Now that we’ve settled the realisation arrives that we need to start preparing for the Camino de Sanitago. We’ve got the gear, just have to start to get our legs under us.
It’s an 8km walk in to Avarua so a 16km round trip seems like a good tester for everyone. Just before we left NZ we managed to get our hands on an Osprey Poco carrier so I can strap an 18kg Tom to my back, everyone is also testing out the trail runners we bought to see if there’s any blister issues and to break them in a bit.
Not sure if it’s the greatest choice of days but its 28 degrees and about 80% humidity so even though there’s not a lot of up and down, we are sweating. Tom is heavy. Legs have no problems it’s just the weight through the shoulders. Keeping him on my back regularly should build up a bit of resistance.
After about an hour and thirty we come into Avarua and make our way to the Punanga Nui markets. Heaps going on and everyone is ready for a drink and snack. I can see that another 8kms back probably needs to start soon before the tiredness takes over so off we go. As per usual, it’s no challenge for Max as he’s nearly up at 6 feet tall now, long strides and off he goes. Nate is definitely feeling it, however. It’s a big distance for an 11-year-old. I think he has it in him and the weather hasn’t made it easy. Alissa found it fairly straight forward I think, keeping Nate motivated was more work than anything else. More practice will need to be done to get us all up to around 20kms a day. Tom sleeps for a bit, he’s living the dream.
Everyone gets back generally in one piece and I am feeling it in the shoulders. Tom is a beefcake. There is (generally) a feeling of real positivity, mostly due to a lot of exercise releasing a lot of endorphins but it makes for a nice afternoon, nevertheless. Feeling positive for the Camino.
