Day 41

Rain greeted us as my non Gortex shoes apologised to me. I like walking in the rain but usually at my choosing and not much of the day; everything is so fresh, flowers look newer, leaves look greener and scents seem more acute. While the rain did not stop, most of the morning was spent in rainforest type vegetation and gum and pine forests which were thick with anti rain material moving in and out of non tree areas

There are lots more walkers now as many join to walk the last 100kms. This doesn’t really affect our walking but it has a different feel to it and it means more can read my jacket. Whether rain or not, it has to be on for our last 20kms – tomorrow – when the media will be out in droves to greet me (joke), but there will be a lot of clicking of cameras. Nearing the town of O Pedrouzo we saw our two lovely American women friends. It was great to catch up and swap some ‘falling over stories’ before seeing our two Canadian friends who have been traveling at about our pace the whole journey. I said to him earlier he could have a copy of the rare deer photo I took, but he said, “thanks but I’ll get my own”, well, he got it

A sonnet

It’s great to have had your company

Your posts, your calls, your emails too

I’ll be sad to finish but I also see

Another journey starts with something new

It’s been an adventure, something different each day

The sights and the sounds, the scents and the tastes

The sun and the moon, the light and the grey

And with my best friend, no time to waste

Yet there is time to slow down and let it sink in

We did what we promised and now we’ll relax

For more than one night we’ll stay at the inn

And look for more light ‘cause there’s plenty of cracks

The blog will continue so we’ll stay in touch

It would be great if you did we love it so much

Last 20kms tomorrow!

Breakfast on the walk

Leaving a coffee break

Australian gum trees

Approaching a village

Water feature