The Aussies Are Coming!

[John Wordsman]

I hope so. The few I met were great hikers and good company. Best of all to
your group and may God bless you.
L&Pjjjj


>From: Mr Bernard Milford <s560543aSTUDENT.UQ.EDU.AU>
>Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu>
>To: GOCAMINOapete.uri.edu
>Subject: The Aussies Are Coming!
>Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 12:59:11 +1000
>

>only about 170 people have got the Compostelana from "Oceania", which I
>suppose is mostly us (Australia) and New Zealand.  Which means it's not
>really well known here.  But the following article appeared in the
>Qantas inflight magazine this month - along with some quite stunning
>pictures.  Does this mean that there'll be a flood of Aussies on the
>walk in the next few years?  Can't wait to see
>
>Bernard
>
>
>(Leanne Walker, QANTAS The Australian Way, No93, March 2001)
>
>
>Throughout the year, especially in the warmer, longer days of summer,
>people from around the globe take part in a famous Spanish journey, one
>made by millions of pilgrims over the pas millennium.
>
>Camino de Santiago, known as the Pilgrims’ Way was created after the
>discovery of the tomb of St James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela
>in 813.  Bishop Godescalo was the first to make the pilgrimage in 950,
>walking with a group of French pilgrims.  By the 11th century, streams
>of pilgrims were descending on Santiago and priories and hospitals were
>founded along the 750-kilometre route to offer hospitality.  From
>France, the Pilgrims’ Way follows walking trails, farm tracks and roads
>across northern Spain, weaving through the sweeping wheat plains of
>Navarra province, the vineyards and wine of La Rioja, the ancient
>castles of Castilla y Leon, and finally to the verdant hills of
>Galicia, still bathed in magic and myth.  From the French border town
>of St-Jean-Pied-De-Port, pilgrims make their way down from the Pyrenees
>through woodland glades and small villages, into the 2000-year old city
>of Pamplona.  After crossing the famous mediaeval pilgrims’ bridge of
>Puente de la Reina, a masterpiece of graceful arches reflected in the
>limpid pools below, it’s back into the Navarra and La Rioja
>countryside, washed in sunlight like a half-finished Van Gogh canvas.
>
>The Pilgrims’ Way is a totally existential experience.  Days merge into
>weeks of following the familiar yellow arrows and scallop-shell signs
>that point the way.  Wake and eat, walk and rest, walk some more, then
>seek shelter in the refuges along the way.  This is travel in its
>purest form, with each foot placed one before the other with all one’s
>needs carried in a backpack.
>
>For 390 kilometres, the Camino is in the province of Castilla y Leon –
>a sliver of earth that cuts endlessly through the plains of wheat
>fields, with little shade and a relentlessly beating sun, broken only
>by the great cities of Burgos, Leon, Astorga and Sahagun.  This is the
>road-weary pilgrim’s greatest mental and physical challenge to date.
>
>Walking through rural Galicia in the latter stages of the Camino, one
>could be traversing any century since mediaeval times.  In the
>surrounding fields, men and women still use long scythes for the
>harvest.
>
>Pilgrim numbers grow by the thousands after climbing to O Cebreiro, a
>tiny wind-battered settlement of thatched stone houses high above a
>patchwork of lush valleys, as it is only obligatory of pilgrims to walk
>the last 100 kilometres to receive their certificate (compostela) of
>pilgrimage.  Beds become harder to come by and a place on the floor of
>the last few refuges is a daily objective for many.
>
>With the end in sight, the realisation can bring feelings of excitement
>and sadness.  Finally, after weeks of living and breathing the Camino,
>you climb that last hill of Monto Gozo, and with tears in your eyes
>catch sight of the ultimate goal – the Catedral de Santiago with its
>spires shining in the sunlight, like a prize waiting to be claimed.

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