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.

Gym and More Gym

I have nothing to say except that I hurt a lot!
My new training regime has kicked in and I am sore but happy.
Three gym sessions a week at The Recreation Centre, Blackwood. This involves Interval Training on the bike and stair running as well as weights and core work. I think I am getting stronger and fitter and I will have to put that to the test soon because I need to get out and walk before the daily temperatures gets back into the high 30's which is way too hot for me to walk any distance.

It has been reported that I woke up one morning recently and said, "I found these big lumps on my legs today, I have never noticed them before. OMG I think they might be muscles" So obviously, something is working. 

But I do have days when I can't face exercising! Do you  have days like this?

4 Ways to Keep Yourself Motivated

1. 1. Wear a pedometer. Bit by bit, increase your daily steps. Keep it up until you reach 10,000 steps a day.
2. 2. Keep a walking journal. Whether you journal online or with pen and paper, it's motivating to see your progress. 
3. 3. Get a walking partner. "A walking or gym buddy provides accountability. Neither wants to let the other person down."
4. 4. Sign up for a race or charity walk. An upcoming event gives you a goal to aim for, which may motivate you to stick with a program.

After not losing weight, well it's a bit hard when I keep experimenting with cake recipes - (check out www.postcardstofrance.blogspot.com.au if you want to read my other blog) I have decided to cut out a lot of carbs and to try and add more protein to my diet - thats hard when you are vegetarian.

Introducing soy and coconut milk smoothies with added vegan protein powder and a variety of fruit is a great source of protein. It helps to fill you up, and is useful after a gym work out or long walk. 

I am trying hard to get my weight to what I consider is me! I actually saw a book in the library today called "Think Yourself Thin" If only that worked for me : ) 

I have added the phone app Couch to 5k. Evidently if you follow the program to a tee it enables you to build up to be able to run 5 kms in a short amount of time. I might end up walking most of it but I am giving it a try tomorrow. My longest walk last week was 14kms. I hurt quite a lot after that but with some good stretching I pulled up quite well after it.

I am way behind my training schedule, but yesterday I bought goggles and a kick board, so it is off to the pool for some leg strengthening exercises next week. if you see a mildly crazy woman in the local pool, powering out laps with a wee blue kick board - get out of the way, I mean business!

Happy walking!

A Facelift for Your Feet

How much time and money do you spend on your feet? By that I am referring to pampering rather than how much you spend on shoes.

If you think about how much work our feet do, it is surprising how little attention we pay to them. Advice from my Podiatrist has been invaluable.  Here's a summary;

He believes that all walkers will at some time get an ingrowing toe nail, so keep your toe nails short and in good condition.

Wear breathable socks that have good padding, not too thick and not too thin.

Make sure you have good quality, well fitting shoes. Go to a reputable retailer and get them to fit your shoes properly for you.

Important to have days wearing different shoes to give your feet a rest and to change the pressure points.

Stretching after walking while you are still warm will prevent injuries - yes you need to stretch your feet as well as the rest of your body.

I also asked my Podiatrist to check out how I walk to make sure that my gait was not going to impact more on my knees and hips. We did this by using a treadmill and checking my heel strike and stance over a 10 minute period. He was good enough to pick up that my walking gait was only slightly off and after questioning has put this down to my back problems. However, there were no changes needed and agreed that my walk was not impacting on anything else.

So that's a few pointers worth thinking about before you start.

These are the shoes I bought for walking on and off road Brooks Adrenaline 14 and they are like walking on clouds. A definite good buy!

I have walked a fair distance in them and so far have had no issues. They are still feeling comfy when walking on rough trails or normal city footpaths. As you can see I haven't cleaned them since my last walk in the park 2 days ago! It was rather wet underfoot so I have waited for them to dry off before giving them a good brush.

Walking the Wet Lands at Banrock Station

Banrock Station is a big wine producer situated at Kingston - on -the - Murray, 3 hrs drive north east of Adelaide. It's property is bounded on one side by the River Murray and sweeps up on a low escarpment to the east. Possibly resulting from the erosion of the river in the distant past.

The eastern side of the river banks form a natural wetland area which in the past was flooded every year. The river weirs have reduced flooding and this has affected this natural environment.

*Since 1994, Banrock Station have been restoring this environment by removing domestic livestock, reducing natural wetting and drying cycles, removing feral animals and planting thousands of native plants.

The area houses a vast vineyard, cafe/wine tasting area, wetland centre and walking trails. The trails take you right through the area, with side hikes to bird hides and water holes. You can walk on the Boardwalk 4.5 kilometres or the Wetland Circuit walk of 8 kilometres.

We wanted to do the 8km walk so we could see the whole of the wetland area. We saw one brown snake on the boardwalk which did not seem to want to move out of our way, but after a bit of gentle persuasion with a big stick, moved into the water and swam off.

Along the route we spotted a few kangaroos, one which had a joey. The joey did not spend much time out of the mother's pouch after we walked towards them.

Overall it was a nice walk. Not a lot to see and it was getting quite hot by the time we got back to the Cafe. We walked 10 kms in total, saw 1 snake, lots of snake and lizard tracks and 6 kangaroos. There were a few black swan, cormorants and ducks but overall a bit disappointing. Maybe if we had walked in winter we would have seen more wild life.
Here are some photos I took along the walk.

We spent one night in Barmera and took a few photos from a lovely side of Lake Bonney, recommended by Jack Miller, a long time resident, photographer and tour guide.

* Taken from Banrock Station Pamphlet.

Whose Idea Was This Anyway?

I am not sure I am even qualified to be writing this. I am starting out - it's taken me 65 years to get here and I have no idea if I can do this.

It started with a mad rush to the head when I went walking to get a bit fitter and to find out how bad the arthritis was in my knees. I also have a back problem - lower discs pretty stuffed and I was spending a lot of time in physiotherapy  and feeling immensely fed up.

I was researching walking for fitness and I came upon this lovely website from the UK, written by a guy called George. (That was my dad's name. so I knew it would be good) It was filled with information about walking and everything you could possibly want to know about how to walk, where to walk, what to wear and what to carry.

So I emailed George and struck up a conversation about walking and I got quite enthusiastic. But the furthest I had ever walked in one go was about 3 - 4 kms and that seemed pretty exhausting .

Visiting Europe and UK in June/July, I found myself doing a lot of walking.  There were quite a few short hikes around Cumbria, Hadrian's Wall and of course a lot of mileage in and around London. There is so much to see and do and walking is the best way to see and do it.

Aira Force, Hadrian's Wall, Cows at Greater Strickland, Wass Water,
 Stone Circles, Castlerigg, Keswick, Cumbria

When I got back from UK, I overheard someone in my Pilates class talking about planning a long distance walk in the England and very quickly the seed was sown.

Initially I started to walk two or three times a week only 1 -2 kms just to get a little fitter. I added  Pilates classes twice a week, that really helped my back and I began to extend my walking distance. In August I clocked up 85 kilometres. The longest stretch being 8 kilometres and a lie down for a day after.

So here I am! It is October 2014 and I am planning to take a long distance walk in UK around September 2015 - There I have said it and it is out there. There is no changing my mind or not doing it!!!  All I need to do now is to get fitter and stronger while still protecting my back and knees and save some money.

This blog is a record of what I am doing to get fit enough to walk and highlights of the walk. I might post on a monthly basis or just when I feel I have achieved something worthwhile.  If there are any other crazy people of my age that get the idea that they would like to walk too,  this may be the motivational tool they need. You can all learn by mistakes too!

Please send me any hints and tips to keep me moving, nice things to make and eat on the trail and any other words of wisdom. A bit of encouragement will help too. Leave me a comment.