Val and I have been talking about doing “The Camino” for years. My friend James did it some time ago on the French route and Hannah (my daughter) has done parts of it I believe, but I’m not sure about that.
We have decided to do a shorter route as a starter for several reasons. 1. We have a cat (Bob) who we really love and we don’t want to leave him for too long. 2. Val is concerned about where we’ll stay, getting stuff moved from place to place, and several other things 3. We seem to have settled on doing around 100’ish Km and perhaps from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela.
We’re probably looking at around Easter in 2026.
Currently I’m walking around 50 to 70 miles a week but continue to push myself to improve that.
Its been along while since I last wrote on this space. In December I made the decision to join the app ZOE, which is a science and nutrition company.
You can take a look at it here and get a discount if you were to join.
I was incentivised to join by my wife who had joined earlier in the year. She signed up for a short period but Zoe offered my a discount and I went for a year. The box with all the stuff involved arrived on the 10th December and I immediately got stuck in… This involved fitting a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) to the underside of the top of my left arm. I then did a blood test and supplied a poo test, both of which had to be sent to ZOE as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile the CGM was monitoring my glucose levels. I’m pleased to say I wasn’t showing big spikes no matter what I ate. This amazed Val a little as she had had some quite high spikes. It seems, as you would expect, the tech has moved on since Val did her tests earlier in the year.
Val and I set off for Canada and the island. It had been a long time in planning and we were excited if a little nervous
The trip started when we arrived in Vancouver (staying overnight at Sheraton Wall Vancouver Centre, Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2R9, Canada) and boarding a cruise ship the following morning to Alaska. Val had splashed out for a junior suite which was lovely. It had a balcony which was big enough for us to sit and watch the world go by. We quickly found our way around the ship and found the best places for us to eat. After a couple of days we met one of our neighbours (Lora Gaddy) who we quickly made friends with. She was travelling alone and was a very very frequent cruiser (unlike us). Over the course of the cruise the weather was pretty wet and so Val and I spent time walking around the top deck in the rain much to the surprise of other cruisers (mostly Americans) who probably thought we were crazy. You will find pictures in the folder you can click on below. We have stayed in touch with Lora. On our arrival back in Vancouver at Canada Place we went to our Hotel (17/9/2023 Metropolitan Hotel, 645 Howe St, Vancouver, BC V6C 2Y9, Canada) and left our luggage before walking down to the shore and getting a ferry/Taxi to Granville island where we wandered around just looking at the tourists and drinking coffee. We then heard from Bryn who suggested we met for lunch on the shoreline near to his apartment. We walked along the broadwalk and met up with Bryn and Gareth (Val’s cousins) at the Cactus Club Cafe for lunch. It was a brief meeting but pleasant. Perhaps if we visit again we’ll have a longer visit with them. After our visit we went and had another night in the city visiting the same restaurant we had visited. After a good night’s rest we headed for the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal (49°22’28.0″N 123°16’22.8″W) by bus. It was quite simple but we nearly got on a bus going in the opposite direction. We had to wait quite a while for our ferry but eventually it arrived and we found somewhere to sit on the top deck as it was sunny, if a little windy. On arrival in Nanaimo on the island we were met by Val’s other Canadian cousin Bronwyn who had been living on the island for many years and now lives in Ladysmith, ( 48°59’12.1″N 123°48’45.4″W ) a delightful town right on the river. Bronwyn and Mark were the perfect hosts. They had given us a large room in the bottom of the house and although we had a large amount of luggage we quickly settled in. Bronwen suggested we go for a walk with Wally (the dog) and we set off in the direction of the town. At that point Val and I had no idea where we were. It was a pleasant walk. Over the next few days we visited very interesting places. Mark took us to the big qualicum salmon hatchery near to Dunsmuir. Apparently there were Bears in the area but we didn’t see any. What we did see was thousands of salmon/steel heads fighting their way up stream. We then went and had lunch at a shoreline restaurant ( the shady restaurant and pub) that Mark and Bronwyn knew well. It was splendid. We then went onto Rathtrevor beach for a gentle walk and then back to Ladysmith.
The following day (Thursday 21st) Bronwyn took Val and I into Victoria. We had a meet up with Morgan (Bronwyn’s daughter) for a coffee. We then wandered towards the centre and the government buildings. I had been there many years before but it all seemed me to me. Time flies.
We then jumped in the car and Bronwyn took us to “Malahat Skywalk”. How impressive that was. This was a raised walkway which went up and up until you could see all over the estuary. It was impressive and magnificent. There are pictures in the Album. The following day Mark took us on a local walk through woods nearby. Wally accompanied us which was great as he is an early warning when bears are about. We had to say our goodbye’s much too soon. A fab trip. The ferry back to Vancouver was a bit rough. On arriving back in Vancouver once again we found a bus back to the city centre and another hotel. This time Val had booked us into “The Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel”, 838 Hamilton St, Vancouver, BC V6B 6A2, Canada. This was a rather strange hotel but nevertheless it was very comfortable. We spent our last day cruising the city before making our way to the airport for our return journey. We had a long wait for some reason I don’t remember but while we waited we heard Penny had been born. A good end to a memorable trip.
I’m often amazed at how much other people seem to have considered the problems of the world and have solutions that they are convinced by I find that quite admirable and it makes me (briefly) feel inadequate and not very clever
Currently the world seems doomed to disaster as we regularly have reached 50C in many parts of the globe and there is no sign that this will improve in the near future. I’ve been in some very hot places and when I was there (and younger) I convinced myself I liked it but now I know its not really for me unless there is a swimming pool nearby that I can luxuriate it and wallow in the solitude of being beneath the water. It’s been quite a while since I last did that. It was Sept 2018 in Greece.
Infact it’s been a whole year. A whole year older and 2 stone lighter and 4 inches off my waist.
I think that’s quite an achievement. At our age you start thinking about how long you’ve got left and how you can improve what you’ve got left.
Val and I adopted a new way. We got into fermenting in quite a big way. We started off quietly with Kefir; Val then added Kombucha and a whole load of other new things. Michael Mosley has to be given a credit.
It’s been another year wearing a mask, having vaccinations and taking tests but all these have been necessary in my opinion.
Just to complete the year I had a tooth extraction this week. Painful?…. Yes!!! I wondered if the dentist was competent . Two days have passed and I’m just about getting over it
The holiday finished on Monday (Easter Monday) and Val went back upstairs to her work. She is very fastidious about putting in the time. I’m sure I never was. She has been feeling insecure about what she is doing but yesterday she received an email telling her what a wonderful piece of work she had produced and asking if they might use it as an example and template for anyone struggling…………….. I felt so pleased and proud for her. RECOGNITION!!! Its what she needed. (in my opinion)
Yesterday was a glorious day in our garden. I spent much of the day sun bathing, fiddling about with plants and moving pots.
Peter Ball is ....... 
