Blogs from Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

The 10th of September , three years ago, we were in Porto, Portugal. No masks, no isolation, no Covid-19. Right now we are masked up, isolated, and sweating on the chance of me getting Covid in the next 5 days. Sue currently has it, but despite advice that I should just get it, and move on, I am now at the point of no return. I’ll mask up for the next 5 days. I simply cannot risk it. The reason is, is that we are flying to Paris on Saturday, or not. Bangkok is our only stopover - 7 hours - until we arrive in Paris. We are staying in a hotel near the Opera House for one night, before catching a train at Gare de Est, bound for Luxembourg. Once we arrive at Tim and ... read more

“It’s a dangerous business, walking out one’s front door.” While the main character of the Hobbit was exaggerating the risk in stepping out for a walk, Frodo Baggins does have a point about the uncertainty of walking a long distance with no support at hand. It’s time for me to go walking again. It’s the best way I know to declutter your mind, and my mind is overdue. After much procrastination, this year I’m walking the Camino Francés again. I considered other routes but they were, to me, either too expensive, or the tracks had too many hard surfaces. I must admit the Francés is a familiar and a comfortable way to go. People suggest that I do something different; “ There are other places to walk.” I hear. While the route is the same, the ... read more

With barely a week until we leave, planning is complete, if not comprehensive. Due to the unreliability of flight arrival times, locking in times and purchasing train tickets to St Jean Pied de Port could be costly and a waste of time. We will wing it. We will now arrive in Paris at 7.55am on the 18th, hopefully , and stay overnight near the Montparnasse Station. Tickets will be bought for the trip south the next day. The afternoon will hopefully be spent sampling the local cuisine, wth a bit of sightseeing along the banks of the Seine to round it off. John arrives Friday morning and we will finalise our plans and packing so that Saturday is trouble free. An issue with plantar fasciitis on the left foot reared its ugly head two weeks ago ... read more

Well it's pretty tough working out what to take, what is important and what has importance but is just too heavy. I have read blogs, books and scanned guides to try and decide my load, but in the end it is up to me and I have just finished the packing....for now. It could change. The total weight, including camera, chargers, power pack and iPad peaks at about 9 kilos and I'm reasonably comfortable with that. My final list contains: Backpack, sleeping bag, silk liner, flip flops (for showering and at the end of the day), boots, 3 x underwear, 3 x woollen socks, 2 x trousers with zip off legs, 2 x shirts, 1 t-shirt, a hat, waterproof jacket, poncho, thermal top, down vest, and walking poles. I have also packed very minimal toiletries , ... read more

Getting Started Hi, I'm Steve and I am walking from St Jean Pied-de-Port, France to Compostela de Santiago, Spain starting on the 24th of September 2014. I will be accompanied by my wife Sue and joined in Puente la Reina on the 27th by my son, Tim. The home front will be attended to by my son Andrew and daughter-in-law, Ciara, while good friends Greg and Debbie will mind Dinc, the fearless shih tzu. I first learnt of the Camino through the movie The Way and immediately became interested in finding out as much as I could about it with the view to walking it one day. What initially was a solo endeavour, in my mind at least, soon grew into a group tour, and planning and preparation was underway. Physically, we had to get fitter ... read more