November Distance: 156km
November Floors: 203
Rating: Not bad given the circumstances
What a difference a hemisphere makes. I left Sydney with unsightly heat rashes around my ankles from walking in 38 degrees while wearing woollen socks and landed in UK where there was torrential rain to greet me and tops of 10 degrees. It was an unexpected trip to England and a difficult one with much time spent in hospital with my mum, but I was at least able to walk in weather that I’m likely to be finding next year when I’m Walking The Black Dog.
Walking the Monarch Way in The Cotswolds
My visit to England was a timely reminder of why I’d chosen to take on the walk in the first place. Yes, it’s important for me to be raising money for the two mental health charities. And certainly I know that the exercise in my life is vital to my physical well-being. But walking this month has reminded me of the time for mindfulness it enables, which is key to my own mental health. I remember when I was walking the Thames that all the podcasts and playlists I’d so carefully prepared, remained untouched. It was the silence I craved, the time to live in the moment, to focus on the river and its environs. To tune into the bird song and notice the ripples caused by surfacing fish. There’s something about walking in the countryside which makes this possible .. for the past few months as I’ve been walking in the city in Sydney, I’ve devoured podcasts, TED talks, playlists. My mind has been ‘busy’. I expect there’s some deep and meaningful conclusion to draw from this but all I know is that I feel so much more at peace walking in the countryside.
The walks I’ve been doing this month have been largely in the English Cotswolds with London and Kent thrown in for good measure.
The day coming to a close near Cold Aston
Walking mellow Mina in Kent
Christmas walking in Covent Garden
The trees had virtually shed their leaves and the days were the short ones I always associate with my birthday .. I’m a November baby. Many of the days were grey and lank. But .. call me weird if you want, I love these days just as much as I do sunshine. There’s something about the Englishness, something melancholic and something about the promise of reaching a warm, cosily-lit home at the end of the day that appeals to me. Keats’ poem, ‘To Autumn’ has always been one of my favourites, with its ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.
The welcoming Wheatsheaf at Northleach ..
.. where the wreath on the door has the shooting season greeting Christmas
The terrain has been very different on these November walks. I swapped busy roads for rough trails and tarmac for the edges of ploughed fields. It slowed me down but it was kinder to my feet. It gave me a chance to try out all my wet weather gear too, which had been languishing at the bottom of my rucksack in Sydney. I put in huge amounts of (very pleasurable) research looking at the brand I should buy and eventually decided upon Arcteryx. I was not disappointed with my choice, remaining snug and dry, no matter how much it rained upon me. One of my criterion had been that the material wouldn’t make a swishing sound as I moved in it. Again Arcteryx delivered.
My beautiful La Sportivas prevailing against the autumn mud
It was the shooting season in England and the lanes I walked were full of panicked pheasant and whirring partridges. Grey squirrels darted across my path, red kites swooped overhead enjoying the thermals and I was thrilled as well to see roe deer leap fences ahead of me. In the Baltic yet sunny days I laced my way back and forth across the Roman Fosse Way. I walked the picturesque streets of Cotswold villages and towns like Cold Aston, Bibury and Stow on the Wold, dipping into the warm and welcoming pubs, including my all time favourite, The Wheatsheaf at Northleach. http://theluckyonion.com/property/the-wheatsheaf/
Cold Aston in the Cotswolds
December will bring more hot and sweaty walking as I head back home. I’m hopeful that I can get my lovely boy to walk with me and head off to do some national park walking in New South Wales. I’m very aware that I’ve done little map-reading so far and given my propensity for getting lost even in airports and carparks, it’s a skill I need to work on. National parks will hopefully give me that opportunity. He’s got Kilimanjaro in his sights for January so it will also be good for both of us to climb lots of steps in preparation. I’m hoping to send him up with a Walking The Black Dog flag to wave at the summit!
Black Dog Tails
Maggie is a black lab guiding dog in New Jersey. She’s given Julianna sufficient independence to go to college. Read about Maggie, Luther, Louie and Jax on the same site when they graduated from guiding school in 2017.
Dear Jules,
good to hear about your constant progress. Allow me an old fashioned comment: you should make a book out of this blog later. Your beautiful, actually quite philosophical language and the photos are an inspiration even before you start. I know that many will follow the blog, but a book, for a late autumn afternoon in front of the fire place in Gamshof……Have you tried Salomon Speedcross 4 GTX and S/Lab Wings 8 (what a name for your cause!) as shoes? We are preferring those at the moment, but Arcteryx is definitely a great choice.
Lots of love
Axel
Thank you dear Axel, for such kind words .. and a very timely suggestion. I have had some interest shown in publishing the blog from a BCG alum! Must say it’s something that appeals greatly. I’m rather wedded to my La Sportiva boots but there’s a lot to be said for having a back up pair. And yes, to introduce a hint of labrador into my kit would be a lot of fun! So good to have your support, love Jules
What a lovely blog. A friend of mine is a curate in Northleach 🙂
Thank you, Helen .. hope we get to meet up next year on the LEJOG!
Jules, I’m so enjoying following you – am in total awe! Xx
Thank you so much, Woze! Can’t tell you how much I appreciate such wonderful support .. makes all the difference as I walk. Jx
Loving the updates and following your travels Jules! X
Thx Sarah. Hope you can join in some of the prep with me next Feb! Jxx
Dearest Jules
I had no idea of your walking plans for next year until I received your email the other day with your website link. I am both in awe of your project and also insanely jealous that I am unable to do anything on a par. Work and school aged children are my projects. I understand how you must have felt having completed the Thames Path. My Coast to Coast walk back in 1998 that I completed to raise funds after Andy died, for Melanoma Research, had the same impact. I walked with friends and family but the walking in itself was therapeutic and I remember clearly reaching Robin Hood’s Bay and crying silent tears, not out of the achievement or the loss of Andy, but because it meant I could not carry on walking!! The North Sea was my barrier. If only I could have carried on!! Walking is liberating in so many ways and I still think back fondly on those two weeks I spent covering some of the beautiful terrain of northern England.
Good luck and if you are allowing any company on any legs I would love to join you even for a day.
Suse x
Hi Suse, great hearing from you. Yep, walking is the panacea for so much and I’d forgotten that you’d done the beautiful Coast to Coast. Do please come along and join me on the walk .. I’ll email you the itinerary so that you can see what works best for you. Much love, Jx
Jules,
I will be following your walk with interest, as I am starting my Lejog in Mid April 2018. I am currently ramping up my training walks in Sydney national parks and finalising my gear & route. I have recently been introduced to STRAVA app which has been great in mapping my walks.
All the best, Andrew
Andrew, what a coincidence! I am in touch with a lovely Sydney couple who walked the End to End 16 years or so ago .. they had many words of precious advice. In fact you can read their story on http://www.ukendtoend.com. It’s called Walking the Length of Britain: A Journal. Should love to hear more about your plans .. will email you. My best, Jules
Hi Jules, we met at Netherton b&b on 2nd June. We were on our way to Orkney. We returned home yesterday and I spotted you walking on the verge I think just below Lybster, didn’t realise it was you until we were past and couldn’t stop. That was the worst weather of our holidays – foggy and wet! Obviously your son has left you again. I hope you are doing ok on your poorly feet.