Since Julie Andrews has featured in my blog recently, I thought I’d keep the theme going…

1) A long, hot soak in a bath, after a long, hot day of walking

2) Leafy, green and cool country lanes. Heaven, after the scorching sun

3) Cuckoo birds. We hear them everyday

4) My walking poles. I left Australia thinking they would be useless, but I am in love with them now. I don’t know how anyone can walk the Camino without them.

5) My cycling gloves. Refer No 4

6) Freshly squeezed orange juice, everyday. You need to pick up your game, Australia. No bottled stuff here

7) Icy cold and sparklingly clear mountain streams.

8) Snow capped mountains

9) Fields full of wild flowers, including lavender, daisies and violets…

10) The sign indicating we have arrived at our town of destination.

11) My Nike Air gym shoes, which look like they will be walking all the way to Santiago

 

 

And, of course, my least favourite things….

1) Climbing rocky, mountain paths. Even more so, if the degree of ascent is less than 90 degrees…

2) Groups of noisy Spanish walkers, stopping regularly in inconvenient spots to take a ‘selfie’

3) Cobblestones, at the end of a 25 klms walk.

4) Anyone way too cheery, at the start of a long day

5) My Merrill Goretex hiking boots. Way too much money, for a blister on day one.

6) The 30 minute morning ritual of taping our toes individually, in preparation for battle..

7) Fighting to close our suitcases, every morning, even though there isn’t anything extra in there. It’s a mystery

8) Hearing that close friends, with whom I have worked for many years, now no longer have a job. I’m very distressed for their situation and also that I won’t see them before they leave. I’ll be returning to a very different company and I don’t like that at all

9) The weight of our back packs. We’re not even carrying all our worldly goods, but the &#*! things are still too heavy. We’ve pared it down, but still haven’t mastered the ability to skip along the paths with just a bottle of water and a hanky….

10) Our lack of fashion sense and self respect whilst on this walk. Yes, I have now become that person who wears Nimbin style sandals with socks, after a days walk, to give my feet a break. To be fair, I’m keeping good company, everyone else wears them too. And  Kate now has an aversion to brushing her hair. We hope these newly developed habits disappear in Santiago…

xxx