Day 4 Castillo de Castillar to Jimena de la Frontera

Just a couple of things I forgot to mention. The first is that the Los Barrios area is stork heaven with huge stork nests sitting on top of virtually every pylon. They look absolutely amazing when they fly reminding you of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. The second and completely unrelated omission is that the castle at Castillo de Castillar dates back to the Nashrid Moorish dynasty which makes it, I think, the same age as the Alhambra at Granada. Included below is a compulsory picture of storks and a picture of my bedroom last night from the outside - not bad.





So today's walk was 18 kilometres, just under 13 miles, was supposed to take 6 hours, but I did it in 5, so bully for me. Good news is that I arrived at Jimena de la Frontera without anything aching or feeling sore and had plenty of time to rest up for a really long walk tomorrow.

I guess you can break the walk into three parts, the last bit of the cork forest, cattle country and then a flat walk through arable land along the side of a railway line. Virtually all the walk was off-road so with any luck yesterday was just an aberration.

Really liked the cattle country, which is what I was looking at from the road yesterday. Maybe it's the farm boy in me but I do like to see cattle with the sun on their backs in huge rolling green fields. Well this was a particularly green version of the "Ponderosa" and Little Jo and Hoss would have finished the picture. I did take a picture of a bull behind a fence but unfortunately focused on the fence and not the bull - nerves.

For my friends who are trainspotters the walk along the side of the railway line was a bit uneventful, only saw three trains. I got a picture of one of them, not very good, but I know that all they need is a mere shadow and they can work out who made it.

The line by the way was built in 1892 by the French engineer Emil de Balignac and connects Algeciras with Bobadilla. The seven dodgy English built trains where replaced with Spanish thoroughbreds after only 10 years. Despite the current levels of traffic (less than a train a hour) the line will be part of the high speed network by 2015.



The other interesting thing about the walk is that it was very wet underfoot. I guess this proves how lucky I have been with weather. It also confirmed to me where we are here in comparison to the UK in terms of spring. The ash trees are out and have been for at least a week. Ash trees, along with the Oak, are one of the last trees to come out in leaf in the UK, I think around the end of April, beginning of May. That means, according to the ash clock, spring here is a massive eight weeks ahead of the UK.

Jimena is another hill top town although here town spills out down the hill and well beyond the ancient walls. It's a lovely pueblos blancos with lots of bars and restaurants with a significant ex-pat community. The British landlord of a bar gave me directions to the Casa Henrietta where I'm staying for the night, and I'll go for a drink there later.

The Casa Henrietta is another special place. It has a similar style to the very upmarket Riad Christine and I stayed in when in Marrakesh last year and must be based on the same keeping cool principles. Lots of shade with a series of inner balconies around a central courtyard which has now been enclosed with an atrium. The decoration is very Andalucian. The walls are painted with bright colour washes, yellows and red/ochre and strong primary paints are used for the woodwork. All designed for the sun.

My room, pictured below, is I suspect typical and also benefits from an amazing view north towards the mountains. The landlady, Melissa Gonzales, could not be more helpful and speaks great English. She is a painter, used to live in Henrietta Street in Dublin (her English has an Irish accent), paints lots of Henriettas and hence the name Casa Henrietta. If you plan on walking the E4 this is definitely the place to stay in Jimena de la Frontera.

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Breaking news:

1. Had a drink at the Bar Oba and the English landlord said that railway was designed by an Englishman not a Frenchman. I got my information from a sign near the railway. More important, it is wide gauge and the trains using it go through a process of bogie adjustment before going onto the standard gauge network. Worth a whole trip just to see this line!

2. Left a pair of underpants at the last hotel - this rate of attrition could really jeopardise my plan.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Day 3 Los Barrios to Castillo de Castellar

So when is a footpath not a footpath?

When it's a sodding road.

So firstly the moan, most of the route from Los Barrios to Castillo de Castellar is along roads. There are a few bits where you leave the road but you come back to it very quickly. Frankly this is disappointing for a premier national trail, the GR7 and for the E4, it's just not good enough. Can't moan to much as a bit of it is definitely down to my reliance on a GPS trail I found in Wikilocs . It may be that the person who published it was a cyclist and preferred roads. I definitely missed some of the off road bits mentioned in the GR7 Cicerone guide, but even that acknowledges that most of today's route is road based.

Apart from the bit near the rubbish dump at the beginning, most of the roads were at least empty. Walked along one stretch for a hour and saw two cyclists and one JCB earth mover thing which looked like it was there to repair the roads.

What made walking along the roads particularly annoying was that the countryside was great, with lots of what looked like farm tracks. This is however also serious cattle country and the fences and signs look like they are meant to keep people out as well as cattle in. My brother's a farmer, and I do listen to Archers, but in return for the bucket loads of cash they get from the rest of us, they can at least make sure that people who want to walk can actually get the other side of the fence.

My favourite song by the way is "This land is my land", of course prefer the Woody Guthrie original but Bob Dylan's and Bruce's versions are also bang on.

I guess the really big news of the day is that I met my first walker, Juan Holgado who was walking from Ronda to Tarifa. Juan seemed like a very nice man and spoke good English (studied in English in Exeter in 1968, must have missed everything), but was not impressed when I told I was going to Budapest. I even emphasised the point that it was the Budapest the capital of Hungary, the other side of Austria, but still no reaction.

Juan is a serious walker and yes we actually exchanged website addresses. His is http://www.jaholgado.com/

Some people have unkindly suggested that I will walk from one end of E4 to other without talking to anyone, so talking to Juan was a real break. I have proved the unkind people wrong. It now means I have now got my talking to people bit out of the way and can stay plugged into my IPod for the rest of the journey!

Walking with the right sound track is like watching a film. Today I really did watch two eagles circling over my head while listening to that "tiny hands are frozen" bit in La Boheme - perfect.

Anyway walking along a road is not all bad news. It did mean that I covered the ground very quickly. Leaving just after 8, and stopping for omelette and chips at 12, I got to Castillo de Castellar by 4 in the afternoon.


Castillo de Castellar is the first of many fortified hill top towns I'm scheduled to visit. It is a stunning completely walled town, very small but with lots of little artisan shops and tiny houses for weekly lets. I'm staying in an amazing hotel. It's not mentioned in the Cicerone guide but is essentially a conversion of the castle. The room I'm in (101) is long and thin, three windows facing south, two north and a balcony facing east. Although there are rooms above me it feels like I'm at the top of castle and the views are amazing, down to Gibralter in the south and over to Ronda in the north east. Should be brilliant in the morning with the sunrise. Haven't eaten yet but based on location alone would definitely recommend it to others. To be honest it has really made me miss Christine, she would love it, and it should be shared.

Day 2 Tarifa to Los Barrios

Hannah my daughter commented on yesterday's blog that it was typical of a Hayes not to know it was the Andalucian bank holiday; a bit hard but she has a point. We are a bit forgetful and in particular, often miss the obvious. Had a case of that this morning when I looked at my iPad clock and, because I hadn't changed it from UK time, didn't notice it was an hour late. So despite having persuaded the hotel to do an early breakfast, I didn't actually leave until 10am a bit late for a 35 kilometre walk. In the end I arrived at Los Barrios at 7.15pm, which given that they don't serve dinner until 9, wasn't a problem.

Great walk through a large natural park with a cork forest. Loads of wild life, in particular birds, and there was a large party of birdwatchers along the route. Everything is very green and the weather, which remains sunny, shows everything at its very best. A lot of wind turbines in the first third of the walk - not everyone's cup of tea.

The only moan I have is that the paths, although not metalled, are made to be accessible by vehicles. It wasn't that I saw many, I saw a couple, it's just they they are a bit hard underfoot. The last bit, into Los Barrios, was 6 kilometres along a road proper and my feet were on fire by the time I got to the hotel.

I am knackered tonight but critically have no blisters on my feet. Have another long day tomorrow, with a brilliant hotel at the end of it, and then it's a short day. I'm trying not to think about the whole walk, it's just too scary. I'm going to "take one day at a time".

Tarifa

Well I have arrived and I have done a bit of walking.

Apart from my Lidl experience it has been a good day.

I got to Tarifa in really good time. Straight of the plane, my rucksack was the third item on the conveyor, and then down the road and onto a bus to Tarifa. Absolutely perfect day, clear sky but a breeze which kept it was nice and fresh.

What I didn't know is that today is Andalucia day, a bank holiday, and all the shops are shut. Because I didn't know, I went on a wild goose chase following signs to Lidl. The signs were confusing and when after about a hour I eventually found myself in the Lidl car park I was the only one there. Thought it was something to do with thesiesta but no it turns out every thing is shut.Also shut was the island of Tarifa, connected to the mainland by a causeway, and technically the most southern bit of Spain. Because I couldn't get in so I started my walk at its gates.

Although Tarifa looked like a nice place, apart from the Lidl car park, I'm actually staying about 7 kilometres along the trail at the end of the beach at a small, but on bank holiday Monday, very busy surfing hotel. Tarifa is particularly famous for its wind and kite surfing and today there was a least 100 people flying about, it looked great.

The final thing that struck me is just how close Tarifa is to Africa. Tarifa is the point along the coast where the Mediterranean ends and Atlantic begins but with everything so green at the moment it could be a large Scottish loch rather than a sea crossing. Looking back to Tarifa, across the huge beach, the mountains you see behind the town are in Africa.

25th of February - departure minus three.

Less than three days to go, feeling very apprehensive.  It is a good job I've made so many commitments, without them I'd be staying at home.

The list of things I'm going to miss just gets longer, including some really important and exciting family things.  I'm also going to miss the "mighty Spurs" end of season run-in and the last six episodes of " The Killing".  Why am I doing this!

The good news is that the weather looks great in Tarifa.  I know the weather can still be unsettled in March and that it can be very wet - nice weather at the start of the walk would be a real bonus.

The bad news is that my bag has got heavier.  With all the bits and bobs it is now pretty full and 45 litres no longer seems excessive.  I guess I could drop the spare pair of Inov-8s for the first month, they don't weigh much but they take up a lot of room.

Going to the River Cafe tonight, having a leaving do in a pub in London on Saturday, and then a quite day with Christine on Sunday.  Monday, involves a 7 o'clock flight to Gibraltar,  a couple of buses just down the road to Tarifa and then I start. 

Final I packed my bag..

Well it's too late to worry now.  Flight's are booked, deposits on hotels have been paid and friends have even scheduled holidays to come and join me.  I have even made the decisions on what I'm going to wear and what I'm going to carry.


Firstly special thanks to Berghaus, Inov-8 and Osprey who between them have kitted me out.  180 days constant use will be a pretty extreme test of their gear and I know they are keen to see how it does.


In the world of walking footwear is perhaps the most controversial thing.  Well I'm not going totally bare foot but I am going very light weight and taking two pairs of Inov-8 trainers, the Inov-8 Terroc 330 and the 345 GTX.  I am already convinced that light footwear is best, particularly for this type of walking, and my only question mark is its longevity.  Taking two pairs is insurance against things falling apart but will also mean I will be able to change footwear in the evening. 


Nearly all my clothing is Berghaus.  I'm taking GORE-TEX® Paclite® Shell Overtrousers;  Dru Stretch GORE-TEX® Paclite® Shell Jacket; 2 pairs of Terrain zip off convertible trousers (hoping for maximum zip off) and a pair of Berghaus shorts; 4 T-shirts with argentium technology to prevent the smell (fat chance), one with long sleeves; and one Brenta Microfleece half zip top.  Apart from socks (4 pairs) all fabrics are synthetic, very easy to wash and very quick to dry.


I have already talked about my Osprey Exos 46 bag but I'm also taking an Osprey 3 litre Hyproform water reservoir (has a really neat magnet to keep the mouth piece in place) and their water proof cover.  Really worried about getting stuff wet so have go a couple of fold dry bags as well.


Other items of course include hat, gloves and walking sticks.  Always struggled with hats but at the moment I'm wearing a East German Army issue forage cap which at least is different. On sticks I have bought at pair of Fizan Compact which were both relatively cheap and very light.  


On the electronics I'm taking my Iphone and an Ipad.  The Ipad is probably a bit mad (adds about 800 grams) but it means I will be able to use it to read i-books and perhaps even watch a film.  It also provides some resilience in terms of GPS because I'll be able to use it as back-up to the Iphone which is going to be my main means of navigation.  Will do another blog on navigation although it is now too late to change my navigation approach.


Nearly all my overnight stops will allow me to recharge my electronics (just a couple of places where this might not be possible).  To supplement the Iphone battery I have bought a New Trent Iphone case, which both protects the Iphone and massively extends its battery life. I have also bought an additional Trent battery pack.  Have tested the Iphone and have been able to get 10 hours from it both listening to stuff and tracking my route. Everything charges of the same Apple charger although I will need a separate charger for my Panasonic Linux camera.


Based on the scales in my kitchen and excluding water and food I will be carrying just under 5 kilograms in my bag.  Food and water will add another 4 kilograms to this so I will starting each day with just shy of 20 lbs on my back.  


  

Support from Sir Chris Bonington

Sir Chris on Cleopatra

"I wish John Hayes the very best of luck for his attempt to be the first person to walk the trans-Europe E4 route in one go. Tarifa to Budapest looks like an epic trip.  John is trying to raise money for a really important Britain Nepal Medical Trust project and deserves all the support he can get".

Getting slightly apprehensive as the departure deadline approaches so support from Britain's best known mountaineer is a real fillip.  Sir Chris Bonington's record of achievement, including numerous first time ascents, is inspirational and his support for my project is a great honour.