Kathie Sutherland and Craig Miller have lived in Truro for 35 years and raised 4 children here. Craig retired in 2010 from the Nova Scotia Agriculture College, where he taught Soil Science. Kathie worked at Maggie’s Place Family Resource Centre, developing and facilitating prenatal and parent education programs.

 

Shared interests in travel and the enjoyment of walking led Kathier and Craig to the Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain. They walked a partial Camino (Astorga to Palas de Rey) in 2012. In 2013 they walked from St. Jean-Pied de Port, France to Burgos and in 2014 they filled in the gaps to complete the Camino. Since then they walked several side trails in France and Spain. In 2017 they participated in Camino Nova Scotia, a walk from Mahone Bay to Halifax.

 

Terry started by giving a history and general description of the Camino trail in Spain.  He outlined how to plan for the walk including route selection, time of year to go, packing and other planning resources.

 

Terry completed the entire 800 km walk from the French border to the church at Santiago in 27 days in April 2014. He carried everything he needed in his backpack, stopping at the various small villages and cities along the path.  He described, with the help of an excellent slide, examples of the sights one would see and the people that you meet.  You rarely walk alone as you tend to meet up with people from around the world as you walk along.

 

Terry described some of the planning tools that are available in getting ready to make the walk and the sort of items to take.  Ear plugs are a must!  He stated that he figures he spent about 40 Euros a day on food and lodging while in Spain on the path.

 

Kathie and Craig approached the Camino in a different way.  They had originally planned to spend two weeks in 2012 to walk only a portion of the trail and despite getting ill part way through that original trip, they were "hooked" on the walk and had returned every year for the next 5 years to walk (and rewalk) portions of the walk until they had completed  the full walk.  They enjoyed the people they met, the food,  the landscapes they walked through and the music they heard.  The also loved the chance encounters they made while walking and seeing things they would not have expected. 

 

The speakers stated that walking the Camino was a transformative experience and has encouraged them to explore other adventures in walking.  They encouraged others to consider the path themselves.