After 5 weeks and 950km, my Camino has come to an end. Which is quite sad in some ways, but exciting in others.

Santiago de Compestela – the end point for most pilgrims – was in some ways a bit of an anticlimax…..I just wasn’t ready for my journey to end….So, I decided to keep walking

Before continuing on we attended the pilgrims mass, hugged Santiago, got our compostela (final proof that you have completed the pilgrimage) and watched a crazy incense thing swing through the cathedral (looking like it was going to knock out one of the priests at any moment). Later I learnt that this was the swinging of the botafumeiro (smoke belcher), a massive silver incense burner said to be the largest in the Catholic world. It was really special and quite emotional seeing many of the pilgrims we had met along the way, in the Cathedral – some of whom we had not seen for a good 2 weeks. We went out for dinner that night to celebrate and funnily enough I managed to get myself completely and utterly lost that night. Until then my sense of direction had been spot on – very surprising really, as my sense of direction in Christchurch is far from hot. After wandering the streets for an hour and a half, and having to use the line “estoy perdido” (the first Spanish phrase I had learnt) to everyone I saw, a lovely couple took pity on me and walked me back to my albergue. I was so lost it took them 20 minutes to walk me back. Gosh, was that a happy moment for me!

The following day I began my walk to Finisterre – The end of the world. It felt good to be walking again, and the following 90km to Finisterre was absolutely beautiful. It was quite refreshing because until then the path had been quite busy and crowded, however leaving Santiago for the coast was very quiet, and I felt like I was the only one walking it. Just me and the occasional lizard and butterfly to keep me company. On the third day of walking, I was joined by an American girl, Maru, and we finally caught a glimpse of the ocean. I never thought I would be so happy to see the sea, but it really was an amazing moment. When we finally got close enough to the beach, we threw our shoes off and ran down to the water. My feet were happier than I had seen them the whole trip. This moment for me was more satisfying than entering Santiage. The group of friends we had made along the way were all there to welcome us - it was time for fun and games! The tradition in Finisterre is to walk to the lighthouse at the point, to burn your clothes and then to swim naked…..as a sign of purification and inward revival….or something along those lines. So that is what we did – and man, it was cold!

Again, the following morning I still had itchy feet, so Maru and I packed our bags and left for Muxia, which was another 32 km away. This is said to be the last section of the Camino. It was well worth the walk (even though it rained a lot of the way). Muxia is a beautiful coastal town with rough coastal scenery and cute hideaway beaches.

Perhaps it was the Camino telling me I didn’t need material belongings…………..on arriving back in Santiago (by bus!) to catch our flight to London, we went to pick up the extra bags we had sent to Santiago (with our normal clothes for further travel) and….mine was not there! I must say for a moment I was pretty gutted! After wearing the same pair of shorts and t-shirt for 5 weeks I was pretty excited at the idea of wearing something different and clean! However, alas – no bag for me…

Maybe that was a sign that I should continue on and embark on a new Camino….that and the fact that I just loved the lifestyle so much and the simplicity of the journey…..so, as of yesterday, I have made a pretty big decision, to begin another – The Camino del Norte, which starts in Bairritz, France and follows the coastline to Santiago. I will start this week and walk another 825km.

Thank you so much to every one for all your support along the way – your messages and kind words have meant the world to me - as has your generous support to Arthritis NZ.

I think every pilgrim at one stage or another has thought how great it would be to just stop in a small, quaint Spanish village, buy a small, cute house and simply dissappear for a while. I know the thought has crossed my mind more than once. Interestingly, we met a couple who had done exactly so. An ex editor for a large magazine in London, and a journalist from the States. And they were now living in a very small village, population 18, with chooks, cats and a dog which had also been a former pilgrim himself. Well actually he was initially a hunting dog, but was apparently hopeless and so decided to join some Australian pilgrims. He walked about 500km with these 2 pilgrims and then decided he would live with this couple. And they live happily every after.

The Spanish dogs are definitely different from the New Zealand dogs. They are especially cute, even the ones that look half dead and you worry that after patting them you have fleas climbing up your arms. Just the other day, a very large black dog called Anu, who belonged to the albergue we had stayed in that night, followed an old french women all day long, stopping every time she stopped. The women was having trouble with her feet and you couldn´t help but think that this dog was traveling with her to protect and support her along the way.

It is funny, things on the Camino just seem kind of magical. With the backdrop which is so enchanting and looks like something from a fairytale, you really feel like you are part of something quite unique and powerful. You hear so many stories from other pilgrims about things which they have experienced throughout the way. Some of these stories are significant and you really think that they cannot just be coincidences. I think that on the Camino people are a lot more open to believing that these are signs and have greater meaning. Perhaps there are just as many signs and “miracles” in everyday life, we just don´t stop, “listen” and pay attention.

One of my favourite stories from the Camino is of The Free Green Bike. Rebekah, an Australian friend of ours, was running out of time to complete the Camino, so decided she would call upon the universe to manifest herself a bike. Specifically a green bike. Bec had talked about this for a few days, and walking through a small village saw a green bike outside this church. Approaching the old lady nearby, she enquired whose bike it was. The old lady thought she was trying to steal it and chased her down the street yelling at her. So much for Camino magic!

Despondent, Rebekah carried on walking with us when we stopped for coffee at a small bar (which we do a few times a day). There we got chatting to a german man, who told us he was giving up on cycling the Camino so he could get some experience of the walk we all were doing. Nervously Rebekah enquired as to the colour of his bike. GREEN he stated. And there it was, Rebekah´s bike had come to her, and the mysterious ways of the Camino lived on.

I cannot really claim that I have had any magical moments as of yet. The closest would be that I have continued to have extremely good luck and a group of French and German pilgrims believe that I bring the sun where ever I go. And amazingly this is true. I have said along the way that I have never walked in the rain, and whenever I have walked there has been no rain. Don´t get me wrong, there has been rain on this trip, it just so seems that whenever I walk it stops. Pretty cool

Aside from being deep and philosophical we just have a lot of fun, whether it is climbing to the top of giant haystacks, 20 metres high and dancing and singing at the top of our lungs, to getting a fantastically great foot massage by a classic Italian guy who constantly yells ¨”maaaamaa miiaa”, getting chased by wild hogs when embarking on a 4am walk under the stars, to giving in to our slightly competitive sides and racing another group of friends who we called “The Click”. There are so many laughs along the way!

I am keeping a journal on this trip and I thought I might finish this blog with a section from it.

We are staying in a very small town tonight, Marajun, the highest village of the Camino. All that remains in this town are ruins if a former village. Now there are just piles of rocks lying beside the road.

Thomas´s son, Fernando, is making dinner. He says he was “surviving” in Madrid until he moved back home to live 2 years ago. In the guide books it talks about Thomas, and his unique albergue - a remote hamlet home “is a throwback to what albergues must have been like in earlier times. What the albergue lacks in basic amenities, such as beds, privacy and cleanliness, it more than makes up for character and personality…”

We are now in the Galicia region - and 90km from Santiago. Having now walked 780km I am extremely excited as it is the culmination of a lot of planning, and on average a 32km walk a day, which has often been a little tough going. We have also decided to walk the additional 93km to Finisterre on the coast of Spain… which the Spanish believed was the edge of the world, and where monsters be. Exciting prospect! Here it is tradition to burn your shoes and interestingly and discustingly in the old days this was done because the pilgrims would have not washed their clothes the whole trip, so they really needed to be burnt(!)

PS: Oh and mum, don´t be angry, but I have to tell you something… I sent my Aisics walking shoes to Santiago… 3 weeks ago! I would like to add, that it was a decision I did not take lightly - I actually took it very seriously. I contemplated it for almost 12 hours. My Keen sandles were just so much more friendly to my feet. Whilst Jacqui went on to get a bublle toe, which threatened to take over her whole foot and then the world, my feet continued to happily hang out together. Happy happy joy joy!

“Not all who wander are lost.”

I thought I would begin this entry with a fabulous quote which one of our friends has printed on his t shirt. I must say at this stage I feel like I could give up my normal life and become a wanderer. With a donkey at my side, and tortilla for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I think I would be happy forever.

To tell you the truth I don’t even know what day we are on now. I think it is around the 14th… On the Camino there is no way of differentiating different days of the week. The only day I can tell apart is Sunday because the supermarcado is closed. Apart from that time is quite irrelevant. I have not worn a watch or used a cell phone, and it feels weird being on a computer now. Which is really very refreshing!

I have not had my time of enlightenment yet, but I have been told by an Inca from Peru that my time will come before the end of the walk. We shall see…

We have stayed in some pretty interesting places over the past week. Last night we stayed in a nunnery, the Iglesia de Santa Maria, which was run by nuns! Real ones! Who were short, holy and wore the full nun regalia. A fellow pilgrim from Germany who I had been walking with for the later part of the day, arrived and fainted. (Due to too much beer and not enough water.) It was pretty classic, sitting and watching this real nun fuss over him, getting him to roll into the recovery position and giggling occasionally. Then when she went to show me to my dorm room she pointed out the mens bathroom, opening the door, taking a sneaky peek in and giggling again. Priceless! Funnily enough they had an outside basketball court with sculptures of the Virgin Mary overlooking it. So I did a holy 3 pointer, with Mother Mary as witness.

We have now been walking in the meseta for the last 3 or 4 days. The meseta is supposedly high flat and dry. Given that it is May, it is still relatively green, which is fortunate as I believe it would be overbearing walking this with no colour but brown. It is already hot. Very hot. I would say it was about 29C today, and my tan lines are going from strength to strength.

Another highlight has been sleeping in a gymnasium hall.. between the goal posts! WOO! We scored on the Camino!

The next day was a goodie… walking 28ish km. We didn’t realise it, but infact we’d been walking in a valley, and as we climbed this hill… we looked back to something out of a NZ farming magazine photo shoot. Fields and fields of green brown and yellow and windmills running off into the distance. The weird thing was.. after reaching the top, we were anticipating a big downhill… but it was just flat. I mean crazy flat… like as far as you could see. The sky seems huge. If you were going to draw a farm, and sheep and clouds as a small child… you would draw what we could see.

The irony is that the Camino is very similar to rowing training camps. So for me it has felt quite normal fitting in to the routine which for some people is a little difficult. I guess this is the athlete side of me that is grieving a little. As my rowing friends would strongly relate, we eat, exercise, talk, eat, sleep. I guess the big difference is there is absolutely no stress. None at all. It is so nice to feel so relaxed. Everything is set out for you, and it is the simplicity of it all that I love so much.

Current location: Terradillos de Templarious (H on map)

Dear world,

Jacqui and I have made it to day 9 of the Camino, and 200km! We had hoped to have written more frequently, however the life and spirit of the Camino tends to draw you away from technology and push you towards people.

If any of you have a love of orienteering or hide and seek, you will love the Camino. Whilst you wander through epic country sides and medieval villages, it becomes a game of spot the arrow. If you see a spray painted yellow arrow, you know you´re OK. It´s so much part of the experience, that they´re commercializing it into t shirts and key rings. I thought about buying a t shirt, but was concerned that Jacqui would keep walking around me in a circle (plus I´d have to carry it).

It´s hard to know where to begin to update you all, when so quickly the routine of walking, talking, eating, sleeping has become routine. We have not yet become immune to the amazing Spanish countryside. It is fairly phenomenal. If my feet could type, they would tell you that it´s quite hard going… but they´re too fat and swollen after so many kms. My eyes want to be sleeping. So we shall describe it from the heart….

If you can imagine every shade of green possible. Don´t restrict yourself… think like a resene colour chart would. Then through the middle cut a terracotta pathway that winds into the hills. Add an ounce of loneliness (without sadness), bad tan lines, and the promise of food just over the hill. Or the next hill. or the hill after that. (and if it´s a 36km day…. the hill after that). Add in the repetitive tap stomp stomp of your walk… and you have a recipe for some amazing introspective moments. I thought and perhaps was hoping for some kind of lightening bolt of clarity. Except. You don´t. It´s more an opportunity to exist and just be. It´s almost meditative. I guess as they say, the lessons are in the journey itself.

The greens though… are amazing. From Estella (D) to Los Arcos (E), there were fields and fields of different shades of green, all crisscrossing. And when the breeze swam through, they rippled like the ocean.

On the topic of greens. Spain seems very agricultural, more than I expected… but they don´t seem to eat any vegetables. Bizarre.

The Camino has some great traditions. One of which was a wine fountain in Irache (F). Red wine is only 70cents a glass, so it´s not surprising they´d offer it for free! (and it´s good).

To date we have been mostly walking through villages. They are the better to stay in as they seem grateful for having the pilgrims, and provide great accommodation, rather than stuffing us into a hostel. We have stayed in hostels with over 100 bunks all stuffed into a room. If you can imagine sleeping in the middle of a herd of mooing cattle, then you get the romance of sleeping between two overweight sweaty Spanish Camino cyclists. Add to that the Italian and Brazilian well aged walkers beneath you, and you have a mooing symphony (with vibrato).

However, the impact of the growth in large-city development has been obvious in sections, as well as the impact of the recession. We walked through Cirueña today, a village development complete with golf course, swimming pool, and childrens playgrounds. It was like a ghost town… except… no one had ever moved in here in the first place.

Jacqui and I have had the most amazing amount of luck en route. Take the bunking situation. Whilst it´d be great to have your empathy, or horror, at us sleeping with 200 people in one night… we were in fact fortunate, gaining the 198 and 199th beds. The Camino is increasingly popular, and if you don´t have your strut on during the day… or fall into the trap of too many ¨cafe con leche´s¨ then you may well be stuffed for a bed. We have decided to put the luck down to the magic of the Camino. They say that whatever you put into the Camino, the Camino will give back to you. In between the long climbs, hot days, and snoring nights, we have continued to smile and revel in every moment. So much so that our adopted dutch and french grand-gang have named us the smiling girls.

The next few days are somewhat lighter, which will give us a chance to recover. We also are re-assessing the gear we are taking. It´s interesting that at the start we both thought we were minimalists. Suddenly now three pairs of socks seems incredibly excessive, and we find ourselves debating the weight of a clothing line! The happiest people on the Camino tend to carry around 7kg. We are extra happy. Probably because the extra weight of our bags has made us delusional :).

Will keep you posted on the next yellow arrows. ´Til then… buen Camino!

Clementine (and jacs)

Bonjour! After a 43 hour trip from NZ Jacqui and I arrived at the starting point for our journey, St Jean Pied de Port, France (A). We arrived in the small town at 11.30pm and were exhausted after the plane and train trips. After getting lost, we finally found our hostel - locked! We knocked and waited, and to our luck, the light switched on and a disgruntled French man came and let us in. That night we slept like babies!

We ended up spending a day in St Jean, as the accommodation in the next town was already booked. This turned out to be a blessing however as there was a lot we had to organise for the walk, including getting a pilgrim passport, sending some extra clothes to the end of the walk etc. Plus we got to explore the town, see the old prison and beautiful Cathedral.

The next morning we woke bright and early to embark on crossing the Pyrenees. We chose the Napoleon route which is the steepest route and begins with quite a climb! We walked 29km that day and about 5 hours up hill. As we climbed higher the temperature dropped and very high winds developed. It was very wet and cold and we even walked through snow. Not quite what we had expected, but we were very pleased that we had packed jackets, thermals, gloves and hats.

After a pretty tough first day we arrived in Roncesvalles (B). We had crossed the border and had now entered Spain. Hola! We had our first pilgrim meal (a special cheap 3 course dinner provided to pilgrims) of bean soup, fish (skin, tail and bones included) and ice cream. We also enjoyed the company of a table of classic old French men. I had to try and remember as much French from school days as possible and when that didn´t work sign language. Most of the pilgrims are 50 plus, some as old as 80 which is pretty amazing. That night we slept at an albergue (pilgrim hostel) with over 100 people in the same room - which was quite an experience.

We left Roncesvalles this morning at 6.30am and began a 27km walk. The sun soon appeared and I was able to bare my legs, and change into shorts. It soon got very hot. There is so much beauty to take in as we go and so many interesting pilgrims from all over the world to talk to along the way - which makes time go quickly. We have already made a bunch of friends. By the time we arrived at Larrasoana (C) this afternoon at 2.30pm it was very hot and we were ready to take our boots off. I have a blister on my heel, and my feet have been a little sore - but apart from that I am feeling really good.

Thank you for all of your messages - I love reading them - and thank you for all of your support, it means the world to me.

Adios till next time

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