Been There, Done That

It is well over a year since I completed the walk along the Thames Path in England, yet it seems it was only the other day that I was planning it.

So I want to give you an idea of what it was like, if it lived up to my expectations and would I recommend it to anyone else to do. The answer is a resounding YES!!!!

 My friend Steph, from Brisbane and I planned to take around 2 weeks to walk 294kms. Well it was a holiday and why would we rush it.

From the source of the Thames River at Kemble, Gloucestershire to the London barrages. As you can see from the photo 294 kms.

The walk was reasonably easy, not too many hills and mainly winding paths over meadows, cow paddocks and beautiful green countryside. Finding accommodation on the way was a our biggest nightmare and often we would need to stray 30 kms off the track to find a bed for the night. Overall we had a wonderful walk. Our biggest day was 25 kms and we were really pretty exhausted after that. We kept our days to around 10 -15 kms with a few days at 17 kms. Feet were fine, left knee was painful and the pack I carried (after a few adjustments with a pair of socks taped to the frame) worked well, although my clothing was limited.

 In parts, the Thames alternates between a trickle to a huge river in London, but mostly the river is pretty narrow with just enough room for barges to pass each other.  The barges are very colourful and some people actually live on their barges full time while for others it is just holiday fun. We have seen a variety of cats, dogs, plant pots and even beautiful gardens on the barges, but generally they are just brightly painted in an array of colours, often with funny names.

The Thames Path meanders along open fields, cow paddocks, woodlands, made tracks and paved areas in many big towns. Its is reasonable well signposted, although we did get off track a couple of times. 

The tracks are very uneven and as you can see, not very wide. Particularly horrid once it has been raining because they turn to mud. Add that to the cow dung and you can imagine how muddy our shoes became.

The corn fields were difficult to walk through. The paths were very narrow and because the corn was so high and we couldn't see around corners we had no idea how far they stretched.

Along the way there was evidence of something eating the corn. Some of the husks had been broken down and had been eaten. We were a bit apprehensive about turning the next corner,
wondering if we might come across goats, foxes
or other wild animals. But we only had one run in with a vole during the whole walk - and that sent us into hysterical laughter.

I must admit, when we were tired, hurting or hungry we managed to keep going by laughing a lot. Very therapeutic!

We finally made it to the London barrages and spent a few days after  celebrating our achievements.

This included 4 nights in Oxford, 4 nights in Winchester and a couple of extra days in London catching up with family, seeing shows and just plain hanging out. 

Winchester was foodie heaven - we ate at Rick Stein's Restaurant and Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstalls 'River Cottage Canteen'. And we joined the local pub to support the Australian Rugby Team playing England and yes Australia won!

What lessons did we learn?

1. Things cost a lot more than you expect

2. Always have your pack fitted to you before embarking on any long distance walking

3. Never walk past a pub without calling in for a coffee/beer/cider/toilet

4. You wont lose weight on the walk because you still eat a lot of food

5. Don't stop and talk to every person you see or you will never get anywhere

6. Don't over plan to avoid disappointment.


Here are some more photos of the walk. I will keep posting about our next adventures!

The Thames at Buscot

East End of London

Window designed by Pre-Raphelite artist Burne-Jones at St Mary's Church, Buscot

Melbourne in April - one week off; walking, recipe gathering, eating, shopping, exhibitions

2018 - Walking in Japan? Maybe - keep watching!

More About The Big Walk

Decisions have been made. The long walk is confirmed and it will be the Thames Path from Cirencester to London, a total of  over 300 kilometres. With a few days sightseeing along the way it will take around 20 days.

Stephanie, a friend from Brisbane and I will be taking this little stroll in September this year. We have already booked our first few nights accommodation, so it is really happening.

Here is a list I made a couple of weeks ago. Urgent things to do in preparation.

1. Get back on my 5:2 eating plan, I want to drop 6 kilos before September✓
2. Get my knee checked out - specialist appointment booked  ✓

2. Increase the lengths of my walks; 2 walks per week with at least one around 15 kilometres or more.

3. Keep reading the Thames Path information book to make sure I don't miss anything important ✓

4. Start walking with increased weight in back pack.

5. Experiment with ingredients to make some lowish calorie Muesli Bars.
6. Do a trial pack to check my back is big enough.✓


As you can see I am pretty good at procrastination

7.  Buy a bigger pack - mine isn't big enough.