backpacking – Page 4 – everydaysparks

Camino 9

Posted on August 29, 2013August 29, 2013 by Cate

Our ninth day was another relatively easy walking day – nice and cool, with only a few uphill stretches in the 26km to Redecilla del Camino. Passing through fields full of sunflowers (some more with faces carved into them – still kinda creepy) and now the vineyards have been replaced by golden cornfields.
At one stage today, a huge flock of sheep crossed the path, blocking several pilgrims in their way.
Nothing else too exciting to report today – German Andy clipped his wings and walked with us, mostly to disprove our suspicion that he catches a bus to beat us to the next town. Somehow, we always seem to arrive around 2pm, looking slightly battle-weary, and Andy appears at the hostel (‘Hey guys!’) looking fresh as a daisy.
Andy also has the endearing habit of answering, ‘of course!’ to most of the questions asked of him: Do you wear lederhosen? Of course! Do you eat the deer that you shoot in your neighborhood forest? Of course! (NB, he carries them to the butcher for ‘processing’ first.)
If only world leaders would walk the Camino, I think it’d go a long way towards global peace & understanding…

Travel sparks

Day 8 on the Camino

Posted on August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 by Cate

Day 8 was another pretty easy day – about 26km to Azofra. We pretty much had a whole albergue to our gang of five last night, with only one other German bike rider with us in our large dorm. Was great to get a good night’s sleep without snorers or loud talkers! It definitely makes a difference to how we feel in the morning, that’s for sure.
A beautiful sunrise this morning and a day of wandering through more beautiful vineyards – not too hot for the most part, which was great. One of our gang, Dave, had an ankle injury that looked like ending his Camino (this is his second), which made us all pretty quiet this morning as he had to walk on in immense pain. Fortunately, he seems to be feeling a lot better and it looks as though he will be able to continue with us.
This albergue is pretty great – small rooms of only two beds (with a door for privacy) and a large courtyard with a small pool/fountain – though practical pilgrims have made the courtyard into a washing area, with lots of lines of clothes blowing in the breeze.
We calculated an average of 25km per day so far, which is pretty good – we’re walking at a good pace, but stopping to enjoy the sights and food along the way. Hard to believe it’s a week since we left St Jean – sometimes feels like yesterday, but then this routine has become so familiar, it feels like we have been doing it for years!

Travel sparks

Camino 5,6,7

Posted on August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 by Cate

It’s honestly so difficult to remember what happens and where we go every day, but hopefully this post will catch us up to today! I mean, the ‘what happens’ every day is clearly a whole lot of walking, but we are travelling through different landscapes, meeting lots of interesting new people and seeing so many amazing things that it’s hard to keep track.
The heat and fatigue mean that when we reach our destination, we focus on finding a place to stay, then a much needed shower to freshen up, then fixing our medical probs (blisters, sore muscles, aching feet), then washing our dusty, sweaty clothes. The routine is actually pretty nice.
We generally arrive at about 2pm, as we stop during the day for morning tea and then lunch – and to fill our water bottles from the fountains we pass along the way.
Day 5 saw us leave the cute little town of Cirauqui by moonlight and start a long walking day. We visited the famous wine fountain past Estella, which provides free red wine for passing pilgrims, from what looks like a normal water fountain tap. Definitely a Camino ‘experience’ and a nice drink to have with our picnic lunch in the park. Our albergue in Villamayor de Monjardin was run by Dutch volunteers and we were lucky to have a room for our gang of five, complete with our own private balcony with an amazing view…

Day 6 was a walk to Viana – a good walking day and another perfectly sunny (but quite cool) summer day in Spain. We passed through Los Arcos, greeted by a strange small farm and comprehensive sign about the town’s attributes. The hostel in Viana was interesting – three-tiered bunks and we all got sent to the tops of our bunks, which was quite the gymnastic feat, I tell you.

Day 7 was the day that a French girl had told us would be so great that our bodies would feel fantastic and we could skip along the path. No such luck and we’re all pretty tired and sore today, so settled for a town 22km along, rather than pushing on closer to 30km. A good move to take it easy and enjoy a nice afternoon and then tapas dinner in Navarette. Today we passed through the beautiful Logrono – including a massive park and very friendly people. And a giant sort of Snakes & Ladders, Camino-version. We met up with our funny German pal, Andy, but otherwise we’re seeing lots of new pilgrims as more people start on the way to Santiago. Now it’s 10pm – time for bed!

Travel sparks

Buen Camino – days 3 & 4

Posted on August 25, 2013August 25, 2013 by Cate

Our third day started by moonlight (let’s just presume they all do from here on in – we leave at 6.30am). A big change today as we walked through urban areas and saw people & cars instead of cows & sheep that we’d been sharing the path with so far.

We passed through the bustling city of Pamplona, with some very cute streets & buildings and some very scary giant baby head sculptures.

Stayed the night at a hostel run by the Knights of Malta, where we met Janet & Fred, a couple from the USA walking the Camino to celebrate Janet’s recent 75th birthday. Amazing.
The next morning was overcast and a little cooler, thankfully, and saw us reach the wind farms and wrought iron pilgrims of Alto del Perdon. Our guide book suggested a 19km day, but we said boo to that and walked 26km. Passed through some beautiful olive groves and vineyards along the way to the cute hilltop town of Cirauqui. Where the church bells toll every half an hour – right through the night. And our hostel was right across the square, so no danger of losing track of time!

Travel sparks

Camino MacGyver

Posted on August 7, 2013August 6, 2013 by Cate

I started putting my Camino bits and pieces near my backpack today and I got ridiculously excited at the thought of the adventure ahead of us. Then I remembered that I’d bought this Utility Card at a recent Kathmandu sale and as I took it out of its packet, I got even more excited at the thought of who I could become with this item. Within its magical plastic confines (in a beautiful shade of blue, if you don’t mind) is all that I need to become…CAMINO MACGYVER. And I can not imagine a more helpful or ingenious Camino pilgrim than MacGyver, can you?

All that Camino MacGyver needs... — All that Camino MacGyver needs…

What’s that, fellow pilgrim, need a pen to sign off that tapas bill? Allow me! Hola, traveller – need some scissors to cut the tag off your new backpack? Here you go, champ! What’s that, there’s a man on the hillside who needs his appendix removed? Let’s do this, kids! And then I can file my nails and draw a really straight line while we wait for the paramedics to come and fix him up.

Seriously, this Utility Card has pretty much everything – I know, because I just pulled out all of the little things to make sure (you never know with discounted stock): screwdriver, toothpick, tweezers, scissors, nail file, ruler, knife, pen, pin.

Don't be fooled - the nail file and screwdriver are on the same little tool. AMAZING. — Don’t be fooled – the nail file and screwdriver are on the same little tool. AMAZING.

So, without wishing to jinx our impending travels, I am now more confident than ever that Steph and I will be able to deal with whatever comes our way on the Camino. MacGyver-style.

(And in case you too were wondering, the pen really does work.)