Sunday 5 July 2015

Camino Tour 2015 Update No. 8 Melide to Arzua

Another short day.  We left at 9am after a late dinner the night before celebrating the 16th birthday of Tegan, one of the girls in our group.

Our walk was uneventful, we saw once again many small stone farms and villages that are delightful.

We got into Arzua just after lunch and everybody basically either slept or lay around doing not much in the afternoon.  There is not much to do in this town and it is Sunday afternoon so everything is closed.

Quite frankly I am exhausted this afternoon.  Need sleep.

Trip is awesome, team are great.  Road is weary but enjoyable.

Difficult but achievable.  That’s the secret to completing something worthwhile.

Any fool can do what’s easy, superheros achieve the impossible.  Normal everyday folk like us get to excel in the in between.

Tough but do-able.

Pics below.












Buen Camino Peregrinos!


Camino Tour 2015 Update No. 7 Palas de Rei to Melide

Well, we’re back.  Today was lovely, not only was it a short 15 kilometre leg but it got charming again.

We made our way out of town and straight into beautiful little Spanish stone villages once again.  The woods were heavy with green, and verdant boughs reached across the track and formed long arched corridors of pleasure to wander through on soft leaf litter.  Hardly a sound of footfall was heard as we passed quietly and happily through the beautiful rural countryside of Galicia.

Ah Espana, you have done it again, you have reached back in and captured my heart.  What an ancient path, what a selfish pleasure to be nestled in the bosom of this lazy country.  The misty morning protected us from the Spanish sun and wrapped our tired limbs in glistening cold jewels that you can’t see but can feel soft and welcome on your tired skin.

Our path wound its way again gently towards Santiago, towards that amazing granite edifice, towards the end.

But tonight we rest.  We arrived at lunch today and shared a meal of pizza in a local store, this evening we sit in our comfortable hotel, playing cards, washing, blogging, resting.  The sounds of the afternoon are even now playing their soundtrack in my ears as I hear the hubbub of life rolling on around me.

We are well, tired but well.  Each of us in our own way is quietly pround of what we have done, how far we have come and how we have battled our own little demons along the way.

These are good people, fine friends to take this journey with.  I am quite proud of our college kids, I am deeply proud of my young son and the fine young man he is becoming.  It is a joy to see him again walk this ancient path.

Enjoy the pics below.













Buen Camino Pergrinos!


Camino Tour 2015 Update No. 6 Portomarin to Palas de Rei

Well.  The absolute opposite to yesterday.  Today was a nightmare for many in our group.  The trip from Portomarin to Palas de Rei was long.  25 kilometres long.

And boring.

And hilly.

The track essentially wound its way along a main road or two for much of the day was spent with cars whizzing by and in the open.  Where yesterday was shaded and pleasant, today was open, tough and busted many of us.

Blisters abounded, muscles burned, bodies ached.  The sweet sublime camino turned on us and became the monster.  It can bite you hard this track and today it did.

We all arrived late in the afternoon to our hotel.  And even the hotel was not so pretty, the rooms were nice and clean for sure but it was a bit like a crowded little pub on the main road through town.   Dinner was nice, we had a choice of  courses and shared some local wine.  The hotel lacked some of the finer graces we had enjoyed on the previous days.

Everyone went to bed tired and wondering what this track would throw at us next.

But we were together, pilgrims on a challenging journey, facing the difficult together, being polished by the road.  Just as abrasives bring out the best in stone our tough day bought out the best in us.  Kids looked after kids, adults hung back and supported each other up that last hill or down that last slope.

We are busted but not broken.

Bring it on Camino de Santiago de Compostela!

Enjoy the pics below.

















Buen Camino Peregrinos!


Thursday 2 July 2015

Camino Tour 2015 Update No. 5 Sarria to Portomarin


After the heat of Barcelona Sarria was a cool and inviting place.  Our accommodation was very nice and the breakfast we shared was typical European.  Our group was all loaded up and ready for our first day walking the Camino de Santiago.

We left the hotel at about 9.45am and headed up the hill through town towards the local countryside.  The clatter of 22 pairs of walking sticks on the pavement was really a sight to see.  The adventure had begun.

Sarria is set in a lush green valley reminiscent of New Zealand or Tasmania, the Sunshine coast hinterland or parts of England.  The big oaks shade rolling, hilly paths that wander at once up a steep hill and then across a clear stony stream before turning a bend to reveal more shaded ways.  It is truly beautiful.  Ivy crawls up their trunks and across low stone fences and moss covered rocks proliferate the environment.  It is stunning.

We walked through this countryside today all day punctuated by patches of open farmland with wheat or corn growing in the warm Spanish sun.  Little stone villages popped up unexpectedly from the road, or small stone farms, ramshackle and rundown old building inhabited by small black cats or thin brown dogs were common, evident of a past of rural industry and subsistence life.

Galicia is simply stunning.

We crossed the Rio Mino (Mino River) late in the day and walked up hill past the old stone church to our hotel.  The kids jumped in the pool, the adults found a cool drink in the shade.  It was a long and delightful day.

Enjoy the pics below.





























Buen Camino Peregrinos!