Decision made

[robertt]

Hi pilgrims

Heaps of reasons against, as usual, but I'm off to finish the Camino Frances, starting from Pamplona late January. The present plan is to extend by walking down the coast to Porto, a reverse Portugues.

I've paid fares etc. No pulling back. I'm as nervous as an Australian opening bat. Gonna be cold, but I really couldn't face the crowds and heat. No doubt AndrewH will streak past me, just like sagalouts did at Conques. Andrew, look for a blue Kathmandu pack moving at an unnaturally slow pace.

Will be walking with '10 Miam Miam Dodo, and will buy a cheap Spanish phone. Anyone know if it will work in Portugal?

Santiago!

Rob

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Robert,
There is some consolation for the fact I can't manage to go walking in 2011: I am going to be able to 'follow' you again as you walk /dawdle!! Plus Kay- a fellow Kiwi- is going to be walking the Le Puy route mid-year. So I can rejoice and be there 'by proxy' with the pair of you fellow Antipodeans.
Margaret

 

[Caminando]

Hi pilgrims

Heaps of reasons against, as usual, but I'm off to finish the Camino Frances, starting from Pamplona late January. The present plan is to extend by walking down the coast to Porto, a reverse Portugues.

I've paid fares etc. No pulling back. I'm as nervous as an Australian opening bat. Gonna be cold, but I really couldn't face the crowds and heat. No doubt AndrewH will streak past me, just like sagalouts did at Conques. Andrew, look for a blue Kathmandu pack moving at an unnaturally slow pace.

Will be walking with '10 Miam Miam Dodo, and will buy a cheap Spanish phone. Anyone know if it will work in Portugal?

Santiago!
...................................................................................

Hi Rob,
Have fun!

Be aware that pilgs going south on the Cam Port. from SDC are not allowed to stay in the alb. in Tui. But it's a short walk over the bridge into Valença, Portugal, where there is a pousada next to the Firestation (bomberos).

PS Are Oz bats known to be nervous?

 

[robertt]

Thanks for tips and good wishes.

Nomad, it sounds like you need a Camino soon, girl. That Cluny extension, maybe?

Caminando, I should explain that an Oz bat is a cricketer, a creature designed by God for the humiliation of Englishmen and, ahem, New Zealanders.

Merry Chrissy

Rob

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Sadly no funds yet Dawdler. But I am working on the idea. Have a 'preparatory' blog to help me pretend my departure is imminent http://dawdlingwalks.blogspot.com/ Some ideas for the Cluny route are being jotted there.....
Margaret

 

[Caminando]

Thanks for tips and good wishes.

Nomad, it sounds like you need a Camino soon, girl. That Cluny extension, maybe?

Caminando, I should explain that an Oz bat is a cricketer, a creature designed by God for the humiliation of Englishmen and, ahem, New Zealanders.

Merry Chrissy

Rob

Ooops - I thought it was something to do with leather winged beasts. You will forgive me for I come from a cricket free country, where such pommie pastimes are unknown! :wink:

 

[Rebekah Scott]

as for your mobile phone question, major carriers in Spain give you coverage and the same rates anywhere in the Iberian peninsula.

Reb

 

[robertt]

Thanks for the phone tip, Rebekah. I might score a fifty euro pre-paid locked phone in Madrid that will do me for the trip.

I'm taking a sil tarp by Bear Paw that is not much more than a bed-protector for weight and size, but I can set it up under trekking poles if I feel like a camp in Spring. I've just ordered another pair of boots, another half-size up, because I want to be able to bulk up in the snow, and allow for swelling in the heat. I'll also leave the bottom rows unlaced for extra toe-room.

On the other hand, I'm not taking many spare clothes. Why carry clothes when it's cold? Wear 'em. One moth-eaten layer can be ditched as the weather warms. And I won't take a huge selection of tea to make with my Baby Trangia. Just four or five Darjeelings, an Assam, a Lapsang, a Dancong, a Georgian for samovar-style, some vintage puerh, some...Somebody stop me!

I've got a fairly serious down bag in case the heating is down.

Of course, I really don't know what I'm doing.

Leaving bush tomorrow for Chrissy with family in Sydney, then off to Madrid in late January.

Thanks for tips and wishes

Rob

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Pulling into the Burgos albergue Santiago y Santa Catalina late one cold, rainy evening, I tossed a wet pair of socks onto a radiator to dry. A fellow pilgrim asked, "Those don't smell, do they?" I replied, "I have been walking for two weeks in the rain. Everything I own smells."

Extra clothes are optional at all times!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Robert, stop by in Moratinos for a pot of Rooibos.