The bus picked us up from the Hotel Villa de Laguardia and took us back to Genevilla to commence our next stage of the Camino Ignaciano — walking back to Laguardia.

We again prayed in silence for the first two hours of our walk from Genevilla to Laguardia. Vin Dillon suggested that we pray for our newly elected government in Australia following yesterday’s Federal Election. He suggested that we pray that the new term of the Parliament would be a contest of ideas rather an a contest of personalities. We also prayed that the policies and the allocation of resources would take into account the needs of all Australians especially the weak and vulnerable. A special mention was made of the plight of asylum-seekers. Given that both the Labor Party and the Liberals seemed to be in a competition to see which party could be most punitive to refugees, we prayed for a change of heart in both our politicians and the general public.

Today, following the pattern of the Spiritual Exercises, we begin to consider sin in our lives. We were asking God to reveal our sin because, when God reveals our sin God also reveals His love for us. It is very freeing to become aware of our sinful tendencies, those aspects of ourselves which draw us away from God because then we can turn to God to ask for forgiveness and healing. Today was overcast and the weather matched the matter for prayer.

The route was long but the only difficult section was the first two hours up into the mountains. The rest of the day was a descent into Laguardia through the vineyards and farmlands of La Rioja.


Coming up the mountain

At one point during our walk we passed the 100 Kilometre mark. Just 540 kilometres to go!

The 100 Kilometre mark

Laguardia is a charming and historic walled town built upon an intricate system of underground “caves” or cellars, excavated under the houses and streets. We enjoyed an early evening walk through the narrow cobbled streets, to the lovely Romanesque 12th century Church of Santa María de los Reyes where Fr Joe Taylor said Mass for us.

The Holy Father had asked that today, Saturday 7^th September, be a day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria, which is now under threat of attack by the United States and France. At one point in the Gospel, when the disciples of Jesus could not free a young man from an evil spirit, Jesus told them: “This kind of spirit can only be driven away only by prayer and fasting”.  The Pope is asking us to pray and fast that the threatened attack on Syria does not take place. We discussed over dinner last night how we could best respond.  I said I didn’t think it would be a good thing for us to fast while we are walking as we need to eat given our physical exertion. So we decided to spend the first two hours of our walk today in silence praying for peace. It was a powerful experience to be walking in silent prayer. We have decided to begin each day in this way.

From Alda we descended to San Vicente de Arana, where the trail runs parallel to the quiet paved road to the village of Santa Cruz.

Dani Chamberlin and Amanda Hickey having a break

Today was an easy walk compared with the last three days in the mountains.  We had lunch at Santa Cruz the walked on to Genevilla along a well-marked dirt road. The bus picked us up to transfer us from Genevilla to our hotel in Laguardia.  But it broke down on the way.  While we waited for a replacement vehicle to arrive we had our reflection on the day.

The region where we are staying is called La Rioja Alavesa where the “Rioja” wines come from. Our Hotel Villa de Laguardia (Laguardia) looks out over the vineyards in Laguardia. 



This morning we said goodbye to the tranquil Franciscan sanctuary of Arantzazu.  We also said goodbye to the travel agent, Luis Renes, who walked with us for the first three days.  He told us that he would like to continue to walk with us, but his Australian-born wife has recently given birth to their second child and he needs to be at home to support her.  His organization of the pilgrimage has been impeccable and we will miss him.  Still we can contact him by phone if we need to.

We took the bus back to Araia where we commenced our day’s walk at 11.00am.  Today was a third mountain climb in a row.  It was not as difficult as Stage 2, but it was physically demanding nonetheless.  From the top of Mount Entzia we enjoyed spectacular views.

Then we descended into the picturesque Arana valley which is very rich farm land. We arrived at Alda a traditional Basque village at 6.10pm.  We are staying at Casa Rural Biltegi a family-run guesthouse in the mountain village of Alda. Our Basque guide Fermin left us at Alda to take the bus back to Araia.  Although Fermin did not speak a word of English and none of us could speak the Basque language, we managed to communicate with him and very much appreciated his guiding us through the mountains which are not well-marked.  We thanked him, sang the Pilgrim Song for him and gave him a small gift.  He was very touched and wept.

The owner of Casa Rural Biltegi had organized Mass for the group at 6.30pm, so we walked over to the church in our hiking gear.  The priest was waiting for us.  He unlocked the church and set up the altar for Mass.  He told me that was responsible for nine parishes in the region.  I put on the vestments over my sweaty shorts and tee-shirt and said Mass for the group.  I was so stiff after the day’s walk that I found it hard to climb up the stairs to the sanctuary.

Mass at Alda

It is amazing how a good night of sleep can repair the body.  After eight hours of rest I felt ready for another day of walking.  After breakfast we were ready to go.

We warmed up our legs with a climb out of Arantzazu to a mountain pass at 1180 m.  We walked though the lush Aizkorri-Aratz National Park, home to the highest peaks of the watershed between Cantabria and the Mediterranean. on the way up. On the way up the mountain a local man showed us a fossilized scallop shell in the rock formation.  At some stage, millions of years ago, this part of the mountain was under the sea. I reflected that God has been at work in the world for millions of years.

Fossilised scallop shell

Part of the trail today joined up with the Camino de Santiago Vasco (the Basque Way to Santiago). After connecting with the Camino de Santiago, we continued to the small village of Araia.

Sacha Bermudez-Goldman left us this evening to travel back to Madrid where he is writing his thesis for the Licentiate.  It has been good to walk with him over the three days.

The bus met us at Araia and took us back to the hotel at Arantzazu where we spent our second night.

We have set up a leadership group of Larry Naismith, Michael Bertie, Peter Walden, Helen Lucas and me which met this evening.  We realise that once Luis Renes and Fermin leave us we will have to do our own navigation.  Larry, Peter and Michael all have GPS devices and have studied maps.  One of the things I am most concerned about on the Ignatian Camino is getting lost as the way is not well marked.

Hotel Exteberri has its own chapel and we began the day with Mass there at 7.00am.  After breakfast we continued our walk along the River Urola valley.  Then we began a very difficult climb from the village of Brinkola up to the Franciscan Sanctuary of the Virgin of Arantzazu. The Sanctuary is located on the site where it is said that the Virgin of Arantzazu appeared to a shepherd named Rodrigo de Balanzategui in 1468. According to legend, the figure of the Virgin was in a thorn-bush, and the shepherd’s exclamation “Arantzan zu?!” (Thou, among the thorns?!) gave rise to the name of the place.

Today was tough.  Very tough. In May-June 2011 I walked the Camino Frances from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.  The 21.5km first stage from St Jean Pied de Port to Roncesvalles was very tough, perhaps the toughest stage on the Camino Frances.  The stage from Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro was tough too.  But neither was as tough as the unrelenting climb up the mountain and down the other side to Arantzazu today.

I wondered if I would make it, and whether or not it had been wise to invite people to make this pilgrimage.  In my darker moments I thought, “What if one of the party dies up here on the mountain?”  In fact after a couple of hours walking two of our party decided to go back and take a taxi Zumárraga to Arantzazu.  Fr Sacha Bermudez-Goldman SJ kindly escorted them back.  It was a wise move.

We know that Iñigo would have taken this route across the mountain to Arantzazu and I wondered what sort of footwear he had and how he coped seeing that he had one leg shorter than the other as a result of being wounded in battle at Pamplona.

The noises you hear on the sound track are the bells which the cows, sheep and horse wear up on the mountain.  In unison they sound like some sort of eerie symphony.

At last the sanctuary at Arantzazu

Arantzazu is a centre of Marian devotion and pilgrimage (as Saint Ignatius stated in his Autobiography). It was here that Inigo meditated through the night and took vows of chastity. Little is left of the primitive sanctuary.  The current complex is a wonderful example of contemporary Basque art.

Fr Paddy Mugavin is doing a blog about his experience of the Ignatian Camino which he has called The Unholy Pilgrim.   You can view it by clicking here.  May I say that Paddy is the complete antithesis of unholy!  Paddy is the Parish Priest of St Mary’s Church in Hamilton in the Ballarat Diocese.  He is on the pilgrimage with two other priest friends, Fr Joe Taylor and Fr John Fitzgerald.

Today was our first day of walking.  We had Mass at 7.00am in the Conversion chapel.  After breakfast we gathered in front of the Hotel Arrupe.

The group outside Hotel Arrupe

Our guide Luis Renes, the Director of Nativa Tours, led us over to the Tower House of the Loyola family and we each stood on the step which Inigo would have stood on as he left his home on his pilgrimage in 1522.

Helen Lucas on the doorstep of Loyola Castle about to begin the Ignatian Camino

Led by Luis and Fermin Lopetegi, a local Basque man who has walked the Camino to Santiago de Compostela 13 times and the Ignatian Camino twice, we walked through absolutely beautiful scenery following the old railway line to Zumárraga. We set a very leisurely pace as we have a long way to go (640 km) until we reach Manresa and we don’t want to get injuries early on the pilgrimage.  We passed through the town of Azkoitia, home to the impressive church of Santa María la Real and some lovely tower houses in the old quarter. We followed the River Urola valley all the way to Zumárraga.

Helen, Sacha and Tracy on the trail

On the outskirts of Zumárraga the group was met by two women reporters from different local newspapers both of whom interviewed me about the Ignatian Camino and why we are doing this.  I understand that Fermin Lopetegi let the press know we were coming.  We are the first organised group of pilgrims to undertake this Camino.  The local Basque people seem fascinated that a group from Australia would come all this way to walk the Ignatian Camino.

The article in the Spanish language newspaper

The article in the Basque language newspaper

Please click here for a PDF of the Newspaper article

Before dinner we had a hour of reflection on the day. We addressed the following questions:

1. When did I experience joy today? When did I struggle today?
2. How was the Scripture or Ignatian theme reflected in my day?
3. What, from the sharing of others in the group, had an impact on me? Is there anything else I would like to share in light of what I have heard?

We are staying at the Hotel Exteberri.  It is a beautiful hotel with a garden and we are amazed that it only has a 2 star rating.  We would recommend it to anyone visiting the Basque country. The restaurant offers Basque cuisine and we had a delicious meal this evening.

Having nothing much to do on the Emirates flight from Dubai to Barcelona yesterday, I put together this film trailer for the Ignatian Camino

http://youtu.be/6Haz_r53duo

I hope you enjoy it.

Dani, Vin and Amanda

Patrick and Geraldine

Departure day has arrived.  We gathered at Melbourne Airport, checked in to our Emirates  flight, said a prayer for a safe trip and went through security and customs.  Hungry Jacks called to us and we are now building ourselves up for the Ignatian Camino.

Helen, Sandra and Vin