Hi, Alex,
I hope Sil will read this, because she is a treasure trove of information. My understanding of the historical roots of the Camino Primitivo is pretty superficial, but I think they are twofold -- first, as a way to get people who walked on the coast down to Santiago (as you will be doing), but also as a way for people who left the
Camino Frances in Leon and went up to Oviedo to get back to the
Camino Frances. Going to Oviedo was important because of the statue of Christ in the Cathedral (still there). In fact, there's a refrain from those days along the lines of "whoever goes to Santiago without visiting the Christ, visits the servant and not the master" (sounds much better in Spanish -- "Quien va a Compostela sin pasar por el Salvador visita al criado y no al Señor").
As far as historical information, I have found a fair amount on the internet, but most are in Spanish. There's one in English that talks about the history of the Primitivo, but only the part that's in the region of Galicia. The Primitivo starts one region to the east of Galicia, in Asturias, and there is an association with a website for that part, too, but it's in Spanish. The ones in spanish, even if you don't understand much, give you maps of stages (click on "etapas") and lists of albergues and lots of enticing beautiful pictures. Here's a sampling:
http://www.xacobeo.es/index.php?idMenu= ... idIdioma=3
(historical information in English)
http://www.caminosantiagoastur.com/ (Asturian Association with stages and lots of information on both the Primitivo and the camino del Salvador).
http://www.caminotineo.com/portada_1.htm (another association of Galician and Asturian friends of the Camino)
When I walked the Norte, I did "dip down" to visit Oviedo but then headed back up to the coast. So I can't tell you much about the Primitivo -- yet! This fall, I'm planning to walk from Leon up to Oviedo (the Camino del Salvador) and then from Oviedo to Santiago on the Primitivo. I will leave Leon on Sept. 27, so actually we may run into each other at some point.
As far as guidebooks, I know I'm repeating myself here, sorry, but the Germans get the prize for accurate up to date guides. I assume they have one for the Primitivo. I just got my Confraternity guide yesterday in the mail (came very quickly to the US) and, with the updates that it publishes on the web, I think it will be very helpful. I used their guide for the Norte and it was helpful, but there were places where it didn't keep us from getting lost. When we walked with our German friends we never got lost, but that's also probably a factor of my own terrible sense of direction.
Budget -- well, if you keep to the albergues you're usually in the 3-6 E range. Private albergues will be more, probably 6-9E, but I remember only 2 or 3 on the Norte. Food costs are really varied -- depending on if you cook in the albergue, have pilgrims menus in restaurants (range from 8-10 roughly), or splurge on big meals. Cooking facilities aren't typically available in private albergues, because they usually serve meals and want you to eat their food. It's easy to spend a lot in bars, cafe con leche in the morning (1 - 1.5 E, and one is rarely enough for me!), cerveza upon arrival in the afternoon (usually about the same, or less, than coffee), so it really depends on your own discipline and tastes.
I've had a few Australian friends over the years, and your use of "mate" just made me smile -- I can still hear that twangy "a" that no American can ever hope to replicate.
If you need help with the Spanish on any of those websites, let me know. Laurie