mountains all the way to the Basque Country where we would visit David's host family, the Alkortas. Figueres is the birthplace of famous surrealist Salvador Dali and there is a museum there devoted to him (he is actually buried in a crypt there). This was a fascinating way to spend an afternoon off the bikes and absorb a bit of culture.

Yes, those statues are holding baguettes

Cycling through the Pyrenees was going to be a change of pace for us. We had got comfortable cycling up to ninety kilometres some days, however this had been on mostly flat terrain. Our legs were relatively untested on hills, let alone almost two weeks of big hills in a row. We set off well-rested and soon found the awesome views were a welcome antidote to the ache of those uphill slogs.

Besalú

Coffee time

Castellfolitt de la Roca

One of the lord's beautiful creatures

Looking back to Sant Llorenç de Morunys

One of about five attempts... maybe we should rethink our stance on selfie sticks

Cambrills and our campsite in the distance

Second pass of the day can be seen in the top left of this picture

Thankfully the grade was 5% rather than 15!