the upside down

So in a frustrating but also in some ways positive twist, my passport and credit and debit cards have been relocated, sans about 200 euro in cash of course. Presumably when the thief/passer-by found the wallet and tried the cards, they seized the cash and dumped the rest they couldn’t use.

I found this out from the Bilbao police about 90 minutes after I decided to cancel the passport after hearing nothing from them by Monday morning. The credit card I had also cancelled. In good news, though, the debit card is still usable and active which means I can use that for the rest of the trip to withdraw cash. Ive finally also managed to get Google Pay active on an old BOQ card I had left in Australia so I can now at least use that on my phone for some transactions here in Spain.

Most of this morning has been spent getting another set of passport photos done due to the initial set not being within dimensions required by Australia, and then going through the process of visiting the Embassy and applying for an emergency passport (the diplomatic staff here were very kind and helpful - big props to the AU embassy in Madrid).

It seems my passport will be active and ready by Wednesday morning (maybe earlier). This should mean that I can rest up in the hotel today and tomorrow and aim to leave Madrid on Wednesday afternoon, stay a night in Bilbao to grab my recovered cards and documents from the police, and then on Thursday head up to Irun to finally start the walk (probably do the first 5km or so out to the Atlantic then back to accommodation in Irun).