Camino 2016 - 7 Weeks, Make No Mistake, We Are Counting!

Time Marches On - But Am I? 

With just 7 weeks to go until I depart for Spain you'd think I'd be hard at the training thing by now. Ya, me too. But not really. I tell myself that I'm experienced now and am just taking a more tactical, strategic approach this time round. That sounds pretty good, so of course that must be it?! The reality is that several things have slowed the process. We had Annemarie's never ending 60th birthday celebrations through the last half of May and into June...thankfully these eventually ended!  We also included a road trip to Vancouver to see Caitlin graduate from UBC at the top of her nursing class...very special for her!

And to see Paul Simon...good, but not quite as special.

Of course there was the excellent kayaking trip with Rob which was endless fun.

Then I needed a week to learn how to stand upright again...I was feeling a little ape-like, even Cro-magnonish after all the hours in my kayak. Rob told me that this sensation would eventually go away and I noticed this at the gym on Monday morning. A relief because my knuckles were getting a bit kicked up. There was also a very nice time with Paul's family who are visiting all the way from Ireland, Father's Day and the mental preparation for the Canada Day long weekend...how to avoid all those working people on a vacation Friday! Then there have been a few of the usual long term injuries that have dogged me since returning from out travels, but they're boring so that's all I'll say about that subject, except to say that I'm working hard to have these sorted soon...will know better by July 16th. 

Of course I also got caught up following my friend Ken's walk and blog as he traversed the Haldimand Tract in Ontario for an excellent cause, and together with reading a hilarious book called "A Walk In The Woods" I killed another couple of weeks. So you can easily see how things have gotten in the way and dragged on.

The reality is that I just want to head off for a good long walk, but not particularly around here. I need new vistas, people, culture and adventures. New smells (cow paddocks), the answer to deepquestions (why are all trails uphill?), irregular sounds outside my window in the morning (cooing pigeons) and inside (snoring peregrinos) and new daily anticipations (what time will the first head light come on in the dorm?), the unknown (is there a line up for the toilet?...please don't let there be). I love Victoria, but except for a few unfortunate arson fires lately, it's generally been rather quiet. Actually one of my favourite things about this lovely off the radar city...the quietness, not the arson. But it is time to leave here for a time...to return and appreciate this beautiful place all over again!

So what are we doing this year? Well, on paper it looks like a lot of fun. In reality, it should be a lot of fun too! My friend Rob of kayaking trip fame will fly out with me on August 18th by way of Vancouver and Toronto to Madrid. We will arrive there at 7:55 AM on the 19th and find our bleary way into metropolitan Madrid Charmartin Station where we will hop a train to Leon, strategically located on the Camino Frances.  After a couple of days to get use to the August heat (34 there today!) we will walk four stages to Ponferrada where we will leave the busy Frances and head off southwest across the seldom walked Camino de Invierno (see map above). This translates to "The Winter Camino" and I'll cover the route in a future post. This "crossing", that's a kayaking term Rob taught me, will take 14 days and is just shy of 400 kms. 

Annemarie will be waiting for us in Santiago. Rob will head home to do something he loves...that sound better Rob? Annemarie and I will head NW to the small town of Malpica (we don't even know how to get there yet) where we will begin a southward coastal journey along the Camino Dos Faros, The Camino of The Two Lighthouses. It's a new, less known route which looks fascinating. The journey will take 8 days and is about 210 kms long, with 52 beaches to cross and about as many headlands to climb and descend. There is little infrastructure along the way and we have had to pre-book our accommodations and will use a few taxis to get to and from a few of the trail heads. There isn't a guide for this route so I have spent many hours constructing walking notes complete with profiles and maps. Fortunately there is a very good Spanish website. The Dos Faros ends in Finsterre where the three day Camino from Santiago completes which I walked after the Via de la Plata in 2014. 

From Finistere we will travel south by train and bus to Portugal and have a rest day or two in Porto, a city we have long wanted to visit. We will then travel further south to the medieval university city of Coimbra to meet up with our close Aussie friends Sarah and Neil who we originally met while on the Camino Frances in 2013 and who so warmly welcomed us to their home in Canberra last year. You might recall the bush walks...complete with kangaroos, deadly snakes, a dingo and a few other odd marsupials. Neil and Sarah will start in Lisbon 8 days earlier and we will have a grand reunion in Coimbra and then walk north along the Caminho Portugues through Porto and back up to Santiago. A journey of 385 kms over 15 stages plus a rest day in Porto. Neil will be visiting us here in Victoria in early August and we are pretty excited about that! Time to compare Caminho notes, make a few plans and go for a walk or two! 

So lots of fun ahead and yes, I will have to get walking a bit more seriously...soon, but not today. I think the last 4 weeks will be enough. I certainly hope so. I expect to post a few lead up comments as we get closer. Really cool things like pack gear/weight, boot details (sorry Bryan) and sundry other really exciting things...yawn. Stay tuned!
Buen Camino and Bon Caminho!!

PS. The post looks a bit weird as I'm having a small posting problem...sheesh!