I Would Walk 1000 Miles

Hopefully we’re on to a roll here, folks. The kind people at Dymocks, the best book store in Australia ever, have donated a 2007 AA Road Map of Europe to me for use in planning the walk, and (hopefully) aiding me in not getting lost while on it. So I’d like to say a huge thank you to Margaret, Janet and everyone else who has helped. I can now spend the next couple of days plotting routes and getting more and more panicked as I realise exactly how far 1000 miles really is.

OK, so far I have received a couple of replies back from emails sent. Nothing much positive, but:

Adidas said “no, sorry - we have two named charities”

GlaxoSmithKline said “send us a written letter”

Elastoplast said “send us your address”

And… Shooting Parrots has agreed to give me £100 should I complete the walk. What a superb first sponsor. Thank you!

I will be in New South Wales next week, during which time I’ll do some practise walks and also try to get into the library and pin down a route. Looks like I’ll be getting the ferry from Holland as it’s daily, not twice-weekly as the one from Bergen is.

Also, Louise got in touch and definitely put the ix nay on arriving at her place! I’d pretty much expected this, in honesty, and had already asked NUFC if I could perhaps finish at St James’ Park with their blessing. I may be writing a letter or calling them instead shortly.

I’ve heard from Lou and - as I expected - she’s gracefully declined the world’s press turning up on her doorstep! Instead the walk will finish at St James’ Park, home of Newcastle United.

Now, I’ve emailed the club to ask if there’s anything they can do to help. I have no idea what response I’ll get. I may end up just finishing in the street outside the Strawberry. In my wildest fantasies I’ll get to finish inside the stadium. It never hurts to ask - so I have!

Regardless, this now means I have a point from which to start calculating. I should have a couple of days around Sydney when I’ll have time to sit down and work out what, where, how long and so forth.

At present I’m in a very pleasant coastal town on Tasmania, internet costs a bomb and I have no mobile reception!

This morning I have mostly been trying to get stuff for free. I’ve emailed the ferry company asking for a free crossing; SmithKlineBeecham for free Lucozade (well, I’ve asked someone to call them for me); The Proclaimers, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes and Gary Moore for publicity. I think I’ll try Elastoplast and see if I can get some blister plasters or something as well.

It never hurts to ask. The worst they can do is say no!

OK, I popped down to the State Library here in Perth today and browsed through a roadmap of Europe. And realised that 1000 miles is one hell of a long way. At a very rough estimate I could realistically walk from Prague through Poland, Germany and Holland, or take a slightly different route through Bulgaria or Switzerland.

Eek.

What I need is some decent route planning software. I used to have Autoroute on my laptop, but a) it only covered the UK in detail and b) I did say “decent” software and Autoroute’s always been a little dodgy in the past. Time to start checking out the online options.

I also need to check all possible ferry routes. Bergen’s still a possibility, but with the other water crossings necessary, it may make things awkwards to schedule. Walking northwest from Eastern Europe seems a plan as I was thinking of visiting Prague anyway.

What have I gotten myself into…?