I did a 16km walk today. My feet are fine, but my hip flexors are sore. I walked from home to a place called Strom's Lookout in Bouddi National Park. I did 10km yesterday, after a week off doing any preparation. I'm doing about half the distances that I will have to do every day for a month.
I tried using walking poles once I was off road and they are brilliant. They will definitely be coming with me. I couldn't quite bring myself to use them while walking the streets. Perhaps when I am in another country I will care less how I look.
One of the things many people on the Camino mention is the friendliness of the locals. It was nice to say hello to people today. There was a surprising number of people on mountain bikes or walking through the trail I was on. I even stopped to help some kids get a ball out of a tree once I got back into suburbia. There are so few connection points in our community. People don't expect me to be making eye contact, smiling and saying hello. From the confused looks I got I think some people are trying to work out if they know me already.
When I got to the lookout I saw what might be a pathway straight down to the water. I decided to risk leaving the track and take a different way home. It wasn't marked on my map and it disappeared several times but I got down to the mangroves and to my surprise there were shells on the sand. The scallop shell is the symbol of the Camino, with all the lines radiating in to the one point. I picked up a shell and took it home. I will attempt to take it with me on my walk as a reminder of home and a symbol of the way. Bom Caminho
(I really do need to learn more Portuguese)
