An appreciative stroll along our North Fremantle Camino.

About to walk in my Vietnamese straw hat

The next door neighbour just gave me a Vietnamese straw hat,as I was leaving to take some photos to put in this blogg. So I will put it up as an introduction to this very short piece.

Well that was a struggle; trying to make the block smaller so the photo fits but in doing so the block disappeared. So this will have to remain. But it is easier with this keyboard as more like typing and can see the text more clearly. Don’t know if this makes for interesting reading though . On the other hand it is preparation for my Camino Teresiano (or Ruta de la Teresiana.)starting in Avila

The Rocky Bay path stretches all along the cliff at the top of the Swan River. In fact the path goes to my right down towards the bridge heading towards the sea,and to my left becomes a path along the river straight through to Perth, about 20km away. It then winds back along the Swan back to Fremantle. We have walked one way, and I have cycled the loop 42km round the river and a pleasant 2 hr cycle with a coffee break of course half way.

Anyway this morning I’m walking to the right along the Rocky Bay cliff. The cliffs are limestone as you can see from the photos I am placing at the end. Rocky Bay itself (in Nungar language ) is where the Rainbow serpent rested in the Dreamtime in his journey along the Swan River. It was an important fishing spot for the Nungar people.

As I am walking this morning I look at the path with new eyes . This is pretty special scenically and historically. And its 3 minutes from my house. You can see from the photos how lovely it is and how still relatively unspoilt. When we first moved here like 40 years ago these houses along the cliff and opposite were not here. It was an industrial area and held engineering works, car yards, the flour mill, boat yard. Our children took off early in the morning at weekends and holidays and hacked their way along paths, lit fires and ate tins of baked beans, played and fought and swam off the beach below. Just next to where I start walking is the jumping off point. The local kids still jump off Suey(Suicide Rock).A. Rite of passage .

As walk I place one foot in front of the other ,trying to practice the most efficient way of walking with heel first and propelling forward with toes.I think also about not stumbling,about looking after my feet so as not to have another blister,about ensuring this time that my pack remains under 8kg. There is a slight rise to the path with some twists and turns that make it interesting rather than just a bland walk.

The old question asked all the time on the Camino sites :Why walk a camino?Why Spain?And now in this preparation time: how much of the height and twists and turns do I avoid in my choosing which Camino to walk in June 2022? We may be limiting ourselves. Because one of the attractions of walking in Spain is, in my experience anyway, the unpredictability of the terrain and weather and circumstances . Often it is the unexpected which gives most joy .

But I won’t be wearing the Vietnamese hat .

Hard to read this but this is how the area was so long ago
Start of walk along the limestone cliff.The Swan River is to my left and its a sparkling autumn morning
The oldest tree still standing

One of the views from the top of the cliff taking in the Swan River and the other side

The second blog post about preparing for the Camino

So now i have a keyboard attached to the phone and am seeing if i can type any faster or more easily.It doesn’t weigh very much so if this works then worth the extra 180 gms.

Here it is .And have managed to add the photo too.

This is tricky as.keep on trying to use the keyboard like my Mac .

So this evening we looked at various options for walking again:criteria include the length (shorter one, level of difficulty, the weather in May, and the overall attractiveness and diversity of the terrain and the places passed through.The most important consideration for both of us is that we prefer a road less travelled. Not much. We both loved the last camino, the de La Lana, two years ago .

Getting Ready for another Camino

The first of May.Three weeks until we leave for Spain so have decided to practice writing a blog on phone directly.Actually in the past have kept a journal,well I have one for each time away, and I keep a daily journal at home.Lots of writing over lots of years;however I want to write faster and more often ,so that each piece is not like having a tooth extracted,words wrung out, second guessing and then the checking and the torturous process of putting photos up and pondering again

And blogging is fast writing,fast thinking.So here goes.My stuff for backpack lies piled in a corner of my upper story room.I have packed once this time round and walked with pack.But in contrast to other pre Camino times have not done long walks with pack and sticks.I have been preoccupied with just getting muscle strength back,2 years after finishing chemo.Followed by interruption to excercise with common injuries :knee,shoulder,removal of a melanoma .

No I’m not taking all that.To be sorted

Get on with it.We’re doing the Camino Teresiano to start with.The 6 day walk celebrating the life of St Teresa of Avila starts in her Birthplace and ends in Alba de Tormes,her burial place.Then the decision whether to get to Salamanca and join the Via de La Plata or back to Madrid and revisit the Camino Madrid .I walked as far as Oldmeadow in 2018 with my daughter and had to rush back as my grandchild was born unexpectedly very early.

I am fit with walks, gym and swimming here in this beautiful Fremantle.At the moment the weather is perfect, rather like it’s been on perfect walking days in late April/ May walking in Spain .

So the strongest element working against the desire to move into new challenges,embrace a different life for awhile without all the encumbrances of the familiar patterns and routines, and all the stuff that goes with that,is a reluctance to leave.Age and illness tighten the frames around what is a wonderful, comfortable life .

Maybe as one is faced with leaving ,the familiar of family,home, routines assumes an extra attractiveness .Why am I plunging myself into a place/es where I have no anchor or identity ,where I walk long distances each day following a sometimes elusive arrow ;Will sometimes not be certain of a bed ,will probably gain another blister , at least ,get wet and cold and sometimes lose my way ?

Perfect weather to sit in the backyard
Late afternoon Leighton Beach Fremantle
Me and the rubbish “ chuck out “.( soon to accumulate again !)

Chuck out

Chuckout Day today -yay
Its arrived:
Chuckout in our street
Lined with stuff once owned
sometime treasure
now
 Chuckout


Blankets holed 
Cushions dusty, faded
Smelly carpet curling at the edges 
Burnt saucepans 
Unwanted cracked dishes
Cutlery.

Mostly boxes:
Boxes square, oblong,small and large
boxes storing stuff
stacked along our walls
looking tidy.
But we could never see inside 
so opened up to find 
then left them open on our floors
insides spilling out 
untidy.

Beware
You might be next 


Some of the pile has gone already 
One person's rubbish another's treasure.
Please ,please stop bringing home your finds :
replenishing  emptied spaces
what goes out comes back
full measure .

Meanwhile the skies darken 
as they did last Chuckout Day. 
Rain falls softly on the funeral pyre 
the wind begins.
Dead things sprawling limp and scattered :
Old clothes, paper,broken chairs........
the paraphenalia of our lives 
lies in sodden heaps on muddied ground .












	


	

			






	

		
Running again again again Rottnest. And Writing .
	


	
	

		

Running again 





Do the two go together? Well, for me maybe .When I’m running ,I create scenarios, chew over past mishaps, see the grains of sand, the leaves overhead and underfoot ,the interplay of light and shadow. I take in what Elizabeth Jolley calls the splendid view.This view is more than I see directly in front of me.There is a breadth and depth of sight ;a farsighted perception,a vision of a path ahead and faint memories of what has already been. A vista stretches ahead ,reachable if I keep my eyes poised towards that distance; niggles and hassles and full-blown fears are powerless to pull me down . 





The flowing movement of painless running and even,rhythmic breathing restores a belief in possibilities .The resurrection of certainty confirms that life is actually ok ,more than just ok .Its great ,and writing  is again a possibility.





It has been hard to regain a  trust in life after that let down of body ,a reminder of mortality.But ….then ,having recovered ,there’s wondering about direction: time is limited.