More Camino Planning

First, you have to cross the Pyrenees! I've done this twice, once in 1998 and again in 2016. The first time I walked from SJPP to Roncesvalles all in one day; the second time I secured a hard-to-get bed at Orisson Albergue which split the journey in two. Both these trips were along the Napoleon Route, shown in red on the map below. This year I'm taking the slightly easier route via Valcarlos, shown in green to the left of the map.

The Napoleon Route is closed in winter, because there used to be so many pilgrims having to be rescued. It opens officially on 1st April, provided that the weather permits.  In fact, there was a lot of snow up there last week. 

I have copied this detailed information about the two routes:

"The difference in maximum altitude between the Napoleon route and the Valcarlos route is 400 metres. The highest point of the Napoleon route is 1450 m and the highest point of the Valcarlos route is 1055 metres. This is a considerable difference in altitude.

In the winter months, and even in other months, it will often snow at 1200-1400 metres and rain at 1000 metres. Snow will remain on the ground much longer at higher altitude.

On the Napoleon route, you must walk for more than 5 km at an altitude of over 1200 metres, something that you never reach on the Valcarlos route. This is the section of the Napoleon route that is prohibited by Spanish law from 1 November until 31 March.

The Valcarlos route for foot pilgrims runs parallel to the main road (N 135) from SJPP to Valcarlos. When it snows heavily which happens from time to time and the snow ploughs are needed elsewhere or cannot keep up, this road can be closed for motor traffic for a day or two but remains open for pedestrians. Of course it may not be wise to walk when there is much snow on the ground because it slows you down and costs additional energy. On the other hand, it is fun to walk on a car free road. Decide what to do at the time and on the basis of good and up to date information."

Page from my guide book

This screenshot shows the profiles of the first Camino stages

This is a YouTube video by Efren Gonzalez, who produces vlogs of his travels specialising in drone footage:

SJPP to Roncesvalles

Efren took the Napoleon Route in late September 2021.

Police rescue pilgrims on the Valcarlos Route,
4th April 2022

Preparations

With less than three weeks to go before my next Spanish trip, I need to get myself fit. The first serious bushwalk with the Nats Group was on Sunday. We did 10.7 kms, not a lot by Camino standards but it’s a start. Mercifully there was cloud cover all the way and it made all the difference.

We started off at Point Walter. Near there is a memorial to a tragedy from WW2 in which many Australian Army Nurses perished:

The Vyner Brooke tragedy.

The memorial is in this peaceful spot.

We thought about the horrors of this episode: nothing has changed in the world.

We went on our way from Point Walter towards Fremantle and the Zephyr Cafe, where we had lunch in a gazebo. It was quite a gentle walk, but I was pretty tired being totally out of condition after the long hot summer.

A well-trodden path; river on the right.

Autumn now seems to be on the way, with cooler mornings:

Fungi shoot up overnight.

One of our street trees full of olives.

Meanwhile, I've started making a few advance bookings for my trip.  Since it's the week after Easter, when a lot of Spaniards will be on holiday, I wanted to make sure I always had a bed for the night.  I plan to use a baggage transfer service to save pressure on my knee, and I'll try to keep the daily mileage as low as I can. I have enough time to get to Santiago, but I'll probably take a few buses on some of the tricky parts. This is as far as I've got:

2022 Itinerary

SAT 16 APR Dep Perth 22.20 EK421  ($2156)

17 APR  Dep DXB 8.15 Arr BCN 13.25  Hostal Oliva 

18 APR 9.30 am train from Barcelona Sants to Pamplona  Hotel Europa 

19 APR 12.00 ALSA bus to SJPP Arr 1.30  €23   Hotel Itzalpea

20 APR Valcarlos   (12km)  Apartamentos de Montana Mendiola; Casa Ferran  

21 APR Roncesvalles (12km)  Albergue  

22 APR Linzoain  (13.8km) Posada El Camino (Carmen Luis) 

SAT 23 APR Larrasoana  (13.4km)  Casa Tao  

24 APR Zabaldika?  (7.1km)  Albergue opens c.15 Apr

25 APR Pamplona?

26 APR Puente la Reina by bus?  Hotel Bidean 

Picnic

The first three days of March were beautifully cool, but now the weather has reverted to type and it’s just too hot. It should be Autumn but it’s not. My car has been off the road for over 2 weeks, waiting for spare parts to come from Melbourne. There is a backlog of freight,  since the floods caused both the road and the rail line to collapse between Adelaide and Western Australia. Supermarket shelves have big empty areas and many favourite items are unobtainable.

Because I couldn’t drive over to Como, I invited C and E over here for a picnic on Friday night. If we stayed outside, Rocky could join us. (Big dogs are not allowed in this apartment block; small ones have to be carried, so that they don’t go to the loo in the lift). We enjoyed our meal in the enclosed courtyard near the swimming pool: it was a perfect temperature at 6.00 pm, so we must do it again:

Rocky could be let off the lead since there was no escape from the courtyard, though he did patrol the perimeter to make sure!

There was a nice sunset:

My Swiss Cheese plant is taking over the house, sending out long aerial roots:

I might have to re-locate it soon.

More on our heatwave here

Ball

School balls are big over here. E’s school hired the ballroom at Crown. Her mother hired the dress.

I walked across to Crown to photograph arrivals. There was quite a crush:

Checking in was slow, because everyone had to show their vaccination credentials. I found it hard to recognise anyone through their mask. Eventually someone called my name, and there they were:

Even the nails were perfect!

That’s all I know. What went on inside the ballroom has not been revealed.

Those dresses remind me of St Roch, but where was the dog?

St Roch in France

Coogee

In a recently published list of the 20 best beaches in Australia, Misery Beach near Albany came first. The only other one in WA (at number 14, I think) was Coogee which is where I am now.  I’m staying in a small (very small) cabin in Coogee Beach Holiday Park. Next door is a young man, evidently here for some time, with a top-of-the-range bike, a surfboard and a portable gas cooker on which he produces healthy stir-fries. He is also a technology whizz and soon put me right about the intermittent wi-fi, showing me how to make my iPhone into a hotspot to link up to my laptop.

Most of the other residents of this place are grey nomads in caravans. They gather in the late afternoon under shady trees to swap drinks, nibbles and stories about their travels. This goes on for hours until darkness forces them inside and someone has to cook dinner. For myself, I brought with me a casserole of lamb shanks and Puy lentils which just needed a few minutes in the microwave.

The real reason for my trip was to go snorkelling at the Omeo Wreck, about 10 minutes walk up the beach. Last weekend the Nats Club had organised a trip to the wreck, but Sunday is not a good day as it’s like Piccadilly Circus out there. Everyone was milling around, stirring up sediment, learning how to snorkel and generally getting in the way! So, my plan was to be up early and get there before the crowds. I was surprised to find I had slept (with earplugs) till 7.00 am. When I looked out of the window, a woman from a neighbouring caravan was doing her ironing outside! 

After a quick cup of tea, I was on my way up the beach. Today there were only about 8 or 9 people snorkelling and 100% more fish swimming around the wreck. There were many different types of fish. On Sunday, the Nats had with them a handy chart to identify fish and I should think I saw most of those on the first page. I watched a couple of fish opening their big lips to feed off the weed surrounding the rusty ironwork of the wreck, then spit out what was unpalatable. I saw shoals of small silver fish darting in and out and two big black ones sliding away. I needed that chart! On Sunday, we saw a red-lipped Morwong, but he wasn’t there today. I stayed out for at least 45 minutes. It was a very calm morning and my tight short wetsuit kept me warm enough. I just had to keep my eye on the sunrise to see which direction I was floating in. It was a very successful expedition, I thought.

Celebration at Miss Chow’s

Miss Chow’s is an up-market Chinese restaurant in South Perth. We enjoyed some tasty morsels yesterday evening:

E chose a selection of dumplings
and a mocktail

Very tasty!

Mine was a version of Singapore Noodles,
with extra prawns

The prawns were really fresh and juicy

Afterwards we strolled along the South Perth foreshore, where there is some clever artwork:

Hippo made of gears and spanners

Hugging an emu

Behind E's head is the building where I lived when I first moved to Perth in 1990. I used to cross the river every day by ferry to the CBD and then by bus to Mt Lawley.

Perth CBD in the setting sun

What were we celebrating? A momentous step for C, who has resigned from her job of ten years to become a student nurse. She will start a nursing degree at Curtin in a couple of weeks, beginning with a science bridging course. She received some very appropriate leaving presents from her office: a nurse’s upside down watch and a stethoscope.

Leopoldstadt

We are totally over this hot weather! On a 41 degree day on the weekend, the best place to be was in a nice cold cinema. A friend told me about National Theatre productions from London which are filmed and shown around the world; (she misses English culture and goes to them often). So we went to see Leopoldstadt.

Tom Stoppard’s latest play follows the fortunes of a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna before and after the Nazi Anschluss of Austria. Much of it is based on Stoppard’s childhood in nearby Czechoslovakia before he escaped to England, where he was adopted and brought up by a British family. He had little knowledge of his Jewish inheritance till he went back to Vienna to search for his roots.

The play moves swiftly from riches to rags in Leopoldstadt, the old Jewish quarter of Vienna. At first it was all merriment and parties. Later everyone was wearing winter coats indoors and wondering if they should stick it out or try to escape to America or Shanghai. America had quotas. Sounds familiar? There were a few lighter moments. A baby was about to be circumcised and the doctor was expected. In a case of mistaken identity, a Doctor of Law arrived to see someone else in the family and was taken for the medical doctor. He took out a cigar and said has anyone got a cigar cutter. No? Never mind, I’ll bite it off!

The play resonated with me, as I worked in Vienna for four years in the 1980’s. I was Librarian at Vienna International School. My daughter’s best friend was a Jewish girl called Debbie. Her grandmother was one of those who actually escaped to Shanghai. The family had first gone to Singapore, but then they decided it would be safer to go even further away and ended up in Shanghai. After the war they returned to Vienna, bringing with them a lot of Chinese artefacts which enabled them to set up a lucrative business.

Fact meets fiction.