Over the Pyrenees.

It felt like the first tentative kiss of new lovers, the anticipation,  the brush of lips and the electricity that flows through one’s body; our first steps on the Camino de Santiago was exactly like this.

It began on the cobble stoned streets of St Jean Pied de Port, where the souls of pilgrims long pass hung, mist like whispering 'buen camino' as we trekked through villages and farmlets. Postcard like images greeted us as we made our ascent up the brutal beast of the Pyrenees. Muscle memory kicked into over drive, courtesy of the hours spent memorising the road up to Copelode Dam and we were rewarded by the sight of Albergue Orisson as it materialised, mirage like over the crest.

This would be our first experience of dorm sleeping since our travels way back in 1999, and with the knowledge that we had 35 more nights of it, we embraced it as necessary.  Our night at Orisson became one of pilgrim pass and as the wine flowed tales were shared and camino bonds were formed.

Day break greeted us with a blood orange sun, that drenched us in warmth as we made the climb to the summit. The path reads like a tribute to the recently departed pilgrims, who lost their way and life on the Camino.  The trek is body numbing as the Peregrino God beats you with chilling winds and groaning peaks, but also instills inspiration and rejuvenation.

Our steps took us to the protector of the Shepherds, Mother Mary; who sits on an out crop of rocks and protects all, as they pass her way.  Onward, we ascended through the last remnants of melting snow, across goat tracks and past rescue huts until our footsteps took us over to the Spanish border and into the valley of Roncevalles.  A monastery dating back to the 1700's awaited, along with a pilgrim mass; where prayers for our safe journey were given and received with gratitude.

So far, it has been a liberating experience and we look forward to the next 790 km!

The beginning!

Eyes hang from stems, zombie feet shuffle and fuggy mouth causing a gagging reflux (Brad only as Lea brushed several times); all thanks to our three flights, two trains and 40 sleepless hours. Our final train rolled into Bayonne at 11pm where the Hotel Cote Basque greeted our water-boarded bodies.
Morning saw us exploring grand Bayonne with its medieval streets and lorax like trees criss-crossing through out the the township.  Our wandering took us up to Cathedral et Cloister where saints reigned down from stained glass windows and steeples raised to the heavens. We boarded our final bus and the realisation that the ‘Way of St James’ beckoned.
With our pilgrim passport embossed with its first stamp and our shell festooned to our backpacks, it was time to explore the walled town of St Jean Pied de Port.   ‘The foot of the pass’ is the offical starting point of our sojourn and what a little gem she is. Picturesque houses huddle along the river spanned by a photogenic medieval bridge, a citadel whose fortifications twisted and brutal, erupt from the ground, spreading its tentacles outward to protect the the town from the marauding Spanish and to act as a raiding base for the French.
Each street oozes its own history and door frames adorn years that pre date white settlement in Australia; infact, decaying tombs fallings from their foundations tell stories of yesteryear, which to our eyes is hard to fathom.  Each maze of streets supports artisans ranging from bread, chocolate, pastries to the famous La Fabrique De Macaroons, where delightful flavours such as lemon, chilli and coconut teased our tastebuds.  The delicate tastes of ghe macaroons was soon stripped bare by our first pilgrim dinner that consisted of a salt water broth, chicken that was rejected by the Colonel Sanders himself and fries so over cooked that they looked like the toes of a 100 a day smoker.


Bon appetit!

A pilgrim's life!

Bonjour,

A pilgrim's life is not an easy one! Even before reaching the starting line at Saint Jean Pied de Port, the tests begin.

Unlike Dr Who in his tardis, it has taken us 30 hours to teleport from Cairns to Paris including a pitstop in Hong Kong on the way. Battle fatigue is not an adequate description of how we are feeling at present.

We arrived in Heathrow, London in time for a beautiful sunrise. Feeling sleepy, we anticipated a relaxing couple of hours waiting for our flight to Paris.  The Pilgrim God , however had other ideas. After a trip to the bathroom, Lea realised that she came out without the document wallet containing passports, tickets and money. She retraced her steps within a minute, only to find the wallet gone. 

With sinking hearts, we began to think that maybe our journey would be over before it really began....... Hallelujah, faith restored in mankind. Patron Saint of travellers came good. Documents were handed into security!

After a runway journey longer than the flight, we have arrived in Paris. Only 4 hour transit until we board the train to Bayonne! All going well we should arrive about 11pm making the trip over a grand total of 46 hours!

                 Good morning Heathrow!
       

Lights of London!

Charles De Gaulle Railway!

Our way

Well, It is time for us to be on our way! A new adventure calls! Brad and I have 3 months long service leave and depart our sunny FNQ shores for the land of tapas, sangria and oranges on April 2.

It will be a pilgrim life for 6 weeks. The plan is to hike  'The way of St James'. 835.2 km, starting in St Jean Pied de Port in France, across the Pyrenees and finishing at the coast of Cape Finesterre, Spain. With just our backpacks and hiking poles, we hope to cover 20 to 30 kms a day. A true pilgrim will not seek the creature comforts; instead keeping life simple by staying in monasteries and albergues  along the route. Some of the highlights, we are looking forward to include; the Monuments of Estella; famous for its red wine dispensing tap,the legendary stained glass of Leon's cathedral, wine tasting around Logrono and of course our arrival at Santiago de Compostela. (the official end of the pilgrimage)

Our hope is to have a sojourn to Krakow and Prague before we board our ship for an expedition around the arctic on June 5. 

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/norway/spitsbergen-explorer-2016-2017-92195, For itinerary.

What is an adventure without a road trip? From June 16, we are hiring a camper (10 days) and making our way around the Ring rd in Iceland. A little side trip to Greenland before we leave Scandinavia for sunnier places.

 In true gypsy spirit, we will go where ever the mood takes.  Adios!

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In the world kitchen! Norfolk nibbles!

Norfolk Island is a tiny island in the South Pacific Ocean located between Australian, New Zealand and New Caledonia. On this sleepy, little isle; the cows and chickens roam free. Norfolk Islanders actually invented the joke " Why did the chicken cross the road"! Fresh fruit and vegetable produce is sold at little, road side, honesty stalls, freshly caught fish can be bought straight off the boat at Kingston pier and the local butcher sells his wares at the Saturday market. Greenies eat your heart out! The supermarket imports food stuffs on the tourist planes that land every couple of days. Not a great variety and quite expensive. 
For our Christmas day celebratory meal, we decided to take up the offer of a local hotel resort of a picnic hamper. Delicious menu comprised of Tahitian fish salad, honey glazed ham, roast chicken, beef and pork, salad, bread rolls and a tasting plate of sweet mini desserts. A bottle of bubbly of course! A lovely day was spent high up on the cliff overlooking Kingston Bay! 

 Here are recipes for Two signature dishes of Norfolk Island.


Tahitian Fish Salad!

Ingredients;
- 2 white fish fillets,
-green and red capsicum chopped,
-chopped onion, tomato and cucumber,
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3 limes

Method;
Cut fish into slivers and
marinate in lime juice for 20 mins.
Drain the juice, add vegetables to fish.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add chilled coconut milk 5 minutes before serving. ( keep in Fridge)
Serve on bed of lettuce or in a coconut shell.



Coconut Tart

Ingredients;
4 eggs,
1 cup desiccated coconut,
2 cups of milk,
1 cup of sugar,
1 tab of butter,
1 sheet of shortcrust pastry.

Method;
Beat eggs, sugar, coconut and butter together. Add milk and stir well. Pour into tart tin lined with short crust pastry. Bake in moderate oven until filling is set.




Enjoy!

Norfolk History!

Prior to being the main course for the Hawaiian Islanders, Cook stumbled across a spec of an island in the South Pacific on his second circumnavigation of the world in 1774.  Cashed up due his benefactor back in the motherland, Mary Howard, (Duchess of Norfolk), Cook remembered that the pounds keeping him afloat relied upon the Duchess getting something named after her.  So, with the lure of the pound, Cook christened the isle "Norfolk".  The irony is that Mary passed away before she was aware of her namesake!

Like an uncut, blood diamond; the islands history is one of depravity, human suffering, isolation, mutiny and a pioneering spirit.  After losing the colonies of the Americas in 1776 and having  nowhere to send their excess scum, Great Britain decreed that the settlements of Port Jackson and Norfolk would commence.  So in 1788, six weeks after the establishment of Port Jackson, Norfolk Island was settled and the gates of hell were opened.

Rugged cliff faces stand as sentinels, thousands of kilometres of ocean mocked the notion of return, sociopaths wearing the red of authority governed and human existence was debased by the noose, bayonet, lash, irons and sodomy.  Here, convicts were excreted and smeared across the landscape.

Two archaic periods of penal settlement crushed the lifeless souls of those held within the island.  As a penal settlement, its goal was to dehumanise and to allow debouched fantasies to become mainstream.  Raffles of the flesh were held - here zombie eyed, naked, female convicts danced; raffle numbers painted on their backs; prisoners were forbidden to communicate with each other, lashed men’s skin arced and wept. 36 lashes were given out for keeping a tame bird – even Jesus only got 39 lashes and he was supposedly the ‘King of the Jews.’

Such was the reputation of the island that petitions were accumulating for the closure of the penal settlement. As fate would have it, a group of mutineer descendants were to get one of the greatest gifts ever given by a monarch.  These descendants of the Bligh Mutiny, stuck on Pitcairn Island; had out grown their little hovel and petitioned Queen Victoria for somewhere else to live. Timing is everything and with the tide turning against human transportation, Norfolk as a penal settlement was closed and gifted to the mutineer's issue. The Pitcairners first stood upon Kingston’s pier in June 8 1856. With a light in their eyes; they marvelled at their new home.

The rest, they say is history, with over 1600 people inhabiting the island today and over 40% of the population being Pitcairners and hence of Bounty mutineer descent. 

Japanese Jaunt! 5 days in Kyoto!

Konnichiwa!

At $250 return fare each, who could resist?
 It was a short adventure, so we focused on exploring Kyoto.  Once the capital of Japan; this unique city is famous for it's Buddhist temples, gardens, shrines and palaces. It is also known for traditional cuisine and of course the Geisha of the Gion district.

 K's House was our accommodation of choice. A very central, upmarket hostel with English speaking staff. Our private room had an en suite and the bar/restaurant had a daily happy hour. One of our favourite things about travel is the diverse fare. To our culinary delight, we feasted on yakitori, okonomiyaki, teppanyaki and gyoza; all  washed down with the likes of  Kirin, Asashi or sparkling Sake.

We spent the days exploring and hiking, what an invigorating way to kick off our Camino training! We went on a gorgeous hike through cedar forest from Kibune to Kurama, explored Arashiyama bamboo forest, followed the philosopher walk, meandered around Gion and hiked the length of the 10,000 Torii gates of the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.
Our reward to our hard working muscles was a relaxing onsen!

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Short but very sweet!