Ooops and downs.

The spectacular cathedral in Pamplona was well worth a visit - the large cloisters quadrangle in particular with its air of serenity whilst the main building was a remarkable tribute to the skills of  workers from a previous age.
Another bygone relic has seen new life in the form of a disused railway line now seeing a role as a cycle track - the Plazaola - that runs north to the coast. It includes a number of tunnels - lit in theory but not practice and at the darkest apex of a curved one I collided head on, unexpectedly and dramatically with a Spanish rider. We were both dazed, winded and a little bruised and bloodied but it could have been far worse as we were both travelling at speed. Returning to the van I made use of the torch app on my phone to prevent a similar occurence and of course saw nobody! The longest tunnel was almost 2 miles, pitch black and as straight as an arrow - it reminded me of the long, dark and unnerving ride under the Himalaya to reach Kashmir I had undertaken in 1986 - is that really more than a quarter of a century ago?
The north coast heading west to Bilbao was sublime - unspoilt Mutriku had a new sea wall against which large waves reverberated dramatically - their noise cleverly enhanced by vanes incorporated in to the structure. Later I walked in some awe around the Guggenheim Gallery in Bilbao whose exterior and interior were inspiring although I confess much of the high art content went way above me although a clever display of LED messages was mind boggling
As I left town I detected a gear linkage fault evident in the availability of only 3rd and 5th gears : not good in evening rush hour in a hilly city. I limped to a quieter area and inspected the situation using a recently purchased powerful torch - a bush and plastic ball bearing had disintegrated ( a theme of many a  VW T4 forum post ) so I effected a temporary repair with 2 heavy duty zip ties and tucked away on a patch of waste ground to await daylight.
The sat nav found me the nearest Mcdonalds to get wifi and find a local VW dealer but they were shut and aware of my limited Spanish I decided the best course of action would be to head back in to France. The fix  has held up well but of course the timing has been poor - a weekend followed by New Year so I hope the VW commercial branch in Bayonne is open tomorrow Wednedsay although it could be a fair bit longer before they source the cheap parts and carry out the easy fix. However I can still drive normally and safely so yesterday enjoyed a ride up the Atlantic coast in warm sunshine and have bought the map to plan some more walks in the foothills of the Pyrenees should I need to remain in the area for another week or so.
The arrival of the New Year was heralded by local fireworks although the first rain for ten days put a slight damper on the celebrations - indeed today it has rained heavily on and off but it was forecast so I am on a site with internet access and power - 25m of French 3 core and a few minutes with a screwdriver has given me a usable cable once more and a bag of laundry has been attended to!
The forecast for the next ten days is good with a return to blue skies and warm sunshine so staying around will be no hardship and should not eat too deeply in to my loosely outlined schedule.
Anyway the rain has eased so it's time to stretch my legs - photos from the last week available ici and Spotty Spot's latest monitoring ici aussi.

Whilst cycling back yesterday I saw perhaps the most remarkable sight of 2012 - awesome :

Sums it all up really : life's a beach and I'm having a whale of a time....................

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL