Karen's Damn Long Walk

We packed up and left our Summer House by 7.30am pleased not to be packing up our tents.

The day was varied with flat paths alongside a canal, a cafe stop, a walk across the worlds highest aqueduct, and  along more country roads underneath high limestone cliffs

We stopped fir a coffee at a cafe in  converted church. I ordered the scone with jam and cream, but I think I could match those scones, which is not saying much. However, a seat and a toilet are always appreciated when out on damn long walks.

We walked quite close to a working castle, but the trail didn’t take us there, much to my disappointment.

A car following us up a very steep narrow hill,  stopped to compliment me on my calf muscles. The driver got out and dropped his long pants to show me his calfs, saying I had put him to shame. It is not very often I get compliments on my legs, so I took it with pride.

The 3 young guys were camping up the top for the night. They invited us to camp with them and share their drinks and fire. Bugger, it was too early for us to stop, so we waved them on.

We had been meeting  up with groups of school kids from Liverpool doing their Duke of Edinburgh overnight hike. They were laden down with huge packs that had more stuff hanging off the backs of them. I do feel sorry for them knowing I am only carrying about half of what they are even though we have the same needs. I fixed up one poor girls pack as it was hanging to one side and flapping about.

We had planned to do the next 3 days over 4 days instead as they were all about 28-30km days. However, like yesterday we were only a couple of kms from the end before we found a good campsite.

We took a road route today rather than go off up and under the high cliffs, crossing scouring.  We both decided we had done enough of that on Te Araroa. We could hear the kids up there chatting away while we went up and down and around on a very narrow country lane.

This was where we had hoped to find a camping spot, but there was a 12km long organic farm that made it quite clear that we were not welcome. So we carried on across some wet moors and forest;  neither good for camping.

At 5pm we found a nice flat paddock and sat in the sun and cooked our dinner. We  had a visit from the farmer and he just gave us a friendly wave so put up our tents and  enjoyed the sun, being watched by some more funny looking sheep. We had walked 28 km that day, had some decent stops,  and taken 9 hours. I had a really good sleep.

After 3 nights inside we were planning on camping tonight. Our breakfast of croissants and pastries  fruit and yoghurt was left out in the bar for us. We couldn’t eat it all so we had lunch as well. $70 each for the room and a good breakfast was our cheapest so far.

Old Mary has been our most expensive at $120 but she gave us dinner, afternoon tea, breakfast, a cut lunch and a  tour along with pick up and drop off at the pub and years of history and gossip. Best value for money.

There was some distractions on the day but mostly it was farm walking which is quite hard underfoot and boring for us kiwis.

We wanted to be at camp by 2pm if possible but the day jist went on an on up hills, down dales, across paddocks with no flat areas at all.

We had both just about lost the will to live when we saw an old man in his garden so hobbled over to him. Two old Grannies desperately needed a spot to camp for the night.

Recognising our NZ accents and told us we had come to the right place. Two of his children live in New Zealand, so they visit regularly. Nearly everyone we meet has a child, or sister or nephew who lives in New Zealand.  Many have had holidays over there, some numerous times. We are so privileged to be New Zealanders. Many comment on how lovely our Jacinda was. 

So our accent, and absolutely shattered states gets us inside for a cup of tea and a chat with Richard and, yes, another Mary, as well as their visiting family.

They offer us their  Summer House to sleep in.

I could have kissed them all but I was far too smelly.

So we had a good end to a long hard day.

We left our Stone House in drizzle and spent the day feeling like strippers at a nightclub. Clothes on, clothes off all day.

This was my best outfit.

We walked along a canal which is always easy walking as it is flat

I found the house I want to live in. I would need a gardener and a handyman though.

We finished the reasonably easy day at another small village that did not offer up any free camping spots. The first pub had a cheap room and nice South African landlady. We climbed  3 flights of stairs and then found  out there was no internet so went across the road (and the boarder to England) to another pub.

Here, we met a rowdy group on a stag party pub crawl. The best man was from Christchurch, NZ and insisted on photis with us and the handsome groom to be. They thought we were amazing walking this far and wanted to buy us drinks.

I must be getting old and tired as I turned them down in favour of a hot shower and a lay on a bed.

We decided to take a detour through the Medieval  town of Montgomery on our way to Welshpool as rain was predicted for today, into the evening. We both like to camp, but putting up tents and taking them down in the rain is no fun.

We had a nice walk into yet another quaint Welsh village with another ruined castle on the hill above it. 

I don’t think there is any town in New Zealand that has the same kind of charm and character that these villages have. I just keep thinking that this is just like TV; as though I am walking through a movie set.

The walk was flat, and the farming mostly crops; wheat, maize, and barley.

I was pleased not to be walking through sheep shit.

I still get stunned by the beauty  of a village in the distance. Always rows of little stone cottages, a church or two with steeples calling to us as well as a ruined castle on the hill behind. The villages usually sprung up to service the castle.

It was beginning to rain so we made our way into a little cafe cum Post Office  with some difficulty because of the small doorway, tiny room and our large packs.  Molly did everything and as the 2 tables filled up we moved chairs and gear to let the next people fit in. There was an elderly couple on a road trip, another couple squashed in with their motor bike gear and  a couple of local men,  one with a dog that barked at me.  Molly was swamped, so the dog owner got up and helped carry coffees out with very trembling hands, so they only got  half a cup.

We saw our Monk across the street and gave him a call, so he squashed in as well. Now there are 9 people and a dog in an area the size of my kitchen.

The Monk received a free cup of coffee without even taking his bowl out, making me think about becoming a monk too.  The locals told us that our plan to walk to the bigger market town of Welshpool was not a good one.  Road too narrow and traffic too fast.

For about $3 we could take a bus.  Good idea, we thought and paud for the monk to join us.

While we waited for the bus we walked up another damn steep hill to have a look around another damn old pile of rocks. This castle was commenced around 1223 under the orders of Henry VIII because a Welsh prince was getting a bit stroppy. During the First English Civil War, it was the site of the largest battle in Wales on 17 September 1644; the walls were slighted after the Second English Civil War in 1649 to prevent the castle being used again.

I want to see a castle that is still being used. These old relics are magnificent and do make me marvel at the engineering and physical work that went into building them. I imagine what it would have been like living there. However, I’d rather see one for real.

Maybe I”ll give Queen Camilla a call and see if she has some spare time for a Kiwi visitor when I get back to London.

We had booked at The Stone House for the night in Welshpool This made me think that all the houses are stone houses in Wales so it was not  a very imaginative name.

The lovely gentleman greeted us and took us upstairs (of course) to a nice room with tea and coffee and a tiny bathroom.  A full cooked breakfast would be served downstairs in the morning at 7.30am. I could get used to a 3 course breakfast!! Better get camping again with porridge and coffee being the only things on the menu.

We showered and changed into our least worn clothes, then took everything else down to the laundrette for a proper wash and dry. Clean clothes do smell nice.

We did a food top up and found half-price salads for our dinner and half-price sandwiches for tomorrow’s lunch. A bottle of cider and a bag of chips were enjoyed while I caught up on Coronation Street. That program seems very real as I spend my days walking along cobbled streets lined with 2 story brick houses.

Supposedly the hardest day, and yes, it was hard but totally ok.

Our notes said it was a day of switchbacks, which to us  meant a path that winds back and forth across and up a hill.  However, a Wlesh swithback means staight up then down the other side of a steep hill. There were quite a few that I followed Kay up that day.

The rain came in about 1ish as we expected but it was only light. However, the wind was strong.  We wore our black raincoats and rain  pants  with  orange plastic ponchos over top, we looked like a couple going to a fancy dress party as mandarims.

Not fancying tenting after a bug day we had booked into a Bnb right on the trail. We were  treated like royalty for £48.50  ( Mary was £60).

Newpaper to stuff our wet shoes, a heater to hang our wet weather gear over, hot drinks in front of a fire, shower with nice smelling soaps and shampoo.

There was a hot water cupboard to dry our clothes. We also had a decanter of sherry in our room and a good variety of hot drinks.  Our breakfast was superb, 3 courses.

I took the dinner option of salmon, veges and salad.  It was fine dining.

There is obviously a huge amount of competition in the bnb market as they all really try hard to impress waiting on us hand and foot.  Neither Jay nor I really need so much fuss but this us what one gets here. No complaints.

About 26km mostly over rolling farmland crossing narrow country lanes.

We started the day in England for the first time for a while. A coffee was only £1.90 compared to £4.50 in Wales. The day ended in Wales.

The last few kms in the day were hard as we tired but I am now  feeling much fitter and happier.

We rush up very steep streets, which is not fair after a long day, to get to the Offas Dyke  Information Centre before 5 to find it rarely opens and when it does it is from 10-4. Stupid times as that is when walkers are out walking.

We did a bit of food  shopping, followed by a Kebab dinner,  then we put up our tents in a field of sheep on the trail just out of town.

Lots of people oit walking their dogs, passed us with friendly smiles. It seems everyone has a dog, and they take them everywhere they go. They are allowed in the  shops, pubs, and restaurants, boats  bikes, and rarely do we see anyone out without a dog on tow.

Admittedly, they are mostly small, well-behaved doggies. We see few children or signs of them.

Our camp spot

Another good days wslking. We found two churches that were open and welcomed weary walkers. Kettles for hot drinks and biscuits and chocolaye bard were on offer along with a comfy pew and a few quiet words with God.

On trail today we met Bob from Perth and the Monk again and saw our first mole, albiet it dead one. They are smaller than I imagined.

It was another nice 26km  walk  to Kington without getting lost too much.

We had planned on sleeping at the old race course just before the town of Kington. I had slept in the Hokitika Racecourse but Kay hadn’t had such an  experience  yet however  as the last race was in about 1885, there was nothing left to see, let alone shelter under. No doubt the locals had pilferred all the stones there too.

So we carried on into town planning on a church yard or the sports grounds for our camp spot. We found out later that the Monk had a good camp spot at the sports grounds.

The church came first and was more than adequate.   We slept in a church grounds along side their compost bins Another St Marys.  We were near a tap and were able to catch the last of the sun for the day as we  cooked our noodle dinners. I had some minestone soup  mixed into mine tonighy for a nice change. We carried a bench seat over to sit and enjoy the evening before our 7.30 bedtime. 9 hours of walking means we are ready by then.

A few dog walkers came by after we retired and as we packed up in the morning. They were quite accepting of us being there.

Mary managed to drop us back at the trail without hitting anything and without giving either of us a heart attack. She had fed us a “full English breakfast” and given us ingredientd to make a sandwich for our lunch. We both passed on the ham as it was a bit slimey anf had an October use by date. Even I don’t push iy that far!

We walked across the Black Mountains on a well defined path and as we now expect, past a ruined castle. I had been wondering where all the stonedms go that fall from the castle as it decays.

Apparently the people in the surrounding villages pilfer them to build their houses and barns etc. Good recycling there.

England was to out right and Wales to our left.

We had a couple of stops as it was quite a climb up, then along these moutains.

At our second stop,  Kay had just taken her shoes off to air her feet when the clouds opened and it began hailing. I took off at as much speed as a Granny can do with a pack on her back, to get out from under thst cloud.  Kay caught up shortley,  a bit worse for the wear.

There were many wild horses up there, all goid and healthy looking. They also had good bowel habits and today I learnt from Kay that  horses prefer to shit in the same place if they can. Hence they keep their grazing and resting areas clean. So there were large piles of less frequent droppings to walk  around than we were used to. Sheep and cattle just shit anywhere and  everywhere.

We met a physio from my home town Palmerston North today. We also met up again with a young Monk who we had come across a few times. He is walking the length of UK visiting monastries on the way.  We could tell he wanted to keep our company but we were too slow for him.

At about 4pm we hobbled into Hay-on-Wye after a 26km day.  This is the world’s first booktown, with an annual bookfair  which we missed, and 22 bookshops which we also chose to walk straight past. We had full packs and no additional energy to carry books. 

Our home for the night was built in 1623, originally  owned by a lawyers family. We had to watch our heads as the ceilings and doors were very low.

The landlady also ran the  bookshop that was downstairs. Her family are rich landowners and she was born, one of 9 childten, in their Castle. Servants, nannies, gardeners, the lot. I could have listened to her stories all day. Her name was Mary too. We also notice that most churches are St Marys as well.  They don’t seem to have a lot of imagination when it comes to names.

We did a bit of resupply and met up with more walkers for breakfast the next morning. An interestinh bunch including Bob, originally from Wales but has been living in Perth for 30 years. He has 2 sons who are in the New Zealand Royal ballet. I put my foot in by saying, with astomishment, “They obviously are not built like you.” Luckily he had a sense of humour as we met him on trail the next day. He was doing half our days and getting taxis back to his lodgings.  He was very impressed by Kay and I.

I enjoyed that days walk, my fitness is coming back so I am happy.

I started the day in a positive mood; positive that I did not want to back track at all.

So off we went following the  marked path until we lost it. Using one of my apps we found it again but came to a sign telling us there was a diversion which meant I was grumpy with myself again. I had seen that on the website the day before but was too tired to study it.

We followed that trail and ended up back at the gate to the bloody castle again. F##k me days!!  There,  right in front of us was a notice with details of the diversion.

A bridge was out of action. We contemplated just taking the official route and risking a river crossing. We hadn’t seen any water courses here that looked uncrossable and we were both Te Araroa veterans who had crossed many proper rivers in New Zealand.

But best keep to the rules so off we went again, me cursing and swearing. The day was a shit show already.

Pandy was the next village on the trail so we decided that it would be a good idea to stop there and give me a short day and time to rest up. I am sure Kay was hoping for a major chsnge in my attitude

We arrived to find that the bnbs and pubs were full  and jyst to add insult to injry   I had a message saying I had used my months data already, a polar blast had arrived and I couln’t get the phone app working to top up.

We were given the number for Mary who would take us in for the night so I rang her. She sounded very old and doddery but she said she would be there to pick us up in 1o minutes that ended up about 30 minutes. I made Kay sit in the front with her as I did not feel like being polite.

Mary is 87 years old and tells us thst she has a new car and had taken a while to work out how to use the key and start the car. She has little sticky labels on the dash saying petrol,  speed, lights, indicators. The console is also marker with go, reverse,  hand brake etc. This is her first automatic car so she has a lot to learn.

The drive along the very narrow  winding lanes to her house was a bit hairy, to say the least. Having lived her whole life in only two houses she gave us a running history of every cottage we passed, pointing out things, hands off the steering wheel and seemingly taken no notice  of the road as she sped along. She talked at 100 miles an hour so we knew all about her 87 years of life by the time we reached her cottage.

I sat in the back laughing away and lost my bad mood completely.

Mary had a birthday recently and has all of her 57 birthday cards on display. We were given a running commentary of who they were from and how she knew them. The Post Office would need extra staff in May to cope with it all.

Having worked on the manual Telephone Exchange for 37 years she knew everyones business including Priness Anne’s conversation with a local landowner. Kay, being a bit a royalist, was able to name the man, which really impressed Mary.

We had tea from a pot, 3 pieces of velvet cake, a shower (do not flood it like some naughty man did 10 years ago), and Mary made sure we knew how to pull the curtaims so that they faded evenly, then it was time for a tour of her expansive gardens.

Mary still looks after them herself having made them from scratch 27 years ago, so we were introduced to nearly each plant separately. Thank goodness Kay knows about plants!

Mary prepared a salad dinner for us which was appreciated after a few days of instant noodles, porridge and cheese and crackers.

Then we went on another hair raising drive out to the Llanthony Priory. That was a place for monks to learn their stuff way back from the 12th Century until Henry 8th closed it down. Now it is another set of ruins with accomodation, a pub and a church. Mary knew every rock and person in the little pub.

We were then dropoed at the Skirrid Inn, the oldest pub in Wales. It also served as the court and the unlucky ones were hung under the stair case.

Everyone in there knew Mary or was related to her. We had a fun couple of drinks before ringing Mary to pick us up at 9pm.

That is a very late night fof hikers but wr still had to have supper and more cake before bed. We were exhausted from all of Mary’s constant chatter.