My walking sticks. They're my new best friend. Now I have three new best friends – my boots, my backpack, and my walking sticks.

I have resolutely refused to adopt sticks – I have seen these pilgrims using them, and I've thought they look like stick insects. Well, I've now joined the colony.

They're fantastic. Why didn't someone tell me about them before?

Well, actually they did but I liked my staff – it had style. It had romance. Those stick insect things were too technical. And they made that sound on cobblestones – clack clack clack. Like something with an exoskeleton crushing its mandibles.

Man o man they're good. They haul you up hills, and they act as a brake coming down hills. They supposedly take 25 – 30% load weight off your legs, and transfer it to the upper body.

I needed them today.

I woke early, after my rest day in Plampona. I got 7 hrs sleep – the first decent sleep since I've been away, which means the jet lag is finally gone. I left the Albergue at 6am, and quickly adapted to using the sticks. The sun doesn't come up here at the moment till about 7:30am, so the first hour and a half was in the dark.

I left the suburbs of Plampona fast – doing about 5kms/hr, thanks not only to the sticks but also the lighter backpack. 1.75kgs makes a big difference.

Soon Alto del Perdon loomed ahead – by this stage I'd already done about 10kms, and began the climb. My knee was twinging, but holding up ok, thanks in large part to the sticks, which enabled me to keep a lot of weight off. The Nurofen was also working too – and I very soon got to the top.

Going down the other side was harder – very steep with loose stones and rocks. Put a lot of pressure on the knees, but again the sticks helped.

There weren't many people on the path today – some Korean girls, and a few Germans. Once I got down the other side of the mountain I stopped in at small place to have breakfast – the most delicious fried eggs and slices of pork, with crunchy chips and a bowl of pimento soup – all for the princely sum of €8.

I then walked through to Puenta la Reina – a beautiful medieval town. By this stage it was 12:30pm – I'd been walking 6 and a half hours, and had covered about 23 kms.

I found a little pub off the main square and had a half roast chicken, and 4 local ciders. I forgot that ciders in this part of the world are quite alcoholic, so I got a bit pissed. And I still had another 10kms to walk.

Everyone in the pub was watching the formula 1 Grand Prix. They love their sport in Spain.

I then pushed on to this little hilltop town – Ciraqui- – by this stage it was very hot, I had a gutful of roast chicken and 4 alcoholic ciders, and needless to say the last section was a bit of a slog, made more so by a gnarly hill of Mt. Misery proportions. It was hard going.

I'm now in this little Albergue opposite the towns church. €10 a night, and €9 for the evening meal. The laundry facilities leave a bit to be desired, but hey –

My knee is swollen so I'm icing it now, before dinner. It did 33 hard kms today, which was a bit naughty of me pushing it like that, but I wanted to walk after the rest day.

I might take it easier tomorrow –

But then again, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll get to know my new best friend a little more…