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  1. Silvester

    Just back....lessons learned

    I usually carry a whistle in case I get hurt in the NZ bush. But I got a bit carried away with saving weight and trying to have every item serving at least 2 purposes. So I packed a tin whistle so I could do the distress call, and intended to bone up on my musical skills to entertain myself...
  2. Silvester

    Just back....lessons learned

    If you know an unknown dog is coming, present your buttocks - it avoids eye contact and is the best bit to be bitten on. If one suddenly appears, look nonchalantly in the direction where you want to walk. Never make eye contact with the dog. Hold the pacer poles lightly and swing them gently so...
  3. Silvester

    Need help, I just lost my only child 3 months ago and feel called to the El Camino

    Hi there One practical tip to look after you on the way is to factor in a rest day every week or so to quietly process stuff and give the continuously walking feet a break. It's tempting to keep on walking every day to self-soothe when you're grieving - but you don't want to end up with a body...
  4. Silvester

    How do people adjust to home after their return from the Camino?

    When people ask me how it was, I've been saying that it was wonderful to live life at walking pace, and quoting the story of the explorer who hustled his porters for 2 long days and remonstrated with them on the third when they refused to walk any further. They replied that they could not move...
  5. Silvester

    Camino signs: do they happen to anyone else?

    In Changi airport on the way home from the Camino... scallop shells everywhere.
  6. Silvester

    An excess of questions from a first time pilgrim

    Welcome to the Camino. I reckon keep your load weight down and do short days to start with until your body is trail-fit. And if anything starts hurting, pay attention and look after yourself or take a rest day. Tortoises trump heroes.
  7. Silvester

    Can I train as I walk?

    I don't start walking till 24 September - but that seems very soon. My training so far has been working at a standing desk wearing my socks and boots, walking to see colleagues instead of emailing, and walking about an hour and a half each day up and down hills during my commute about 3 days a...
  8. Silvester

    Swollen feet....

    A few years ago I developed swollen feet and legs after 5 long days of carrying a 25kg pack tramping up and down rivers and over low passes in hot weather (not on camino though). I ended up with blisters on the tops of my feet. I'd never experienced that before and worried that there might be...
  9. Silvester

    What's with the bottles of water?

    Leaving 2 litre plastic bottles of water on the lawn used to be quite common if you had no boundary fence at the street. People told me that dogs were seriously impressed at the prospective size of the resident dog if it had droppings that big so didn't dare mark the lawn. However I haven't...
  10. Silvester

    Cash management

    Thanks folks. I'm a Westpac NZ customer. They do have a travel card you can load with euros. I need to look into the relative charges for withdrawing from this as well as from Visa debit and Visa credit (with a credit balance). It seems that using an ATM inside a bank premises in a large town...
  11. Silvester

    Cash management

    My bank - Westpac - has an alliance with Deutchebank so theoretically I can use my debit card at any Deutschebank branch or ATM relatively cheaply. However, I wondered just how many Deutschbank ATMs I was likely to find on the Primitivo and del Salvador. Thanks
  12. Silvester

    For geraldcarey my most frustrating moment

    My father always recommended "underpants with good strong elastic" after being lost in the mountains for ten days with defective ones. It was more memorable than eating lichen and sleeping rough.
  13. Silvester

    Walking in late September 2014

    Isn't Spanish National Day 12 October? No idea how it's celebrated. There's also an eclipse on 8 October but I don't think it is likely to be spectacular.
  14. Silvester

    Seeking advice: walk alone whole route or with sister for only 10 days

    Hi Mary I'll be leaving Leon on 24 September to do the Salvador - providing a night with the Madres Benedictinas has dealt to any jetlag! If you're doing the Frances, out paths might cross there, or nearer SdC or even Fisterra/Muxia. I fly out of Barcelona on 29 October so I can take my time. I...
  15. Silvester

    Seeking advice: walk alone whole route or with sister for only 10 days

    Hi Mary Coming to terms with widowhood is a complex process and often our day to day lives are full of distractions - including loving supportive people. It's rare to have the opportunity to just walk and think and grieve and just be. I'm thinking the camino is a great vehicle for just that and...
  16. Silvester

    Camino tips for starting from Leon in September

    Hi Jessica Really informative post on September walking (I'm intending to walk in September and October but not the Frances). I had heard about feet swelling and people developing blisters on the tops of their feet as a result, and so instead of bringing my trusty boots with one layer of Thurlo...
  17. Silvester

    Drinking water..

    Thanks for this link Margaret. I googled some of the locations and some even look to be not too far from Oveido or Leon. Maybe a quiet soak is just the thing on a rest day! Even a warm puddle to soak feet in is a luxury. Mary
  18. Silvester

    Drinking water..

    I'm wondering how ancient some of the surviving fuentes might be - and whether the piping is lead from Roman times or more recent galvanised iron or something completely different. I'm thinking especially of fuentes from a natural spring. Also I noticed that fuente termal (would that be...
  19. Silvester

    Spanish Language

    Hi there I'll keep on with Duolingo as a basis and be very curious about other variants as I get nearer to departure. I know a smile works, and that the combination of gesture and learning the words for "please slow down" and "I speak only a little/badly" get me a long way. And my dodgy attempts...
  20. Silvester

    Spanish Language

    I've been happily working my way through Duolingo Spanish - which turns out to be Latin American Spanish. I'm not starting on the del Salvador and Primitivo until late September so I still have time to change over to Castellano. However, how much of a problem is it to speak Latin American...

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