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An Impossible Dream
Scotland
Scotland. The land of my forefathers (and mothers) birth ...
In mid 1853 my great, great grandfather Matthew Campbell, a young man of only 33 years, and his young son James, aged just 8, left his home in Greenock, Scotland, possessed, I assume by "gold fever". They arrived in Ballarat, Australia to join our Victorian gold rush, less than 18 months before the infamous Eureka Stockade rebellion; an event at the very heart of Australian culture. Indeed, history recalls they they were amongst the first people to enter the stockade the day after the massacre.
Over 160 years later I make my first trip to Scotland, accompanied by my daughter Natalie, a 5th generation Australian and great, great, great granddaughter of Matthew.
These pages document this journey. Click on the blue hyperlinks below to see each day's post.
On The Move
Monday 13th July, Nantes, Britagne/Brittany Not so much a detailed blog (I don't think, I've not written it yet), but a brief photo essay of the highlights of the last few days, with a bit if commentary. St Jean to Bordeaux via Biarritz The early part of the day went well according to plan. Left SJPdP (and the fabulous Les Chemins d'Elika - highly recommended if you ever happen to be there) via the train to Bayonne and another to Biarritz, and then via Bolt (an Uber-like sys
pac
4 days ago1 min read
Remembering
Vingt-quatrième jour - Friday 10th July, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port Massive thunder and lightning storm at 1am; glad we weren't out walking. Lazy day today. Resting. Wandering the old city and walls. No story, just a few photos. An ever so slightly social end to our Camino last night (Thursday), on the lovely terrace of the very nice Le Relais de la Nive restaurant. From left Cathy from Sydney, J, me and Simone from the UK. (Earlier that night we'd caught up with American couple
pac
Jul 111 min read
Never Say Never II
Subtitle: 5,000,000 steps Vingt-troisième jour – terminer - Thursday 9th July, Larceveau - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - 19.5 klms (final total approx 425) Our trekking poles are a little worse for wear, and with just a little hyperbole I made some comment that they had walked a million miles with us. Janet did some quick processing and came up with the assessment that they'd probably walked 5 million steps!! Now let's not get too precise, but if you think about it, my very first
pac
Jul 104 min read
Flying blind
Vingt-deuxième jour - Wednesday 8th July, Aroue (Etcharry) - Larceveau - 24.4 klms (running total approx 406.2) We were presented with options today. Head down this route to visit this town, that route to see that monument. We chose only one set of options - what would be shortest and easiest!! According to the guidebook the longest set of options turned the day into a "strenuous" walk of over 30klms with an up/down altitude variance of some 800 metres. Ah, no thanks. The sh
pac
Jul 93 min read
Pen-Penultimate
Vingt-et-unième jour - Tuesday 7th July, Navarrenx - Aroue - 21.6 klms (running total approx 381.8) I don't even know if "pen-penultimate" is a real word, but hey, it's my blog and if I want to mangle my English/Latin well, who cares? I've written about previously, and indeed experienced multiple times, that the last few klms of any day's walk are usually the hardest. It's a mental more than a physical thing - yes after 20 klms the feet hurt and one is generally tired (and ho
pac
Jul 83 min read
Another World
Vingtième jour - Monday 6th July, Sauvelade - Navarrenx - 14.4 klms (running total approx 360.2) Early in the walk we passed many signs with various philosophical statements or sayings. They were all in French, and whilst I translated a couple just for fun, most of them are simply sitting in my phone as a "tomorrow" project. And then today, very early into the day, I passed the sign "Another World is Truly Possible", which gave rise to today's title. It's a gentle exhortatio
pac
Jul 73 min read
Third-third-third
Dix-neuvième jour - Friday 3rd July, Arthez-de-Béarn - Sauvelade - 20.6 klms (running total approx 345.9) There's a maxim for/on the Camino Frances that the first third is for the body, the next third is for the mind and the last third is for the spirit or the soul. Given that a maxim is a generally accepted truth, as opposed to an absolute or scientific truth, I hold the third-third-third maxim to be a pretty accurate rule of thumb. For the Camino Frances. Or the Via de la P
pac
Jul 63 min read
Planning
Dix-huitième jour - Saturday 4th July, Pomps - Arthez-de-Béarn - 10.0 klms (running total approx 325.3) The "official" guidebook (nothing's really official, you can do what you like) has recent past and future walking stages set at around 30klms/day. Whilst we've had two days approaching this number, and one to come, actually planning to have multiple days at these distances seemed like a bridge too far to me. So wherever possible I chopped them in half. It doesn't always wor
pac
Jul 53 min read
Buen Camino
Dix-septième jour - Friday 3rd July, Arzacq-Arraziguet - Pomps - 21.4 klms (running total approx 315.3) I think I'll start today with a PPR (a Podiatric Progress Report 🤔) for the record. With 6 days and around 100 klms to go there is a possibility that the feet will actually get me to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. How's that for confidence??? Now let me start properly. Staying in a 15th C "hotel" as we did last night was a high point, trumped as it were by the meals which our ho
pac
Jul 42 min read
Musings
Seizième jour - Thursday 2nd July, Miramont-Sensecq - Arzacq-Arraziguet - 18.8 klms (running total approx 293.9) The day started with petit-déjeuner at the maison of the lovely Clothilde before a stroll back into Miramont-Sensecq (the back way, through the cornfields) and then on on. We were accompanied by the intermittent roar of the jet engines, as we had been a couple of days earlier. A bit of research tells me that the jets concerned are the Dassault Rafale delta wing fig
pac
Jul 33 min read
Vast
Quinzième jour - Wednesday 1st July, Aire-sur-l’Adour - Miramont-Sensecq - 20.7 klms (running total approx 275.1) Having left Aire-sur-l’Adour on what seemed to be an endless uphill climb, as I wondered and wandered through the morning I thought that I'd find nothing to write about. There was a same sameness to the landscape which didn't lead to great inspiration. But then, surprise surprise, two things popped up. The first is the agricultural landscape itself. It's changed a
pac
Jul 22 min read
Well earned
Quatorzième jour - Monday 30th June, Aire-sur-l’Adour - rest day Our second - and last - rest day has been well earned. It's given the blisters (sadly, yes, there are a few) and the legs some respite, and moreso a chance to explore this ancient city. Not much appears to remain of its old past which goes back over 2,000 years to the Gallic Wars waged by Julius Caesar against the people of Gaul, in the '50s BC. My guide book tells me that the victorious general Publius Licinius
pac
Jun 303 min read
Sounds
Treizième jour - Monday 29th June, Nogaro - Aire-sur-l’Adour - 29.5 klms (running total approx 254.4) A short post to balance a long day today. Our elapsed travel time was about 8 hours, with 6 1/2 of them actually walking. One of the things which I've been noticing and which surprises me a lot is the apparent lack of pelerins. We saw two people a little ahead of us earlier this morning, and I think that they were the same two French chaps we saw yesterday. So, two days, two
pac
Jun 302 min read
Odd
Douzième jour - Sunday 28th June, Éauze - Nogaro - 21.0 klms (running total approx 225.0) I was quite at a loss as to what to call today's blog, until I arrived at our accommodation in Nogaro. Then it immediately came to me. One of the joys of travel is that it throws the occasional curved ball, to borrow an expression from our American friends. They can come in all shapes and sizes, often in my case to do with the hitherto sight-unseen accommodation choices which are made fr
pac
Jun 294 min read
Roamin'
Onzième jour - Saturday 27th June, Montreal-du-Gers - Éauze - 18.1 klms (running total approx 203.9) The Roman plans evolved in a completely unplanned and unforseen way. No worries. The initial plan had been that we would take the deviation via Sèviac and go visit the Villa gallo-romaine de Séviac, which has an extensive display of a Roman villa including some 100s square metres of mosaics. But it doesn't open until 10am, which would have required a lot of waiting around init
pac
Jun 283 min read
The little things ...
Dixième jour - Friday 26th June, Condom - Montreal-du-Gers - 21.7 klms (running total approx 185.9) It's the little things which make a difference, like clouds in the sky, coffee and ice-cream in the town square, air-conditioned room on arrival ... The day went fully according to plan. Up early-ish, breakfast at 6:30, depart the accommodation by 7:15 (tricky that, as our delightful hostess was very chatty), off to the boulangerie for trail supplies and then hit the road at 7:
pac
Jun 272 min read
One for all ...
Neuvième jour - Thursday 25th June, La Romieu - Condom - 15.0 klms (running total approx 164.2 klms) Here we are in Condom. Let's start with the obvious - name clarification. Condom is pronounced, I think, something like condoh. Between my guidebook and the local tourist brochure I'm told that because it is situated between Baïse River and the Gèle Stream the town's name comes from an ancient Celtic or the Aquitanian settlement called condate-o-magos, which means 'market of
pac
Jun 273 min read
Here Comes The Sun
Huitième jour - Wedesday 24th June, Lectoure - La Romieu - 17.5 klms (running total approx 149.2) I had thought that I had used this title once before, years ago. I had, almost, but not quite (see Sunflower). I grew up on the music of the Beatles, and this one from George is one of my favourites. Hard to pick favourites of course. But I think for today the variation Here Comes the Cool would be even more welcome. We continue to walk through agricultural land, and the emergent
pac
Jun 255 min read
Nothing, really ...
Septième jour - Tuesday 23rd June, Lectoure - rest day It's a sign that the trip is going well when you have to ask your wife what day it is, and she has to look at her watch to confirm that today is indeed Tuesday 😉. I could have figured that out because yesterday the shops were all shut, which of course meant it was Monday. But that would require some thought. Our apartment here in Lectoure is nice, even if unfunctional. There are at least 4 heaters in the place, and one s
pac
Jun 243 min read
Top of the hill
Sixième jour - Monday 22nd June, Miradoux to Lectoure - 16.3 klms (running total approx 131.7 klms) I've said this before. Janet and I get on very well. We are quietly comfortable in each other's presence. Sometimes we chatter as we walk, sometimes we just wander along in silence. She is often in front as I dawdle along stopping to take photos. Today she asked me what I think about as I walk. Often it's about what's going on around me, perhaps influenced by whether I should t
pac
Jun 233 min read
Relative
Cinquième jour - Sunday 21st June, Auvillar to Miradoux - 18.2 klms (running total approx 115.4) I don't really want to turn the blog into a daily weather report, but sometimes one has to acknowledge the elephant, in this case, outside the room. Today was a relatively easy day. But in the middle of a severe heatwave, relatively takes on a different meaning. We arrived into Miradoux a little before 2pm. Elapsed time about 6 hours; walking time about 4 hours 30 mins. Here's a w
pac
Jun 222 min read
Flat out
Quatrième jour - Saturday 20th June, Moissac to Auvillar - 20.7 klms (running total approx 97.2) An unusual typographical day. Whilst the previous three days had total accents and descents in the 500/600 metre range (both ways), today’s was about 100m up and down. In other words we walked our 20 klms pretty-well dead flat all day. That was a real bonus in the circumstances. I can divide today’s narrative into three sections. Part one – exploring Moissac. The tourist highlight
pac
Jun 212 min read
Mind Games
Troisième jour - Friday 19th June, Lauzerte to Moissac - 29.8 klms (running total approx 76.4) There were many potential titles for today’s blog, but after an elapsed time of just under 10 hours on the road, of which Strava tells me that we were moving for 7 of them, I chose this one, for reasons which are probably clear enough. Before I go one, here's a link to show today's journey (and if one of my kind readers who does not use Strava can tell me whether the link actually w
pac
Jun 202 min read
Beauty and the Beast
Deuxième jour - Thursday 18th June - Lascabanes to Lauzette, 23.6 klms (running total approx 46.7) Beast is probably a bit harsh, even though the heat was rather beastly at times ... For reasons we can’t quite fathom, even though it was much the same distance as yesterday, today's journey took a good couple of hours longer in time, and that's with a bit of cheating 😀. As arranged Nathalie drove us back to Lascabanes around 8am and without much mucking around we hit the road.
pac
Jun 194 min read
Philosophy
Premier Jour - Cahors to Lascabanes, Wednesday 17th June 2026 - 23.1 klms Well, what a day. I think we’ve both done very well. But more of that later ... Before the day started, I had a plan as to what I was going to talk about today. But as regular readers of the blog will know, often – indeed usually – a theme emerges as I walk along. And today was no different. But before I get into today’s theme, let me briefly talk about that which I had planned to say. Today is a good
pac
Jun 184 min read
Fast & Slow
Monday, 15th June, somewhere in the southern French countryside. I'm writing this from on board a fast(ish) train from Paris to Cahors, where we will start our walk on the day after tomorrow. We're whizzing along at around 130 kph. We've passed bigger towns, pretty little villages - the one a moment ago had a Rapunzel-like castle, open fields with freshly rolled hay bales, little local roads wending their way through the trees, the occasional industrial site and lots of wind
pac
Jun 163 min read
Across the world
The ever-increasing, exorbitant cost of airfares generally combined with our somewhat extravagant preference to undertake long-haul flights at the pointy end of the plane meant that we had to make some concessions. The concession was that rather than fly either direct to France or even our normal Perth-Singapore kick-off on Qantas, we chose the somewhat convoluted route of Perth-Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok on Malaysian to pick up Finnair to Helsinki and then onto Paris. The Finnair
pac
Jun 154 min read
Au revoir l'Australie
I quite like being Australian (too bad if I didn't), although at times I don't like elements of modern Australia, which is another story for another day. It's good to be here and it's also good to leave occasionally. [As an aside, three years ago when we were walking the Via de la Plata I made an intentional and overt comment on a particular matter of Australian politics about which I was most bitterly disappointed; and was then fully bemused to have one of my readers post a
pac
Jun 83 min read
Never say never
Sub-title: there's only so many years left I don't think that it's equivocation to keep one’s options open. My justification – if indeed that’s what it is – is that one can’t be certain what’s around the corner. With a few fundamental exceptions, locking yourself into a closed position may not necessarily be all that smart. That’s not to say that I’ve haven’t actually done it a few times – the most notable being when, in 2010, after an incredibly special trip to the Himalaya
pac
Apr 243 min read
Clayton's Blog
The blog you’re having when you’re not having a blog. I don’t usually write a blog for our domestic travel. But then we don’t normally...
pac
Oct 12, 202526 min read
Reflections
May 2025 Warning: no photos here, just words ... I commenced drafting these thoughts just over a week ago at the end of my month-long...
pac
May 25, 202512 min read
Marvellous, Magical Mysore
Mysuru, Monday, 13th May We spent today exploring Mysuru, the local name I have preferred to use in my writings. That name can be seen...
pac
May 13, 20256 min read
Intense
Mysuru (previously Mysore), Sunday 11th May. Travelling in India is an intense experience. I can understand how some folk who’ve never...
pac
May 12, 20251 min read
Questions and Observations
Friday 9th May - Ooty (full name Udhagamandalam), South India I will start with a bit of social commentary, well, social observation...
pac
May 10, 20254 min read
Enigmatic India
Wednesday 7th May, Bengaluru, South India We’ve actually left Bengaluru after 4/2 days (4 days me/2 days J) of very gentle exploration of...
pac
May 8, 20253 min read
Highways, Byways and Lazy Days
Bengaluru, South India, Monday 5th May 2025 I start today's post with much happiness that I will see J this afternoon for the first time...
pac
May 5, 20254 min read
A Composite Tale
In times gone by I have attempted to write a daily blog - at the very least to do a catch up every other day. This journey has been very...
pac
May 5, 202510 min read
Exploring
Monday 21st April, Darjeeling, West Bengal Today was an explore day around Darjeeling. Structured in the morning, and free in the...
pac
Apr 21, 20252 min read
Expectations ... exceeded.
Sunday 20th April, Darjeeling, West Bengal, 2045 MASL It's taken me around 48 hours to get here. I took a somewhat circuitous route -...
pac
Apr 20, 20252 min read
Oooooh, only 2 weeks ...
In under 2 weeks I hop a bus to Perth, and then via a slightly convoluted route, a plane to Delhi, arriving into the Indira Gandhi...
pac
Apr 5, 20253 min read
In the footsteps of James
Some of you will know my fascination with my great grandfather, the Hon James Campbell MLA. At the time of his death in 1893 at age just...
pac
Feb 3, 20255 min read
Penultimate Ultimate II
Day 17 Revisited [Friday, 11 October 2024 - Cabrerets to Vers. ~10 klms, total ~334.3 klms., plus ~20klms by bus]. Update 19 October....
pac
Oct 19, 20246 min read
Yin-Yang
Day 20 - Monday, 14 October 2024 - Cahors to Paris As I commence writing this post I am aware of, and need to be explicit that, the...
pac
Oct 17, 20247 min read
Wanderin'
Day 19 - Sunday, 13 October 2024 - Cahors. ~8 klms Cahors exploration. Cahors is a city with an ancient history, pre-dating the Roman...
pac
Oct 14, 20242 min read
The End??
Day 18 - Saturday, 12 October 2024 - Vers to Cahors. ~16klms, total ~350.3.klms I have to say that, especially compared to the previous...
pac
Oct 13, 20243 min read
Penultimate Ultimate
Day 17 - Friday, 11 October 2024 - Cabrerets to Vers. ~10 klms, total ~334.3 klms., plus ~20klms by bus. There is way too much to tell...
pac
Oct 12, 20241 min read
Enchanted
Day 16 - Thursday, 10 October 2024 - Marcilhac-sur-Célé to Cabrerets. ~18.3 klms, total ~324.3 klms I could have called today’s post...
pac
Oct 11, 20241 min read
Spectacular
Day 15 - Wednesday, 9 October 2024 - Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie to Marcilhac-sur-Célé. Easy day, ~18 klms, total ~306 klms Mind you, those...
pac
Oct 11, 20242 min read
One
Day 14 - Tuesday, 8 October 2024 - Figeac to Espagnac-Sainte-Eulalie. ~23.6 klms; total ~288 klms. We have been walking the GR65 for...
pac
Oct 9, 20241 min read
And on the 13th day ...
... they rested Day 12 - Sunday, 6 October 2024 - Livinhac-le-Haut to Figeac. ~25 klms, total ~264.4, but really who knows? Day 13 -...
pac
Oct 8, 20243 min read
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