Helpful Naomi

Naomi was very helpful carrying my pack...22.5kg it ended up as. Lightest bag at check in they thought. One family of 6 had over 400kgs...they had to loose 220kg to board with luggage

Small World

Sitting in the departure lounge chatting to a lovely fron Nelson...who both grew up in my mum's hometown of Dunkenfield. Gave me some good pointers to track down family addresses...what a small world

Dessert in Orcland

Dessert with Sarah and Naomi. ..this tiny hamburger being shared by us all.
Moustache is a great place for dessert

In auckland

Just hanging with Naomi in town. She showed me around her campus at Travel Careers and Tourism. Great place and lovely to see her delight in the place. Meeting with Sarah soon for tea

Bird strike grounds my plane

My plane got hit by a bird on its way in so we have a 45min wait in Napier

Thanks John

Prime Minister John Key just flew in to wish me all the best for my travels

Taxi in 10

The taxi is about to come... I think I'm ready.... next full sleep in England

Bye Matt

Just dropped Matt off ... he knew something was up...thanks to Margaret and the Well's for looking after him

Underweight

Went and weighed my pack at the airport ... 16.9kg...FANTASTIC... I am allowed over 30kg on Malaysian Air.

The nerves..the excitement

It is Sunday afternoon...less than 48 hrs to go....eekkk!
Matt goes today...seems very strange to be leaving him here...I am sure he would love the camino...but not the distance.
Just a couple of more things to sort at work and almost ready at home.
.

It fits in! Wow...it fits in...now how to get the walking poles in.....

Checking my gear

 thought I should get my gear together and I will weigh it tomorrow at the airport

Camino del Norte Blog site
Have spent a good deal of time reading this blog - good daily maps and good info about accomodation, supermarkets etc... I will be able to use the map graphics to update my progress. It is getting very real all of a sudden !

When I arrive in Irun railway station, (start of my camino) I am looking for an arrow on the ground that leads to my first accomodation - see the photos !

This graphic shows the towns I will pass through. It comes from a blog that I found helpful when planning the walk.

Camino del Norte :: 

Click on this map to make it larger

The Northern Way (Spanish: Camino del Norte) runs from France at Irún and follows the northern coastline of Spain to Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago joining the Camino Francés at Arzúa. This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa, for some of its way and is part of the Coastal Route (Spanish: Ruta de la Costa).  The route passes through San Sebastian, Gernika, Bilbao, and Oviedo. It is less populated, lesser known and generally more difficult hiking. Shelters are 20 to 35 kilometers apart, rather than there being hostels (Spanish: albuergues) or monasteries every four to ten kilometers as on the Camino Francés.

Supporting Noah's Ark Children's Ministry Uganda

As part of my camino (walk) I am raising money for this great outreach in Uganda.

Noah's Ark Childrens Mission Uganda 

(Click on the link to see their website)

So far to date I have got pledges and donations as follows:

                 M & S H        $10

              Donation        $10

              Per km rate  $850
              Per km rate  $850

Total so far              $1720

Let me know is you would like to add to this sponsorship - post a comment or email me at nztim2000@gmail.com.

Trying to link my SPOT tracker to FB. Try this link


http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0PJhbg3VFgZtPgRC7ng7h33cYhqLx7yUt

This is my Spot Device - click to get a map of where I am.

On my way

Sunday....Sabbatical Day 2....

spoke in church this morning about the upcoming trip...scary. Lovely to see Joy McC there, as well as the Malcolm-Stones.

This was one of the hymns that we sang:

God who sets us on a journey
to discover, dream and grow,
lead us as you led your people
in the desert long ago;
journey inward, journey outward,
stir the spirit, stretch the mind,
love for God and self and neighbour
marks the way that Christ defined.

Exploration brings new insights,
changes, choices we must face;
give us wisdom in deciding,
mindful always of your grace;
should we stumble, lose our bearings,
find it hard to know what’s right,
we regain our true direction
focused on the Jesus light.

End our longing for the old days,
grant the vision that we lack –
once we’ve started on this journey
there can be no turning back;
let us travel light, discarding
excess baggage from our past,
cherish only what’s essential,
choosing treasure that will last.

When we set up camp and settle
to avoid love’s risk and pain,
you disturb complacent comfort,
pull the tent pegs up again;
keep us travelling in the knowledge
you are always at our side;
give us courage for the journey,
Christ our goal and Christ our guide. 

– Joy Dine, New Zealand Hymnbook


So, I felt I was finally in a place to watch The Way  - so I set the fire going and watched it - just finished. Very nice to see the type of countryside I will be walking thru'.

My Sabbatical has begun !

Saturday saw the first journey of many - taking the HardHats Caving.

The trip was such a great way to start the school holidays and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Click here to look at the photos