Steve McCurry, in my mind, is one of the greatest portraitists of all time (photographically.) His ability to capture the soul of a person through their eyes is unsurpassed. Bill
Category Archives: Post Camino
Jennifer’s Camino Portuguese – anticipation!
I’m so looking forward to walking the Portuguese Camino. I have been doing some walking in preparation. Not too much – I don’t want to peak too soon.
I don’t mind hills but long stretches of flat are sooo boring. Each day I try and take a different route but the very nature of walking from home means that I always return home.
Bill amazes me. He has a training route he enjoys. He walks that same route over and over again. He only varies that route to walk up Mount Misery.
But I try and find a different path each time, turn a corner I’ve never been around or up a laneway I didn’t know was there. Anything so I’m not going over the same ground.
I’m really looking forward to going for a walk in Porto and not ending up in Porto but ending up in Santiago!
And I’m looking forward to walking in the Spring when everything is new and fresh. The Spring flowers will be coming out. The bulbs that I must plant before we leave will be blooming there. Amazing!
And I’m also really looking forward to eating Portuguese tarts.
I know I will walk past lots of pastry shops because Portugal has so many and I’ll just have to go in and have a sit down and try something I’ve never had before! Yummy!
Then there’s the lace museum in Vila do Conde. I’m training hard so that I’ll be capable of going for a walk at the end of the day (after 24kms or something!) so that I can find this museum. That’s how much I love lace!
But what I’m really looking forward to is experiencing the extraordinary energy line that is the Camino Portugues. Pilgrims and others have been walking on this energy line for thousands of years.
At some point St James himself walked this route and legend has it that he preached at O Porrino.
I love legends. Legends are energy gatherers. Lots and lots of people down through the ages have placed their thought and their faith in St James.
He travelled the way we will go both when he was alive and after his death.
And I’m looking forward to making new friends.
Having someone to walk with and have a chat with and learn new things. To have a shared time, a shared history with others. Having an adventure on my own is never as much fun as with someone else.
I’m having such a lovely time thinking about what I do on the Camino that I’ve set up a Pinterest account. I have a board called Camino Portugues and I’m starting new boards for each day. You can have a look at –
Jennifer’s Pinterest boards – Camino Portuguese
For those of you coming on the tour, I’m so looking forward to meeting you all in person!!
Jennifer.
.
The Fly
This morning I walked up Mt. Misery again – this time with a backpack.
It was tough going. Much tougher than the weekend. Carrying that damn pack was the thing. It seemed to make the climb disproportionally harder.
But I need to train with a pack, because I want to carry a backpack on the tour.
I know we’ll have a van which can transport packs – and a lot of people will be availing themselves of that and walking just with daypacks, which makes a lot of sense! – but personally, I want to carry my stuff. But that’s just me.
Now I want to talk about the fly.
What made today’s walk particularly irksome was the fly.
I became aware of the fly about 3kms into the walk. It had settled on my face and seemed to be trying to burrow under my sunglasses, to get to my eye.
I shooed it away, and it came back almost immediately and tried to do the same thing – get under my sunglasses to my eye.
The damn fly followed me for about 4kms – halfway up Mt. Misery – and no matter how hard I tried to swat it away, it kept honing back in on me like a heat seeking missile.
So I started to consider this fly.
Didn’t it have anything better to do? There were a lot of kangaroos around this morning, and they were pooping everywhere. Surely kangaroo poop was more inviting than my eye?
What was so special about my eye? What did my eye have that kangaroo poop didn’t have? I would have thought kangaroo poop, with it’s exquisite smell, would be far more appealing to a fly.
But then again, what would I know about what appeals to a fly?
I couldn’t outrun the fly. Not with my backpack. And not with my knee. That wasn’t an option. And swatting it away didn’t work. Yes I should have put on repellant before I left home, but there’s been no flies around lately.
Then I started to think about the fly. See things from its point of view.
It followed me about 4kms. That must have taken it a long way from home. But do flies have homes? And if so, would it be able to find its way back home after it had stopped pestering me? Or would it get lost?
For a moment there I felt sorry for the fly. Lost and homeless.
And what if it didn’t have a home, then was it bored? Was that why it wanted to get under my sunglasses? Or was it seeking greater challenges than stationary kangaroo poop could offer? Was I dealing with an Alpha Male fly?
Was my moving form, with the occasional clumsy swat, the equivalent in fly-world to climbing Mt. Everest? Or walking on Mars?
Then my thoughts went to my eye. Why did it want to get at my eye? Why not up my nose, which I would have thought was a much more attractive proposition than my eye, particularly as I’d recently plucked my nasal hair.
This started to worry me. The eye. Why the eye?
Then it hit me!
It wanted to lay eggs in the corner of my eye! That’s why it was so determined. This had come down to something very primitive. Life and death. Survival of the species. It saw the corner of my eye as being the perfect incubator for all it’s eggs.
If I let that fly get in under my sunglasses, I would have maggots crawling out of my eyes.
Yes, it all made perfect sense now. This was why the fly was pursuing me so relentlessly. It wanted to propagate its species – it wanted to hatch little white wriggly maggots and the warm moist space in the corner of my eye was just perfect.
This was not just a random bored fly – this was a fly with a mission. A mission from God. To ensure that its youngsters – the little white wriggly maggots – got the best possible start in life. And what better start than out of the corner of a pilgrim’s eye?
I waited my moment.
I waited until the fly had settled on my face, had sneakily crept up to the bottom rim of the sunglasses, (as if I hadn’t felt it there!) until it had started to weasel it’s way underneath, and then –
THWACK
I killed the little bastard.
It was messy. But not as messy as three hundred maggots crawling out of my eye.
Why am I telling you this story?
Because of walking meditation. Walking meditation would have you focusing on your breath, focusing on your footfalls, excluding all extraneous thoughts from your mind and finding calm in the gentle rhythmic cycle of footfall and breath, footfall and breath.
Walking meditation would have you examining your thoughts as they arose – considering them, pondering their relevance, and then discarding them so that your mind could become an empty vessel into which the Universe could pour Universal thoughts and insights.
Unfortunately I never got beyond the fly.
But maybe next time up Mt. Misery, I’ill get closer to a pure walking meditation experience. As long as I wear RID.
The Fault in our Stars –
I rarely use this blog to talk about films or tv shows or books etc – (the last time was GRAVITY) – however I’ve just finished a book that I think many of you might respond to.
It’s called The Fault in our Stars, written by John Green.
The blurb doesn’t encourage you to read the book – it’s about two teenagers, dying of cancer, who fall in love. That log line didn’t grab me initially.
However the reason I started reading it was because late last year as I was coming back from Portugal, I had a layover at Heathrow, and as I always do I made my way to the bookstore.
The book was featured prominently on the stands, and it had an intriguing cover. But when I picked it up and read the back jacket, I put it back immediately. I didn’t want to read a book about kids dying of cancer.
But then as I wandered around the airport waiting for my connecting flight, I saw several people reading the book. And these were adults, not teenagers. And then I saw more at the gate. And then when I got on the plane I saw someone else reading it. Engrossed.
This was my PGS directing me to read this book.
So when I returned to Australia I made a little note to myself that I should check it out.
Well, today I finished it, and it was extraordinary. Not only beautifully written, but deeply moving, and profound on levels I never expected.
Knowing a lot of you as I do, I recommend this book. Just like I recommended GRAVITY.
If you do get to read it, let me know what you think. Here’s the Goodreads link for readers reviews – oh, and there’s a film been made on it too, which will be released shortly.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars
Mt. Misery – so happy to be back…
It’s been twelve months since I was last on Mt. Misery.
Just to explain – Mt. Misery is an aptly named mountain that rises sharply at the back of Mudgee, which is where I live. From my door it’s 4kms to the base of Mt. Misery – then it’s 4kms to the summit. So round trip, it’s 16kms.
The elevation from door to summit is about 650ms. And there are some sections which are damn steep. So it’s a great training hike for the Camino.
Last year, in preparation for the Camino Frances, in the 6 wks prior to departure I did Mt. Misery about 3 times a week. It stood me in good stead when I had to climb the Pyrenees.
Today was my first day back there since those training days twelve months ago. It was good to be back. And a lot has changed in those twelve months.
Firstly, I’m now wearing a complicated and very impressive looking knee brace, because I shot my knee to pieces on the Camino last year. The orthopaedic surgeon, after looking at my MRI, said it was a “miracle” I walked the Camino on that knee.
I’m also now using walking poles.
Last year I resolutely refused to use walking poles, until my knee gave out – and then I finally succumbed. I had to. I wouldn’t have finished my Camino if I hadn’t used those poles.
Today I climbed Mt. Misery and it seemed so much easier than last year. Because of the poles? Yes, I think they certainly helped.
But twelve months on, I’m a different person. I’m not necessarily fitter than I was a year ago. But my head is different. I think differently.
Last year I felt I had to push myself up that mountain, I had to do it fast and I had to keep my heart rate in it’s 75%-80% zone, to get my aerobic fitness up.
This year I don’t give a damn.
I now see walking as fun, not a goal which needs to be achieved.
I walked with my wife, Jennifer this morning.
That’s a first.
Usually we don’t train together. She heads off in one direction, I head off in the other. She likes to go a different way every day – I like to go the same way every day, so that I can judge how I’m feeling by certain milestones.
And I like that I don’t have to think about where I’m going. I just walk on automatic pilot, so that my mind can wander into other more interesting areas –
But it was fun walking with Jennifer this morning. And when we came to the really step sections. I surged on ahead and she went up them at her own pace.
What training up Mt. Misery gives you is confidence. It’s a gnarly climb, there’s no doubt, but it gives you confidence during the Camino. You know you can handle whatever The Way throws at you.
Last year I found Mt. Misery miserable. This year, I’m finding it a joy.
That’s what’s changed in twelve months…
I’m baaaaaaack! March 1st
Hey gang –
I said I’d put the blog into hiatus until April 1st, however I’ve decided to kick the sleeping dog awake on March 1st.
I want to let you know how the preparations are going for the Portuguese tour, how the training’s going, and all the fun little details we’re finding out about the pilgrimage route from Porto to Santiago.
So, from March 1st the blog is active again. I’m looking forward to us having some fun times together again!
As one of our celebrated followers – Jenny – would say: Hooly Dooly!
Bill
The best Portuguese chicken in the world…
I’ve just put up a post on my Road Food blog on a restaurant in Barcelos which I believe cooks the best Portuguese chicken in the world.
Here it is –
http://billsroadfood.com/2013/11/10/is-this-the-best-portuguese-chicken-joint-in-the-world/
Tour update
Just to let you know that we have two more confirmed for the Portuguese Camino Tour in April – a Melbourne based couple that I met on the first day of my walk up the Pyrenees, then in Roncesvalles (a wonderful dinner together), then later in Zubiri.
I’m thrilled that they’re coming on the tour.
So we now have 5 confirmed out of the six places allocated for PGS people – Duncan Ford my travel agent has deposits for another two, and he’s confident he has another three who will also commit. If so, that means we now have 10 people out of the 15 required.
If you’re thinking of joining us, I’d suggest you make a decision quickly.
Jennifer and I are doing a full scout of the route in three weeks – arriving in Porto on November 7th, and working our way through to Santiago to check out hotels, restaurants, and the route itself.
I will be blogging during this time to let you know what I find!
Tour Update
Update on the Camino Portuguese Tour, in April next year –
Duncan, the tour operator, now has four confirmed. They've put deposits down. This at the $3950 rate.
There are 15 places for the tour. I have allocated 6 at the PGS rate of $2950. Already I have 3 confirmed at that rate. Duncan has 9 places allocated at $3950,
What I will do is this – I will wait until Duncan has sold off his allocation. Once he's filled his 9 places – he only has 5 more spots to fill now – then if the PGS allocation hasn't been taken up, I will then give him the remaining 3 PGS places to sell at the $3950 rate.
Accommodation in Santiago over Easter is incredibly expensive, and the PGS rate is loss trading for the tour.
I don't mean to put the screws on but the cheaper offer has been out there for a while now, and I'm sorry but I have to be practical about this.
So guys, if you're interested, let me know quickly. Because the feedback Duncan is getting from his client base is that this is a very attractive tour at a good price – even at his higher rate.
I'd love to be joined by as many of you as possible. And I know Jennifer and Sister Clare would too…
Tour update –
The travel agent, Duncan, has now confirmed several places for the Portuguese tour from his network. And he says there’s firm interest from several more too.
At the moment we have three definite commitments from the PGS community.
If you’re considering doing the tour, then please express your interest here on the PGS forum – http://pgsthewayforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=89
If you’ve decided you want to go, then please confirm here – http://pgsthewayforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=93
It seems that arriving in Santiago for the Easter celebrations is a big attraction for Duncan’s client base.
PGS - The Way 
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