Camino Companion

Anita
in training mode

Anita, our niece, will be joining us for the first two weeks of the walk. After hearing about the Camino, Anita became passionate, make that obsessed, about joining us.  She has an innate sense that walking the Camino is something she just has to do.  So with much organisation and great support from her partner Damien, Anita is able to travel for three weeks, with two of those weeks walking the Camino.  She will fly into Paris and make her way by train to St Jean Pied de Port on the French border with Spain, where we will be waiting. The three of us will then make our way by bus/taxi to Roncesvalles to begin our pilgrimage.  If Anita doesn't miss the train, we will begin walking on 20th April 2014.

 

Backfround Briefing:  Anita is tall, slim, very fit, fun to be with, a nurse, the mother of two grown up sons and a 6 year old, goes to the gym and has participated in the Brisbane Kokoda Challenge.

Boots, Backpacks & Paraphernalia

Arguably, the most important items of equipment required to walk the Camino are your boots and backpack. We’re bushwalkers so we already have good boots, Scarpa, made in Italy.  We have daypacks which are too small for the Camino, and backpacks which are too big for the Camino (Steve’s 65L and my 50L) so new packs had to be purchased.  Steve settled on a 45L Mont Sentinel and I have a 42L Mont Sentinel.

Of equal importance, in my opinion, are socks.  There are many different stances regarding socks, various brands are recommended and some believe the addition of a thin inner sock liner is the way to go.  We are going to stick with our Thorlo Running Socks with thick padding on the toe and heel which we’ve found to be excellent for bushwalking.

Our clothes are lightweight and quick drying, the same as we wear for bushwalking and kayaking. We’ve probably got too many clothes and may live to regret the extra weight.  We’ve read that most people take too much gear and either discard some or post some on to Santiago.  One could probably get away with less clothing if walking in summer, but we start walking in April and will likely experience some cold weather and rain.  Also, we’ll be travelling for three months with an initial two weeks in France, 6 to 8 weeks walking the Camino, and the remainder of our time travelling in Spain before heading back to France to fly home from Paris.

Pack List

2 Long Pants                                         Sandals
2 Shorts                                                 Small Travel Towel
3 Shirts                                                  Sleeping Bag
1 Merino T-Shirt                                  Stuff Sack with Toiletries + First Aid
1 Fleece Top                                         Tilley Hat
4 Socks                                                   Head Torch
4 Underpants                                        Phone
Gortex Jacket                                        Camera
Waterproof Pants                                Guidebook
Waterproof Pack Cover                      I'll carry a Kindle and Steve an iPad Mini 

Background Briefing

Steve & Wendy
Carnarvon Gorge National Park Qld

‘We’ are Wendy and Steve, 30 years married, retired, living on Tamborine Mountain, Queensland,  Australia.  We travel, we bushwalk, we kayak, we love our kids and we enjoy life!

Steve is 64 years of age, of average height, very fit, an avid bushwalker, cancer survivor and  Vietnam Veteran.  I am nearly 60 years of age, short (150cm), quite fit (although carrying a few extra kilograms), a keen bushwalker and I go to the gym.

 

Steve - Lake Arragon - Yuraygir National Park NSW

Wendy
     Tallebudgera Creek - Gold Coast Qld          

Camping  -  Mutawintji  National Park NSW

Research & Planning

It’s now January 2014 and planning is well under way.  We’ve purchased and studied John Brierley’s A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago and spent hundreds of hours on the computer researching and learning all we can about this amazing trail. Books we’ve read include Pray for Me in Santiago by Therese Burkhardt-Felder;  My Husband Made Me Do It by Margaret Wilson; The Way My Way by Bill Bennett; A Million Steps by Kurt Koontz; Behind the Alburgue Door by Dean Johnson and A Journey of Days by Guy Thatcher. 

To quote Samuel Johnson “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it.”   We’ve certainly found information on this subject as there is an endless stream of information out there on the Camino, and though we are still devouring as much of it as possible, we can now say we know about the subject ourselves. We also know that at times walking conditions will be cold, wet, windy, muddy and steep.  We expect at some stage to endure fatigue, painful muscles, sore feet and blisters, yet not only are we determined to undertake this trek; we are immensely excited at the prospect and wish it could begin now!

Training

View from Tamborine Mountain

December 1^st 2013 was the day our walking training began in earnest.  We each have a pedometer and a computer template to record our daily distances, which are totalled at the end of each week.  We currently walk with day packs that weigh around 5kg.  Our training regime was very lax over the Christmas season, but now the boots are back on and we’re notching up the kilometres again. 

 

Tamborine Mountain, where we live, provides an excellent training ground. There are several National Parks with charming walking tracks and all comprise descents, ascents and a good number of steps, a few with the added bonus of leading to a waterfall and many local streets contain hills of various gradients.

Inspiration



 Lamington National Park Qld




I first heard about the ancient pilgrim road to Santiago De Compostela, known as the Camino or The Way of St James, whilst travelling in the car with my husband Steve listening to ABC Radio National.  Theresa Burkhardt-Felder was discussing her book ‘Pray for Me in Santiago”, written after walking the Camino in 1999 with her husband Gerard.

 

 While Steve was quite aware of the existence of the Camino, I was captivated with descriptions of villages, churches, artworks and ancient architecture to be discovered along this 800km route across Northern Spain.  I later searched for the book in my small local library, and unbelievably there it was in the travel section, patiently awaiting my attention.  That was 5 years ago.

 

Since then we’ve talked wistfully of walking the Camino, only to plan trips and venture off to other places.  Then along came the film ‘The Way’. We sat in the darkened theatre watching this wonderful movie completely enthralled.  As the credits rolled and the lights slowly illuminated, Steve and I turned to each other and whispered in unison “when do we go?”  And so, like hundreds of others who watched this film, we drove home determined to make plans to travel to Spain and walk the Camino. That was a year ago.