Finistere is the town on the coast of death, where pilgrims viewed it as the end of the known world , centuries ago, they knew no different, and this was as far as the earth went.
Known as the Costa da Morte, ( the death coast) many pilgrims walked this final Way to discard their old belongings and start anew,
The headland that juts out into the sea, was already a place of mystery and relevance for the Celts, the Phoenicians, and the Romans, a mystical place where they celebrated Sun, and fertility rites.
The discovery of the apostles tomb (St James)awoke a new fascination with this place, and it abounds with legends of St James and his work here.
This is the most North western point of the region of Galicia,  and in 2007 the cape of Finistere was included in the list of European Heritage due to its unique location and history.
Tomorrow I set out to go there, and finish my journey on the cliffs above the town.

I am actually restless to start walking again, I will embrace

this last leg of this 1000 mile life changing adventure.

 embrace  this last leg these last few days.

John arrived last night and it was good to see him again. He is in good spirit, and ready to finish what we started two months ago.
Had a great dinner last night, but got up early and walked out of Santiago in the early hours, and started looking for Way signs for the last of our adventure, the Camino de Fisterre. This is short, and to the coast, so today we plan a medium distance haul, right, that didn't work out.
It was dark and we hit the forest earlier than we planned, kind of like going down the rabbit hole

Climbing out of the valley, I looked back at Santiago as I may never return, something thats hard to process right now, and I saw the cathederal looming out of the mist as the town still slept, maybe its calling me back

picking our way through the Eucalyptus forests we were presented with climb after climb, I estimate we climbed for about 15 km, it never seemed to end.  Later in the morning, we dropped back into a valley and came to this little bridge where I needed to rest my body awhile

from here we walked on and came across Jason, damn that guy can book when he tries, he was hauling the mail up some of those hills. Then we came up on Amelia from Lithuania who I had met on many occasions on the Franchise. Was good to catch up , but Matt had stayed behind and will join us in Finistere by bus as his knee is done. You can't leave that boy alone, he stayed back and before you know it, he has a tattoo. He sent us a photo, if his parents don't like it, he can always hide it behind a postage stamp.

Stopped at the beautiful village at the Monte Maceira bridge,this bridge was built in the 14 th century and still stands, the village is a bunch of restored grain mills and its so quiet and peaceful here.we took a break and cooled off by the river Tambre, and tried to figure out where we would find supplies along the way.

from here,you guessed it,it went up. We arrived at the night stop, had a beer and something to eat, in fact, a cheese and ham baguette, we were about to check in to the albergue when we had this amazing idea, lets walk another 8k to the next town, more k today means less k tomorrow,and the Camino punished us as it does,by turning on the heat.

We arrived at Casa Pepe in this tiny village where they have cows, and cow sh- t, so here i am trying to blog and the flies are coming in in squadrons. If you listen carefully, you can hear the leader calling ". South African on the left,dive dive". 

Cross the mountain valley during our stupid stage this afternoon, this brought back memories of the Meseta earlier on in this trip.

Tomorrow I see the sea, a huge moment in this journey, the next day will be 11 kilometers to Finistere, and the end of another year for me, Ill be 64, or the start of a new year that will be immeasurably influenced by the Camino.

Left from San Martin to start the last full days hiking, as luck would have it, if you leave enough times, early and in the dark, you will get lost eventually.
We got lost, two hours later we found the Way, and had actually done quite well. We were 10k down the road when we found it, but had only added a few miles or kilometers to the day. It was cold and damp and misty. It was John, Jason and I who were together

and lucky for all those years of being a hash house harrier, we used those techniques to figure our position out, I don't think Jason was all that confident in us old guys. We had to climb a mountain again, to get to the other side, then around to a main road.that is Jason ahead in the mist this morning.

As we closed in on getting to the coast, John and I stopped of at the Ermita de sanPedro Martir, a baroque church that has a magical spring. It's famous for the local pilgrimage that goes there once a year, and the water is reportedly good for rheumatism, aching feet, and warts, we stopped and drank at the fountain as we rested for the last push into town. My warts no longer have aching feet.

From here we headed into more mist, till at last

                    After 1000 miles (1600 kilometers) finally the Atlantic Ocean

The town of Cee, this is our night stop, its a bit hard to swallow, only 12 km away to the end, and we are leaving that for tomorrow, such an easy finish now, we only did 38 km today with our screw up.
If you look , you will see Cape Finistere on the top right of the picture, THE END OF THE WORLD, tomorrow I finish there, I have no idea what my feelings will be, but right now there is a strange feeling on anticipation on board.
But tonight in Cee, a pretty sea village that was once a whaling post, it went broke at the decline of, and then ban on whaling. I can't imagine what the oceans were like in the 17 or 18 hundreds, when lobster was so plentiful, that only the poor ate them, they were considered trash food.
Amelia just came over and said they were getting a few drinks and some food to take to the beach for a celebratory picnic,,,,,,,,see ya
I'm back, its now 9 pm and the sun is still high, I am back from the beach, had a great time with Amelia, Jason, John, myself, and a friend who we have been walking with for a few days, Jed from S Africa. He went to DHS  my arch rival school in Durban where I didn't learn much. Just a great guy who is covered in tattoos and a heart of gold etc, and lives and farms in Cornwall. Really enjoyed his company and he is walking with us to the end tomorrow.

John. Me. Jason. Jed

The mottley crew of me, Jed, Amelia, John and Jason, sharing stories and good times, and brining back many miles of memories.  Sardines tonight for dinner and NO early morning

Felt strange this morning, knowing that today was the last time I wouls strap on these boots, pick up my stick and start walking. It wasn't a long day by any means, but I knew I wanted to do this completely alone. Happy birthday to me, got a cup of coffee at a bar,and said goodbye to John and Jed, they understood my need to finish this alone. I was feeling really strong so when I arrived in Fistere,I decided to keep walking to the Cape of Finistere, and to carry Leonard all the way to the end..

The walk up to the Cape added 6 k to the day, but I really wanted to end this properly.
The Cape is spectacular and the ocean was many colors of blue and green. I sat on the rocks looking over the water and tried to put things into perspective, I couldnt do that.  I had no more walking to do.
I didn't quite grasp what had happened, but knew I most likely won't walk this Way again .
 I am so very grateful for the experience, and to this old body that I've thrown off motorcycles, slammed Into trees, tossed off sidecars, run the legs off for race after race,  and it still didn't let me down.

After meeting everyone back in town for a beer, we all went up to the Cape Finistere for the last time, to watch the sunset, and burn our hiking gear. That was truely a very emotional moment, as its funny how you get attached to these tools that you have lived in for months, the symbolic goodbye was a way of honoring them though.

John and I at the end, standing on the end of the peninsular. John cleaned up, shaved, brought new clothes and now looks like Ahab, but I couldn't have walked with a truer friend

I had one more promise to fulfill, I went to the water, thanked Andrew for his company, and set him free on the currents of the Atlantic Ocean, to continue his adventure to parts unknown.
Waking up in the morning was very weird, I had no where to walk to, I felt very empty,so I went to the sea and sat there for awhile, took a swim and thought about the past few months.
They say a journey like this will change your life forever, how could it not?
There were times that a bus or train looked so inviting, and the swollen feet in 150 degree shoes were screaming, and there were times that mentally I  felt like I was living on the edge of sanity, thinking maybe the people who said I was crazy, were right. But the rewards were immeasurable, and I know that pain is temporary, but quiting is forever. So we Camino on.
I learned all sorts of things about myself, I met wonderful like minded people, and made some friends who I will keep forever. and shed burdens as I learned and understood

I learned that people from all walks of life, all religions, all shapes and sizes, and from all sorts of countries, get along with each other just fine, without outside interference.
I learned I need to tell people who are dear to me, that I love them more often.
I need to smile more. I need to not worry about things I have no control over.,
But more importantly, I learned many things that would be impossible to describe in these words.
I am so grateful for this journey, these lessons, my todays.
I was asked before I left, could I explain what a pilgrimage really was, or is ?,I'm not sure I can even do that  now. I think in many ways our lives are really a pilgrimage as we search to grow and learn.

Today I am in Muxia, a town North of Fistere. It's a quiet place and the sea food is good. At the end of the promontory is a pretty church built out over the rocks, which was destroyed in a storm 10 years ago, and  it was rebuilt last year.

I have no idea why the church was built or when, doesn't look that old in design really, but for some reason ,I'm not motivated to find out all of a sudden. Maybe the journeys end has finally set in.
1000 miles,,,1600 kilometers,,,,3 countries,,,,, 2 million steps,,,, 52 days
Some people said I was crazy to try this walk, I remember when I was told I was too old to go back and be competitive on a motorcycle, or that I was nuts to race sidecars up the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, which I won, I remember the times I told I wasnt enough, I say, " be that person, be the crazy one, your only failure is not to at least  try, take the warnings and criticisms as compliments"," be yourself, because everyone else is taken",  When the unwelcome visitor come knocking, don't be the one who ends this personal journey with any " what ifs"
I can honestly tell you today, I still don't really know what a pilgrimage is, I think it's very personal to everyone who takes one, and everyone gets something different from the experience. The Camino is a great journey, and like life, you get out of it what you put in.
I don't think we know anything for sure,
But I do know this, every pilgrimage is a blank slate, and the story doesn't get written, unless you make the journey.
BUEN CAMINO
                       PATRICK HOLMES
                                        2015
      

Finistere,  the end of the world