40.5km 56606 steps. Ella walked about 13km
The alarm was set for 5:45 but Pete & I were both up at 5:30. Even so we were late getting on the road. Today I had my third and last interview with Jamie on Blenheim's More FM while driving to the start.
On Pete's suggestion tried Ibuprofren rather than Voltarin today for pain relief. It worked just as well. About half an hour into the walk Sara Griggs, the Marlborough Mighty Mix distributor stopped on her way south. There were roadworks at Grassmere and the traffic was in one way flow. 2 of the drivers waiting to get through had donations waiting when I reached their vehicles. Both had seen us on TV or in the paper.
Today had been shortened by 5km to give me a buffer to make time. The first 10km went pretty well. I made them in 2 hours in spite of having to stop to pad a blister on my left foot I hadn't noticed - another day another new blister. I took the first break at Blind River.
After the first break the traffic picked up. Lots of tooting an waving. Clearly the media coverage is working.
Seddon was very quiet and we only got 2 donations. I got through to the bottom of Dashwood Pass for my second break about 11:30. I took more Ibuprofrn but I still couldn't drive myself hard enough and lost most of my spare time on the climb to Weld Pass - 193m. A women going down the Dashwood side did a turn at the bottom and came back up to the top to give an donation. Another local, Peter met me at the top with a bag of dog food and a bar of chocolate. Then a firewood truck that I had been passing all day stopped and the driver had a yarn.
The road going down is narrow and with very few places to pull over. Pete and I agreed that an escort on the descent would just be an aggravation as people wouldn't be able to safely get past. The traffic coming down is slow and the nature of the road means you have to bee on the left side to be seen. I had the traffic at my back on the descent. The trucks you hear coming and can squeee against the fence. The cars fortunately all gave me a wide berth.
Pete returned from getting petrol about 1km past the bottom of Weld Pass and I took my final break. I had to make time for the rest of the trip. There was a truck carrying an old Stewart bus stopped just before Brancott Estate winery. The time spent looking at that meant I didn't have time for a toilet stop. By now I was in pain and stuggling to keep going. Three staff from Blenheim arrived about 3pm and walked the rest of the way. On the way I met Rosina who has been sending me bus photos for many years.
At Riverlands Hall I was met by 12 people and dogs who walked with me - Alana from mighty Mix with her spaniel pup and 11 members of Blenheim Dog Training Club. My old friend Olwen also was there too wish me luck. I had originally planned 35 minutes for the walk from here, then extended it to 45 minutes but it took an hour with all the stops to collect funds.
I had a shower and a short nap before a pot luck dinner with Blenheim branch staff. A nice opportunity to chat about a wide range of things. Ella and Rapid also got a chance to finally met Sally & Stephen's dog Rove. Up till now Rove and Rapid & Ella have been kept apart.
Unfortunately my feet are now constantly painful - even when resting so I am off to the doctor in the morning.
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