All packed and ready to go

Tomorrow I will be heading off early to begin the journey - three days to get to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, but I feel like the Camino really starts when I head out the door at 4.30 am tomorrow.  I always hate leaving home - really primal sort of anxiety about leaving every one and every thing I love behind, and I have a good case of pre trip jitters.  Feels like the day before the first day at new school - have I got the right sort of lunch box, will the other kids be mean to me, what the heck is going to happen?  I know from experience this will pass - whatever I am anxious about, the reality will be totally different, infinitely richer and more varied than anything I can imagine.  And usually once I get going things fall into place.

My final pack weight is 7.8 kilos which is reasonable - a bit over the magic 10%.  I nearly forgot my shell and my stone - probably the only two things I couldn't easily replace.  Thank heavens, today Anne put her silver shell earrings - which we bought in Villafranca last time - in honour of my departure, and seeing the shells reminded me. 

Anyway, Ultreya to me!

My days are numbered

I will be getting on a plane next week and truly as Anne said to me, my days are numbered. Time to stop faffing around and decide what I am taking and finish off outstanding tasks.

My walking preparation has been a bit erratic so I set out today to walk to Werribee. The weather was atrocious and after about 10 k water was running down the back of my pants which were thoroughly soaked, and into my boots. Note to self: pack and use waterproof pants and gaiters. I started to get cold feet, literally, about continuing, so I headed over to Laverton and caught train back. So I seem to be packing a bit more stuff - probably over 8 k now but I think worth it to stay warm and dry. After our Tassie trip I will definitely take a light down jacket as I realise that anywhere over 1000 metres can get fairly chilly whatever the season.

Anyway, after getting some dry clothes and my other boots I headed out again into the blast, wind gale force by now and the windage on the pack quite noticeable, and slogged out the remaining clicks to get 20 k. Now if I do that tomorrow and the next day and a couple more times before I go I should be fairly ready.

Getting ready for the Camino - 6 weeks to go

I've been reading  a Camino narrative, Walking Home by Sonia Choquette - "a world-renowned intuitive guide and spiritual teacher" according the blurb on the back.  The only two other works she refers to are Shirley MacLaine's and Paulo Coelho's - neither of which are at the top of the go-to list for people looking for practical advice on completing the walk.   Not withstanding, Walking Home has been a useful read. Her lack of meaningful preparation and what it costs her in terms of physical pain and discomfort is a good encouragement to me to make sure I put in some reasonable training beforehand - though I guess I have the luxury of time to do that. The other big thing I've got from her account, of a May Camino, is that it can be mighty cold and wet at that time of year - so I've revisited my packing list and included some thermals, gloves and I think I'll take along short gaiters to keep water out of boots.

 Speaking of boots, I've been using a pair of cheapish leather boots I bought for round $85 last year sometime - Gondwana Bunroy is the brand name.  Being leather, they are a bit steamy on hot days, but surprisingly and almost by accident, they have worn in to be the most comfortable shoes I own, and my plan is to take them. My only anxiety is that the heels are showing distinct signs of wear.

I'm trying to build up to walking round 20 k in one go wearing my pack in a day - I am getting in 20k a day but that is spread over a number of walks and not all with the pack.  I'll be leaving in about 6 weeks. So I guess I could be putting in around 400 - 600 k before I leave, plus 800 k on the walk itself.  Do those heels have 1400 kilometres left in them I wonder?  I guess I am going to find out.

Today I walked towards Point Cook and after jumping a fence and wobbling my way across rocks over the surrounding water way, I got into Chetham Wetlands conservation area or so I was told by the enigmatic sign which I came upon quite literally in the middle of nowhere.

What, I wondered, is the point of telling the reader "Access via Point Cook Coastal Park" when if they can read the sign they have somehow accessed the area anyway?   Still it was a grand walk - really quite wild and desolate out there, and lots of birds all living their birdy lives happily in the wetlands.   I had to wade across the creek to get out, but it was nice to walk somewhere a little different.

I will have to find some hills to walk up - one feature of Altona is, as can be seen from the photo above, that it is pancake flat.  So, more hills!

Wilson's Prom Southern Circuit.

One of the sensible bits of advice from the Camino forum is to get in as much practice as possible in conditions that match as closely as possible the Camino itself. So try to walk the sort of distances, carrying the sort of loads, and do it on successive days.

Following this wise direction, earlier this week I headed off down to Wilson's Prom to do the Southern Circuit, Sealers Cove, Waterloo Bay, the Light station, Roaring Meg, then back up to Telegraph Saddle. My daughter Jess bravely and kindly volunteered to come along.
The terrain was in lots of places as steep or steeper,and definitely rougher, than anything I can remember from last Camino.

Carrying tent, 4 days food, sleeping mat and water filter pushed my pack weight way over the magic 7 kilos, and it sure felt like it going up those hills - a good encouragement to be ruthless in my packing.

The walk itself was beautiful, awe inspiring, stunning. The Prom is an extraordinary and very special place, and I feel grateful to have the opportunity to experience such a wild natural place. It really is good for the soul. 

Day 1 we drove down, picked up our hikers permits and got on the trail by about 12.30. A grey afternoon so relatively cool. We kept bumping into three other hikers, whom we would see again over the coming days, three young vegans carrying enormous packs. We got to Sealers Cove about 3.30 and camped in a wonderful hidden spot which Jess found, completely surrounded and hidden in thick braken.

Day2 to Little Waterloo Bay, a hard day slogging over Mt Kesop. Campground there littered with amazing crap that people had left behind - a chunky gas stove like you buy in Coles, a foam esky, burned cooking pot, scattered foil, and of course the ubiquitous tissues. A rather disconsolate school group camped nearby - they were obviously there not by choice and didn't seem to be having a great time. 

Day 3 started grey and drizzley, and the mountain at the end of Waterloo bay that we had to climb was shrouded in cloud. Reading the overnight hikers leaflet the night before we discovered that the circuit via the lighthouse is best undertaken anti clockwise, as the gradients are better that way. We agred d this might be true as we struggled our clockwise way up and over the saddle, through dense fog which denied us the reward of the allegedly fine views along the way. Eventually we hit the junction, dropped our packs and headed down to visit the light station. A couple of decent gradients there - good training for the Pyrenees no doubt.

Both rangers came over for a chat, and we enjoyed the great novelties of a flushing look and a tap with water you can drink without treating. A beautiful place - we both decided next time we will stay there. The cloud started to clear but even as we headed off the light station still had its own special cloud.

Jess found us another great camp site at Roaring Meg, and we sat on a massive lichen covered boulder next to it, looking out over the little gully in the dappled sunlight, waggling our unbooted toes in the breeze.Fantastic. 

Last day was foggy with lots of drops falling from the tall trees whenever the breeze shook them. A lovely walk nonetheless with a few wallabies watching us cautiously along the way. We shared the last of our supplies at halfway hut and one last rest stop on the road, then stumped up the climb to Telegraph Saddle to collect the car. A bit of a shock to be back in the bustle and bright lights of Tidal River. All in all a great walk and a good training learning exercise.

Getting ready for the Camino

Getting ready for the Camino


I've booked flights leaving mid April returning early June, hoping to walk the Camino from St Jean Pied de Port, then on to Finisterre. Quite daunting prospect but millions of people have done it and so can I. A lot to get organized - there seems to no end of gear to help you achieve the bearable lightness of backpack, the magic 10%  of body weight, that the Camino forum sages propound.  I lashed out and bought a new pack, 18 L larger but 140 grams lighter than my old 32 L pack. I just have to resist the temptation to fill it. I am building up my daily walking distance and trying to get some different terrains. Here is Cumberland Falls, a lovely walk off the Great Ocean Road from last week.

Melbourne 24 June ...

Made it back safely to Melbourne. We are grappling with our body clocks and the contrast in the weather, moving from summer to wild winter in a day.

Our last day in Istanbul was pretty low key.  I visited the Little Hagia Sophia Mosque round the corner to say goodbye, said hello to a little goat who was happily helping to keep to grass down near the playground, and admired the get up and go of the Turkish older lady energetically working out on the public gym equipment outside the sports centre.  One of the nice things about Istanbul is that it doesn't seem to have become litigation shy, and public authorities provide public infrastructure like gym equipment which people use at their own risk.  And use it they do. Just about everytime we looked out the window there was someone, young kids, adolescents, older folks, happily pumping or cycling or swinging away. Didn't see too many - or any - obese Turkish people either.

The van ride out to the airport took us along past the Roman sea wall, and the sea end of the Theodosian wall, which is the second photo in the collage.  A nice farewell to Constantinople. The plane trip was about average as plane trips go.  I can't imagine getting on a plane again any time soon, but I guess the memory recedes and the desire to see new places takes over.

Melbourne is experiencing some wild winter weather and we've walked right into it. The weather in Europe was mostly settled and warm,  The top temperature here today was about half the overnight temperature in Istanbul, and there have been south westerly gales here, which are stops the water in Port Philip Bay ebbing out through the heads at ebb tide, and which pushes the water down to the south western edge of the bay, which is where we are. 

This afternoon at high tide, the water was crashing over the sea wall and around the edges, resulting in flooding into the streets around us. I think with global warming continuing unabated, thanks in part to the failure of our governments here and others around the world to take meaningful action, then we will see a lot more days like this. But it makes for a very social event.  I spoke to more of the locals here today than I have in years, as we all compared notes, watched kids splashing through the puddles and cars being towed out of the water.  

Overwhelmingly, everything went smoothly thanks to Anne's great planning. Top three experiences were the Museum of the Moyen Age with the Lady and the Unicorn, the Capitoline Hill and its Museum, and the Villa Cimbrone gardens. Bottom three were the last few hours of the train trip from Salerno to Catania, our hotel in Turin, and getting dumped at the bottom of the hill on the way to Monreale. Best food was Sicily. Number one thing I am glad we did was to keep our luggage to carry on size. We could have taken less without much difference in our comfort level, and next time I would travel lighter still. You see plenty of people struggling along with huge cases, and they make it hard for themselves and everyone else.  The other great thing was a smart phone and travelsim with data.  It was extremely useful to be able to get GPS directions to find hotels and other destinations.  

I think it will take us a while to process the trip and put it into perspective.  For the moment I feel profoundly grateful that we had the opportunity to make the trip, and that we've got such a great home and great family to come home to. 

Istanbul, Friday, 20 June, Day 58

We didn't sleep too well last night. The American lady in the room in the room next door who is travelling with her two young sons had some sort of emotional melt down last night. We had fallen asleep but got woken to crying and raised voices. None of our business but hard to get back to sleep afterwards.

The sky is overcast and the weather is cooler and windier after the storms of yesterday. We revisited a few shopping places to make some further contributions to the Turkish economy. In one shop, after some desultory haggling and concluding a purchase with a rather glum storekeeper, I said 'a pleasure to do business with you' as I handed over the cash. He cheered up and we all had a good laugh about that one. The Turkish people we have met all seem to have a keen sense of humour.

Shopping all done, we hopped on a tram bound for Kabatas on the other side of the Golden Horn, then caught the Funicular railway up to Taksim Square. There is quite a different vibe over that side of town. The restaurants are all a bit more expensive, but we had a nice enough lunch as we watched the crowd flow by down the street.

There is a little, fairly ancient, tram that rattles up and down Istikal Caddies, the boulevard that runs between Taksim and Tunel squares. A major function seems to be to provide a moving entertainment for the crowd of small children who run along behind and leap onto the back of the tram. They are having a good time, but it looks fairly dangerous. Notice small girl about 6 I think holding on with one hand, eating icecream with the other.

Istiklal Caddesi has all the brand stores you see in every other city - Starbucks, Gap, Top Shop, Zara, H&M - but it is wide, has almost no traffic apart from the tram, has a very relaxed and good humoured atmosphere, and it has amazing uniquely Turkish buildings.  At Tunel Square we caught another funicular down the hill, then caught the tram back to our side of town. We stopped off at the park restaurant for a farewell cup of tea and baklava, then back to our hotel for a rest.

Tomorrow we will be leaving on our homeward journey. We haven't had to pack for over a week, and I think as a result of our numerous trips to the Bazaars we both will have a serious case of expanding pack disease.

Yesterday at the Rustem Pasha Mosque, the man who watches over the place asked Anne what she liked about  Istanbul. "The history" Anne said.  Yes, the man agreed.  "The people are very friendly".  Hmmm, the man wasn't quite so sure about that one. "The children are very happy' Yes, they both energetically agreed about that.  The children are very happy.

We've both really enjoyed spending some time in this amazing city. But it will be sooo good to be home