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St James Day celbration in Hamilton, New Zealand

kaylfrazer

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Roncesvalle-SDC (2001), SJPP-SDC(2003), Le Puy - SJPP (2011)
Hi everyone
My name is Kay and I walked the camino by myself in 2001 and again in 2003 with my husband Graham. Since then my parents and both my children have also walked. I am currently helping to organise a St James' Day (eve) get together in Hamilton, New Zealand and we would love to hear from anyone else interested in joining us or even just being added to the email list to hear of any future events. If you are interested, please email me kaylfrazer@hotmail.com. Below is the email I have sent out this year.
Regards
Kay


Hola Peregrinos

We are once again approaching St James' day (25 July) and are beginning to think about marking the event. For those of you who are new to our mailing list, in 2008 the Rev Alan Leadley (who walked the Camino Frances in 2001) suggested that as the number of locals who had either walked the Camino de Santiago or were interested in knowing more, was growing, it would be good to organise a get together. About 30 of us met that year at St James' Anglican Church hall in Hamilton East, enjoyed a talk and photos from Ben and Fieke Meyer who had recently walked from Holland to Fromista, and celebrated with Tarta Santiago, Spanish wine and lots of reminiscing. Last year, with Alan out of town, we decided to have a virtual celebration and were able to compile and send out a newsletter with stories from those who had walked in the previous year.

This year (a holy year, as St James' day falls on a Sunday) Alan is suggesting that we all get together for a dinner on the eve of St James' day, 6.30pm Saturday 24 July, again at St James' (82 Nixon St, Hamilton East). Please bring some dinner to share, plates and cutlery and whatever you might want to drink along with a $2 per person donation to cover costs at the church. Could those who have already walked the camino also bring along something that for them symbolises the camino, to share with us.

Those who are interested are very welcome to also take part in the service at St James the following morning (July 25 St James' Day!) at 10.00am which will have a theme of pilgrimage.

Feel free to pass this invitation on to anyone with an interest in the Camino de Santiago. Please RSVP by July 18 or email back if you would prefer to be removed from the mailing list.

Looking forward to seeing lots of you there!

Kay
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Thanks Kay. Desert Road winter weather permitting- I hope to meet you there!
Margaret
 
Re: St James Day celebration in Hamilton, New Zealand

We had a very good St James'evening in Hamilton(NZ) on Saturday night with about 35 people attending (sadly Margaret was not able to make it). During the evening we asked everyone for their best camino tips and I thought that they might be worth sharing with this group.. so here goes:

*lavalavas, sarongs etc are wonderful: you can use them as shawls, scarves, pillowcases, skirts, *shower curtains, towels, hang them from the bunk overhead for privacy etc
*take a large light plastic bag (like the ones that the Warehouse gives out when you buy a pillow) and an S shaped bit of wire or even better a light plastic shower curtain ring so that you can hang it over the shower door to store all your clothes passport etc and keep them dry
*keep your pack as light as possible.. under 9 ks if you can. There is a good packing list at http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/packing-list/
*from Francesca who walked during this Holy Year: don't worry about accomodation.. something always turns up!
*carry a tin of sardines for emergency meals
*black plastic bags make wonderful pack liners; don't bother with pack covers as none seem truly waterproof anyway. Just try and rustle them quietly in the early morning!
*take a few squares of emergency toilet paper with you each day as you never know where you will find some more. Damp wadded loo paper also makes good emergency ear plugs if snorers are a problem
*April / May may be a good time to go as the temperatures are low but comfortable and you need to carry less water. The normal "season" is from April though September. andt you can expect snow and harsh weather during the winter months. June, July, Aug are the busiest months. Popular choices are Spring (April-May) or Autumn (Sept-Oct). From Kay who walked in Sept/ October: Autumn brings its own delights: little rain, the grape harvest, ripe chestnuts and blackberries and lots of fiestas!
*Lisa mentioned packing clothes in those useful lightweight zipped/mesh packages (packing cells?) – ie keep your day clothes in one/night clothes in another etc so you are not rumaging around unnecessarily! Kay used lightweight shoe bags from the $2 shop to similar effect
*learn some Spanish before you go ... The public library has a number of kits that can be borrowed, or there are free online lessons online and podcasts on a number of websites. See a list at http://www.openculture.com/freelanguagelessons
*hiking poles take strain off hips/knees. They are widely used on the camino, especially by Germans and Scandinavians and while not as useful through towns, they can be collapsed then and tied to the side of your pack.
*large safety pins are useful for hanging your washing and pinning things to your pack to dry
small ziplock bags are useful for keeping pills, soap, toiletries etc
*Mark mentioned the useful mileage chart at http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... uP4KzHx6YQ
*John showed us a map of terrain elevation that he had been given at a refugio. You can print your own from an online interactive tool that shows elevations at http://www.godesalco.com/plan
the Confraternity of St James' website at http://www.csj.org.uk/ is full of useful information including an online book shop where you can purchase some of the best guides
*if you lose the yellow arrows as you go through a city (easy to do) remember that the early camino would probably have gone past the cathedral.. just look for the cathedral and you will probably pick up the trail again

Predictably many of the tips dealt with feet.. and some may seem a bit contradictory. I won't attempt to take sides here.. everyone's feet are different, it may depend on the time of year you walk (boots are pretty handy in thick mud and snow) and anyway..we all walk our own caminos!

*Thorlo socks, expensive but worth it
*Light coolmax liner socks are also recommended
*Stop for 5 minutes each hour of walking to rest your feet
*Compeed.. or not Compeed. It works well for some people but others found it kept blisters from drying out and preferred large bandaids
*Graham swears by Zinc oxide tape on any hotspot before it turns into a blister. This doesn't yet seem to be available in NZ but you may find it if you are stopping off on the way
*Sheep's wool between the toes and on hotspots to stop rubbing
*Cream your feet for months before you go to soften them and remove any rough spots (or alternately spend lots of time walking along beaches barefoot to harden your feet up!)
*Crocs are light and comfortable to wear after walking and to shower in, and black ones look like shoes and are good for evening use.
*Good Stong Boots... or light sports shoes.. sandals or nothing at all (hardy Eleanore walked part of the way in bare feet!) Take your pick.. just test your choice well in NZ first in similar climatic conditions if you can, and remember that on the camino your feet may swell with the heat and constant walking.. you may need a slightly larger size than you wear in NZ of whatever you choose.

I particularly liked Jos' suggestion that anyone planning a camino take a black plastic bag and commit to spending one day cleaning a stretch. He pointed out that if 60 people did this each for one side of the road for one day, the entire camino could be cleaned!

Kay
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Sounds like you had a great gathering Kay :) I will try and avoid the plaster-cast scenario next year, so I can actually join you!
Margaret
 
What a great event, fantastic so many people could come. I am off to the walk the Via Gebenennsis next month followed by the Robert Louis Stevensen route from Le Puy. Made a spontaneous decision to just go for it. Perhaps I will catch up with you all next year. Cheers, Gitti
 
That sounds fantastic Gitti, I'll look forward to hearing how it goes. We will see what the interest is for another meeting next year but may decide to go with a "virtual meeting" again as we did last year, where we simply send out an email edition of everyone's camino news. If you want me to add your email to our email list just PM it to me.

We missed you Margaret, but I passed on your best wishes to the group.. maybe next time!

Kay
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
Thank you very much Kay, will send you my email address, regards, Gitti
 

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