Day 14 - Cabezas de San Juan - Utrera

After some 22 miles today we limped into Utrera rather than marched!  Ana Maria is still having problems with one of her blisters and although it is getting better it is still quite painful.

We failed to get up as planned this morning as our alarm failed to go off!  Eventually we left at 0550hrs and reached Utrera exactly 9 hours later, having stopped several times en route to tend to feet.  This evening we got our credencial stamped at the beautiful church of Santiago here in Utrera. 

The walk today was fairly uneventful, mainly walking along irrigation canals and cross country on earth and gravel paths.  We went past huge plantations of sugar beet and wheat, and passed the time of day with some of the workers who were curious about our walking sticks.

Tomorrow we have another 22 miles to go.  However, if Ana Maria's foot has not improved we may stop half way at the town of Dos Hermanas, in which case we will reach Seville on Sunday.

Day 13 Lebrija - Cabezas de San Juan

An early morning start today at 0530hrs to avoid the midday sun. It was quite dark when we set out lit up again like Christmas trees. The head lamps work very well save that it attracts the mosquitoes for miles around! The other disadvantage of travelling in the dark is that you tend to miss the yellow arrow waymarks of the Camino. We managed to do just that and when we realised it we had to backtrack for about 30 minutes adding an extra hour to our trek.  I have included a photo of one of the arrows just to show you how difficult these can be to spot!

Practically the whole way today was along a dirt/gravel track which deteriorated quite badly when we arrived in the vicinity of our destination.  About five or six miles were along an irrigation canal.



When we arrived the chirch where we wanted our "credencial stamped was closed.  As we pondered what to do a chap came along and insisted on taking us to the priest's house where we got our credencial signed and stamped.  The same chap then directed us to a hostal which turned out to be apartment suites where we got a special "Camino" price of 20 euros per head!  So for the first time in a long time I am actually writing this in an air-conditioned living room, complete with its own kitchennette.  Lap of luxury indeed!

Tomorrow we have a very long day with no chance of stopping anywhere in between.  Ana Maria's blister has stopped bleeding and antiseptic cream will make sure it heals properly.  Following advice from my good friend, Edward, who has run more marathons than I have had hot dinners, I am now using vaseline.  Today at least it seems to have worked.

This afternoon we marched into Cabezas to the tune of " It's a long way to Santiago, it's a long, long way to go,................"

Day 12 El Cuervo - Lebrija

Having walked this morning from El Cuervo to Lebrija, almost half the distance to our destination for the day, we have decided to spend the rest of the day here.  Ana Maria has a blister which has taken a turn for the worse and we feel it would be wise to give it a bit more time to heal before we move on, hopefully tomorrow.

Today I would like to talk about my younger sister Yvonne.  It is her birthday today.  When my mother, who lived in Gibraltar,  was taken ill with a form of Alzheimer’s many years ago, Yvonne, who was living in London at the time, put her career on hold to go and look after her.  Yvonne was chief buyer for the Janet Raeger brand in the UK. Some years later, when my father was also taken ill and my mother’s health had deteriorated further, Yvonne felt she could no longer cope on her own.  My other sister Carmen, herself a very successful actress and singer, also abandoned her career to go and help her.  Carmen, a former Miss Gibraltar, has starred in many TV shows including Dr Who in the UK and was one of the lead singers in the Buddy Holly production when it first opened in London.

Both my parents died in 2000.  Unquestionably they enjoyed the best quality of life possible thanks to the love and care given to them by Carmen and Yvonne.  Yvonne bore the brunt of the care and it has taken its toll on her.  She has not been well these past few years.  I have never been able to express to her how grateful I am that she was able to look after Mum and Dad in a way that I never could.  I owe her and Carmen both, a debt I can never hope to repay.

For now it would be good if anyone who reads this blog would phone Yvonne to wish her a happy birthday.  Her No. Is 00(350)20074083.

Robert & Ana Maria – On the Camino de Santiago in Lebrija.

Day11 Jerez - El Cuervo

After our very restful day in Jerez yesterday, we set off today at 0600hrs. We walked in the dark, with our warning flashes on our arms and one on the back of our rucksacks. Something akin to a walking Christmas tree! Still better safe than sorry.

The way out of Jerez was several miles long and we spent the first 10kms walking along main roads. The next 10kms was along a dirt track alongside the AP4 motorway up to the El Cuadrejon service station. We were told that we would be unable to access the service station as the whole path is fenced in for security reasons.

When we reached the service station we found the path completely flooded as a consequence of the heavy rains that fell the previous week. We managed to find a spot where we were able to climb over the fence and so ended up having a couple of cokes in an air-conditioned shop! The service station manager told us that a few days earlier someone else doing the camino had swam across! He then very kindly opened a private gate that gave us access to the path a little bit further on. The path continued almost all the way to the town of El Cuervo, a total of 27 kms or about 17 miles. We arrived at around 2.00p.m

After checking in to a small hostal we went round to the local church of San Jose, where the local priest very kindly signed and stamped our "credencials".

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Later in the afternoon we bumped into three gentlemen who appeared to be doing the Camino. They turned out to be from the Friends of theCamino in Cadiz, whose map we had been following that very day! Their President, Luis, has promised to keep in touch and he is very interested in getting in touch with the Friends of the Camino in Gibraltar. They are currently planning a route starting from Tarifa, which unfortunately comes a bit too late for us!

Tomorrow we have another long day with some 20 miles ahead of us.







Buen Camino!

Day 10 - Resting in Jerez

Very early this morning we took the decission to rest in Jerez for the day.  One of my blisters had been playing up a lot and I felt it would be impossible to walk on it for what is a fairly long trek to our next destination, El Cuervo (about 18 miles).  We have been treating the blister today and even managed to do a bit of walking around the town.  I feel confident to continue tomorrow.

It has been a very hot 34C day and we expect more of the same tomorrow.  We intend therefore to start at around 6.00 a.m. to try to avoid the midday heat.
Our walk around Jerez today took in the Alcazar, the Cathedral, the Old Town Hall and some of the Sherry "Bodegas".  We even found time for a glass of our favourite dry sherry, "Fino La Ina".

We could stay here forever but fortunately the "Camino" beckons.  It has been interesting to note that at practically every church we visit to have our "credencial" stamped, the local priest knows the Bishop of Gibraltar, Charles Caruana to whom they refer to affectionately as "Don Carlos".  In the Cathedral we found a statue of St James, tucked away in a small chapel.

For the next three to four days we have long treks ahead of up to 20/22 miles.  We will need to carry extra water as it will be very hot so today we forwarded some of our things to the Poste Restante in Seville.  We hope our package is going to be there when we arrive!


Ana Maria and I have been receiving a huge number of emails every day and we apologise to those who have written, for not replying.  We are normally so tired at the end of each day that writing the blog is about all we can manage.  We are carrying a splendid but very small laptop and loading photos is a very time consuming exercise. It also has a very small screen and sometimes it is difficult to see where we have made typing errors. The blog system we are using does not have a spellcheck facility so please excuse our errors!


But please carry on emailing us or leaving comments on the blog.  We find it quite comforting to know that people care and are following our progress. 

Our walking poles cause much hilarity as we walk into small villages in particular.  The children come and say "where did you leave your skis....or.....have you lost your way, there´s no snow here!"  Robert has been heard to swear under his breath once or twice!

Towards the end of each day we have taken to humming military marches, reminding Robert of his military service with the Gibraltar Regiment.  This enables us to stop shuffling our feet and pick up some sort of tempo as we walk our final couple of miles each day.  To anyone seeing or hearing us we must look like two demented fools! (no comments, please!)......escort to the keys, eyes right.....left, left, left right left......

Day 9 - Puerto Real - Jerez

Today it took us 8 hours to reach Jerez, the next stage of our journey.  Just outside Puerto Real we just could not find the path that was marked in the publication from the Friends of the Camino in Cadiz.  In the end it took us about 20 minutes to find the path which went through about 5 miles of marshes.  

The setting was beautiful but early in the morning the mosquitoes wreaked havoc with me.  Somehow Ana Maria always escapes being bitten but I must have specially sweet blood (or something!) because the mosquitoes just love me.  The rest of the 27 km trek was along a series of paths most of which followed alongside the motorway all the way to Jerez.  Today the worst aspect has been the heat.  We have been walking in around 28 degrees celcius most of the way!


We stopped on the outskirsts of Jerez to have some lunch and then went to 
find the Church of St James to have our "Credencial" stamped.  Unfortunately the church is being totally refurbished and was closed.  This evening we will need to find another one to get our stamp.


Quite close to Jerez the path was flooded.  As I tried to find a way round my left foot sank into the mud up to ankle depth.  By the time we reached our destination the mud had dried and it felt like I was lugging a piece of concrete around my foot!


We were sad to see two lovely ponies which had been tethered by the side of the road.  Although they seemed to be well looked after, they had no shade to get away from the blistering heat.


Towards the end of the day we had to resort to painkillers to dull the  ache of our blisters.  That said, they seem to be getting better (is there such a thing as a good blister?)

Tomorrow we are thinking of taking another rest day.  We shall decide after we've had a glass or two of the local Sherry!


Cheers!

Days 7 & 8 Conil-Chiclana and Chiclana-Puerto Real

After unsuccessfully trying to log on to the internet last night we decided to continue the blog updates this evening instead.  For the first time ever, the fact that we were doing the Camino de Santiago, elicited a startling response from the owner of the hostal into which we booked for the night.  He insisted on giving us a special rate for his best, recently refurbished room, and then gave us a light lunch, dinner and breakfast for next to nothing!  We hope this continues!

We had intended walking the whole way from Conil to Chiclana by road but after consulting Google maps we decided to opt for a different route.  We were glad we did as we found a fantastic path which went on for about five miles and only then did we have to go on a minor road or the remainder of our 15 mile trek!

We arrived in Chiclana after walking for 7 hours.  As we arrived over the brow of a hill, the town looked a short distance away.  The reality was that there were still 3.5 kms to go!  Robert went a bit mad and starting walking at a furious rate to get there quicker and I could not resist taking a photo of him going past a 30km/hr sign!

Chiclana itself was a bit disappointing.  We got our "credencial" duly stamped at the local church, had dinner and went to bed.  This morning foot inspection revealed even more blisters that needed treating.  Ana Maria is suffering particularly and we hope she will be able to manage.  The road to Puerto Real was long and dusty, walking mainly along minor roads for part of the way.  We did however manage to get lost (it's part of what we do all the time!) and ended up walking an extra 5 kms!  The jury is still out as to who was to blame for turning left when we should have turned right.  All  that I can say is that I am filing for divorce!  In mitigation, we asked 3 people for directions and they all gave us conflicting versions!  We finally made it to the University Hospital in Puerto Real,which is about 4 kms outside the town.  It was there that we saw our very first yellow arrow, the sign of the Camino de Samtiago path!  Long may it continue to guide our footsteps.

In Puerto Real we found it almost impossible to find accommodation.  A long search revealed only one hostal (which was closed) and we started to despair.  Eventually a local man took pity on us and took us to the house of a friend of his where we are spending the night.  Earlier today we had the second of our live interviews with Brookland FM who are covering the whole of our walk.  We very much hope that some people will rally to our call for more funding for the Sam Beare Hospice in Woking.  If you read this blog perhaps you can get your company to donate £100 to this very worthy cause, just £1 per mile that we have walked so far.  Believe you me each mile has been fun and agony in equal measure.  We hope that our suffering will not be in vain!


Today has marked the end of our first week walking the Camino.  We estimate we have walked in excess of 100 miles.  Only 800 more miles to go!

Buen Camino!

Day 6 Barbate- Conil de la Frontera

Last night we had torrential rain with the same forecast for this morning.  Fortunately in the end the rain held off and we enjoyed a beautiful cool day of walking, once we set off at 8.00a.m..

Because of the threat of rain we had decided to alter our planned route and instead of going along the coast we headed inland through a beautiful natural park "Los Pinos Pineros" heading for the shrine of San Ambrosio, for about 10 kms (about 4/5 kms longer than the coastal route) but which was very worthwhile.

We then had to walk along a minor road for some 16 kms which although somewhat boring had good views of the coast from time to time. We arrived in Conil very tired at around 2.50p.m.

Our biggest problem today has been the resurgence of blisters a couple of which are causing us some problems.  We  have been using a tried and tested method of piercing the blisters with needle and thread and then leaving a bit of thread to help drain the blister.  On the whole it is working very well but pounding the roads for 6 to 8 hours a day does not allow the blister to heal very quickly!

Still, no pain, no gain!

Day 5 - Bolonia - Barbate

This morning we left at 7.40a.m. after a hearty breakfast of coffee and toast with olive oil (!) en route to Barbate via Baelo Claudia and Atlanterra.  Unfortunately we were unable to gain access to the Roman ruins as it was too early.  Baelo Claudia is the most comprehensive remains of a Roman town on the whole of the Iberian peninsula.  We did however manage to persuade the security guard to let us take one photo hanging out of a balcony!

We then took a beautiful path over the La Plata mountain range to the Camarinal Lighthouse, which dates back to the 16th century, and then made our way to Atlanterra.

From there we made our way to Barbate walking practically the whole way on the beach, where we met several English tourists who had been stranded there because of the ash cloud!  Although rain had been forecast and we were wearing our gaiters in readiness, no rain appeared!  It was nevertheless very windy.  Walking on the sand was extremely tiring but we made good time reaching Barbate at 2.15p.m.

Days 3-4 Tarifa to Bolonia

After a restful day 3 in Tarifa recovering from our ordeal on Sunday we set off at 7.30a.m. and headed for Bolonia, our destination for the day.  We decided to take the scenic route and started walking along the beach.  Soon we had to go on a walkway to take us over river inlets.  Unfortunately these had been partly damaged by local storms, although eventually we managed to get through.

The beach then became impassable and we had to take to a main highway, returning to the beach a few kilometres down the road.  We repeated this procedure a couple of times until we reached the great sand dune of Valdevaqueros.  Skirting the dune we followed a path through pine woods still walking on very fine sand.  We found this extremely tiring but the views were stunning.  At 2.15p.m. we finally went over the last dune and saw Bolonia in the distance.  We headed straight for the first bar we saw and had a beer followed by lunch!


Bolonia is the home of Baelo Claudia, roman ruins which we hope to visit briefly tomorrow morning.