Subject: Exam Question – Travel – Grade 1 – Compare and Contrast Dubai and Coffs Harbour – give examples
We have arrived safely here in Dubai, it was only 14 hours with our knees under our chins (only one chin each i.e. 2×1 chins). I suggest that Economy class should be renamed Squashy class.
Well, this morning, Wednesday, at 6 am, I went on my walk, It was quite cool at 30C. Later today it must have been around 40C. As a concession to the weather I discarded my woolly jumper.
Now to answer the question. The people I met at 6 am were a lot like those I meet in Coffs at 6am. Namely, they often respond when I say a cheery Hello!
Dubai also has a body of water running through it called a creek, just like Coffs. There are more Dhows on the Dubai creek than the one in Coffs. They are loaded with everything from Washing powder to Refrigerators. I would love to know where all the stuff is going to. In all but the two largest Dhows the goods are loaded by hand.
We have a large mall called Park plaza with 33 shops including Woolworth’s supermarket and Target department store. It is big but not, sadly, the largest in the world. The Dubai mall has a Waitrose supermarket and Bloomingdales department store. It also has another 1,198 shops plus an Aquarium, Olympic size skating rink and a gold and silver souk (market). Oh! yes I nearly forgot the 24 metre waterfall. It is also big and it is the largest in the world.
I am sure you will agree how like Dubai is to Coffs.
Last time I was telling you about my walk and how friendly people were with a cheery Hello!
Yesterday this kindness went one step further. I was on my non-stop walk day number 3149 next to Dubai creek. A young man stopped to chat, he did not have much command of Australian, but, to be fair, my Arabic, Gulf dialect, it not up to much either. We smiled a lot and waved hands a lot. I think he asked me where I was from so naturally I said Australia, from a town just like Dubai with a creek but without the Dhows. I am not sure he fully understood me but he did pick up on Australia.
He gave me an appraising look and started to wave his hands in a curving motion. I picked up the words sun and surf. I nodded enthusiastically. I also think I heard “you buy”.
Instantly, I thought, he has seen me as a keen surfer and offered to sell me a surf board. At the time I could not think of an alternate idea. Now, quick as a flash I weighed up the bargain. Sadly, dear readers, I had to reject it. As I walked away, I wondered if I had misunderstood my new young friend. Was he perchance trying to sell me his nubile young sister. The wavy arms were maybe the outline of her shapely figure.
Do I hear you ask “Why the rejection?”
Well, then, my reasoning was thus:
1. If it was a surf-board, it might have been better than Judy’s and she would have been jealous.
2. If it was his nubile sister the reason was much the same.
I took heart, he recognised me as a potential champion Australian surfer. I think,
We have arrived safely in England. It is mid to late summer so naturally the climate is similar to Coffs (in winter). When the sun is out it is nearly as warm as Coffs (in winter). I am only exaggerating a little. However, I do go around with a jumper on whilst the natives are all in shirtsleeves.
Judy suggested that we go to see Windsor castle. I got dressed ready with my shorts and waterproof sun hat.
Judy said in rather hushed tones, “You are not going to the castle in shorts, what if the Queen saw you”. I decided it was OK on 2 counts. One, as it was school holidays, the queen was probably off at Sandringham in a deck chair. If she was at home then I am sure she had seen an Australian in shorts before even though she might not be amused.
The castle was really impressive with beautiful rooms, ornaments and china. The furniture was really expensive. Not a stick of IKEA in sight.
St. Georges chapel is her church where she goes to worship. We attended a sung evensong which was very special. We sat behind the choir in comfortable cushioned seats. I had a sneak peek and a sit in the royal box (pew). She had a much superior cushion for the royal sit-a-pon. One of “The Queens perks”
Old habits die hard
We have just spent an enjoyable week in the English Lake district in a cottage at Braithwaite. This is a small village near Derwentwater. Just after our arrival I was dispatched to the corner store to buy a toilet roll and a newspaper. The shop was full with 3 other customers who were all buying salad sandwiches. I waited a few moments and one of the customers said “Did I want to pay ahead of them.” Taken rather by surprise, I said to the shopkeeper “What is your best price for cash, expecting to bargain” The 3 customers burst out laughing. The shopkeeper rather haughtily said “3 pounds 45 pence”. I decided that this unlike the souks was a fixed price shop. I paid up without a murmur.
My feet and rocks don’t mix
Back in the Australian summer whilst on holiday in Byron Bay, my feet lost their grip on reality (and rocks) and cast various bits of me asunder. The result was an area of skin with a rather pleasing surreal look in various shades of yellow, mauve and black. In fact, when a squinted at it with my head on one side I could see the Sydney harbour bridge at sunset.
Well, whilst walking a few days ago my feet and rocks had the same spat and the rocks won. I landed on my back, head in a ghill (stream) with running ice water, feet pointing skyward. My first thought was that I may have damaged my hearing aids so these I checked. (Other bits of me were of no concern, they were covered by insurance.) I lay still wiggling those bits of me designed to be wiggled. All wiggled correctly. By this time Judy had caught up and started to pull legs and arms out of the water. We quickly agreed a plan, 1) Backpack 2) Barry. This worked well and when Judy showed remorse I was touched, right up until I realised that the remorse was due to her forgetting to take a photo to put on Facebook!
That was a few days ago and all is well. No Australian landscapes have appeared anywhere on my person as a result this time.
We leave for France and Spain today where we will walk over 200kms and drive for some days. As I expect absolutely nothing will happen in the next 4 weeks this will be the last newsletter for now.
We have arrived safely at Zariquiegui (pronounced Thar-i-key-er-gi) . We left Pamplona this morning at the crack of 9:20 to start our the first day proper of our Camino walk from the University there. We walked from the Cathedral to the University the day before.
I cannot help thinking that other pilgrims on the walk did not “rough” it as much as Judy and I. We stayed for 3 nights in a two bedroom serviced apartment with no air-conditioning! We met Rolf who is in Aluminium (well, works in, not actually in a suit of), he was German and doing the full walk from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago.
Blackberry update
I am sure you are all dying to know how the Spanish blackberries compare to their European counterparts.
Well, sad to say they are somewhat inferior. They lack the taste of their French cousins and are smaller than their English relatives. I have a theory about this (as you would expect). You see I have only eaten the wild berry from the hedges along country paths here. These would not have had the coating of diesel that the UK and French berries have benefited from.
Last week when we were walking in the French countryside, we walked past a remote farm and 3 expensive cars passed us. I saw them turn into the farm gate. Judy said with some authority that they were going to “Somewhere else”. So now, I know where to go when Judy says with a red face go “Somewhere else”.
I will catch a plane to Paris and on to Biarritz, taxi to Bayonne, train to St Jean Pied de Port and have a short walk to a lonely farm. I will arrived at “Somehere Else”.
The scenery in this part of Spain is really beautiful with lots of interesting things to see including a little old lady.
Let me explain,
Yesterday, for part of the walk, the path was adjacent to a main road. We saw a lady of advancing years, 70+ perhaps. She was walking with the aid of 2 Spanish National Health walking sticks. We both felt sorry for her initially as the next village was in the distance.Our sorrow turned to mild annoyance when we could not catch her up. She eventually became a spec on the horizon. Judy thought it was her walking style, a bowlegged shuffle.I knew instantly what was wrong, I realised that my boots were faulty.
In Puente de la Reina, I bought some super glue and had attempted to glue the sole of my left boot to the upper of the left boot but, sadly dear readers, without much success. I knew if I had had better boots I would have caught her up if not overtaken her.
This incident brought back memories of my Mum’s last visit to Australia. Judy and I were living at the top of the hill on Bondi road, she was 92 (Mum not Judy!) and I was 57. Mum and I had done some shopping and I was carrying both bags home. Mum left the shop in front of me and started home up the hill.I could not catch her up, it was no use shouting at her to stop as she, like me, was deaf as a post. My saviour was the traffic lights at Flood St as they were set at “Don’t Walk”. When I came up along side her she said “Hello, dear you are out of breath, are you alright”. Just then the lights changed and she was off again, this was good as I had no breath to reply, to my eternal shame I was annoyed that she did not offer to carry one of the bags.
So today we found a boot shop and I purchased a pair of new boots. Both soles glued to perfection so you see,
One very happy pilgrim.
Yes, dear readers, that’s me, One very happy Camino pilgrim who completed the 20.3 kms in style with my head held high (fairly)
We are in Estella for a rest day. Normally we try to be walking by 8am but today at 8:54 we are still trying to get up.
We have both stood up very well to the rigors of walking, Sometimes together and sometimes I leap ahead anything up to 50m and then wait.
Because I listen to my audio there is a lot of pardons when Judy chats but we are still married so that is good.
I started at 6:33 am this morning from Los Arcos. I left the hotel in the dark and would normally turn left, turn left and left in front of the church and off through the arch on to the track out of town.
Judy gave we a good tip, she said I could get out of town quicker if I turned right out of the hotel. I cannot blame Judy as I should have done a dry run of the new route in daylight. I had a moment of panic when I had gone 120m (by my GPS) and not found the arch aledgedly 20m away.
I did a quick calculation and realised that, at the current rate of progress, instead of arriving at Viana at 11:50am as planned it would be nearer 4:05pm next Thursday.
Anyway, I eventually left town and stode off into the dark. I was very pleased with my progress and managed an average of 4.6 kms/hr
The young man at reception here at the Monaco spoke a little English, but was so helpful when we checked in. After a while I decided to shower and after 5 minutes of running the water it was still cold. I went to reception and made the young man understand, no hot water. He got a bit excited and began to talk faster and faster in Spanish. I understood that I should wait, he darted off into the kitchen and came out with 2 lunches and served them into the restaurant. I politely grabbed his wrist and pointed upstairs. He frowned and said, “Only for the looking at the water?”
At this point I realised that my gesture could have been misconstrued. Anyway, he came and felt the water and said he would call the technico. Some time later the technico and our young man came back and ran lots of water, all cold. Again, the process was repeated and all was smiles at hot water. Many apologies were given and received.
Sadly while I have written this waiting for the water to get really hot the water has got really cold.
Do you agree our young man was just like Manuel in Fawlty Towers?
You left Judy and I in a state of cold water yesterday. We thought wrongly as it happens that overnight the miracle of fire would have given us hot water in our bathroom taps, alas it was not to be.
Naturally we cornered Manuel at reception who showed his usual degree of sorrow and agitation. I think he promised to phone the technico again or perhaps slap his face, I am not sure. Anyway later this morning, after my rest day 5.68kms walk, there was hot water from the taps.Manuel was so proud to demonstrate the hot supply, I think he gave a technical explanation of the fault fixing or how he beat up thetechnico. The slapping motion may have been to the water system or the technico.
Not wishing to miss an opportunity we accompanied him back to reception and offered to pay the bill less 20 Euro. After a few “momentitoes” and wringing of hands he agreed. So we are considering a slap up paella with our ill gotten gains.
Tomorrow I walk 20+kms, it is the longest I have walked in a single day. So if you don’t hear from me it may be because I am flat on my back under a grape vine gibbering from sunstroke.
(Judy said I ought to say “Gibbering more than usual” – I can’t wait until she wants a jar opening then she will miss me)
We have arrived safe and sound in Los Arcos and we are staying at the Hotel Monaco for 2 nights before we go “over the top”. This will be 20+kms to Viana.
Judy has decided to do the first 8kms to Torres del Rio by bus unless she stands on the wrong side of the road she will do the last 60kms again back to Pamplona. I have decided to tunnel out at dawn and cover the distance on feet (both mine).
You will be pleased to learn, I know, that the new boots and I are now best friends, we have come to an understanding, I won’t walk anywhere nasty and the boots won’t squeeze my toes. I followed a French lady up stairs in the Alberque (Pilgrim’s hostel) last night. She had each toe on her right foot individually plastered and her left foot had 3 toes the same and the last 2 plastered together. Maybe one was hanging off and this was a way to keep it attached to her foot.
Both Judy and I are sans plaster (without plaster).
I have not met anyone before who talks as fast as some of the Spanish people we have met, 2 girls in particular talked on the phone at break neck speed. Quite amazing to listen to.
At the age of 68 years and 9.5 hours I have just completed the longest single walk of my life, 22.2 kms. It is the first of 5 days solid walking into Santiago de Compostella to complete the Camino Way. Tomorrow is over 23kms. It then gets easier. I get a certificate if I walk over 100kms into Santiago, 
AI was hoping for a marching band and keys to the city but I suppose the keys would put my suitcase overweight. The walk plus stops took 5 and a half hours, I walked at 4.8kms an hour which I was proud of considering I had a back pack with a heavy camera and a change of undies. I could have shaved 5 minutes off the time if I had not stopped to talk to the ostrich. As you can see she was not unattractive, I loved the eyelashes.
Judy, by car, did the trip in 18 minutes. Suddenly Ken is now her new best friend. Her comment was “I understand him much better now!” I am just waiting for the moment when the two suitcases need carrying down 2 flights of stairs, where will Ken be, Yes!! in the car asleep!! Ha!
The blackberries are harder to find now as autumn draws in. There are still a few. I can still find almonds and walnuts but not this morning, I was getting a bit peckish and started to look at Curly Kale with a fond eye. I was not sure If it is edible raw and then I reasoned; I was sure cows eat kale raw and we eat cows so QED we eat raw kale.
Anyway, I thought I would try it only if supplies ran low. But I did have Judy’s cheese and tomato sandwich, a chocolate bar, a piece of birthday cake, a bag of potato crisps and a bottle of Diet Pepsi, but
It was touch and go but I survived….
Today I covered 26 kms, a long way, at least I have done one of tomorrow’s kms as we are staying out of town. Tomorrow is an even bigger day at 28kms, I hope my leggies will not let me down. So far so good.
It is very satisfying to see the milestones along the way telling one how far it is to Santiago. Around 63 to go, so the last two days are shorter walks.
Ken, by the way, has gone somewhat out of favour, which I am not much worried about, Judy did not say directly but I think they had a tiff.
I had a very pleasant surprise this morning as both my sons Simon and Matthew phoned me on my mobile. It was great to hear them. Isn’t technology great? Matthew was having his dinner in Sydney and with Google streetview and Google maps was able to see exactly where I was walking. The quality of the line with Simon was better than at home in Coffs Harbour.
While I am walking I keep Vehicle Support aware of my location and general condition. I send very detailed reports like “Gonzar. All good. B”
Judy arrived at the accommodation earlier today and moved all the food and the suitcase into the room and said she would meet me at the end of the walk. We are staying on the edge of the town of Palais del Rei.
The prize today does go to Judy as she has a Camino guide with maps by Brierley, Ken the GPS who knows to within 3 meters where the car is, a complete road map of Spain and Portugal of scale 1:25000.
I received the message “Where are you, the sun should be on your left”. As Spain is north of the equator and the Camino is a walk east to west if the sun was anywhere but left (south) I was either walking back to France or maybe into the Mediterranean . I was in the countryside in the vicinity of Palais del Rei but my location guide was a list of places I pass through and kms from the start. Some of the places are one farm or hostel.
I resisted the temptation to send back “How do I know?” anyway I did not and I arrived safely and the Head of Vehicle Support did meet me and offered to carry the camera up the stairs to the room.
Best Regards,
Barry and HOVS (Head of Vehicle support)
So, 2 days here before we both walk to Logrono a mere 9kms. I will probably do that before breakfast!
A couple of days ago we picked up a hire car in Logrono and drove here to Burgos. 
We are driving to Leon and spending 3 days there before I walk solo to Sanitago. Judy is the driver and she has never driven in Europe before (on the right hand side of the road) nor driven a manual car for 4 years. She had a practice in the car park before we ventured out among cars that moved.
We brought with us a GPS with maps of Europe to assist. Initially Judy was too busy to be interested in where we were going (!!!) so I shouted directions.
Like most GPS, our one is programmed to speak the directions. We have chosen an Australian male called Ken (a name we chose). When he first came into our family he and I bonded immediately. When things get a big fractious in the house I go into the garage and we chat about this and that. Mostly, I admit, related to where to turn and in how long a time, but chat none the less.
I think it was wise to choose Ken as Shiela (his wife) was the only other person on the staff of the GPS and her and Judy would never have hit it off. Can you imagime being lost and a woman telling another woman where to go?
We started well out from Logrono but very soon the air was tense. It started when Ken said “Bear Left” . Judy said “I don’t understand” and drove straight on. Unfortuneatly I said “What part of Bear Left don’t you understand. To be fair to Ken he just said “Do a U turn when possible”. On reflection Ken’s reaction was far less confrontational. I should really try harder.
Judy is coping really well with the controls being on a different side, but to be fair, I think a lot of Spanish drivers must realise that when the windscreen wipers go on in bright sunlight we are going to turn right.
You will have already read of my meeting with a rather attractive ostrich with great eyelashes, well the surprises keep coming.
On the walk there are bars and cafes on the Camino way for weary travellers to rest and revive. Often these are lonely buildings far from and populations.
Today in the middle of nowhere I came across a German cafe complete with German beers! It was too good to resist so I stopped and asked for a small beer. In the average Spanish bar this will be a wine glass full – around 250-300 mls. A small beer in the German bar was half a litre – 500mls. I managed it with no after effects. If I over imbibe I do go “legless”:. This is not in the normal way of things, legless for me is a paralysed right side, shoulder and arm. After my drink all my limbs seemed to function. I was disappointed that there were no Liederhosen or Oom! Pa! Pa! band, not even a rotund Burgher with a Tuba.I could hear some of the patrons, they had distinct German accents, anyway I knew they were German as all the chairs were at right angles to the tables, all the rucksacks were in a line along the wall with each pair of walking sticks between each rucksack.
Old Chinese Proverb – Only eat Blackberries that are growing above the height of a dog’s raised back leg.
Now that Blackberries are more or less at an end I have added sweet chestnuts to my balanced diet. Better roasted but Ok raw.
Today I walked 28 kms, the longest distance I have walked in a single day. It has only taken 68 years to do that. I guess it is all downhill from here, I do hope so. Tomorrow is a stroll of 19kms.
At around 24.5 kms I realised that I was enjoying my walk, I was in the sun, lovely countryside and I thought, “This is OK” Normally I walk with an audio book for company and it takes my mind off walking.
When I met HOVS (Head of Vehicle Support) and told Judy a worried look came over her face. She wanted to call a doctor or psychiatrist to see if I was all right. I said it will pass,
Judy really wanted to but I said No!