Muxia

Only a few minutes into the movie The Way, I turned to dad and said, “I’m going to do that one day.”

The (almost) end of the movie sees the four pilgrims standing on the rocks at Muxia, staring out into an angry Atlantic Ocean. They’ve each started the Camino for reasons they believed obvious to them. As they walk, the true motivations come to light as their Camily goes from being a cranky old American, a party hard Dutchman, a cynical Canadian women and a mouthy Irishman.

Tom, the American, had no intention to walk the Camino. His son, Daniel, had started it and been killed in a storm in the Pyrenees. Tom was merely in St Jean Pied de Port to identify and collect his son. As is the way of things, he makes a decision to walk The Way with his son’s ashes.

When the four pilgrims reach Muxia, Tom scatters the last of Daniel’s ashes into the ocean. The last rite and a fitting end for his son who after years of study had pursued an adventurous life.

That image of the small chapel, so vulnerable next to the angry ocean, has stuck with me. It’s the reason I set out for Muxia to from Hospital. All four pilgrims woke at around 6:00am. We knew that the bar we ate at last night would open at 6:30am and it was a good 10 minute walk up the hill.

As I looked out the window, the first of the day’s light was struggling to pierce the low cloud over the last hills before the ocean. It was dark and cool. We enjoyed good coffee and fruit and then set out.

We knew we would walk around 1km to The Great Divide. Here the Camino from Santiago splits, one way to Fisterra and the other to Muxia. Daniel had said they Fisterra was calling him. Etienne the same. For Etienne it would be his last day walking after 11 weeks. For Daniel, he would reach Fisterra, then walk to Muxia and back to Santiago. Katja had long ago decided to walk to Muxia and then return home to Germany.

As it always is on the Camino, there were hugs as we said farewell to our new found pilgrims friends. The two way markers were in the middle of a roundabout and we paused to take some photos before moving on.

I would spend a good part of the day walking alone as Katja would race ahead or fall behind. We would meet up in villages to get water or have a drink. Along the path I would collect flowers to put in the front pocket of my backpack. At several points I would see butterflies at the corner of my vision. When I turned, they would quickly flit away.

The Way dropped off the range through forests of eucalyptus, pine and oak. I was glad for my staff in many places as the path was rocky and steep. There were occasional views down into the valley shrouded in a blanket of mist.

After 5 or so kilometres, Dumbria came into view. This was a quaint little village, everything well kept and clean. I had a cafe cortado and moved on. The Way made its way up ridges and dropped down into verdant valleys. Pilgrims passed me by heading back to Santiago.

Breakfast was starting to wear off, so I stopped at a clean new bar in a gorgeous little village for a bocodillo with an egg omelette and bacon. This was divine and washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice.

Feeling revitalised, the Way made its way back up and over another ridge, only to drop down into another valley. The penny dropped, this is what the Camino is like all through Galicia, up and down and up and down. But I was getting tired and even though Muxia was 15km away, it felt like it was on the moon.

On what would be the last big, long climb of the day, I suddenly had the feeling that I was surrounded by all the most important people that had been in my life, before and now. I was walking in the middle of a large group, their spirit keeping me moving when all I wanted to do was stop and sleep under a tree. As I neared the top of the climb, they disappeared and I was alone once more, a solitary pilgrim.

Eventually, with about 7.5km to go, I glimpsed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The Way was a paved footpath next to a road for the next few kilometres and in my boredom and need to tune out, I started listening to TOFOP, one of my favourite podcasts. They were talking about the 2nd Ashes Test. That kept me going until the last 3km. Another long, hot climb under the scorching sun. As I walked, a large white butterfly flew alongside me for a few metres. My sister believes that this is symbolic of our mother. It was her joining me for the last push into town. It lifted my spirits and I smiled knowing that she would love this place and the adventure it offers.

On the edge of town as the sun beat down I stopped at a bar for a cold drink and a rest. Hearing familiar voices, I met a family from Melbourne. They were just about to drive back to Santiago. Then as I was enjoying the wonder of not moving, an older couple introduced themselves. They were Rachael and Pablo from the Netherlands. They had walked from the south coast of spain to Santiago and Muxia, several months of walking. They were staying the night and then catching a bus back home. They didn’t like the environmental impact of flying. We had a lovely chat about their Camino, mine with Hamez last year and what the Camino means.

As they were finishing their lunch, Katja walked by. She told me she took a wrong turn. She arrived in Muxia about an hour after I did. She was with an older French man who barley spoke a word of English, was covered in motorcycling tattoos, but seemed like a lovely guy. The three of us walked the last 1.5km to the Santuario Virxe da Barca, the small chapel on the point that featured in The Way.

It was hot as the sun beat down and we were thankful for a cool ocean breeze. We took photos near the 0.000km marker, then stood on a wall facing the Atlantic Ocean and all three of us yelled as loud as we could. What joy! What relief! What Release!

I took quite some time alone, in spite of the many tourists, to stand on the rocks where the four pilgrims had stood at the end of The Way. It was an opportunity to contemplate everything that had brought me here and everything that had happened since that resolution in the movie theatre with my dad. It was also an opportunity to feel unbelievably grateful for the life I live, my family and friends.