Two friends from the US who met on a round-the-world cruise ship which has been docked in Belfast for the past three months have completed a 70-mile trek from Belfast to Londonderry, explaining that they wanted to “have an adventure while they waited”.
Kit Cassingham, who is originally from Colorado, and Dr Richard Namikas, from Florida, have been sharing an apartment in Belfast with their spouses since May when the ship was beset with delays.
Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey arrived at Queen’s Island in Belfast to be outfitted before it was scheduled to leave on May 30 for the first leg of a three-year cruise.
But the ship has still not left because of problems with its rudders and gearbox.
Kit, who is no stranger to long-distance walking, only decided last Wednesday that she would trek to Derry alongside Rick as a way to show how the cruise passengers “are not stranded, as most people expect”.
She has previously walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain twice (once from France which was 500 miles and once from Portugal which was 250 miles), and recently walked from Rome to Assisi by herself.
Kit and Rick set off on Friday hoping it would take five days to make it to the northwest.
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Arriving just one day later than planned, Kit said they decided to “take the scenic route” and took some much-needed time out to rest when needed.
The US woman said she and Rick feel “very accomplished” after completing their impressive feat.
“I trained to walk the Camino and walked on average 15 miles a day, but I didn’t train to do this, and we averaged about 10 miles a day which isn’t bad for people not trained,” she told Belfast Telegraph.
“I didn’t walk much yesterday (Wednesday) because I got so exhausted, but averaged the 10 miles today into Derry.”
Rick and Kit were met by a welcome party of six of their “shipmates” including Kit’s husband Randy and Rick’s wife.
“It was a great end to our wonderful trip to be welcomed like that,” she said.
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“Randy and I will now stay in Derry tonight and go home tomorrow, and hopefully the ship might set sail next week.”
She said that the walk was “wonderful” and “educational in so many ways”.
“We met so many people along the way and so many angels who stopped to ask us if we were OK or if we needed help or directions or anything,” she told this newspaper.
“The people here are so warm and welcoming and being able to see some of this beautiful countryside outside of Belfast was a real gift.”
Their first stop last Friday was at Nutt’s Corner before making it to Randalstown on Saturday.
They then stopped at Magherafelt, where they stayed for two nights on Sunday and Monday.
“We stayed at Laurel Villa in Magherafelt, which had links to Seamus Heaney, and the people running it were so lovely,” she said.
“We basically walked for our second day and they told us to call them when we couldn’t walk anymore and they picked us up and we stayed a second night, then the following morning they dropped us off where we stopped the previous night.”
Kit said Magherafelt was her favourite pit stop out of them all.
“I really liked it; it was a fun little village with little kids walking to school every day, a lot of interesting shops and some great restaurants,” she said.
“It was great to see places like this packed with lots of character, and we were so lucky with the weather as well.”
Rick and Kit then made their way to Dungiven on Tuesday before getting to the Belfray Country Inn just outside Derry on Wednesday where they had a much-needed rest in order to complete the 10-mile walk into Derry city on Thursday.
Prior to their walk, Kit said that she wanted to “change people’s perceptions” of the “ship people” and the dialogue surrounding them around being “stranded” in Northern Ireland.
“We wanted to show people that we aren’t stuck, we can go anywhere we want, and it’s been an adventure,” she said.
Watch: Passengers from stranded Odyssey ship embark on 70 mile walk from Belfast to Londonderry
Kit is set to celebrate her 70th birthday next month and hopes she will be enjoying it in the Caribbean with her husband Randy.
The couple sold their home in the US and most of their possessions — and even rehomed their cat — so they could live permanently on board the Villa Vie Residences’ Odyssey.
“We had been on a few cruises before to the Caribbean and even to Alaska and just loved the lifestyle; ship people are adventurers and the best thing about it is that you can travel the world and come home every night, you never have to unpack,” she explained.
“So, I’m hoping within the next month things will start moving and we will be on our way.”