The longest day (so far...)

SUNDAY: Long walk to Streatley

We got up a bit earlier this morning. While we were having breakfast, a man walked past and we talked to him. He told us he'd started from Ogbourne St George today! He had walked further before we had breakfast than we had walked all of yesterday. He said he was going to walk to the Youth Hostel in Streatley.

7.34am: I had an extra lie-in while Dad packed the tent.



8:19am: The dent of the tent.

We started walking and Dad noticed something wrong with his boots. He looked inside and the footbed has crushed down as thin as paper. Once we started walking we came across a sign showing where we were.

9.10am: Do not trust the "You are here" grid reference - it's for a point several fields to the north!

At about 10-o'clock we arrived at the Court Hill Centre, which was a bit off the Ridgeway, but we didn't mind because it has a tea room! By this time, Dad's feet were both hurting a lot. When we were at home we planned that we would stop at Court Hill for the night but we didn't book because we didn't know how fast we'd end up walking. When it turned out we were doing very well on Friday we decided not to bother because we'd want to camp further on. But today Dad's boots were hurting so much we changed out minds. But they had no camping spaces left.

10.15am: Ready for cake!

The tea room wasn't supposed to open until 10.30, but the lady saw us waiting on the bench outside and said we could buy something straight away. We sat in the courtyard and there were loads of swallows swooping about. I had one piece of cake, one piece of flapjack, and a Pepsi Max. Dad had two pieces of cake and a pot of tea.

We talked a bit and came up with a plan. Dad phoned Aunty Sarah and asked her to meet us in Streatley (the next town) with some better insoles and also his spare boots. After a bit we remembered our conversation with the man who passed us at breakfast time, and we came up with a better plan: We asked Sarah to meet us at about 6.30pm on the outskirts of Streatley and give us a lift to the Youth Hostel. (That's where I am right now! But we had to walk a long way after Court Hill to get here!)

After leaving Court Hill, we saw a lady on a horse and then we saw a drone flying along the path. It passed right above us. Maybe we'll be on YouTube tomorrow!

12.24pm: I don't know if Spartacus has been found yet, but I thought I'd share this in case he hasn't.

We hardly saw anyone else for the rest of the day's walk. It was horribly horribly hot, and my feet started to ache. Dad said his feet were hurting more than ever.

12.34pm: Having another rest.

Because we knew we would be able to get water when we got here, we threw away all the water we were carrying except what we needed to drink for the walk to Streatley. Dad said that made his rucksack much lighter and helped a bit.

2.56pm: This tunnel was so lovely and cool!

4.40pm: Me waiting while Dad tried changing to a thinner pair of outer socks. (It didn't work. LOL)

4.52pm: It was hard to make a smile for the camera.

We got to the carpark outside Streatley at 6.35pm. Before we had even taken off our rucksacks, Sarah's car appeared. Good timing! We were very pleased to see them.

6.42pm: The Cavalry.

Sarah's car only takes two people, so she drove Dad to the Youth Hostel to check in and I waited with Uncle Kenny. She came back and got me and then she went back for Kenny. When I arrived here, Dad was already in the shower. I had a shower as soon as he had finished.

Afterwards we went to the pub on the corner and sat in the garden for a bit. It was lovely to have a proper chair, and the grass was lovely and soft so we sat there barefoot!

8.31pm: In the garden of The Bull, Streatley. Dad won't tell me why they all giggled at this sign.

We've just had our dinner (Mum sent us some extra goodies with the boots). It's really hot in this bedroom but there's a fan so it's not so bad. We haven't seen the Speedy Man from this morning yet. He's probably on Ivinghoe Beacon by now.

We're both using bottom bunks in case our feet are so bad in the morning that we can't get down a ladder.


Distance covered: 25.705km.