Day 6 – Monday 26 July 2010

Liepaja to Cirava 39km; 8 hours 15 minutes Weather overcast

A big day, but it went well. I have just been to the local shop at Cirava to get water for tomorrow. A sign at the crossroads says 43km to Liepaja. My 39km is a guesstimate and it could be more, though I used some very minor roads to get here.
Ilgvars walked with me to the main Riga road. He had warned me about the reconstruction work going on, but there was little activity and I walked straight through. I had 10–15km on main roads, which is never pleasant as the verge is usually so narrow.
After the discussion last night, I had decided to go through Kapsēde and Bebe. However, the road to Talsi looked so inviting I decided to walk through Talsi and Dunalka. One reason was to make sure I had somewhere to buy more water.
The roads were mainly country lanes and the traffic was minimal off the main roads.The most surprising traffic was two young mums with prams who I saw on my way out of Dunalka. There were even rolling pastures and a couple of 20m hills to climb. Very similar walking to where I was a little further south in Kurzeme two years ago. I got into a good rhythm and virtually didn't stop till Dunalka where I got some supplies and had a picnic lunch.
My accommodation is not too bad – no stars but 4 lats, or about $A10, for the night. My instructions were to phone "Gunta" as I got near Cirava. After all my Latvian conversational practice last night with Velta and Ilgvars, I phoned her and we met at the building. The "hotel" is a few rooms at the right hand end of the building. The rest seems to be occupied as apartments. I have an en-suite with a curtain covering the doorway; apparently as the room was "built for invalids". I was given keys and told to lock myself in. I am on my own though a chauffeur from Riga might arrive late tonight to occupy the next-door room.
I spoke to Anita who has meetings today with Tango sin quinto and our friend, Ilga Reizniece. Anita has been advancing her Festival programme over the last few days by speaking to people here in Latvia whilst keeping in touch with the Committee in Melbourne. The Festival is run by volunteers from the local community, and there are more than a hundred who have offered to help.
Anita and I have had countless discussions over the last two years about the Festival, and as there is not much more to write about today's walking, I thought I might write a little about the Festival.
The Arts Festivals started in 1951 and were held every year in a different capital city until about six years ago when it was decided to hold the festival every second year, mainly because the host cities were reduced to Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne and the demands of hosting every six years were regarded as manageable.
Most Latvian migration to Australia followed the Second World War although in recent years there has been a steady flow of migrants, perhaps matching the number of Australian Latvians who returned to Latvia after independence in 1991.
The original post-war migrants were refugees and included children who fled with their parents or were born in the DP (displaced persons) camps, mainly in Germany, before Australia started accepting the "Balts" in about 1949.
Even the youngest migrant Latvian born say, in Germany in 1945, must now be 65. Those who migrated as adults are now in their mid–80s at least. The second generation were born in Australia in the 1950s to 70s. This is Anita's generation. The third generation includes Jāna and Lija. Their generation is very active and now in the "spare" year between Arts Festivals, the Australian Latvian youth organisation holds a Youth Festival, which is similar to the Arts Festival and usually throws up new ideas and is carried off with tremendous enthusiasm and professionalism. We attended the Youth Festival at the end of 2009 in Adelaide and planning is underway for the 2011 Youth Festival in Sydney. Jāna is the current head of the youth organisation.
Anita is certainly not the youngest person to organise the Festival; in fact, Anita's father Ziedonis was younger than Anita is now when he organised the Festival in 1971. But Anita is one of only 3 or 4 second generation Australian Latvians to have been given the job of organising the festival – Anita's good friend, Viktorija Macēna was the latest before her, in Sydney, in 2008.
The Festival at the end of the year will be the 53rd since 1951. It will be known as AL53KD – Australian Latvians’ 53rd C(K)ultural Days. Australia’s Latvians refer to the Festival as KDs and the Youth Festival as JDs.
These were only intended to be a few introductory remarks (principally for the non-Latvian readers of the blog to put into context Anita's guiding principles or fundamental ideas behind the Festival. There are basically four:
1. To ensure the longer term survival of the Festival (and the celebration of Latvian culture in Australia) by having the second generation accept responsibility as organisers of events and be participants in them.
2. To maximise the participation of Australian Latvians in the Festival, including all the generations, those who have moved away from the Latvian community or have had little contact in the past but wish to reconnect, the more recent arrivals from Latvia and finally, Australian friends of Latvians who wish to share the experience.
3. To centralise the Festival events, so far as possible, in the area around Latvian House in Elwood, to connect with the local community in the City of Port Philip and to make Latvian House a hub for social contact and other activity during the Festival.
4. Whilst not underrating the importance of dance, theatre and the visual arts, to recognise the special significance of singing as the cornerstone of Latvian culture by a major "Celebration of Song" event.
If I have time over the next few days, I will try to describe the Festival programme and how these four principles have guided the planning for the Festival by Anita and her committee.
But I must get some sleep. My host for tomorrow night has phoned to give me final directions. It is possible also that Anita might come down from Riga. So much to look forward to, apart from about 35km of pleasant Kurzeme country walking.

Day 5 – Sunday 25 July 2010

Jūrmalciems to Liepaja 25km; 5 hours 45 minutes Weather overcast and windy

I am in Liepaja, Latvia's third largest city, and the place where I finished my east to west crossing of Latvia two years ago. In fact, much of today's walk should simply have followed the last day's walk in 2008.

I needed to buy water at Bernāti but overshot the town. I had walked along the beach from Jūrmalciems. The forest covers the dunes right up to the beach and virtually all development is hidden. There are houses right along this part of the coast, but the only indications are tracks over the dunes onto the beach.
I left the beach past Bernāti but walked on to Pērkone (along the main road) where I had the series of phone calls with Juris which he has referred to in his comment. I spent an hour or so at the Kafējnīca at the Pērkone camping ground, not only buying water and eating pancakes but also trying to connect to the internet through their WiFi.

Finally, I gave up and walked on to Liepaja along the beach.
Normally, the beaches would have been packed but there was little sun all day and the wind was strong and cold. There were a few brave swimmers and a number of para-surfers. At Liepaja, they were packing up the facilities from the Baltic Beach Party – stages, fun fair, tents – all set up on the sand at about the same spot where I was interviewed for local and national television in 2008.
Liepaja is a port and my accommodation tonight is not far from the kanāls where the boats (including quite large ships) dock. I am staying with Ilgvars and Velta in their 150-year-old house which apparently was originally connected with the brewery over the road.

Ilgvars and Ziedonis (our Riga host) went to school together in Liepaja and in 2008 Velta and Ilgvars were in the welcoming party when I arrived. Photos and the television coverage of the arrival are on the blog at www.walkacrosslatvia2008.blogspot.com.
Last night was a special night because of the generosity of Juris and Eva. Mark said in his comment that he was pleased I was to be tenting last night. I was also looking forward to the experience. The tent was set up and looked good and although there was a huge storm last night, it would have been cosy. I was really very happy and comfortable inside.

Tonight, Velta and Ilgvars have been warm and welcoming. I am clean, my clothes are freshly washed (they needed it) and I have been very well fed and bedded down. I spent a couple of hours sending blog text and photos to Juris. I think the sole reason I have been unable to send e-mails to Juris was because I didn't log in first to my gmail account. Sorry to all for my lack of techno-competence.
Ilgvars and Velta have also advised me on the route to Cirava tomorrow. I chose the quieter route through Kapsēde and Bebe (about 38km) rather than the 40km option through Dunalka. I will leave early.
I had a number of phone calls with Anita today. I appreciate her comments on the blog (and Jāna's) which I didn't read till tonight. Jāna and Lija went off to the summer school today. Anita has been working on Festival issues with important meetings arranged for the next couple of days. The critical issue of the moment is the design of the thongs which will be sold as one of the souvenirs at the Festival – what should be printed on the thongs; should the colour be bright red or a darker red? I include a photo I took this afternoon in Liepaja which might help the Festival Committee with their deliberations.

Day 4 - Saturday 24 July 2010

Nida, Latvia to Jūrmalciems 39km; 10 hours 5 minutes Weather overcast, then sunny.

When I saw the sign 'Bike path - Jūrmalciems 16km', I thought I would make it here by 14:00. In fact, it was after 17:30 when I staggered in. My mistake was to keep following the walking track signs when I knew, from studying the map over breakfast, that the bike path went straight north to Jūrmalciems whereas the walking track swung east to go around Papes purvs (the Pape marshlands).


I kept referring to my compass and telling myself the path was travelling sort of north when in fact it was showing sort of east. My compass was also behaving erratically. I have heard it said that southern hemisphere compasses can't be used in the northern hemisphere. I don't know if this is just an urban myth.
Anyway, the real problem was the biting insects. The track was through close, damp, humid forest and had been maintained by mowing a 2m wide strip over a distance of 7 or 8km through the forest. Otherwise, the track would have been overgrown and effectively impassable. It is something I have wished Australian park authorities might do in some areas - but an 8km grassy pathway was something else.
So, there I was belting along to keep the biting insects at bay (which I was able to do because of the super highway. A brief stop to apply Bushman repellent was a great improvement but was not entirely effective. When I emerged from the forest nothing matched the map, so on I went for another couple of kilometres. Then I came to two signs – one a very comprehensive map with considerable additional information, though not the location of "you are here". There was also a directional sign, which by cross-referencing with other signs, seemed to indicate a viewing spot for European bison was 1.8km to the north.


A young couple drove up from that direction – they hadn't seen any bison, but they helped me orientate myself. I must go back the way I had come – at least 3 or 4km must be retraced. I lathered myself with Bushman, reported in to Anita who is getting a bit concerned for a number of reasons.
3km back (35 minutes on the watch), then NE for 1.5km (15mins), 1km N then another Km E to the beach. I did, however, see my first live Latvian snake. It was black and about 3-400cm long. I also disturbed a deer (a cute Bambi type), a couple of metres beside the track in a ditch.
6 or 7km to Jūrmalciems with further directions after I reached the settlement. My water was down to half a litre. When I reached Jūrmalciems, there was a telephone tower, a few boats tied up to the jetty or on the sand and a handful of bathers.
I walked up off the beach. A young couple from Riga told me there was probably a shop up the road about a km but may not be open. They very kindly gave me half a litre of water which enabled me to make it the further 2 to 3km up the beach where a green boat on the sand would indicate that I had arrived at my accommodation. But things were not as straightforward as that.
But this time it was a pleasant surprise. Accommodation was tight in this area and the host, Juris Jaunzems had only been able to offer me a blow-up mattress in a tent in the yard. Juris had apparently seen some of the media coverage of my previous walks, so according to Anita, I was to be upgraded to the house with use of all the facilities.
When I arrived, the accommodation appeared to be fully occupied and Juris was not there. Anita phoned Juris – he was in Ventspils. I was to stay in his house and he gave directions as to how I should get in. Juris had left a note in English. It starts: "Dear friend, Welcome to Jūrmalciems. Please feel free in this house and use all you see".
There are detailed directions for using the coffee machine – wasted on me. I have been drinking some of the bottled water I found. I am badly dehydrated.
I phoned Juris to thank him for his very kind generosity. It made my day. I went for a swim in the Baltic Sea and felt incredibly refreshed. I will keep going to Liepaja tomorrow – a mere 25km and all along the beach so I shouldn't lose my way.

Day 3 - Friday 23 July 2010

Klaipeda, Lithuania to Nida, Latvia. 49km; 10 hours 40 minutes
Weather warm with showers.

A marathon day. I knew it was coming but it was worse than I imagined.
There were a combination of factors – I have consistently underestimated distances, including today, Latvia’s Nida was a second choice because we could not book accommodation in Lithuania’s Sventoji (10km less), and it rained (bucketed down on 3 separate occasions).
There is not much I can do about the distances – they are what they are and I will have to walk them, and in as few days as possible because of the limited time available.
Finding accommodation has been difficult, though I have the tent at Jūrmalciems tomorrow night and hopefully more luxurious lodgings at Liepaja the next night.
The rain threatened from the start of the day. I left Klaipeda at 06:05, but the rain first came at about 13:30 or 14:00 so I couldn't have avoided it. Wet clothes are a nuisance, particularly wet boots. I have put my wet stuff in the bathroom next to the hot water service, so hopefully they might dry a bit.
Today's walking included bike paths, forest tracks, a main road, town streets, country lanes and along the beach. The first section of 20km or so to Palanga I did in one hit – mainly on bike paths.
There is a large influx of tourists into the few coastal towns in the 35km strip between Klaipeda and Sventoji and many people hire bikes and ride between the towns or to a particular beach. I saw only one rider with a helmet. The 2-metre wide bike path was a hazard when Jānis and I were walking side by side but easier today.
The weather started warm and humid, though overcast till about 09:00. I was walking along the beach towards Sventoji when the storm hit. It was preceded by about an hour of thunder and the sky clouded over. It quickly changed from a packed beach to an almost empty beach within about half an hour.
I moved back to the bike path and over the next hour as the storm continued I saw many bedraggled cyclists. I at least had a jacket though because of the humidity, the result without one would have been much the same. Sventoji was tacky – a carnival, souvenir stalls, inappropriate apartment blocks and little else except a newish church that looks like a skyscraper – weird. I should have been bothered to take a photo though Google probably has a million images of the church [Oh no it doesn’t! –Ed].
The last section of about 10km from Sventoji involved two storms. The weather cleared briefly as I arrived at the Latvian border. The Latvian and Lithuanian border posts appear to have been deserted, although two Latvian border guards were operating out of a van.
I want to commend the senior border guard (Mr M Zalitis) for his courtesy, thoroughness and good humour. He examined my passport and found that I had entered the EU on 11 July in Paris (and therefore had not needed a stamp when I arrived in Riga). He reminded me that I could only stay in Latvia for 90 days without a visa.
A very benign border control. I gave him my business card and he puzzled over my description as a "cross-country walker". He asked if he could assist me. I said, "Can you stop the rain?" Pointing up at the sky, he said, "I have done that".
My pleasure at being back in Latvia was short-lived, however. The land around here is very swampy and the insects were ferocious on the way in. Stopping is out of the question, and even fairly fast walking did not avoid the attackers. In one sense the rain was a relief as the mozzies and march flies disappeared. But so did any hope of remaining dry.
I also put the map in my pack. I went 400m past the turnoff before I realised I was going North and not South-West. Later, however, I had the map in hand when I walked about 300m past the turnoff to the accommodation. "Well sign-posted", Ziedonis had been told. In fact there is a large and attractive sign (Jūrmalnieki), as you actually enter the property.
I have been treated very well here – as I had been on the first two nights. Vida at Pervalka and Roland, last night, were very helpful. I must have looked pretty pathetic tonight when I arrived wet-through. Within 10 minutes, the saimniece (hostess) had a bowl of hot soup on the table – vegetables and mint (?) and a dob of sour cream.
Later, as I was eating my Hungarian Goulash and noodles (a dried-food bushwalking meal to which boiling water is added), Igor came in with a smoked fish which he insisted I must eat. It looked and tasted like trout and was superb.
Igor was appointed my interpreter when I arrived. Originally from the Ukraine, he has lived in Vilniius (capital of Lithuania) for the last 20 years. He studied English and French at university and has worked as a teacher. He invited me to stay at his house next year if I were to do the Eastern Baltics walk from Vilnius to Tallinn (capital of Estonia).
My hostess spoke to me in Russian, though when I was paying, she used her daughter-in-law as an interpreter. She said her mother-in-law's name was Lubovja (??) which apparently means "love" in Lithuanian. Hopefully Juris can clarify that [actually pa russki, in Russian].
Lubovja advised me about tomorrow's walking. The first stretch to Pape is 10km by the beach and 15km by road. The beach is about 100m away, just over a sand dune. Lubovja had not heard of tomorrow night's destination, Jūrmalciems. I will make enquiries at Pape, and hopefully the track near the beach shown as going through on the map will actually do so. Perhaps only 35km tomorrow and then about 25km the next day to reach Liepaja.

Day 2 - Thursday 22 July 2010

Pervalka, Lithuania to Klaipeda 43km; 9 hours 45 minutes Weather very hot

A great day's walking. Fortunately, we left early, at 06:45 and had shade for a few hours till the sun rose too high. It was hot from the start, but later in the day when we were exposed to the full force of the sun, Jānis and I were pleased that we were as far advanced as we thought we were.


In fact, I had miscalculated and we walked about 5km further than we anticipated. After I left Jānis at his hotel in town, I had a further 3 or 4 km to my hotel just north of Klaipeda where the Baltic Sea beaches start after the Curonian Spit.
I had arrived at the hotel (described as a B & B which is more accurate) disgustingly hot and sweaty. Roland, the host, welcomed me but left it to the chef, Regina, to settle me in, as her English was excellent. She assured me that I could certainly swim at the beach, and so it turned out.
The beach was packed. I left my few belongings and headed for the water. I took my sunglasses and hat and paddled around for some time. However, when I returned to the spot where I had left my things (next to the girl with a black bikini reading a book), a (fearsome-looking) family was in occupation and my shirt, sandals, mini towel and hotel key were gone. Fortunately, I didn't question anyone (a pointless exercise I thought). Anyway, as I started for home, I found my little pile 40m up the beach – next to another girl in a black bikini (though she was not reading a book).
Today we also experienced the beaches on the Curonian Spit. We followed the bike path most of the way to the ferry. The path ran either through the mainly forested middle spine of the Spit or ran along behind the dune which hides the Baltic Sea.
On a couple of occasions, where there was legal access, we went onto the beach and walked along the compacted sand near the water. Generally, access is not permitted on the dunes or beach, but opposite the five east-coast settlements (on the lagoon side), there are corresponding beaches on the west, sea shore.
I say beaches because, as became embarrassingly apparent, there are separate beaches for families, for women and, I think for men. We had to beat a hasty retreat when Jānis suddenly realised what the picture of a woman on a sign on the beach meant.
There was a slight breeze on the beach and the walking was softer on the feet. We both got bruised soles from pounding along the 30km or so of bitumen bike paths.
We walked for nearly four hours before we had our breakfast of black bread, cheese and tomato sandwiches and a banana. We had lunch on the ferry, at about 15:00 of, yes, black bread, cheese and tomato sandwiches. We each drank about 5 or 6 litres of fluids during our walking.
Tomorrow, I walk alone. It will be hard without someone to talk to – Jānis and I had many good conversations. He is off to the Baltic Beach Festival at Liepaja, which apparently attracts huge numbers to dance the weekend away.
Tomorrow, I plan to stay just over the Latvian border in the small (Latvian) settlement of Nida. It will probably be a long way again though I will try and set off even earlier.
Jānis heard by text from his mum, Linda that, thanks to Jāna, we made it onto the front page of one of the Australian published Latvian newspapers with a photo of us leaving the Mežaparks' house.
I heard briefly from Anita who has been at Jurmala (the seaside strip about 30km north-west of Riga) to meet our friend Anna and hear all the latest political news and to report on some potential litigation that successfully concluded in Melbourne only days before we left. When Anita phoned she was waiting to see if she could get into a play tonight.
I finally spoke with Juris today - I had been ringing his number with a * in front rather than a +. I sent him the start of these blogs in a series of text messages, but the balance will have to wait till tomorrow night, when hopefully I will be within range of the Latvian provider and will have an internet connection again. Photos might take a little longer until Jānis is back in Riga on Saturday.

Day 1 - Wednesday 21 July 2010

Nida, Lithuania to Pervalka 15km; 3 hours Weather hot

Jānis and I are underway. Although our walking distance was modest, we left Mežaparks at 05:15 and only stopped travelling at 16:30. We caught the first tram into the city. Our bus left from the bus station.
As departure time approached, we saw 2 deluxe express coaches. Jānis assumed that one of them must be for our inter-country trip and started telling me that they were equipped with wi-fi etc. Then our bus arrived – an old 15-seater mini-bus.
The trip to Klaipeda took 4 hours.
The driver drove as though he was after a PB (personal best). He overtook at every opportunity – or at least pulled out into the centre of the road to see if he could. He also had the disconcerting habit of changing up a gear as he drew level with the other vehicle; thus losing power and momentum.
I still managed some sleep. At Klaipeda, we changed buses and were soon on our way again. The bus had come from Vilnius and drove onto the ferry which took us over to the Curonian Spit. We made 3 stops (including here at Pervalka) before arriving at Nida at about 12:45.
We enquired about transport to the border 4 or 5km away, but there were no taxis and we were given mis-information about buses. So we shopped at the supermarket for lunch and ate overlooking the harbour and the lagoon.
We followed a paved, then bitumen, bike path to Pervalka. The path continues back to the ferry. Tomorrow will be a further 33km or so to Klaipeda.
We have experienced 3 of the 4 resort towns on the Lithuanian end of the Spit – Nida, Preila and Pervalka. Tomorrow, about halfway to Klaipeda is Juodkrante. The towns are all on the lagoon side and it is a 2km walk across the Spit to the beaches on the Baltic Sea.
The walking today has been either beside the lagoon or through the reforested areas in the centre of the Spit. Tomorrow's hike will include quite a lot of walking on the Baltic Sea side. The Spit is basically a long sand dune with a ridge line up to 60 metres high. The reforestation has been mainly with pine trees, though their height is limited to about 15-20 metres.
It is the views of the water, and the knowledge that over the ridge line is another expanse of water, which makes the landscape attractive. The modest proportions of the development in the resort towns and the appreciation of the sensitive environment is also commendable.
Jānis and I did a lot of talking. He is a 24 year-old Arts-Psychology, first-class honours Law graduate about to start work with a big Sydney law firm next year. Jānis unsuccessfully applied for internships, including as a commercial law researcher with the International Bar Association in London, so he now has even more time for travel in Latvia, Europe and perhaps South-East Asia on the way home.
Jānis is a strong walker and I certainty appreciate his company, particularly on the first couple of days of the walk. As I said as we left Nida "Only 360km to go".
I am sorry to have left Anita in Riga. This year, our household has devoted much of its energy to the Latvian Arts Festival to be held in Melbourne at the end of this year, between Christmas and New Year. Anita is the Festival Director and the job is almost all-consuming.
Today, Anita and Jāna met with Raimonds Melderis, the leader of the group Tango sin quinto who will play the music for the Song Concerts and at the New Year's Eve Ball. The group comprises four very talented musicians who play with the Latvian Symphony Orchestra.
Anita hopes to meet up with the other members of the group in the next couple of days and also with Ints Teterovskis. Ints is one of the two conductors coming from Latvia for the Festival – the other is Agita Ikauniece. Ints has been in China with his choir, apparently competing successfully in choir competitions. Both Ints and Agita are young, enthusiastic and engaging conductors and their appearances at the Festival promises to be one of the highlights.
Anita also met today with Daina Lasmane, personal secretary to the Festival Patron, Latvia's much-loved President from 1999-2007, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. Daina facilitated the arrangements concerning the appointment and the preparation of two video clips of Vaira encouraging people to attend and participate in the Festival. The video clips, in Latvian and English will be published on the Festival web-site when it is officially launched, I think, next week.
To finish off the family news from Latvia, Jāna and Lija are off to the European Latvian Summer School for two weeks from Sunday. This is Lija's third year as a student and Jāna's (and my fellow walker Jānis's) first as assistant instructors.

The final route

Everything has finally come together. Tomorrow the walking starts. I have a companion for the first 2 days - Jānis Dunnicliffe. Jānis is from Sydney and is a friend of my daughter, Jāna. He is in Latvia for a few months and expressed interest in coming with me along the Curonian Spit. Jāna was to also walk with us but has had to pull out. A pity as she has been a keen supporter of my Latvian walks and a frequent commentator on my blogs.

We must catch the tram at 5:48am tomorrow morning. We are booked on the 6:35am bus to Klaipeda in Lithuania where the ferry leaves for the Curonian Spit. Another hour or so in the bus will get us to Nida. We will have to walk a couple of kms to the Russian border to start our walk back. It is about 16.5kms back to Pervalka where we are booked in for the first night.

Ziedonis (and Gunta and Anita) have between them arranged 8 of my 10 nights accommodation. It was a hugely difficult task. It seems that the Lithuanian and Latvian seaside resorts are full of tourists. Ziedonis used a combination of Russian, Latvian and English (with a little Lithuanian) to secure a bed for the first 4 nights. My pack is packed and this blog entry is my last remaining task.

Jānis is not here yet (10:45pm). Perhaps he doesn't need much sleep. Juris has again agreed to manage the technical blog postings along the way. He did say that my Latvian sim card will work in Lithuania, though I am not sure how that will will work. Jānis and Jāna have just arrived. We will now catch the 5:28am tram, "just to be sure".

The plan (at the moment) is:

Day 1 - Wed 21 July - Nida to Pervalka (16.5kms) - staying at Villa Deva

Day 2 - Thu 22 July - Pervalka to Klaipeda (36kms) - staying at Molo Užeiga

Day 3 - Fri 23 July - Klaipeda to Nida, Latvia (32kms) - staying at Jūrmalnieki

Day 4 - Sat 24 July - Nida to Jurmalciems (31kms) - staying in a tent

Day 5 - Sun 25 July - Jurmalciems to Liepāja (28kms) - ??

Day 6 - Mon 26 July - Liepāja to Cirava (38kms) - staying at the arodvidusskolas dienesta viesnīca (student accommodation)

Day 7 - Tue 27 July - Cirava to Ivande (35kms) - staying in a private home

Day 8 - Wed 28 July - Ivande to Zlēkas (32kms) - staying at Vella Dzirnavas

Day 9 - Thu 29 July - Zlēkas to Blāzma (25kms) - staying at Ozoli

Day 10 - Fri 30 July - Blāzma to Dundaga (28kms) - ??

Day 11 - Sat 31 July - Dundaga to Kolka (34kms) - bus back to Rīga.

Anita, Lija and I went to Melluži last night to visit Anita's cousin Mārcis and his family. It was his wife, Nita's birthday. Their older son, Jānis, has walked with me for a day on each of the last 2 years (last year it was a massive 50kms from Zaube to Cēsis). He hopes to join me later in the trip. The walking on the last few days looks fairly tough and I will look forward to his company, if he can make it.