Camino Preparation 2

Next weekend our Diocese will hold a fairly crucial synod, and there is a fair bit to be done before Friday. There's also a fair bit to be done before we fly out of Dunedin for Spain next Monday. The stuff I've done since the great raincoat test have been:

*Bought another coat. I chose a Mountain Designs model because it was very robust and well designed. It was also pretty cheap. Clemency bought a new Macpac, and I'm trying hard not to wish that I did too.
* Got Spanish simcards for the phones. Debbie my PA will have the numbers, so if anyone needs to text me or phone me contact her at the Diocesan office and she will give you my details. Or not as the case may be: it will depend on whether or not you strike her when she's in guardian angel mode.
* Booked train tickets from Madrid to Sahagun and from Santiago de Compostela to Madrid. They are 60% cheaper when ordering online, so we travel 1st class at far less than the normal tourist class rates. I booked on the slow train, not the super fast rocket ship on rails job, because you see more, it's much cheaper and the extra 1 hour 40 minutes is neither here nor there after 30 hours on a plane.
* Booked hotel rooms for the first night in Sahagun and the last night in Madrid. Yes, I know, hotels on the Camino, it's not really in the spirit of things, but we will be arriving late and tired in both instances.
* Figured out the best way of getting from Barajas airport in Madrid to Chamartin station. Bus. It's faster than the metro and doesn't involve making any transfers. And you get to see something on the way.
* Put some handy dandy little Camino Santiago apps onto my phone. One crashed the phone. One was in Spanish beyond my limited means of comprehending it. One looks pretty darned useful with maps and directions to the nearest bano and emergency numbers for the police and so forth.

Things still to be done are:

* Get some zip lock plastic bags for organising and waterproofing stuff inside the packs.
* Take the cat to the cat home.
* Buy some sunscreen and some iodine ointment for blisters.
* Make a final decision on the iPad and the Kindle. No in both instances I think. Just more stuff to take up space in the bag and to find a way of charging.
* Figure out if the little solar charger for cell phones I have lying about in the bottom of a drawer will be worth taking.

And then we're pretty much all done. All I've got to do otherwise is synod. No sweat.

Comments

Mark said…

I took my kindle. Scanned and loaded (Emailed) pdf of all documents and notes/maps from guidebooks etc to it. Much lighter than iPad. good battery life and recharge as necessary at albergues

9 September 2012 at 21:24

Kate said…

How organized you are Kelvin!
Os deseo un viaje estupendo.

11 September 2012 at 09:32

Kelvin Wright said…

Muchas gracias Katherine. Y felicidades para sus viajes también. Tanto los externos como interiores.

11 September 2012 at 21:37

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