Alan Pearce
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Invierno October 2022
I got home last Tueseday and have just had my first good nights sleep since then, as I work through the effects of Jet lag. Jet lag is a fact of life that we as Australians have to live with - it took me 42 hours to get from my home to Bayonne on the way over, and a bit less on the way back - if we are to travel to Europe.
Victor and I walked the del Norte from Hendaye [we caught a ferry across the river and by-passed Irun] to Compostela, beginning August 29th and finishing Sept 30th. We had lay days in Bilbao and in Gijon so we walked for 3i days. We were so lucky with the weather as we experienced only 2 days of rain in all that time, and while the south of Spain which was supposed to be dry and warm was having floods, we were wandering along the Atlantic coast in lovely weather.General reflecctions on out journey include the following.
The guide books do not tell you how much harder the del Norte is than the Frances. Last year I walked part of the Arles route to Somport and then the Aragones to Puenta la Reina before joining the Frances. The earlier days of this walk included some quite difficult sections but the del Norte, especially the first section from Irun to Bilbao, is difficult section followed by difficult section. After Santander it does flatten out some what, but Victor and I always felt, often with justification, that another steep climb or descent lay just over the brow of the hill we were currently climbing. Because most of the places you stay in are on the beach, the first part of each days walk is to climb up out of the town, on usually steep paths. To get into Bilbao, we took a lift to get from the suburbs into the old city. To get into Deba, we took two lifts! And to get out of Portugalette we rode an escalator that ran up the hill in the middle of the road. We struck a fair bit of mud in the first ten days and were so lucky that we missed the rain that would have made this part even harder.
More later
Alan
Be brave.Life is joyous
Victor and I walked the del Norte from Hendaye [we caught a ferry across the river and by-passed Irun] to Compostela, beginning August 29th and finishing Sept 30th. We had lay days in Bilbao and in Gijon so we walked for 3i days. We were so lucky with the weather as we experienced only 2 days of rain in all that time, and while the south of Spain which was supposed to be dry and warm was having floods, we were wandering along the Atlantic coast in lovely weather.General reflecctions on out journey include the following.
The guide books do not tell you how much harder the del Norte is than the Frances. Last year I walked part of the Arles route to Somport and then the Aragones to Puenta la Reina before joining the Frances. The earlier days of this walk included some quite difficult sections but the del Norte, especially the first section from Irun to Bilbao, is difficult section followed by difficult section. After Santander it does flatten out some what, but Victor and I always felt, often with justification, that another steep climb or descent lay just over the brow of the hill we were currently climbing. Because most of the places you stay in are on the beach, the first part of each days walk is to climb up out of the town, on usually steep paths. To get into Bilbao, we took a lift to get from the suburbs into the old city. To get into Deba, we took two lifts! And to get out of Portugalette we rode an escalator that ran up the hill in the middle of the road. We struck a fair bit of mud in the first ten days and were so lucky that we missed the rain that would have made this part even harder.
More later
Alan
Be brave.Life is joyous