Yes, I've fallen behind. Blame it on the wifi failure at Streatley YHA on Saturday. They suggested the pub wifi, and I did use that to tweet some photos but, I didn't think they'd want me stuck by the fireplace for hours while I thought up a witty blog post. (There's always a first time)
Abingdon to Streatley was set to be 20 miles or so. I made sure of the 'or so' by losing my position on the map near the end and failing to read the book sufficiently closely. Mind you, the local I asked for help told me I was on a different place on the map to where we were and that I was on the wrong side of the river. I dd my best to be very nice and grateful despite part of me being totally knackered and irritable.
The weather was lovely - the sun was out and the wind subsided. I spotted a red kite and it dropped down to take a drink af the edge of the river. I caught a very rough photo of it but who cares, they are magical to see and watch.
My feet have held up remarkably well, liberal lashings of vaseline all over my toes seems to have helped. Late on Friday (Day 5) I had a strange soreness developing on my right achilles tendon. I bought some ibuprofen gel and added that to my daily preparations but it wasn't good on Saturday morning. After a couple of hours I decided that I would take an early pit stop at the next lock and combine lunch with some emergency first aid (if that doesn't sound odd). I applied gel, a wound dressing to stop any rubbing, put on extra socks to lessen the movement of my foot in the shoe. I also had lunch which I'm proud to say was a large helping of malt loaf washed down with a bogoff diet pepsi! You can take only so much water and sandwiches. It was yummy and I finished off both the malt loaf and pepsi later in the day.
The lock I stopped at was actually unmanned which mean there were minimal facilities so I had to prop myself up against a noticeboard for my faffing about. It meant I got to chat to people though. One lady who wanted to check where we were (Days Lock) was the support crew for her husband who was canoeing from Lechlade to Southend to raise money for Sea Sanctuary, Falmouth. They worked with people who have mental health difficulties and take them out on boats, with counsellors to help address their problems. At first, I thought she said Seal Sanctuary. Oops. another couple I said hello to, and the man commented on my mascot, I bumped into later when they needed my map reading skills..... It's ok, I pointed them in the right direction.
Anyway, there was lots of scenery, and the YHA was up a very steep drive and I arrived 20 minutes before reception opened. Ever the prepared traveller, I changed my walking shoes for flip flops (thongs if you're reading this upside down), got some coffee sticks out of my bag and made myself a drink. I looked quite settled in by the time I registered. Dinner was a lovely thai green something or other curry followed by sticky toffee pud, all for only £8.50.
I had to go to the pub though. There they had beer and wifi whereas the YHA only had beer. Life is tough sometimes. And I didn't kill the perosn who was snoring in my dorm.
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