Day 2 Algeciras to Tarifa

Firstly we would like to start with an apology.  We got so carried away by the donation of £1000 that we received from an anonymous donor that we forgot to mention an equally important donation of £2 from little Beth.  She brought her pocket money inside a little tin.  If Beth's mummy, Claire, is reading this blog perhaps she can explain to Beth that her donation may one day help to save the life of a child suffering from cancer.  Thank you so much Beth!

We had to delay the start of our walk on Sunday due to very heavy rain.  Eventually we set off at 9.45a.m.and reached Tarifa city center at 9.00p.m.!  It was without doubt the most gruelling walk that Ana Maria and I have ever done.  We encountered torrential downpours along the way, together with brief bouts of sunshine which had our ponchos coming on and off almost continuously!.. In the end we decided we might as well get wet and stored the ponchos.  The first stage of our walk from Algeciras took us 5 km to a former military road which climbed all the way for nearly 7kms.  Part opf the road had been washed away and we were lucky to be able to get through.  We then connected to 4 more paths which unfortunately zig zagged along the coast.  This together with extremely muddy paths made progress difficult and slow, making the journey a lot longer than we had anticipated (32 kms), some 11 hours all told!  We arrived completely exhausted and decide this morning to take a rest day today.  Tomorrow we will be settiung off early towards Bolonia on our way to Cadiz.

Incredibly,  along one of the very muddy paths we took in the pouring rain we stopped at a little cottage to ask for some water when to our complete amazement we cam across a few friends from Gibraltar, including Leslie and Pussy Whitwell who were celebrating a family member's birthday.  We are still kicking ourselves for not accepting their hospitality to stay the night.  We could have saved ourselves a few drenchings!

A few hours later we came across Aurelio and Mercedes, an elderly Spanish couple who were managing a small farm who, on hearing we were doing the camino offered us Beer, tea, water and a place to sleep!  Stupidly once again we turned down a fantastic offer  and decided to carry on.  Aurelio warned us that a small bridge had collapsed further down the road, very close to the beach.  In addition the tide was coming in and we might have difficulty getting through.  In the end we had to climb over a series of small rocks and boulders with the incoming waves drenching us from the left as we (successfully) attempted to cross over to the other side.  This proved so exhausting that we had to stop fior a while to get our breath back!

On our final approach to Tarifa we inadvertently trespassed on land belonging to a German couple.  They were very kind and allowed us to go through their property, otheriwse we would have been forced to walk almost another hour to our destination, something which I don't think we would have managed.  Klaus, if you read this blog please accept our apologies for the trespass and our thanks for your help.


Buen Camino!

The magic of the Camino!

This morning as we waited at the Shrine of Our Lady of Europa for the arrival of the Bishop, a gentleman turned up to wish us a good journey.  He also donated 1000 pounds sterling for RICC.  He wishes to remain anonymous. We thank him from the bottom of our hearts for his generosity.  It is also a great show of faith on his part of our ability to complete this walk!  We will not let him down.  Perhaps when we finish the walk we can come and tell him of our experiences!

After a blessing by the Bishop Emeritus of Gibraltar, Charles Caruana, we set off for Algeciras on a wet and blustery day, arriving at around 6.00pm.  Our "Credencial" was duly stamped at the Nuestra Señora de la Palma church in Algeciras.  Tonight we will sleep like logs!

More abut our journey soon.

Storms hit the south of Spain

For the past ten days we have been staying with my nephew Billy and his wife Pauline.  They both work in Gibraltar but live in Alcaidesa in Spain just 15 minutes drive from the frontier.

The torrential rain which has been plaguing us for the last few days let rip with a vengeance last night resulting in widespread flooding.  Billy's house was in danger of flooding so we've been up part of the night making sure that the flood defences held.  We finally won the battle but more rain and heavy storms are forecast so we will have to decide this morning if we go ahead with the walk today or not.  Part of the way we have to walk through today is reported to be flooded and may be impassable.

Our current intention is to start in Gibraltar, walk to the Spanish frontier and then play it by ear.  The rain is expected to ease on Tuesday so we may decide to continue our journey then.  Watch this space!

Para nuestros amigos de habla hispana

Mañana es el gran dia! Empezaremos la gran aventura: andar el camino de Santiago desde Gibraltar hasta Finisterra en Galicia. Saldremos a las 10 de la mañana hacia Algeciras, nuestra primera etapa. Despues de Algeciras nos quedaran solo unas 69 etapas mas. Que locura!…

Algunos familiares y amigos nos acompañaran durante el primer dia y posiblemente el segundo. Estamos muy entusiasmados pero tambien un poco nerviosos de lo que nos espera - 1500 kms! Teniamos la esperanza de comenzar en un dia soleado pero el pronostico es de lluvia y mas lluvia.

Hoy es nuestro 36 aniversario de boda y esperamos poder celebrarlo cuando lleguemos a nuestro destino, al final de nuestra aventura, si es que todavia nos hablamos!….

Dentro de lo posible actualizaremos el blog con algunas noticias en español para mantenerlos al tanto de nuestras aventuras.

Esperamos que nos acompañen en nuestro camino y les saludamos con la frase clasica del Camino de Santiago: “Buen camino!”

Tomorrow's the day!

Today Ana Maria and I celebrate our 36th Wedding Anniversary! 

Tomorrow we embark on our maddest venture yet, but one which we hope to enjoy.  To all those who have already made a donation to our chosen charities, many thanks!  To those who have yet to donate, we urge you to do so.  Both the Sam Beare Hospice in Weybridge and Research into Childhood Cancer in Gibraltar both do marvellous work and deserve our support.

To those who simply want to follow our progress, we hope you will enjoy our postings.  As from tomorrow we will endeavour to do a posting every two or three days and we hope to make it as interesting as circumstances allow! 

Walking the Camino de Santiago is something we have been meaning to do for some years now.  We never dreamt we would try to do it all at once and not in stages as most people do.  In addition we never thought we would do it from Gibraltar.  The journey ahead is 1500 kms or roughly just over 900 miles.  It will take us about 10 weeks to complete.  We hope you will join us on our journey and that you will be thinking of us in the weeks ahead.  Those who walk the Camino salute each other in the traditional way and so we salute you and thank you:

BUEN CAMINO!

Less than 3 days to go!

We are now in the final stages of our preparations for the walk.  Our stay so far in Alcaidesa, Spain and in Gibraltar has been great.  Gibraltarians are famous for their warm hospitality and we have certainly been experiencing a lot of it!  One downside of this has been that we have eaten too much and not been able to exercise enough!

The Surrey Press and Radio have been very supportive to date and both the Surrey Herald and the Surrey Advertiser have run the story.  Interviews with Radio Wey and Eagle Radio have already gone on air and Brooklands FM will be running regular live link-ups.  Yesterday, BBC Surrey have been in touch and they too will be covering our walk.

In Gibraltar the press have been very kind with the Gibraltar Magazine and 7 days covering the story.  The Gibraltar Chronicle, one of Europe's oldest newspapers, will publish an article about the walk either this Thursday or Friday and will be covering the whole of the walk from time to time.

When we start the walk on Saturday at 10.00a.m. we will be accompanied by a few relatives and friends, some of whom are going to walk for the whole of the first day with us, from Gibraltar to Algeciras.  At least one other will be walking with us for a second day as well.  Others will hopefully join us along the route and we already have one friend who will be joining us towards the end of our walk sometime in June, to cover the last 100 kms with us!  Many more are following our blog including people from the UK, Gibraltar, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Poland, Australia and Argentina!  If you too are following our blog and come from a different country, please let us know.

My brother William's Ave Maria video has now been seen by over 76,000 people.  When I posted our first blog that figure was 67,000.  If everyone who saw the video donated just £1 the charities that we are sponsoring would be very happy indeed!

Thank you all for your continued support.

Only 9 days to go!

After a long 1600 mile drive from Weybridge, we reached Gibraltar last night.  On the way down we were able to have a look at the route we plan to take from Gibraltar to Cadiz.  We think we have now found a reasonably good route from Tarifa to Cadiz so this week we are going to devote to finding the best way to go from Gibraltar to Tarifa.  Unfortunately it looks as if we are going to have to go partly along a motorway, unless we take a very long detour!

This morning we did a leisurely walk  from the Shrine of Our Lady of Europa to the Gibraltar/Spanish frontier and tomorrow we are going to try and find the best route from Gibraltar to Algeciras where we hope to spend our first night on our long journey.  For those unfamiliar with the south of Spain, our route will take us initially from Gibraltar to Algeciras, Tarifa, Bolonia, Barbate, Conil de la Fromtera, Puerto Real and Cadiz.  From there we go on to Seville and from Seville it is around 1000kms to Santiago de Compostela.

We hope to be catching up with some family and friends over the next few days as well as doing interviews with press and TV.  More news on this later. Back home in Weybridge, Brooklands FM Radio will be interviewing us live about once a week throughout the whole of our ten week walk!  Interviews will be recorded and can be heard on their website.  Again, we will let you know how and when you can access these.

1st April - We are on our way!

We are just setting off heading for the Eurotunnel on our way to France, Spain and Gibraltar.  Today is expected to be the busiest start to the Easter weekend "getaway" in recent years!

Many of you emailed yesterday to wish us good luck as we get closer to the start of our walk.  Many thanks to all of you.  It really makes a difference to know that so many of you are following our progress.

Yesterday we were interviewed by Eagle Radio which covers Surrey and Hampshire on 96.4FM

Media coverage in Gibraltar

The media coverage in Gibraltar started today with a double page spread in the Gibraltar Magazine, a glossy which comes out once a month.  To see this go to: The Gibraltar Magazine  The article can be found in the April 2010 edition on pages 44/45. At the same time browse through the whole magazine which covers all aspects of Gibraltar life.  Gibraltar is a fantastic holiday destination and has a lot more to offer than just the famous Gibraltar Apes!

We have already done an interview for the Gibraltar Chronicle and this should be coming out in the next couple of weeks.  They will be covering the whole of the walk, probably on a weekly basis.

Only 18 more days to go!

Today, as we prepare for our departure to Spain, the Surrey Advertiser has carried an article about our walk, which we hope will keep interest in the walk alive locally!   We are now busy with our final preparations, making sure that all our equipment is ready, passports are handy etc, ready for our departure on Thursday.  A number of people who are supporting us have expressed interest in our equipment so we have decided to include this in a new page which you can access from this home page.  Just click on the heading "Equipment List".


Among those who have been giving us their support and encouragement is an old friend, Miles Macnair.  His mother Ruth, an accomplished author and painter, has a strong connection with Gibraltar.  In her book Witness to War, Ruth witnessed the opening shots of the Spanish Civil War. Her husband, Ian Macnair, was in command of a destroyer, HMS Shamrock, and he was ordered by the Admiralty to undertake a number of hazardous missions to rescue refugees from Malaga and Seville. She describes these experiences in 15 letters to her mother in England, alternating the alarms of war with charming domestic details, combined with the fears of a wife for a husband suddenly caught up in an alien conflict.  A talented artist, Ruth's letters are illustrated with her paintings and photographs of the time.


Recently Miles sent me a note on a charming postcard illustrating one of his mother's paintings.  It is of a small bridge in the village of Campamento, not far from Gibraltar.  Our walk will take us through Campamento and we hope it may take us right over that bridge!

It's a small world!

A few days ago I got an email from Hector Charvetto.  Among other things he told me that he is from Gibraltar and remembers seeing my brother William in around 1946/48, playing the guitar at the barber's shop near my house.  William would have been around 7/8 years old.  The barber was his first teacher!  After playing his first public concert at the age of 12 he was seen by Narciso Yepes, at the time one of the world's top classical guitarists, who became his mentor.  Urged on by him, William went on to study at the conservatory of music in Madrid.

Hector and his wife Jane had read about our proposed Walk for William 2010 in the local Surrey Herald newspaper.   Ana Maria and I met them for coffee and we reminisced about the old days in Gib!  Somehow the conversation turned to the Gibraltar Regiment and he was telling me that he had to do his military service at the age of 27 instead of 18 as he had been working at the Navy Dockyard and so was exempt from doing his service earlier.  As we talked it became clear that notwithstanding our age difference we had both served in the same intake, the 28th!  Last night he sent me a photo of the 28th, which I have reproduced here.  I'm the one in the top row!  Soldiers from the Gibraltar Regiment have distinguished themselves in Iraq and Afghanistan with several receiving decorations including a Military Cross.

(click on the photo to enlarge)

Robert & Ana Maria at Radio Wey

This morning Ana Maria and I did an interview on Radio Wey, the foremost hospital radio station in the United Kingdom. Started in 1965 it continues to go from strength to strength and plays a vital role in bringing music, interviews and news to hospitals and local communities.

Our interviewer was Steve Chambers.  Steve trained as an actor many many years ago, then he was employed by British Airways where he has recently finished a long career as a Cabin Service Director. (That’s the person who you normally approach to ask for an upgrade.)  Just when I needed one and he retires!

And before you ask, no , we did not talk about strikes! We talked instead about our walk and about the charities we are supporting.  At the same time we also managed to listen to some of William's music.  Our thanks to Steve and to all those volunteers who do such a splendid job at Radio Wey.  

To listen to Radio Wey on the internet go to: www.radiowey.co.uk. and click on "Listen Live"

St Patrick's Day

Yesterday, St Patrick's Day, we were visited by a Leprechaun in the form of our dear friend Greta.  As you may have guessed she is Irish, somewhat extrovert and totally mad!  We opened the front door and there she was, blowing madly on her flute!  We had spoken earlier that day and she must have sensed that we were slightly stressed trying to organise everything before we set off for Spain on 1st April.  We suspect that she came to remind us that the walk also has to be fun and must be thoroughly enjoyed, something that we are determined to do.

Greta walked with us on the Thames Path Walk in 2007 as well as providing logistical support and she was the nurse who looked after the terrible blisters I got on that walk.  She is a good friend, and a great traveller and adventurer.  Her last adventure a few months ago was climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.  The good news (this remains to be seen!) is that she and her friend Linda are going to join us in Ourense and will walk with us over 100 kms to Santiago de Compostela, one of the last stages of our epic walk.  I suspect she thinks we are not going to get that far, hence her offer.  Well, Greta, get your boots ready 'cause we intend to see you there, come what may!

If there are any other mad people out there who would like to keep us company on our walk, please get in touch.

32 days to go!

The countdown to the start of Walk for William 2010 continues.  In the meantime we are gearing up for some press coverage, which hopefully will create more awareness of the two charities we are supporting and boost donations.

We have been interviewed by the Surrey Herald and we expect a piece about the walk to go out in this or next week's edition.  We are confident that other Surrey newspapers will also cover the walk as they did back in 2007.

In Gibraltar, the monthly glossy Gibraltar Magazine will be running a spread in April and the Gibraltar Chronicle, one of Europe's oldest newspapers, will start its coverage around the end of March.

We are expecting most donations to come in as we get closer to the start and during the walk.  However, please feel free to start donating right now!  We are leaving for Spain on 1st April and it would give us a huge boost to see a healthy balance before we go!

Update

Our training continues to go well and we are now covering about 50 miles a week.  On the walk itself we will be covering about twice that distance weekly.  The weather has been kind to us and we haven't been rained upon although it is getting increasingly cold and the thermals have had to come out on a couple of occasions!

I have now started to carry my 10 kilo rucksack. My shoulder is still painful but bearable and Claire, my physio at the Weybridge Hospital, assures me that it is healing.  She is seen here with me outside the entrance to the Sam Beare Hospice, the charity we are supporting in the UK.

Ana Maria seems to be coping rather well with the increased walking schedule and does not seem fazed by the 50 miles she had to put in this last week!  She keeps asking me when we are going to do a "proper day's walk". Women in her family are made of sturdy stuff!

Donations have now started to trickle in even though we are still 40 days from the start of the walk, which is quite heartening.  It is good to know that we are not the only ones who have faith in our ability to do this walk!

Welcome to our blog

Dear friends,

At long last our blog has been activated and our donations page at justgiving.com has now received its very first donations!  Ana Maria and I are looking forward to sharing the next few months with you, firstly as we prepare for the walk and then during the walk itself.

From tomorrow we intensify our training (weather permitting) and start making sure we have everything we need for the long walk.  We are going to drive to Gibraltar and will probably start off on April 1^st (now I know why it’s called fools day!) and hope to arrive there on or around April 6^th.  This will give us about 10 days to continue our training and fully research the route that we hope to take from Gibraltar to Cadiz.  Unfortunately the Corredor Verde Dos Bahias which we had intended to follow and which would have taken us from near Algeciras almost all the way to Cadiz, is closed in several of its stages so it’s been a question of “back to the drawing board” for us!

We hope and trust that you will give us your support as we embark on this mad adventure!