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Walking the dykes of Flevoland (Part II)

To be honest, I’m not much of a follower. I’m more the type for the leading part. But this song keeps me going on the crosstrainer in the gym. Yes, it’s the machine I hate most, but I know it brings me a lot of strength in my legs and arms. And it’s that strength that I need to fulfill my challenge, walking the dykes of Flevoland. Besides that,it burns a lot of calories. Not utterly unimportant!

As I said, I’m not a follower;for most of what I’m doing, I take a leading part. I took the lead in organizing this challenge and invited all my friends to join me. I invited Peakers and non-Peakers, making this a challenge not only for me but for everybody walking with me. The moment the idea of this challenge came to my mind it never occured to me that their would be Peakers who got so inspired and excited that they got beyond their own limits just because they wanted to walk with me on this challenge, it made me so proud! Cross your boundaries, walk a distance you’ve never walked before and feel the satisfaction in the end. And if it was hard, and we had to encourage somebody to go because giving up and giving in is not an option,there was always the song about the elephants.

Strangers are strangers until they meet. Inviting everybody to walk with me made strangers become friends in the end. Wether I was walking with a small group, or even sometimes with one other person, there were always conversations. Beautiful conversations about almost every subject you can imagine. In the Netherlands we have a tv show called The Walk. The host of the program goes on a walk with familiar and less familiar persons, and during the walk a conversation starts. Walking the dykes of Flevoland makes me feel a little bit like the host of this programm.

Every walk I got the chance to talk to different people, trying to get to know them better. My admiration for them grew. They told me things that were new, surprising, astonishing, sad,happy, and lovely to me. I was surprised by one Peaker who started her career as a train driver, even drove trains in Belgium and France. We talked about how it affects you when people jump in front of your train, how awful it is, and on the other hand you follow protocol in such a moment.

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Astonishing how quick you have deep conversations with Peakers you only met once or twice before. That’s only possible when people feel safe. But we also talked about books,movies, our work, and wishes. You see I have this secret wish. One I have never told anyone until I told another Peaker while walking together. It is inspired by the song Dear Mr.President by Pink.You see I have this wish to walk with our Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. I find this man intriguing. Who’s the man behind the Prime Minister? Well it will remain a wish, for I know this one will never come true.

The Knardijk

There was one Sunday I did not walk with a Peaker but with one of my best friends. It was only halfway through my challenge that I decided that I should walk this dyke too. You see this dyke once divided Flevoland into Eastern and Southern Flevoland. Eastern Flevoland was the first part of the polder that was drained. The dykes around southern Flevoland were build between 1950-1956 but it last until 1959 before they drained this part of Flevoland. The money for it was provided by the Marshall Plan, it took until1967 before it was finished. It was at that moment that the Knardijk lost its primary role as a flood defence. So that’s why I decided this dyke should be a part of my challenge too.

I walked this dyke together with a very dear friend of mine who I met when our daughters started primaryschool.  Although it seems it was only yesterday, it is in fact almost 17 years later. We have remained friends ever since.

Large parts of this dyke are off limits for cars, partly because the dyke is cut by two drainage channels. On both points penstocks have been build. Should it ever come this far that the dyke breaks, eastern and southern Flevoland can be drained separately. The other thing that’s revealed by the Knardijk is the age between the two parts. Where as eastern Flevoland was developed for agriculture, several small and greater population centres, in southern Flevoland, trendy politics about land development, played a large part.In southern Flevoland they left more room for nature and recreation, and only a few large population centres (Almere, Zeewolde).

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All great things must end

And then, all of a sudden it’s December and my challenge is done! In about 9 weeks I walked 190km (118 miles)around the region I grew up in. I thought I knew my backyard but every time, on each leg, I was surprised by the sights, the nature and all the windmills. I knew we had a lot of them but not that there were that many. And walking past them you could here the sound of the blades.To my opinion they fit very well in the landscape of Flevoland. We were once called The New Land and in this respect I don’t find the mills strange objects. Everything in the landscape is straight and constructed, and we have hardly any history. No ancient buildings or woods. Most of the roads are straight and even our woods are created.

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Walking through Flevoland you sometimes find two signs in the landscape. One with a plane and the other with a ship. The signs mark places were they found the remains of a ship or a plane from the period before Flevoland got drained. In my village Dronten, the propeller of a plane from the Second World War represents the memorial monument for the victims of that war.

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I want to thank all of you who walked with me. I feel so proud and satisfied, but the greatest surprise came on my last leg when approximately 5km (3 miles) before the finish, a car stopped and my sister got out to walk the last miles with me.

I started the first part of this story with the words “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking,” and I can assure you it is true, for I have already been thinking about my challenge for next year. Keep following me on facebook, instagram and twitter and I will soon let you know what I am going to do.

                                                   All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking…

This story is dedicated to my sister. She’s a seasoned walker. She walks very large distances with my brother, and she was planning on walking with me. Unfortunately at the moment I started this challenge she got meningitis. Every day it’s getting a little better but she has a long way ahead of her. I miss you sis!

I don’t know if it is a great thought, but it has been in my head for quite some time. It was even there before me and my love went to Scotland to walk the West Highland Way.
Next year ( october 2019) I will be living in Flevoland for 50 years. How do you celebrate living for such a long time in the same region, in the same place? Do you even celebrate this or do I have to feel sorry for myself that I didn’t have the courage to leave this region and go on living somewhere else?
There was a time I thought I was going abroad. Just after graduating as a teacher, I applied for a job abroad but I was never hired; at the same time I was offered a job here in the Netherlands. Once I started to work I met my love and things happen the way they do. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t regret the things I’ve done and how my life ended up. The only thing I regret is that I never did a minor or a part of my study abroad, but that’s a different story.
As I said this truly great thought has been on my mind for quite some time and now suddenly things are starting to snowball. First I had to know if my idea was possible. I downloaded a map to see if it could be done, and as far as I could see, it could be done! And so the first step of my last challenge for this year was born: walking the dykes of Flevoland. I have lived my entire life in this region that lies 13 feet below sea level and is fully surrounded by dykes. There are 155 miles of dykes in Flevoland and if you count only the dykes that surround us, we are talking about approximately 100 miles.

Why walk the dykes of Flevoland? Honestly? I’m not quite sure. I have lived within the surroundings of these dykes all my life. Maybe it’s a metaphor. If I walk the borders of my region I feel like I embrace my past, my present and my future. Flevoland lies in the centre of the Netherlands and, if you look at it on the map, it’s the heart of my country. There’s even a dyke that cuts Flevoland in two halves, two rooms, just like a heart.

The dykes are supposed to keep the water out so that we can live safely on the inside. Water can be dangerous. It has a lot of power and strength, but is also needed to let new things grow.
This symbolizes another reason why I want to do this. At the end of last year I challenged myself to walk all twelve regions of my country. I showed a dynamic start in January but as the weeks past by I realized perhaps I was setting the bar a little too high. I hate unfinished business and maybe this walking the dykes is meant to be some sort of compensation. And of course there is the challenge. The challenge of doing something that hasn’t been done before. Like the water that surrounds us, this challenge will certainly help me grow.

Second, I had to share my idea with my Dutch Peaker sisters. You see the whole idea was that those who like walking just as much as I do, would accompany me on my legs. I don’t know what I expected, but certainly not the enthousiasm with which they embraced the idea. I thought nobody would be interested in this idea, so my first walk came too soon to have another Peaker walking with me. From the second leg, however, there were enough Peakers who wanted to join me. The only condition to walk with me was a small donation to Bloodwise; and so a challenge was born.

I am starting my challenge halfway through October, and it should be autumn by now. It is autumn but the weather is not autumn-like. It’s a sunny day and pretty soon I take off my coat and walk in a t-shirt specially designed for walking the dykes of Flevoland. Awesome!

I like walking all by myself. I don’t have to take into account other people. I don’t have to have pleasant conversations and if I stop, I stop. It gives me time to clear my head. Inviting other Peakers to walk with me is also a challenge! Today I have only the company of Wendy, the retired seeing-eye dog who is of my neighbours. As I said the weather is extraordinary for this time of the year. It could have easily been very windy and chilly. Nature is confused this year, because we also had a long and warm, even hot summer.If you’re living in a polder and surrounded by dykes, the only way in and out of it is by bridge. Seven bridges to be precisely. As a child I had to cycle to another village outside the region to go to school, and we always used the draw bridge as an excuse for being late again. Sorry, we had to wait for the bridge to come down…. And look here, even today, due to the beautiful weather, the two bridges I pass are up to let the ships pass. This time I don’t have to cross them.

On the first two legs of my hike, I pass enough restaurants along the beaches to use the toilet, drink a nice cup of coffee and have a lunch. I don’t know what I will find after the first two legs, so I enjoy it while I can. It’s nice sitting out on the terrace, looking over the water. There are still a lot of ships sailing by.

I read somewhere that if you really wanted to feel the autumn you have to go outside and take a walk. The autumn air is different from other seasons (well I don’t know but this autumn looks more like summer…). It’s the season in which the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. It’s important to catch as much daylight as possible to prevent you from getting depressed. You need UV radiation to make vitamin D, which is necesary to rebuild your natural defenses and make your bones and muscles strong. And although it’s such a beautiful weather you can see autumn is on it’s way. Nature is changing. Leaves get their nice warm colours, and on the path I’m walking I can feel the nuts from the trees crack under my shoes. Yes it’s that time of the season!

And so the first hike of my final challenge of this year is a completed. I conceived it while walking. I know that the other seven legs will be as nice as the first one. There are a lot of Dutch Peakers who will guide me in the next walks. I’m looking forward to it.

Well there’s a river that runs through Glasgow
And makes her but it breaks her and takes her into the parks
And her current just like my blood flows
Down from the hills, round aching bones to my restless heart

Feather on the Clyde – Passenger

 

It’s been a year ago since I wrote my blog, “A Dutch Peaker in Glasgow.” I went there to attend the Scottish Learning Festival and to see if I still got inspired an motivated for education. I had such a good memories of this festival when I first visited it in 2009 that I decided last year to go back and see where it would take me. Now I am one year further along and running my own business in education. After all teaching, and everything that has anything to do with education, it is my thing…
Just three weeks after our wonderful holliday in Scotland, I came back to Glasgow to attend the Scottish Learning Festival once again and to pay a visit to Hillhead Primary school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I arrived on a Sunday evening and decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants on Sauchiehall Street, Ox and Finch. And guess what? I forgot my little notebook, didn’t had anything with me to write on. Luckily for me they have these wonderful placemats at Ox and Finch, which is also the menu card. These placemats can be very handy when you forget your notebook.

As I was sitting there and writing down everything that came to my mind, a very nice lady sat beside me and we started talking. Her name was Juliet Cameron. Juliet was born in Argentina, lives in France and works for Benefactor Travel. It is a company that works with top museums, art galleries and libraries all over the world to create custom-designed travel programs for major benefactors, trustees, boards of directors and collector councils of these cultural institutions. We had very pleasant coversation, enjoyed the food, and she pointed out some nice things I should definitely see while I was in Glasgow. The next morning I bought a new little notebook; I didn’t want to keep asking for new placemats every time!

When I arrived at my hotel and went up to my room, there was this old couple going up in front of me. It was so adorable. They were each walking with a stick and encouring the other as they climbed the stairs. I imagined they must have been a couple for so many years, for there was so much love between them. Isn’t that what we are all longing for? An everlasting love? I hope one day my love and I will be like this old couple.

Seeing this old couple climbing the stairs with their sticks made me think of the MPC announcement that September was going to be the Munro Challenge Month…walk as many steps as you can and see how many munros you’ve climbed! I took a lot of steps when I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago to walk the West Highland Way, and thought that in this week I could do some work and take it easy. Take a taxi or bus to go somewhere and between my visit to the primary school and the Scottish Learning Festival, and some other things I wanted to do, I should have enough time to get some work done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I heard about a little competition set up between the Dutch, English and Scottish Peakers as to who could make the most steps in September. Well I don’t need to tell you again about the rowing machine and a nice young man sitting beside me… (I was triggered and this was going to be a serious, funny challenge. I decided that as long as I was in Glasgow, I would contribute to the pursuit of this challenge. I would walk every spare minute I had this week.I’m getting used to being in Glasgow. I’m trying to put my finger on it, what it is this city is doing to me, and bit by bit it becomes clear to me. Listening to Feather on the Clyde by Passenger best describes my thoughts about Glasgow. The city got under my skin because she had helped me to get better last year, and being in this city gives me a feeling of freedom, of being me again. She inspires me and motivates me to think things through. No strings attached!

 

 

 

 

What I like most about the city is to put on my walking shoes and wander around the streets looking for places I haven’t been before. I was surprised by all the nature just in the middle of this city: walking along the Clyde, crossing almost every bridge; walking a great part along the Kelvin; not noticing you’re walking in the centre of a town as soon as you pass under the bridge on Gibson Street. There’s a moment where you pass the ruins of what was once called The Old Flint Mill. Flint was ground to powder and used in the pottery industry to lighten the colour of the clay, and to harden it. Now all That is left are the remains of the mill and the house.

 

 

 

 

When you walk further down the Kelvin, and take the blue bridge on your left hand at one moment, you walk straight up into the Botanic Gardens. Here I love to sit down on one of the many, many benches and read a book. I have my e-reader with me all the time. I read to forget the world around me, to forget what’s on my mind and the things that worry me. Now and then I stop reading and look up to see the squirrels ran around the grass in front of me. As quickly as they come, they disappear in the borders and the trees. Everytime I try to take pictures but not one is satisfactory.

When I walk out of the Botanic Gardens, I have a lot of options for which direction I want to walk on. I could take Byres Road, but that would be too easy, too familiar. Instead I walk up the Great Western Road for a few hundred meters and then decide to turn right, up the stairs and into Hillhead Street. From here I can almost take any street to walk back to my hotel. I choose to go left to Glasgow Street, right in to Southpark Ave and left again to Great George Street where I pass Hillhead Highschool at a moment when the schoolday ends. Children are getting picked up by their parents, others walk home with friends or alone. Seeing a school and all these children makes me happy, reminding me of the best choice I made last year to start doing something with education and starting my own business. As I walk further I take Woodlands Road and eventually I end up in Kelvingrove Park where I sat down by the fountain.

In the morning I love to start my day with breakfast at Mayze. I discovered this place only this week and fell in love with it right away.You can find Mayze at the end of Argyle Street, in Finnieston Street, Not to miss it, across the street there’s a police station. Mayze is a coffee and food restaurant where they have lots of different coffees, also take away, a vegetarian kitchen and a vegan bakery. I really love this place and the food is delicious. They bake all these wonderful cakes, cupcakes and pies. You can even take them with you.Having breakfast here on my last day in Glasgow already makes me start thinking of when I will be coming back. Glasgow is becoming more and more like home to me.
I leave Mayze and walk down St. Vincent Street.

Today I am going to pay a visit to Glasgow Necropolis. Standing on top of it I made a picture of me and in the back the Glasgow Cathedral. It is not a coincidence that of all the days, it is today that I pay a visit to Glasgow Necropolis. I choose today to visit the graves, for tomorrow when I’m leaving will have been exactly 6 years since my father passed away. Being in a place like this always brings back memories of when my mom and dad were still alive. It also makes me realize that there are so many questions I would have liked to ask them. I come from a family where there was not a lot of talking. And by talking I mean talking about what’s going on in your mind, your feelings, etc. Between the graves I sat down on the grass and took a moment to write down my feelings of that moment.
On my way down I walked up to the Cathedral and burned a candle for them, to remember who made me the person I am today.

From the Glasgow Cathedral I took the road that would bring me to the South Spiers Wharf. From there I walked all the way along the water, passed Firhill Stadium, and left the water near Shakespeare Street to enter Kelvingrove Park again. It was there that I received a message from another Dutch Peaker. She arrived from Oban and we were going to meet each other. We met in Ashton Lane at Brel, which calls itself the most magical venue on Ashton Lane. Who am I to dispute that? It is! It is always nice meeting other Peakers when I’m in Glasgow. I also met a Peaker from America, Christina Korstis, last week. She did a workout at EDA. I told her I was proud of her. I wouldn’t have the nerve to do something like that on my own.

And then suddenly a week has gone by and it’s time for me to go home and that’s OK. After a whole week I’m ready to live again in the world were I have obligations, responsibilities, appointments etc.
Back to the world where the people I love most live. Back to reality, but after a while I will get restless again and have to come back to this city I love so much. There’s a big building in the centre of the city that says “People make Glasgow.” Well Glasgow, in this case you made me (whole again). Thank you so much!

To a long life and a merry one
A quick death and an easy one
A pretty girl and a honest one
A stiff whisky and another one
-Outlander S1 eps.13-The Watch

For those of you who have watched Outlander, these four phrases must sound familiar. In fact there’s nothing Scottish about it; actually it’s an Irish saying, and the last line has nothing to do with whisky but should be, “a cold beer and another one.” But who pays attention to such a small detail? As my love would say, as long as there’s alcohol in it… To me these few phrases sound almost the same as celebrate love and life. Now that I have achieved my challenge, it’s time to take stock, to fill in the last pieces of the puzzle I have been trying to make for the last couple of years.

For our first post-challenge activity, we went back to Glasgow, to enjoy the city for the last couple of days before we went back to our every day life. And how can we celebrate our victory better than by visiting the Clydeside Distillery?  The old pumphouse by the River Clyde is nowadays a new whisky distillery in Glasgow. At this distillery they brought together the best of the old and the new. They’re using traditional techniques to make new Clydeside Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how it tastes, for the distillery just started at the end of 2017, and the first whisky will not be ready for another 3 years at least. I have no shares in this company but I would certainly recommend a visit if you’re in town.

After our visit we decided to walk down the River Clyde towards People’s Palace. On our way there we walked under the King George V bridge designed by Thomas Somers and opened in 1928. Standing under this bridge is quite impressive. Walking further down the Clyde we passed a lot of bridges: Tradeston Bridge, South Portland Street Suspension Bridge, Victoria Bridge and Albert Bridge. The one I liked most is the St. Andrew Suspension Bridge. You can’t miss it for it’s a very blue bridge.

And so we walked into Glasgow Green to pay a visit to the People’s Palace, a place intended to provide a cultural centre for the people and a museum of social history for the City of Glasgow. It tells you the story of the people and the city from 1750 up to now. As we walked around on the second floor, we got caught up in the story of the Barrowland Ballroom. We listened to stories of people who came to Barrowland to dance. Dancing in the weekends could mean you were going to meet your love. The place was very popular and so very crowded on these dancing evenings. It was this place, Barrowland Ballroom, were we began to contemplate the end of our holidays.

We had bought ourselves tickets to a concert of Passenger that evening. He is a British singer-songwriter who has a very unique voice and of whom you can hardly hear the difference between singing on a record or live. With just a guitar he sings songs which makes you almost part of the lyrics. You can feel the pain, the bitterness, the depression but also the love, the joy as he sings. In a short time I became a true fan of his music, but even more of the pureness with which he stands on the stage. There was no better way to end our journey than listening to him on our last night in Glasgow.

As I told you at the beginning of this last story of my holiday to Scotland, completion of the challenge means it’s time to take stock. These last two years were a journey. I was looking for healing in the last two years, and I found it. The first piece was by healing my mind and letting go of all of the burdens I had been collecting in the past five years. Did I have a plan? No, most of what I did was a feeling, something that came into my mind and of which I thought at that moment was best for me. I started writing my story, and when I got rid of my burdens my body was worn out. The second piece then was to get my body into shape again. I went to the local gym, Leisureworld Fitness. I’m so pleased that they were able to help me to get where I am today in pretty good shape. Had it not been for all the instructors over there who helped me in this past year, I don’t think I would have been able to walk the WHW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just before I left I knew there was one last piece left for me to do, lose weight. Until then I had not succeeded although I tried very hard. It frustrated me. But I didn’t know what to do anymore until I met another Dutch Peaker, Brenda van Wegen, who specialised in a sugar-free life. But that was not what attracted my attention. Brenda had another specialization, women and menopause. Somewhere deep inside I knew that part of my problem lay within this issue.
I payed a visit to Brenda just before I went to Scotland and finally I had the feeling I was heard. She listened and brought up examples that were so recognizable. I felt lighter after my first visit.
After I had written down everything I ate, and at what time, for four days, there was finally an explanation why, despite my healthy meals, a lot of fitness and walking, I did not lose any weight. I felt so relieved.

In the last five years I had built up so much stress that my muscle mass broke down, and when I rested my body didn’t burn fat, it burnt energy. My blood glucose levels stayed high and insulin circulated in my blood which gave me a hungry feeling and increased my fat storage.
It all sounded so familiar to me and it made clear why I had not succeeded losing weight in my period of the black hole.

Brenda put together a mealplan for me and already after a week I had results. My third piece of the puzzle was progressing, and I was even able to lose weight. Can you imagine how happy this made me? I started about six weeks ago and I have already lost 7kg (15lb). Now you know why this last story is called “The Challenge of a Peaker Yet to Come.” I am not half way there, but I know I can beat this challenge!

There’s a mountaintop that I’m dreaming of
If you need me you know where I’ll be…
Shotgun/George Ezra

I have this funny feeling in my stomach, for today our adventure starts. Me and my love start to hike the West Highland Way (WHW). It’s that feeling when you’re going to do something you’ve never ever done before. Like on your first day of a new job, or a match and you have to deliver. I know it’s kind of an exiting healthy feeling, but still it paralyzes me a little bit. I’m not capable of doing anything else besides thinking of what lies ahead of me, and if it will all go right. I’m pretty sure that when the first day is over, it all will be better. I know the drill: I have experienced it, have seen it, have done it, and I know what it will be like for my Achilles tendon.

We left Glasgow by the Great Western Road. For those of you who never have been to Glasgow, the street lives up to its name…it’s a long road! It took quite some time before we actually saw the mountains, but once we did I was impressed. Of course I was impressed, remember me, the girl from 13 feet below sea level!!
We didn’t have a clear view initially. It looked like all the tops were covered under blankets. Almost as if they didn’t want to reveal their beauty on this very first day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our first leg, I had the urge to stop every single moment I saw a mountain in front of me, a stream alongside the road or a strong stream running down the mountains. Excuse me for using this example, I mean no harm with it but I almost felt like a chinese tourist taking pictures of almost everything and forgetting to enjoy what I saw and felt when you I looked around.

I realized that I could never catch in a picture what my eyes saw, my heart felt and my brain registered. You have to see, feel, breath it in for yourself. But I did not only stop to make pictures. While hiking I was very busy with looking where I was hiking. My eyes were focused on the path constantly. I focused on every step I took, so afraid I would slip and cause my Achilles tendon a lot of harm or worse not be able to hike any further. There was not a single track that was smooth; they were rocky, muddy, slippery and sometimes we had to hike through the water. Luckily for me I had a very good scout who guided me. My love walked just a few meters in front of me and was directing me all the way…a little to the left, a little to the right, step on these stepping stones etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The WHW led us through the mountains, over the moor and through the forest. There was not a single time I wasn’t surprised by the views. One morning I even thought there must have been goblins painting the forest green at night. It was almost like a fairytale. The grass looked like a green carpet and on it were all these beautiful fly argarics.

One of our B&B’s was Beinglas Farm, at Inverarnan. At this farm we saw all kind of hikers. We met the hikers who had those large backpacks with everything in and on it, hikers who had their luggage delivered to the next B&B, and hikers who hiked not the whole WHW but just a few legs of it. I had a lot of respect for the first group and it occured to me that there were a lot of young people doing this. Me and my love were of the luxury type. We walked with a backpack and in it only what was needed for the day. Our luggage was delivered every day at the next B&B.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was at this first B&B that the words Sam wrote in the foreward to There’s Always the Mountains (by Cameron McNeish), came to my mind. Something about “those people”, foolish, dangerous and not well-prepared. Everyone around us looked so prepared that it made me a little bit nervous, wondering if we were prepared enough for this adventure. But I figured so far so good and let it go.Although the WHW is a very popular track to hike, there were not many times we had a lot of people in front or behind us on the same leg. Mostly when we started in the morning we kept bumping into the same people, but as we went along there were large parts where it seemed like there were only the two of us. But every time you had the feeling being all alone at this piece of heaven on earth, there was always somebody else around the corner.
We met a lot of other hikers but also local people. There was always time for a little chat, a conversation or just a hello. For instance we met a man from Warwick, a little place near Birmingham. He had hiked the WHW as recommended, from south to north but was now hiking it from north to south. He couldn’t get enough of it.

We met an old man in his Jeep. He was looking after his sheep as they had been moved to a different piece of land. He was very interested in where we came from and when he heard we came from the Netherlands, he started telling us that the land we stood on once belonged to a Dutch man (a surgeon from Friesland) and was given back to the Forestry Commission Scotland after he and his wife died without leaving any children behind.

After hiking for seven days I suddenly realized that the challenge I set for myself 8 months ago was almost done. The last leg had a magical element. With every step I took, I knew that I was going to complete my challenge. Hiking without pain, I never thought I would be able to do so and now I had almost completed it. I made it to Fort William without pain and was so proud of myself. Tears were running down my face as I saw the sign telling me that I made it to the orignal end of the WHW.

 

The challenge of a Peaker’s Present was done!

Next time I tell you all about My Challenge yet to come.