Chapter 7
Crikey!
We have finished the Fisherman’s trail.
That was quick!
That was simply stunning!
My best ever walking trail!
We’ve now walked 92 miles in 5.5 days.
How do you eat an elephant?
In Elmer size pieces!
How do you walk a loooong trail?
In bite size pieces.
You will read up on our last day on the Fishermen’s tomorrow.
Don’t forget, my blogs are always one day behind. Basically because I’m too knackered when we stop and writing in ‘real time’, as I walk, is too tall an order for this simple scribe
My emotions as I finish?
Wow!
That was one beautiful walk.
It is a shame that it is over, but the sands of time stand still for no man.
This walk will stay long in the memory.
Before I elaborate on what we did yesterday, I’d like to shout out my walking buddy.
It’s been a real pleasure!
Camino Steve hasn’t even gushed about Arsenal.
He doesn’t moan; he just cracks on.
He is fun and he walks well.
He also has a few amusing expressions that crop up from time to time”:
“Don’t explain; don’t complain.”
Cropped up on day 2.
In fairness, It’s not a bad stance to take in our complex world.
Yesterday we had a ‘best ever’ breakfast at Monte da Zeco.
We were the only customers and I didn’t even photograph the bacon, scrambled egg, toast etc, etc.
It was truly a pilgrim’s dream.
We did question their business model though.
We paid €35/£30 each to stay here.
The room was lovely, clean and contemporary. The pool was a skinny dipper’s joy and the breakfast, absolutely sublime.
£30 will buy you a match day ticket at Bristol City FC!
I intentionally mentioned Bristol City who’s clueless billionaire owner has just sacked another really good manager.
That was the breaking news on the BBC website: well truth be told, it was actually on breaking news page 5!🙄
I’m currently a very disgruntled Bristol City fan. I’m also very disgruntled with Wordle which I do every morning. What fun is there in choosing stupid words for people to puzzle out?
But I’m very, very happy with every aspect of the Fisherman’s Trail.
But I felt for the owners. They need and deserve many more customers!
After our sumptuous breakfast we set off for the trail, leaving at 09.00.
Within 15 minutes we were back on the coastal path joining at the faron or lighthouse, directly west from our accommodation.
‘Eye candy’ was again the order of the day: whichever way we looked!
We spotted a single fisherman 300 metres below us.
He was having a good day.
Actually:
‘Catch of the Day’
A large flash of silver sparkled in the sun, as he reeled in his latest catch. A 2 foot sea bass or bream or ….. whatever sea creature?
A few moments later, I hollered down to him, after finding a few national identity card/driving licence, belonging to a guy called Bruno, lying on the path.
He didn’t understand me initially and seemed to think I was asking how he was getting on.
He held up a giant fish in celebration!
Then he twigged!
After a quick search of his pockets, he gesticulated that it was his card and proceeded to bound effortlessly up the cliff side to meet me and take back his card.
He gushed his thanks.
I was just happy to have been a help.
The flowers on this trail are brilliant. On Saturday the yellows were joined by pinks and whites.
“Isn’t she pretty in pink!” 🎵
Stunning!
We trawled along that trail for the best part of 15 miles.
As we walked I pondered on the matter of gratitude.
It is hopefully apparent, through this blog, just how grateful we are to be doing this walk.
I thought about my last Iberian Camino in 2024.
A lot my friends never realised then that I had been in a tough mental place for over 2 years.
I found that Camino tough.
It too was 600 miles long: the ‘Camino Del Norte’, which starts in SW France and follows the northern coastline of Spain to Santiago de Compostella.
It was a lonely walk along a very isolated trail.
One German pilgrim I met on it: (I met very few), likened it to ‘The Highway from Hell!’
At the time I thought she was correct.
With the benefit of now having a much better perspective on life, and all its pitfalls, I now recognise it as a ‘‘Stairway to Heaven!’
In the 2 years leading up to that walk, I’d suffered significant bereavement, moved house, and retired from a brilliant job, right in the middle of Covid.
I found myself significantly depressed as I tried to find a new purpose and for those 3 long years my poor family suffered and I did too.
So to be doing a similar walk with a completely different mindset was so liberating.
Of course, I now understand mental health better.
I’ve been there and tasted its bitterness.
I now understand the storm I went through. I now realise that my ‘storm’ was very personal and definitely difficult.
Yours, if you are in one, will be too.
We all have storms.
That is a certainty of life.
They just differ person to person.
Walking this trail has been a celebration for me.
However tough life can get; and I felt that toughness, it is still a gift and it is still worth living.
So if that applies to you, be heartened.
And encouraged.
Your circumstances can and will change over time.
This doesn’t have to be your forever future!
I thought about former colleagues Tony, Dennis and Kev.
All 3 mourning the recent loss of their precious wives.
Yet every day they get up, ‘roll up their proverbial sleeves’ and face the world. They try to make the best they can of their circumstances.
I salute you boys!
I thought of Lizzie and her family, attempting to do the same after losing their beautiful Hannah last July.
I salute them all.
I have EVERYTHING to be grateful for.
This morning I read more about gratitude. Was it a coincidence? I don’t think so!
I try to do a morning read every day.
This was it.
“Learning how to be satisfied with what you have, and to feel grateful for it, starts with understanding what money can and cannot do.
There are things in life you cannot put a price on: good health, a family that loves you, the support of a solid friendship, the feeling of accomplishment that comes from working hard and seeing your effort pay off. You cannot value these ‘possessions’ in terms of cash. If you think you don’t have anything to be grateful for, consider the sound of your child’s laughter, the crash of the ocean as waves hit the shore, the unconditional greeting you receive each day from your pet, and the hug of a friend you’ve been separated from. Without these assets, you’re in spiritual default. These items are priceless and have nothing to do with shares or profits. When you add up everything in life, the best things are free.”
Such wise words!
For Camino Steve and I, the signs and wonders we have witnessed on this trip have all been for free. Incredible!
We passed more beautiful beaches.
And we wondered at ‘Black Beauty!’
We smiled at the dumped pile of potatoes, fresh out of the ground, that were being naturally washed by stream water.
And we celebrated like a world cup winner when we realised that the ferry service to Vila Nova de Milfontes, was running and would save our sore feet an extra 5 km of tarmac trudging!
I asked Lizzie for a funny memory of Hannah.
She wrote:
“Having moved to the French countryside at the tender age of three, Hannah was cruelly deprived of one of the cornerstones of British childhood: the ice cream van driving slowly down the street on a Sunday afternoon, its arrival blasted out by a jingle so loud no parent could plausibly claim not to hear it.
We did make several trips back to the UK over the years, but somehow she always missed it—like a very specific and entirely unnecessary form of cultural deprivation. It wasn’t until she was twenty-one that she finally heard the unmistakable Mr Whippy jingle for the first time.
We were walking around the lake in Roath Park, Cardiff, when she suddenly stopped, eyes locked firmly on an ice cream van, and informed me that, having been robbed of a proper childhood due to never hearing the jingle, she felt the least she was owed was a 99 with a flake. Frankly, it was hard to argue with her reasoning.
So we joined the queue. When we reached the front, before she could even open her mouth, I explained to the vendor—who I later learned was called James—that this was a significant moment: she was twenty-one years old and had never heard an ice cream van jingle.
Hannah was, understandably, mortified. The colour rose steadily from her chest to her cheeks until she was an impressive shade of crimson.
James, however, was delighted. Here, at last, was a chance to right a terrible wrong.
Without hesitation, he cranked the jingle up to full volume—not once, not twice, but on a relentless loop—while serving us and, for good measure, loudly informing every subsequent customer about “the poor girl from France who’d never heard the jingle.”
We left with a 99, a flake… and, in my case at least, absolutely no shame.”
Thanks for the read.
Buen Camino
Martin x
If you would like to sponsor me on this crazy walk that celebrates Hannah’s life, please click on the fundraising page link below:. Thank you so much!
Martin Moorman is a 61 year old retired Headteacher who lives with his wife Nicky, daughter and her family in North Yorkshire, UK.
Happily married for 36 years, Martin and Nicky have 3 grown up children, all happily married too. In his spare time Martin loves walking, photography, football, renovating cooking and talking rubbish to anyone who will listen!
Another Camino related question below:
What are the 5 main cities along the Camino de Santiago?
Martin Moorman 