Europe 2018 Day 4

Woke up around 5.30am, our bedroom is upstairs in the chalet, it has its own ensuite and a balcony, the roof descends throughout the roof as a raked ceiling and the floors are squeaky enough to inform the other guest of our movements. I went downstairs quietly as possible as no one else was stirring, discovering the top step has the same kind of wooden alarm system as seen in any horror movie.
Sat outside with a splendid view of Mont Blanc with no clouds in sight. Updated the blog and read. Lynette came down and performed lewd acts of yoga. The coffee in the pot was yesterdays and had tarred up overnight, I couldn't find filter bags so I had a couple of Indonesian style coffees. Grounds stirred directly into hot water, give it two minutes to settle, don't drink to the bottom.
Breakfast began at 7.00am a fine spread. Had cereal and yoghurt and one fabulous croissant, you know your in France by the quality of the croissant. We had a plastic lunchbox to fill for the walk, I took a bed of lentils, salad greens, tomato, cheese, salami and a boiled egg for the box and a good potion of bagette to accompany it. Then boots on and in the van by 9.00am.
We drove to Carlaveyron animal reserve to begin. I was dressed with long pants and short cotton t-shirt as I was to be for the rest of the day. The weather was fine and rose to 22 degrees, we applied sunscreen twice throughout the day. The walk meandered  through the woods which consisted mainly of Norweigan Spruce with Elms and Maples. Somebody said they heard a cuckoo and we saw evidence of woodpeckers. Nick, our guide, told us the black woodpecker makes a neat hole while the green woodpecker tears the bark.
The walk was a steady climb, enough to take the breath away if rushed, Nick set a good steady pace, we arrived at the Summit of Aiguillette des Houches by 1.30pm. The Summit afforded 360 degree views taking in Mont Blanc, Swiss and French Alps, just stunning.
We had lunch then descended a different route back to the Animal reserve where we spotted Deer and Alpacas before meeting up with our Chalet hosts Ben and Zoe who transported us back. I had developed a headache on the descent which stayed with me until I took a tablet about 3 hours later. Upon reaching the Chalet, it was boots off in the boot room and straight in the shower for me. I had a low flow quick shower by apparently only 4 people had the privilege before the water went cold. The hot tub was well populated with 6 bathers, we had cake tea coffee wine beer and I had a chocolate bar. We had goid conversation until the 7.15pm briefing time for tomorrow's walk followed closely by dinnner. Smoked Salmon entree, Chicken wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cream cheese on a bed of puree sweet potato followed by poached pear, caramel sauce and ice cream what a treat, straight to bed for me again I'm afraid.

Europe 2018 Day 3

I Had a reasonably good nights sleep, woke at 3.00am finished reading "The Ananse Boys" by Niel Gaiman ( a very imaginative and humourous book). I had read instead of watching movies, started this novel on the first flight. Then back to sleep re-awakening at 7.30am.
Lynette on the other hand has had a reoccurring headache and had to take more tablets last night.
The hotel had a free breakfast buffet, there was cereal, muesli, fruits, yoghurts, bread, meats and cheeses, croissants, sweet pastries and an assortment of breads. We started with coffee and went from there. We skipped lunch later in the day.
Went back to our room to blog-facebook, read and relax. Our next stage was to get the free shuttle back to the airport to meet a group coming in from the UK as we were transferring together to the Chalet.
We made many introductions at the airport, then coached it up to the Chalet crossing over into France, it was only about an hour and a half. Once at the Chalet we were greeted by our host, shown to our rooms and given a short induction as to the house rules, emergency contacts and instructions. WiFi codes and other essentials. We were also given a weekly transport pass. Mary-Ann and John had arrived earlier and had already walked to town and back.
After a quick unpack a group of 5 walked into town ( Lynette, Myself, Jill, Aaron and Martin) . It is early summer here, there a numerous birds chirping, the day was quite warm and as the day warms up the clouds cover the mountain. We had intermittent views of Mont Blanc we fills the vista. In town the first stop was a small ice cream parlour where we were served by a pretty lass from the exotic place called Melbourne. At the end of the street was the cable car which goes to the summit of Mid du Aguilera. It is broken for the next 3 to 4 weeks so we won't be enjoying that. Past that was a couple of ski jumps, you could imagine our surprise when it looked like somebody had just gone down it with no snow. We went for a closer look. Sure enough a group of youngsters were having jumping practice, with a little water under the skis and landing on water soaked fake grass. We then headed back into the older part of town over the river. It was very quant, we stopped to soak in the ambience and a couple of beers. From our seat in the sun was a great view of Mont Blanc with the scattered clouds revealing different portions of the whole. We then walked the 20 minutes back to the Chalet Chocolat to meet the other walkers in our group. Mary-Ann started a game of "guess my profession". This was a good, get to know game will we also enjoyed cake and coffee. This took us up to when Nick our walking guide arrived and gave us a briefing on what to expect for the next day and week.

Europe 2018 Day 2

Arrived a little early in Dubai. No holdups through customs, found our new gate and walked to it for a stretch and trial run, then went back to the crowd for a coffee in terminal B.
Dubai airport is one of busiest in the world with an amazing shopping precinct which appears to be doing a roaring trade.
We had a Starbucks Americano each and shared a muffin, by the time we walked back to the gate the gate was open, we checked in then were invited to get on the bus to the plane. Although the bus ride was 20 minutes or so we only left 10 minutes late.
EK089 Dubai to Geneva depart 08.30am flight time 6.45 arrived Geneve 13.15, we had booked in to the Hoilday Inn Express which offers a free airport shuttle which runs every 20 minutes. We booked in, unpacked, opened a free walking tour we had downloaded previously, caught a tram into the city ( 20 minutes ) and saw the sights of the old city, starting at the Cathedral of Staint Pierre. We also took in a lovely park and the Hotel de Ville We stopped for locally crafted beers and dinner at the Place du Molard just people watching and soaking in the ammbience of the lovely friday afternoon in the summer time, downtown Genva. We the travelled on seeing the fountain and floral clock. By then it was 6.30pm and we were both very  tired. We caught the tram back to the Holiday Inn, we could only manage to clean our teeth before crashing into bed.

Europe 2018 Day1 - Travel

The start of our 24 day journey which will take in a hiking trip around Mont Blanc, a cycling trip in Croatia, a bus trip to Athens through Sarajevo and home again.
Day one was flying out of Brisbane, Uber to the airport at 8.40pm departed Brisbane EK0431 to Dubai 22.40 on time. 14hour 20minute flight.
We were lucky enough to have only the two of us in the 3 seat row, poor boys business class. This gave Lynette the chance to push up the armrests and lay down flat while I sat upright with her feet in my groin, I bet they don't get that in business class.

Final thoughts

Gear list

Two water bottles - only one 1 litre would suffice
Pillow case - only need an old thin lightweight one
Sleeping bag liner - option to also use as pillow case
Thermals - just in case
Two pairs of long walking pants, easy wash, quick dry  - needed
One pair of shorts to sleep in - not required.
Two short sleeved shirts, easy wash, quick drying- one for hiking, one at night - needed.
One short sleeve light weight cotton shirt to sleep in ( personal preference).
Two hiking underwear, easy wash, quick dry - needed.
One cotton underwear to sleep in ( personal preference).
Lightweight jacket for cold nights - needed.
Poncho - needed, also doubles as ground sheet at break time.
Brimmed Hat - needed
Sunglasses
Gaiters - preference
Neck warmer - never used
Bandanna - used lots
Handkerchief - needed lots
Socks - took 4 pair - only need 2 quick drying.
Lightweight crocs or sandals, can double as lightweight second shoes.
Walking boots - I took an old pair of Salomon trail running shoes, for the amount of road walking I would recommend dark coloured runners with lots of underfoot padding.
Walking pole
GPS to log journey
Phone with Wise Pilgrim or Buen Camino app.
Camera - personal option.
Headphones - used often.
Bluetooth speaker  - used daily
Back up battery, chargers.
Leatherman
Toiletries all travel sizes - toothbrush - toothpaste - floss - mouthwash - shampoo - soap - deodorant - lip balm - sunscreen - cologne - hair brush (Face cream - moisturiser for Lynette)
Eye patches.
Ear plugs.
Tablet - used to watch TV shows - it was heavy, leave next time.
Kindle for guide - used kindle app on phone instead, so not required.
Lightweight blow up pillow.
Lightweight sit ons - foam padding
Water bottle straps - didn't use
Beanie - didn't use.
Clothes line - good use.
Toilet paper - didn't need.
Tissues - didn't need.
8 pegs - used on occasion.
First aid kit - mainly use needle, blister bandages, ibuprofen, strapping tape, knee braces, band aids, elastaplast, physio cream (Voltarin).
Sewing kit.
Berrocca - used daily.
Passports and Camino passports.
Sporks.
Plastic cup - didn't take but would have been handy.

18-June-2016 Santiago

We started the day with a nice toasted croissant and coffee, Lynette had tosada again then we headed back to the cathedral to get our seats for the midday pilgrim mass. We had been told to get in before 11.00 to get a seat. We noticed that the tour groups all came in around the 11.30 mark, 11.15 you would have still got a seat but not long after.
The mass was interesting, that had primary school kids seated in front of the altar, secondary behind, then a priest procession of about 20 appeared. The mass was given in Spanish, it seemed like at one point they were naming the routes and the nationalities of the pilgrims but we couldn't tell for certain. The mass cumulated with the swinging of the incense, apparently this tradition started to mask the smell of the pilgrim congregation, maybe the scrotum washing wasn't sufficient.
After mass we spotted Felix and Phoebe talking to Martin, we exchanged numbers and rushed off to catch up with Julie and Chris for lunch as arranged. It was a good lunch with plenty of our highlights and lowlights discussed and lots of belly laughing.
We said our final goodbyes, then we had souvenir shopping to do. We bought the small stuff, fridge magnet, hat pins, a couple of tiles, a desk top way marker and a pair of arrow socks.
We retired for an afternoon rest. Lynette received a text from Phoebe to come out to a bar in the evening to celebrate Felix's birthday. We did this, Martin was there for a while, after he left Dermont, Matt and Hannah turned up. More good reliving of the last three weeks, much beer and wine consumed. Eventually we headed off sadden that the journey is complete and we now have to return to the world again. We  leave Santiago at 6.00am on the train to Madrid.
Lynette will continue Spanish studies in Madrid for another week before heading to Valencia for 2 more before heading back to Australia to visit the kids. I will return to Ghana one day earlier than usual to have an offshore medical. Hasta luego!

17-June-2016 Brea to Santiago 26km

We woke, had breakfast downstairs with Dermont, Matt, Sarah and Hanna, after this we asked the landlord to call a taxi for us, she tried multiple numbers but no cars were available, we had to walk the 5 kms  back to O Pedrouzo again. We said our goodbyes and headed off at 8.30am.
We walked for about 9.00kms before we stopped for a coffee at Amenal. 
We photo bombed Chris and Julie's photo just before the airport and walked with them to San Paio where we stopped for lunch with good company.
After lunch we continued on, we were dragging our heels a bit as we didn't want the walk to finish. We slowed to talk to a Perth lady about the Bibbulmun track in Western Australia which helped her up a hill. Then we spoke to two Columbian ladies, mother and daughter we assume,  The daughter was hobbling. We stopped for photos at a big monument, we stopped for ice cream. Once we hit the outskirts of Santiago, it was a very long haul to the end. We finally made it to the square behind the Cathedral about 3.00pm, we didn't see anyone we knew at first but Stefan came out of the crowd to welcome us in which was nice.
We thought it would be a while before Chris and Julie, Dermont and the kids and Sarah and Fletcher would arrive so we went to the hotel to drop the backpacks. The hotel was another 1.5km from the square, we just checked in, dropped the packs toileted, then headed straight back to the square.
We waited in the square for a long while, got coffee, stuck our heads into the museum, went to the cathedral and hugged Saint James took lots of photos, we kept going back to the square but nobody arrived, then we went to check the line for the compostela, it wasn't so bad so we joined the line. Lynette went to the toilet, while on the way she passed a tourist office where she proceeded to buy our train tickets back to Madrid. We recieved our compostelas shortly after, a lot of our 'to do' boxes were checked.
We returned to the square and snuck up on Chris and Julie as they had just arrived. They told us the others were staying out of town tonight and would be in tomorrow. We organised to meet up after mass the following day and parted ways.
We stopped off for a menu del dia on the way home in the touristy part of the old town. We ended up talking to another old Aussie and a Japanese guy, they were and odd couple, as the Japanese guy could understand us but not him as he had a strong country Victorian accent.
It was late when we arrived home with mixed feelings about finishing, at least we can sleep in tomorrow and walk without packs.