a longer circuit

Today I decided it was time for a longer circuit again, and the forecast promised good weather all day. We are getting near the end of daylight savings time here, so the sun wasn't up when I started walking at 6.45am- but you could gradually see the sky lighten over the hills to the east. It reminded me of the joy of mornings on the Camino to be walking at dawn.

I've set up my iPod Touch so I can see the weather and temperatures in places like Paris, Dijon, Le-Puy-en-Velay and Geneva, and at the end of last week I was a little surprised to realise the temperature in that part of the world was up in the high teens and early 20s already. I actually quite like walking when it is cooler, and carry some extra layers for that, so I was pleased to see the temperature in France is due to plummet again, even if the locals don't want that! Today it was quite warm walking up along Green's Rd where this photo was taken- around 23/24C, and I drank plenty from my two water bottles.

Around town, you can see that autumn is beginning, as the deciduous trees are starting to change colour. But in the countryside, the changes are more subtle. One thing I noticed today was fewer wildflowers than on my last walk up here- and more seedheads.

I arrived home carrying a slight injury today- maybe I will try swimming for a few days this week instead of walking...

Windy Point

I am sitting on a comfy seat at Windy Point, the furtherest point on my walk along the Manawatu Gorge track today. As I sit here I am aware of the beauty around me, and also that my 'training' walks are nearly at an end.

This time in five weeks I will be in Paris. Here it is approaching midday Saturday, but there it will be more like midnight Friday. I hope I will be sleeping soundly after a busy day exploring the streets of Paris -and that I am not lying in bed wide awake jetlagged.

This time in six weeks I will have started walking the Chemin from Cluny.

But for now I am sitting in this Beautiful Spot in the sunshine. I can see Ashhurst nestled on the plain at the end of the gorge I began from, and I can see Woodville through at the other end. Across from me on the other side of the gorge, the hills are covered with gently moving wind turbines. The sound of cicadas is loud in the air, and just a few birds can be heard singing.

I've typed this on my iPod Touch for practice. I'll blog it later and add photos when I get home.

Sent from my iPod

I composed this at Windy Point on the "Notes" app on my iPod Touch, then sent it to email- just to see what would happen- though I knew I had no wifi up there. As soon as I arrived home within wifi range, the e-mail clearly sent itself. So that was a good lesson learned: I can compose e-mails and they will sit there until I am in wifi reach, then send themselves....

All these photos of Windy Point have been posted to the blog back at home. There's no camera on my old iPod Touch, so for photos I have to wait until I find a computer where I can download photos from my camera- hence there won't be heaps of photos posted en route on the Chemin...

Sign for Windy Lookout- it's a very brief diversion off the track

Looking down over Woodville and towards the hill country of the eastern part of the Tararua region.

Looking back towards Ashhurst on the Manawatu Plains.

Wind turbines on the hills on the other side of the river.

The comfy seat where I sat and composed the blog post on my iPod Touch. I nearly left my camera behind here!

I always love seeing this cabbage tree on the lookout, and enjoy seeing what kind of cloudy skies will figure behind it in a photo!

Flowers out of Rock

I wrote this paragraph some weeks ago as I reflected on my reasons for walking again- (and it is posted below in Moments of pilgrimage).

The memory of seeing a flower bursting forth out of rock

and the celebration it wrought in my heart

seems like a reason to walk again

as if somehow this healing is important for more than just me.

The day in my mind about which I wrote these lines was a special day, a healing day- just after I had taken a rest day in Estaing to recuperate a little from blisters. I knew renewed joy as I walked more freely in the welcome sunshine, past spring flowers, until suddenly I saw some flowers growing so improbably out of rock- and it seemed like a miracle.

This weekend I did my first 20km 'training walk' and I knew a similar joy. I was retracing a road near town that I had walked along many times in 2007-8 as I trained for the Camino.  And suddenly I saw some spring clematis spiralling down in front of a rocky road cutting. It was a sight of beauty, another wee miracle to be thankful for. A sight of beauty to hold in the memory of the heart and soul.

Native clematis in springtime on Kahuterawa Rd, near Palmerston North

And I think these flowers are kind of like an arrow- the joy they bring shows that walking in the countryside is the right thing for me to do...

Out 'training'

I was looking forward to this weekend and my planned 20km walk, up one of my old 'training' roads, Kahuterawa. I left home early, and was rewarded with the sight of a spectacular sunrise. I hadn't gone far walking when I heard a rooster crowing, and I was instantly reminded of walking with Lyne and Denis one Camino morning in 2008 as we left Molinaseca, when there was a chorus of roosters from either side of the road.

There were many signs of spring as I walked- see my Nomad blog for more photos- and I remembered how much happiness it brought me seeing the seasons change as I walked in 2007/8- both training for, and walking on, the Camino. Once I reached the higher parts of the walk today, the river was my companion- sometimes I was high above it, and sometimes low down near it. But always I could hear it flowing. And there was plenty of birdsong in the bush. My feet were sore by the time I had finished 20km, but I enjoyed being in the countryside so much....

The journey to Cluny

The journey to Cluny has begun! During the week I contacted the travel agent to check when the Earlybird fares would be here for Europe in 2012- and this morning I took my first 'training' walk- up along Kahuterawa Rd, with my 'proper' walking shoes and socks on...

Almost as soon as I stepped back onto that rural road, memories came back of the many steps I took along here as I trained in 2007-8 for my Camino from Le Puy. Back then, I didn't know how very appropriate this kind of walking was- but the hills and the tarmac were indeed what I needed practice on. This time as I stepped out I was reminded of how I had watched the seasons advance and change during my training months- and this morning I could already see signs of spring. But the 'new' factor in the walk this time was that I found myself recognising how very similar these landscapes were to the hills of the French Basque country.

Kahuterawa Rd reminded me of the French Basque country

There were soon plenty of reminders though that despite my idle daydreams, I was definitely on New Zealand soil.

The sight of many pukekos was one of those reminders, especially near swampy ground.

And soon I saw some native clematis in flower, announcing a kiwi spring.

Grey skies kept me company for most of my walk, with a hint of drizzle in the air- again not so dissimilar from Basque country weather. And I found I didn't care at all if it rained. I was enjoying slight wildness in the wind with just a merino jersey to counter its bite. I sat on my raincoat at the intersection with Green's Rd, and it seemed like I was born to be here in the outdoors with the wind whistling around my ears.

My thoughts turned to walking the Camino. But at the same time, I was reminded that one of the lessons I learned walking the Camino was to live in the present moment. So rather than dream about the old pilgrim churches I might walk past in the French countryside, I made sure I listened for the sounds of the local birds, and looked for any signs of the season turning into spring...