The Camino - how to make Shane Jones green with envy


The story behind the Camino goes something like this:

There is a Spanish legend that the body of James, the apostle, was shipped to Spain and buried near Santiago after he was beheaded in Jerusalem in 44AD.

In 812 some skeletal remains were discovered in a cave at the site of Santiago. The local Archbishop, using the latest scientific methodology determined these were the very bones of James. A pilgrimage was an essential for every good Christian. A shrine was built. And a church or three. And a cathedral. And a wonderful cashflow.

By the Middle Ages up to 250,000 pilgrims per year visited the shrine. As a comparison 300,000 walked the Camino in 2017. So it was a big deal.

Wouldn't Shane Jones (and Eketahuna or Waimate or ...) be smiling if he could think up a similar Regional Development plan like that!!!

We decided to bike from Santiago de Compostela to Finisterre, Muxia and back to Santiago. A distance of 240 kms. The route was tge same route as those who walked the Camino. It comprises a mix of roads and surfaces from the side of the highway to rough single track, but it was mostly well-formed gravel track to single lane sealed roads. The tracks have been set up for walking, not biking, so some parts are steep - 25% or more. And for a biker, that is STEEP. In a couple of places it was hard pushing the bike, let alone riding it up. We did 5000 m of climbing in that distance - and that is a lot of climbing.

The funny part is Joanne was able to ride right up nearly all of those steep climbs - just put the boost up to 100% and away she went!

We had 6 days to do it so we averaged 40 km per day. Not a big distance but throw in the hills and we were stuffed each night.

We stayed in a mix of Albergues - like DOC huts but with hot showers, meals and bedding provided/available - pensions  - like a B&B - and hotel. The accommodation was basic but clean and comfortable. The people we met were very interesting. On our first evening there was a Sth African, a Venezualian, two Australians, one of whom lived and worked in Te Puke for some years, an Irishman and a German. Most had been walking for 3-4 weeks. All with an interesting story to tell.

The Australian from Te Puke was Denis Cook (no relation to Bob, John and Peter Cooke) Dennis worked as a horticultural rep for Wrightsons in the early 80's when we were setting up our orchard. From memory I think he was in the photo that was taken when I won the Young Orchardist of the Year in 1983. An amazing coincidence.


Ponte Maceira over the Rio Tambre - day 1


Rubia Gallega (I think!!) cattle. A local breed.

Typical gravel track

Church and vertical graveyard at Olveirio, night 2.

Olveirio - a typical Galacian village

Very nice restaurant and Albergue at Olveirio. Unfortunately full so we went elsewhere.

A rough downhill section

Looking out towards Finisterre.


Finisterre - the end of the earth. Where the ancients believed souls left earth for heaven.

0 km marker at Finisterre



An interesting and provocative statue at the cape near Muxia

Nosa Senora de Barca near Muxia. The lighthouse is just behind the church. From this point on we were on our way home.

The pension at Quintans - night 4

Getting back near to Santiago. A number of walkers just setting out for Finisterre.

Little church at Pena - night 5

Rio Tabre on the way home - day 6. It was misty or foggy most of the day.


Wet through including everything in our saddle bags at the end of day 5 at Pena. We had to put everything in the drier before we could even have a shower and change

Inside our room in the albergue at Pena. A typical Albergue. We shared it with a Spanish guy and a Hungarian girl.

Every household had its patch of kale

The Camino near Pena - night 5. Typical of the one way sealed roads between stone walls

Planking on a plank!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Atlas Mountains and Desert in Morocco

Image
Inland Morocco As we left Chefchaueon we headed into the various ranges of the Atlas mountains. The most surprising aspect of this transition was the green and productive valleys  running through the yellow-brown and red-brown eroding hills. Berbers 60% of Moroccans are Berber. they are a first nation people who have originally been nomadic herders. Some still keep to that lifestyle. Others have settled into farming the fertile valleys. Others are moving to the cities for education and jobs. Schooling is gradually coming to the remoter areas and even to the nomads, although only 3 years of education is compulsory at this stage Morocco - Photographing People A common belief amongst the Moroccans, particularly the village Berber people is that if you take their photo it steals their soul. Our guide, who was a Berber, stressed that we should not take photos without asking permission. In several cases, particularly with older villagers, he would not even ask....
Read more

Casablanca

Image
Morocco A country of 42 million people, Morocco is a very progressive Sunni Moslem country ruled by a constitutional monarch. The King is hereditary but some of the government is elected. The King appoints the ministers in charge of the key ministries. While the Moslem style of dress is very evident, a wide variety of dress is quite acceptable although woman should generally keep their shoulders, midriff and knees covered and men wear long trousers.  Women are free to work, mix with men etc, although old habits change slowly in the countryside and small villages. 60% of the population is under 20, so population growth will be an issue for some years yet! There are large areas of fertile and very productive land that receives good and reliable winter and spring rain. Crops like barley, wheat, chick peas, oranges and olives are widely grown. Some areas even grow grapes and produce wine – strange in a Moslem country. The climate is quite temperate along the Atlant...
Read more

Northern Morocco

Image
From Casablanca we travelled north to Rabat, Meknes, Volibulis, Chefchaouen and then back to Fes. The main towns had centuries of history - Rabat was a trading port used by the Pheonicians in the 300's BC, Mouyard Issidra was started in 860's, Meknes has parts of the town dating from 1100's, 1400's and 1700's and Vulubilis was built by the Romans in 200's AD. The countryside was impressive. Reasonably dry near the coast but  large areas of rolling fertile land growing wheat, barley, sunflower, olives, oranges with areas of forestry on the ranges. No wonder the Romans used it as a grain growing area to feed Rome. Trader in the Medina selling nuts, lentils, beans and dried fruit. Add caption The old part of Meknes - built in 11th century. the satellite dishes tell the story of the old and the new. In the old Medina in Fes, their are 9000 alleys. (The joke the guides tell is they lost someone last year and they are still searchin...
Read more