500 miles  , a hike along 0ne of the most famous routes used by the christian pilgrims, since the discovery of the burial place of St James the apostle in the 9th century.
I am excited to undertake this challenge again, a journey that I so enjoyed four years ago as part of my 1000 mile journey.
They say that being called to walk the Camino is no accident, thats not for me to question, but I do believe it "calls" you when your ready. Its long been a desire to take this walk again as I always felt that when I last did it, as wonderful as it was,i had that feeling of,"" job not finished",and now is the time.  I dont have any specific reason for taking this journey again, and I am not looking for any Ah-haa moment along the way, nor am I religious, I am spiritual in my way and always open to learning. I approach this the same way as I  did last time, open minded.. In Buddhism, there is a great saying, "Never have I felt so good, since I gave up all hope", for some that may seem negative, but really its about expectation, If you have no expectations of this in life, you cant be disappointed, and without expectation, your mind will be most open while walking, and willing to hear the subtle life messages that most people noisily rush on by.
This walk, the Frances Way, was listed as  a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993.

For most, this Jacobian pilgrimage ends in the town of Santiago de Compostela in the north west corner of Spain,   For some pilgrims, the journey continues after Santiago, on to the western corner of Galicia (Costa de Morte-the coast of death)where some burn their clothes and toss their shoes into the ocean. I made that walk last time and will not do it again, (as far as I know right now anyway), last time I walked to the cliffs and burned my clothes, but spared the ocean the indignity of having to accept my set of worn out and stinky hiking boots. Our oceans are already polluted enough .

Santiago de Compostela is known as a bastion of European culture, and the burial site of one of the prominent 12 apostles of Jesus , St James, the patron of pilgrims and laborers..
According to history, Jesus named him  one of the "sons of thunder".
St James is thought to have actually been the cousin of Jesus through the sister of the Virgin Mary, he was charged with spreading the word of Christianity after the Crucifixion of Jesus, and traveled into northern Spain to do so, this is why he is so revered and celebrated by Christians and others in the Basque region of Spain.
Upon his return home in AD 44, James was beheaded by King Herod Agrippa for his christian beliefs.
James the Greater as he was known, was one of the first of Jesus's apostles to die. The son of Zebedee, he received the nickname "elder", because he was taller than the other apostle named James.
His beheading at the command of Herod is detailed in the bible (act12)
His remains were transported back to present day Galicia as the legend goes, and its only rumor that his remains are at the Cathedral in Santiago.As his remains arrived in 44AD, Queen Lupia, the Celtic queen who ruled Galicia would not allow him to be buried there, she sent troups to intervene and they were all killed when a bridge they were on collapsed. This frightened the Queen and she became a christian,therefore allowing the burial . she sent an Ox and Cart to transport the body, and when the Ox stopped to rest under a tree at the top of a hill, they saw this as a sign and buried the remains where the Ox lay down, and this is where it was decided to build the cathedral today.
James made a saint later,, before being  labelled a martyr at an even later time.
 There are two kinds of saints, Martyr's and Confessors , the Christian martyr's are those who were put to death for their beliefs, the confessors are those who died of natural causes.
A true pilgrim will take this journey with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and will rely on peoples generosity and kindness to further cloth and feed them along this journey, I personally will be leaving my shaver behind, and taking a credit card.  I predict this hike will take me between 26 and 30 days to complete, and Im not walking alone.
I am taking the journey with a wonderful long time friend from Tasmania, Kaz,who has walked the Portugues and Norte Caminos before, and my buddy from Colorado, Bill, who has also walked this Way before, We often spoke of the walk and its affect on our lives, so it was a no brainier to come back and finish something that didnt feel "done", and to share the journey  with people you love. ...


So once again I am going to manipulate the dates on my blog to ensure that the blogs read in a top to bottom manner, usually the newest blog appears at the top of the page, but this makes it hard to lay out and read. Do everything in reverse to follow the chronological way it is entered. So, at the bottom of the pages,  when it wont scroll down anymore, click on OLDER POSTS to continue to the NEWER posts.
For those who dont know, Leonard gets a number of mentions, and Leonard is my backpack. Yup, I named it, sometimes you just need someone to talk to on those long days, and Leonard doesnt talk back.
today is about preparation and what did I carry last time that I didnt need, what to expect now Im older, and a sense of wonder,"will it be as fantastic and meaningful as the last time I walked it"
I guess we will see.
Some hikers refer to this walk as a 500 mile journey to meet yourself, this is true in so many ways, and I will attempt to blog the journey as i always do, sometime with insight, sometimes historically, sometimes silly, 
Buen Camino