I made it!

(20.5.08) After walking 800kms across Spain in 31 days, we finally arrived into Santiago for the midday pilgrim mass which was held in the beautiful Santiago cathedral.


What a journey!

This is without a doubt the most incredible experience I´ve had to date. When I spotted Santiago city/Cathedral, tears of joy, gratitude, happiness, accomplishment overwhelmed me... I couldn´t believe I´d finally made it! Seriously, words cannot explain how I felt at that moment. Thank god, I made it!


Monique you were right, I don´t think I´ve lost any weight whatsoever! I´ve been eating it up BIG time, and enjoying ever mouth full...lol...Atleast this is the fittest I've ever been. My biggest walking day was 47kms (the 2nd last day) to arrive into the village and be told the hotel was full...what the? lol Luckily the Universe was on our side and a room at a Casa Rural was available....

We have been living it up for the past couple of nights staying in hotels and eating great food which makes a drastic change from the refugios/municipals we´ve been staying in for most of the Camino. Although to experience the essence of the Camino it lies largely in these places (refugios/albergues). Plus staying in these basic lodging accommodation makes you appreciate the comforts we have in our own lives.


Last night, David and I hit the town! We ate Tapas and drank our way around Santiago, to end up sitting in front of Santiago cathedral chatting about our Camino experiences and then dance with the locals to beautiful Spanish music. This day will go down as one of the best days I´ve had on my Camino.


Today (Wednesday) I went to the midday pilgrim mass again to greet the other pilgrims I met along the road. It was sooo nice to see them walking towards the church. We embraced and congratulated eachother for the massive accomplishment we had all been through. It´s definitely a unique experience... I think it´ll hit me when I get back to Oz  just how much land we covered...Crazy stuff hey?


Rod just to let you know, I laid your scallop shell to rest in Santiago. I sent out a wish that one day soon, you will complete your Camino and experience these magical feelings. It brings tears to my eyes as I type this. Thank you my friend for your support and belief in me and my Camino.
 With this, I´ve decided to walk to Finnisterre (as 800kms isn´t enough...lol) which should take no more than 3 to 4 days max.. It´s roughly 89kms. Back in the day, they called Finnisterre the end of the world. Only a small percentage of pilgrims walk to Finnisterre, it´s more common to jump on a bus from Santiago to Finisterre.


It´s symbolic to continue onto Finnisterre as pilgrims burn an item which rids themselves of the old/past and makes way for the new. We met this crazy Brazilian guy who walked a bit of the way with David and I the other day, he gave me a great idea.... Make a list of all the negativity, doubts, fears etc etc and burn it.... So that´s what I´m going to do!. Thanks Eddie! Eddie relayed what Spaniards believe the Camino de Santiago is, a mental institution for Spain....LOL.. Ohh, I can see why? I believe you gotta be half nuts to wanna walk under 900kms...lol

Wow, I can finally tick off another lifelong experience from my bucket list. I'd be happy to walk this route again...