Go! Go! Go!

FRIDAY: Avebury to Ogbourne St George (and beyond)

Grandpa drove us to the start of the Ridgeway this morning. We left Grandma and Grandpa's house at 9.30am and arrived in Avebury at 10.30am. We went for a walk around the village and looked at the standing stones. Then we had an ice cream before heading back to the car. We drove around the corner to the start of the Ridgeway. Then we got our rucksacks on and smothered ourselves in sunblock, then it was time to go.

11.39am: Withnail is I.

11.37am: Dad being a chimp.

After saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa, we walked up a long hill. It wasn't steep so it was a nice easy start, but it was quite hot and sunny.



11.40am: We're off!

At about 12.50pm we reached a small road and there was a field with a sign that said Hackpen White Horse. We had planned to go and have a look at the horse, but we wanted to find somewhere shady to rest, so we carried on a little bit.



1.13pm: Nom!

About an hour later we reached Barbury Castle, which is an Iron Age hill fort.

1.46pm: Barbury Castle

We weren't sure we were crossing it in the right direction but it was okay in the end. On the other side of Barbury Castle there was a car park and a picnic area. We sat on a bench in the shade and had our lunch. Many people can't afford to buy enough food to live on. Please share this link to my sponsorship page so that more people have the chance to help raise money for Luton Foodbank.

2.16pm: Gimme nom!

We had expected to see a reconstruction of an Iron Age house but either it's been demolished or Dad was confused. #sayingnothing

After lunch we carried on walking...



 2.50pm: The Ridgeway is so metal!

 After a while we started walking down a hill and crossed a small bridge. Dad said there was s stream there last time he passed, but today it was totally dry.



4.01pm: Me in Southend. It's true!

We crossed a road and reached our first watering point. A kind person has put a tap on the front of their house with a sign saying "Drinking Water". We drank as much as we could, then filled our water bottles, then carried on up the hill. We had planned to camp just a few metres up the lane, but because it was still early we decided to press on.

We stopped and cooked out dinner by the side of the path. (It was pasta with chicken Cup-a-Soup for flavour and it was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted!)

6.19pm

6.20pm

While I finished my dinner, Dad went off to see if there was anywhere good to camp nearby, but there wasn't, so we walked on a bit more. I thought it might rain, so I put my rain cover on my rucksack.



8.07pm: The walking jellybean!

We eventually found a good spot among some small trees, and it was nearly dark by the time we got inside the tent. I'm pretty tired, but we walked a lot further than we planned.






Distance covered: 21.518km

Stand by, stand by...

THURSDAY: Luton to Wiltshire

Today I went on the train to Swindon. My grandma met us and drove us to her house. On the way we made a small detour and buried a package of food and water. We will collect these supplies the day after tomorrow, on our second day of walking.



9.42am: Luton station

10.08am: On a train to London.

12.13pm: Waiting room at Paddington station

12.45pm: Paddington waiting



12.49pm: The merits of Devon, painted on a Rhino. Go figure.

12.55pm: Watching the departures board

12.55pm: What I was watching



1.33pm: Second train - this one to Swindon

We had an amazing barbecue at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was probably our last "proper" meal for a week! We also went for a walk with Grandpa up the hill behind the house.

6.55pm: On a hill. First of many? Dad won't say.

6.56pm: I had no idea we were being followed.

6.57pm: This is not a simulation.

6.57pm: The goats are very friendly.

6.59pm: Grandma and Grandpa's village.

7.01pm: Me, a goat, my grandpa, and a big lump.

7.05pm: Cereology doesn't really do it for me.

7.22pm: A car painted like a narrowboat.

7.35pm: Gnomes. Okaaaay...
(Dad wishes to make it known that this is NoT his parents' house!)

Now to bed. Tomorrow it starts.

Training "walk" 5.5km, elevation gain 110m

Today we tried to break our time record for reaching the top of Warden Hill from home.
 

 

Last time we tried we did it in 1½ hours without rucksacks. Today we were carrying full loads and did it in 1 hour 10 minutes.

 

 

We won't be walking that fast in August. (Today we averaged 3mph, but we're planning for 1.8mph on the Ridgeway.) This is all about getting as fit as possible so that the big walk will be enjoyable. Well, that's what Dad keeps telling me.

It was quite windy at the top.

Got another sponsor!

Thank you so much Elaine Bateman, who was a student at The Open University at the same time as my mum and dad.

£728.76 is the new total! That's more than half way to my target! Thanks again to everyone who has sponsored me. If you possibly can, please share a link to my blog or my giving page.

Latest total

Thank you very much Barbara Joiner for kindly sponsoring my walk. The total is now £716.26 (incl. Gift Aid).

 



 

 

I think word is starting to spread because some of my recent sponsors aren't people I know. (I think Barbara might have read about me on Facebook.) This is great, as the more people who know, the more likely I'll get sponsors, which means more cash for Luton Foodbank's amazing work, which means fewer people going hungry.



12km training walk via Caddington

Today my little brother came with us. We walked 12km and it was quite hot. But not as hot as some of our other training walks. Still, we used loads of Factor 50 and drank plenty of water.

This is just after we started.

This is when we first left the streets of Luton and headed into the countryside.

I'm smiling because we'd just had a snack!

I was leading the way!

This time we brought a torch for the tunnel!

These woods were very boggy.

Ice-cream break in Caddington.

This dog's name is Snoopy and he's not a beagle. Is that even legal?

Running to catch up after a call of nature.

Third time I've stopped for a rest on this log. First time it's been daylight!

He didn't stop talking. Really. He didn't. Stop. Talking.

Us with a giant wooden squirrel.

Getting near home again, and looking forward to a rest.