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    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago
    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago
    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago
    Ebook138 pages1 hour

    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago

    By Sue Dwan

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    About this ebook

    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago gives practical advice on the preparation for the walk; shares the many challenges and joys pilgrims face along The Way; offers humerous, wry observations on themselves, fellow pilgrims and village life; identifies six Camino lessons as touchstones for life; and considers the broader, life-changing ramifications of completing the trip.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSue Dwan
    Release dateNov 4, 2012
    ISBN9781301383290
    The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago
    Author

    Sue Dwan

    Sue Dwan lives in New Zealand and has her own business. She is a professional certified coach (PCC), a management/business coach, writer (travel, educational and management) and ‘doer of interesting projects’, at clients' request. She has a particular interest in encouraging individuals to get their affairs in order before it is too late to do so and in 2014 wrote three PDF guidebooks on the topic: Clarify Your Intentions, Clear The Way and Wrap Up Your Business. When she isn't working with clients or tied to her desk, she's travelling or planning her next trip.

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      Book preview

      The Kiwi Sisters' Camino de Santiago - Sue Dwan

      The Kiwi Sisters’ Camino de Santiago

      By Sue Dwan

      Copyright 2012 Sue Dwan

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2009 Catherine Dwan

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Please note: New Zealand spelling, which is different from American spelling for some words, has been used throughout this text.

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Taking the Plunge

      Chapter 1

      Lesson 1 – Get Over Yourself

      Chapter 2

      Lesson 2 – Self Care

      Chapter 3

      Lesson 3 – Let Go

      Chapter 4

      Lesson 4 – Be in the Present

      Chapter 5

      Lesson 5 – Receive Gracefully

      Chapter 6

      Lesson 6 – Ask for Help

      Chapter 7

      Post-walk Reflections

      INTRODUCTION: Taking the Plunge

      A simple enough question

      One evening in 2008 my sister Catherine asked me, Would you be interested in walking the Camino? For a number of years she’d been talking about doing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail across northern Spain, and had planned to walk it in 2009 with a friend. However, her friend found she wasn’t able to go, so Catherine was prepared to either do it alone or find someone else to go with her. She wanted to take Camino Francés (the ‘French Way’ – one of the most popular routes) and spoke glowingly of the 800 kilometre walk to the city of Santiago de Compostela (or ‘Santiago’), recounting the articles she’d read that suggested it was a manageable trip for everyone. Is it?

      Well yes, if history is anything to go by. Santiago, along with Rome and Jerusalem, were all popular destination points for pilgrimages in the Middle Ages.

      Traditionally, pilgrimages involved a long journey to a sacred site that had a moral or spiritual importance. Pilgrims had specific goals in mind, such as to: cure an illness, fulfil a vow, undertake an act of devotion or self-mortification, receive a plenary indulgence (a remission of punishment due for sins already forgiven), show regret for any wrong doing, or as a form of penance for their crimes. Their focus was on a spiritual leader, saint or any holy objects/relics associated with the revered person – such as body parts, clothing or other items. And sometimes, rich people paid poor people to walk the pilgrimage for them.

      Pilgrims walked or travelled by horse and were totally reliant on themselves and the kindness of strangers for shelter, food and protection.

      Information about the Camino from books, blogs and articles reveals, like most things now Christian, that it had its origins in Paganism, Druidic ritual and the worship of Venus. At one point the important destination was Finisterre (Finis Terre – ‘World’s End’). After the Catholic Church overlaid their beliefs on top of the previous origins, the focus shifted to St. James, one of Christ’s apostles, and Santiago de Compostela.

      In fact, ‘Camino de Santiago’ means the ‘Way of St. James’, and legend has it that St. James preached in Galicia, was beheaded in the Holy Land and his disciples took his body back to Galicia for burial. The city of Santiago grew around the shrine containing his tomb. One source of information suggests the name ‘Santiago’ comes from the Latin ‘Sanctu Iacobu’, or in English, ‘St. James’; and ‘Compostela’ (also spelled ‘Compostella’) comes from the Latin ‘Campus Stellae’, or ‘Field of the Star’; or Composita Tella (Buried Ground), or Compositellam (The Well Composed One).

      Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/santiago-de-compostela

      Even though the Camino de Santiago is known as a Christian – and specifically Catholic – pilgrimage trail, people who walk it today may or may not be Christian; they may be from other faiths or have no religious beliefs at all. The trail is also for those who may simply want a long walk, cycle or horse ride in the countryside; or for those who may want a break away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and their working or personal world. It is also for those who may want to experience another country and culture up close; for those who may want to focus on their inner self, their spiritual and personal development; and for those who want time to reflect and ‘be’, for a while. It is for those who may want an adventure and the chance to do something different. Every pilgrim has their own reason for being there and not all reasons may be declared.

      Us, outdoor women – really?

      When I’d listen to Catherine speak about the Camino, my previous outdoorsy-type activities in the South Island of New Zealand always sprang to mind. The Milford, St. James, Hollyford, Routeburn and Heaphy tracks have terrific scenery; it was getting there to see it that was difficult. Hardly surprising really, given I did those walks without much preparation or training and was fuelled by great optimism and a can-do approach. I struggled with the hard physical slog (no handy walking poles then); the huge, uncomfortable packs; the borrowed boots and the heavy clothing (stiff waterproof over-trousers, the scratchy ‘Swanndri’ wool jacket, the leak-guaranteed, so-called waterproof jackets). Added bonuses were the joys of cramped shared bunk accommodation, the charming toilets out the back, and washing in the creek.

      After every trip I always asked myself what possessed me to say yes in the first place, and the reasons were always the same: the physical and mental challenge, the scenery and the company. And Catherine, come to think of it, wasn’t much better in her preparation for hiking trips. She’d also had the ghastly experience of getting hypothermia at the top of the Milford Track.

      We’re really not outdoor women and our livelihoods aren’t orientated to it either. Catherine’s a registered nurse, a manager in the health sector and does Healing Touch (a relaxing energy therapy using gentle touch) in her spare time. I have my own business as a personal management trainer/coach and educational writer and do a little Reiki on occasions. By the nature of our work we’re office-bound mostly, but we have always kept a level of health and fitness by exercising regularly and eating well. We’d both walked a number of half marathons over the years and competed in several Masters’ Games in 5 kilometre and 10 kilometre walks, and I’d walked the Brisbane Marathon in 2006.

      Would that be enough?

      Attractions of the Camino

      It’s hard to describe how the Camino pilgrims’ walk captured our imagination and triggered huge stirrings of excitement and nerves, in equal parts. We were looking at an 800 kilometre physical challenge over the Pyrenees mountain range and across the north of Spain, starting in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (in the south of France) or Roncevaux (also called Roncesvalles) in the north of Spain, and finishing on Spain’s west coast, in Santiago de Compostela. Along the way, pilgrims (peregrinos) can stay in albergues de peregrinos (sometimes called ‘refugios’ or ‘hostales’), private hostels or hotels.

      The albergue typically offers bunk beds with additional overflow space being mattresses on the floor. The shared facilities are probably what you’d expect in such places – from decidedly less-than-good, to very good. Most peregrinos take their world on their back in a backpack, and if they follow the recommended guidelines, carry only 10% of their body weight. It would be a huge challenge for us to walk this far across a foreign country, not knowing the language, culture or customs of Spain, and not knowing what may happen along the way or how we would manage it on a daily basis. Faced with all of that, who could possibly say no?

      Watch what you wish for

      At the beginning of an idea, I’m not that interested in the finer details – I much prefer the big picture and to think about the practicalities at a later date when I need to. So it was with the Camino. After discussing the walk yet again after a glass or two of wine one night, when Catherine asked, Would you be interested in walking the Camino? what else but, Yes, I’d love to! pours out of my mouth.

      Accurate diagnosis?

      It’s strange how many friends and colleagues responded the same way when I said that I was going to walk the Camino. You’re mad! they’d say, before going into gales of laughter. Catherine had the same response – friends indicated that 800 kilometres was beyond the pale, she must be having them on, and You’re not in your 20s, you know. Mind you, we’d been told this before. In the 1980s a friend and I decided to bike from Blenheim to Christchurch (in New Zealand, 310 kilometres) in 3 days over one hot Christmas holiday, without any preparation or training. It was doable, although my knees haven’t been quite the same since. And over the years, other ventures included cycle touring with Catherine and friends from Dunedin to Christchurch, Arthur’s Pass to Greymouth, Arthur’s Pass to Christchurch, Picton to Blenheim, and Picton to Queen Charlotte Sound. You’re mad! has followed but not deterred us. Friends may well be right in their analysis, but really, all we have is a desire to have a small adventure every now and again. Is that really so extraordinary? How many people, if they were honest with themselves, wouldn’t like to run away from it all, do something completely different and see how they cope and grow from the experience?

      Only Ms Average

      During that March, the focus was to get physically fit for the walk. We both had a fitness test and despite our usual number of exercise sessions each week, we were both ‘Ms Average’. The experienced folks at the sports centre gave me the bones of a training plan to flesh out, document and follow. It sounded eminently doable...but really, wouldn’t it be great if you could do the Camino without any training whatsoever and have no ill effects from doing so? The training would be a huge time commitment – a 6-8 month training plan that would take up yet more of the weekend and more time during the week as well. I felt tired just thinking about it.

      MacLaine’s Camino

      I’d read that Shirley MacLaine had walked the Camino a few years previously and wrote 'The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit' (2001) as a result. I tracked it down and just read it. Her story describes a challenging physical journey, various spiritual encounters and reflections, some alarming encounters with wild dogs and much subterfuge to avoid fans and publicity. The wild dogs had me worried.

      Trekking poles

      It was a mission to find trekking poles that didn’t cost the earth, but we finally found them. It took a few goes to get the right bits of the pole to undo at the right level and stay in position, but generally, they were great. I felt slightly strange using them, but they really did make a difference. Regardless of whether one’s walking on the flat, uphill or down dale, they help one’s propulsion as the arms and the poles provide directed power and stability. The Nordic walking technique I had yet to get right. While I was concentrating on the placement of the pole in line with my feet and walking and swinging my arms forward and back, I seemed to lose the ability to walk altogether and keep falling over my feet. It would be a long 800 kilometres if I was tripping over all the while.

      Advice from peregrinos

      We were hearing of more and more people who had done the Camino, through talking with friends or complete strangers. A few years prior we hadn’t heard of it at all, let alone people who had done it – but

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