It is so exciting now that the three of us have booked our air flights for our walk. I cannot wait to be on our way. Today we did our first longish walk together, 18km from my place in Durban North to Umhlanga Rocks and back again. We never stopped talking from the time we started until we finished.
Syl is the most organised as she has everything ready, she could fly off tomorrow. Val & myself still have a few things to buy. On Friday the three of us will go shopping - Syl will bring the scale to make sure Val & myself don't buy anything to heavy!!!
I'm sure the time will fly by and before we know it, we will be on our way.

I LOVE MY BOOTS!!

I LOVE MY NEW HI-TEC ALTITUDE ULTRA V-LITE BOOTS WITH THE VERBAM SOLES!!







(Picture from www.hitec.com)

I have been wearing the new boots around the house, on short walks with the dogs and on ± 8km walks in Kloof but this morning we walked 19km and - I LOVE MY BOOTS. They are leather but are light, cushioned inside, great soles. They are an improvement on the HiTec Kevlar that I wore on the Via Francigena and in Spain as they are Waterproof. Hopefully, no blisters with these.

AND I LOVE MY SOCKS!!
The socks are FALKE stretch hiking socks with padding around the toes, under the foot and heel and around the ankle but they are not padded on the top which allows some air in. They were very comfortable and I don't think I'll need sock liners.
It was a HOT day - 30oC - and it was a loooong, flat walk on tarred roads, grassy verges and on the hard sand along the beach from Durban North to Umhlanga Rocks and back.
We stopped at the pavement cafe for a coffee and I asked for a black Decaf - but, I don't think it was Decaf because by the time we had walked a couple of km I started to feel twitchy and by the time we got back to Durban North I had a red face like a rooster and was feeling a bit woozy. Could have been the heat or could have been my thermostat! A short rest at Marion's, a cold Cranberry Juice and a few grapes and I was feeling again.
On the way home Val and I stopped at Sportsman's warehouse in Springfield and we bought her plastic cutlery set, waist bag, folding backpack, telescopic pole and a few other odds and ends.
I bought Marion a Karrimor waist bag for her birthday next month. We've been looking for something less bulky than the Cellini bags we used to Rome and this is a really nice bag with 3 zippered compartments and a soft, mesh back lining to absorb perspiration.
On Friday morning we are going to Westwood Shopping Mall to visit Cape Union Mart for boots for Val & M, and to Dischem to buy the shoulder-strap pads.
Our aim now is to get fitter so we are going to walk the 'Pot 'n Kettle' walk next Sunday. Woooo ... those hills are killers and the 18km is more like 25km!! But, if we are going to cross the Pyrenees we need to get hill walking.
Val doesn't work on a Friday so in a couple of weeks time we will do three-day, back-to-back walks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and see how we feel.
I feel a bit like I did when training to run Comrades! I want to be slim, fit and strong for the walk.