3rd training walk — 12. July 2015

The alarm goes off at 6am. It’s cold outside. The weather has cooled down remarkably in the last couple of days after last week’s heatwave.

I’m tired and feel like sleeping more, but know that I have to get up if we do the walk this morning. I don’t fancy myself trodding through the midday heat, so it’s now or never.

John is ready before me (again) and prepares a quick breakfast of fromage blanc with banana and maple syrup. I have come to appreciate the lightness of this meal and look forward to it every morning.

We quickly feed Charlie, Mini, Orly and Kity-Paws and are off. The plan this morning is to turn left and do our circle towards Pellegrue and back the other way. But Mini follows us and comes very close to the main road. So we turn back, grab her and put her in the shed, then decide to go through the vineyard, in case the cats come out the back of the shed and follow us along the road.

We don’t want for that to happen.

I struggle this morning. I have lower back pain and feel sluggish. I ate quite a bit of bread yesterday and am concerned that this has robbed me off my energy levels (bread isn’t exactly good nutrition and it’s my kryptonite., love crusty European bread and can’t seem to resist its lure). I really have to be more conscious of what I put into my mouth. The funny thing is, I do KNOW that I shouldn’t be eating bread and cheeses, but I do it anyway. Why? I have no idea. Maybe you know more about that, but resisting good food and wine has been a huge struggle for me for as long as I can remember and so my weight always fluctuates between carrying about 15kgs too much and being “just fine.”

Right now, I’m definitely carrying about 15kgs too much and I hope that walking the Camino will help me drop those suckers once and for all.

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The roads are quiet. We watch as two hot air balloons cross our path high up in the sky. This brings back memories for me. I once went hot air ballooning in the Australian outback. At the time we lived and worked in Coober Pedy and I was on a multi day break off work in Alice Springs. John was managing the hotel kitchen at work.

I had always dreamed about doing hot air ballooning one day. So I grabbed the opportunity to book a champagne breakfast balloon ride. It was all very exciting right from the start. I remember soaring high above red desert sands, magnificent eucalyptus trees and millions of birds that were waking up and greeting the day as we silently soared over them.

It was truly a magical experience. When you’re up there, you hear nothing but the wind and the birds. It feels as if the world below you has ceased to exist and you’re floating in a permanent state of peace and bliss.

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It’s 8.20am and we reach our “toilet house” rest stop, exactly one hour after leaving home. Exhausted I fall onto the floor, not keen on the idea of getting up again to walk on.

The “toilet house” isn’t exactly a toilet house — it just looks like one. I gather it must be a former storage place for the vineyard workers. The little house is totally dilapidated inside. The floors are rotten and the shutters have woodworm, but the structure seems OK. I can imagine it would make a very cute little holiday shack for someone — the only downside to it is that it’s right next to a road.

We eat our customary banana and drink some water. After a 10 minute stop we’re off again, heading home.

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9.27am I’m feeling drained and tired, but happy to be home. Today’s walk was a struggle for me. John is doing great, no complaints from him.

I’m ready for a cup of coffee that’s for sure. My back pain has eased a bit and my feet and legs are fine. I just feel exhausted, drained energetically. Not sure why, but I sense it must be due to my crappy diet yesterday. Let’s see how the next training walk goes.