BLAST OFF (NEARLY)

17KG - DOES MY BUM LOOK BIG IN THIS?

THE NEW FORESTERS

THERE'S ALWAYS SOME POSER WHO HAS TO SHOW OFF

I have at last made my final selection of equipment to carry on the walk and revised my kit list to reflect this. The base weight of my rucksack is just under 15kg, but I have estimated a typical weight of just over 17kg with average water and food loads. Considering that I am carrying my heavier Hilleberg tent (the Terra Nova is 1kg less, but a bit cramped for 5 weeks), and I am taking over 1kg of kit for walking on snow and glaciers, and another 1kg worth of maps and route guides, I am reasonably pleased with the result.

The last week has been pretty frantic with preparations, but I did find the time to lead a 17 mile walk around the New Forest this past Saturday, which included visits to a WW2 bombing range, a trig point (useful as a posing plinth) and to Castle Piece, an iron-age hill fort. Exciting stuff. In spite of an early morning downpour, it was a gloriously sunny day enjoyed by everybody. One participant, Simone, had a birthday, so we celebrated the fact with an evening curry in Ringwood.

This will be the last blog entry written from my computer for a while. I will shortly be heading to Portsmouth with Chris, who is accompanying me for part of my journey – the bit where she doesn’t have to walk. We will arrive in Santander tomorrow afternoon and after spending a couple of nights there, take the coach to Irun, which is just south of the Spanish/French border. In Tuesday 17^th I will cross the border to Hendaye, from where the walk will commence, leaving Chris to stay another week before she heads home under her own steam. There are plenty of sandy beaches nearby so I am sure she will be happy.

STOP PRESS

I have just received a text from Brittany Ferries telling me that the sailing is delayed due to a technical fault. We now arrive in Santander at 01:00 Thursday morning. I have emailed the Hostel, but if they don’t let us in at that time then the tent might get used earlier than I thought. The adventure begins!