The Way to Byron Bay Via Spain

I've written about this walk across Spain before,
Movie - The Way  
even though I've never personally walked it, I am fascinated by this walk from what I've read or seen on film.

On the last day of the Byron Bay Writers Festival I had decided the day before that the talk "Sinning Across Spain" looked interesting.

But since this year I had decided to drive from Brisbane both days that I attended the BBWF, instead of staying overnight like last year, there was no guarantee I would get through the traffic in time for the start of the talk.

Ailsa Piper giving her reading/performance at the BBWF

But as synchronicity would have it, I got there right on time.
So, I knew that this was one of those talks the universe was guiding me to attend.
My one rule at the BBWF that I learned from last year is to mark a few interesting looking talks on the program, but let the synchronicities of the day guide me to where I have to be.

I like how the inside cover has the
  passport like stamps of the trek pictured

This ended up being one of the great talks at the festival in my opinion and I couldn't help thinking, what a spiritual way to start off a Sunday, not that I'm a regular church goer or anything.

As Ailsa was doing her talk, I couldn't help thinking how the BBWF was like a pilgrimage where you walk from tent to tent on a personal pilgrimage letting the spirit guide you to the right tents and books.
Shortly after thinking this Ailsa expressed the same sentiments in an answer to a question asked to her about the walk.
I haven't read her book yet, but I can't wait to finish the ones I'm reading at the moment and get started.
The Story of My Book: Ailsa Piper on Sinning Across Spain 
Check out her own thoughts about the festival on her blog at the link below,
Beyond Byron

You can hear Ailsa on this podcast link (she is on the last quarter of the podcast),

Australia All Over highlights available for podcast and download

"Ian and Frank discuss the carbon tax, and then Mark Day calls with some informative facts about the Boer War.

Ian Gill speaks about the state of Australian manufacturing, and oar-maker John also has some thoughts on the carbon tax.
Anne has some historical background about the Sydney suburb of Daceyville.
In the studio Macca is joined by author and actress Ailsa Piper, whose recent book details her experiences walking across Spain." 
I also asked Ailsa if she had seen the movie The Way and she told me that she had, and that they were actually filming the movie when she was walking The Way.