WB 02: Kent stop me now — charles' walk

Progress

Progress has been good this week, and due to the extra mileage gained in first week I shifted the end point of each day to spread the mileage more evenly. For accommodation reasons I also shifted the rest day back one day, meaning I had 7 days of walking this week. I have travelled from Harty, Isle of Sheppey to Eastbourne, East Sussex covering 159 miles.

Hardships

Accommodation was always an issue for this week as I unfortunately do not know anyone in this area, and had heard back from no one I emailed in my planning stage. So I was always expecting a lot of camping this week. In fact I ended up camping 5 nights this week, from cliffs to dunes and even on the edge of a nature reserve. One night in a hostel in Dover, that was actually such a dire place, that it was no better than a tent. But due to the fact I moved my rest day, I will have two nights with my school friend and his family (The Davis's) in Eastbourne, which will really recharge my batteries.

The weather was actually must better this week, with a couple of days of wall to wall sunshine. But the day from Fairlight to Eastbourne was abysmal, with heavy rain and even stronger winds. This led to an unexpected issue, as the wind caused something to become lodged in my eye, which I could just not dislodge by blinking or flushing with water. This was very uncomfortable and caused me a lot of aggravation. So on my rest day the following day I went to a doctor who finally managed to get rid of the little bit of grit, but unfortunately also found an abrasion on the cornea so referred me straight to A&E. Fortunately the eye specialist in the hospital said the abrasion was minor enough that it should heal itself and that my eyesite would return to normal within 48 hours. Not exactly restful for my rest day!

My right ankle/heel area started hurting almost immediately I started after the rest day. This was fairly painful but bearable to walk with, and through a mixture of self massage, Voltarol and stretching I have got it though the week and in the passed couple of days it has really started to imporve.

There has also been the occasional diverted path, muddy sections and numerous English Coast Path signs that had snapped but nothing to serious.

General

Daylight hours

I meant to put something about this last week. At this time of year it is hard to walk more than 20 or so miles within the hours of daylight given. For this reason on certain days I have started walking whilst it is still dark, to ensure I arrive at the endpoint of the day in the light. It will be nice as the period of daylight hours increases as it will allow me to relax more and do more cooking etc. in the evenings

Path Styles

This week the paths changed style from the constant sea embankments of the marshlands, onto the winding clifftop paths, shingle beach walking and town promenades. It is quite nice to have a bit of variety to change up the walking each day.

Admin

I am slowly getting used to doing the admin; responding to emails, accommodation, maps, shops etc. amongst other things. This part is actually incredibly time consuming. But apologies if I have been slow responding (or worse forgotten to respond) to any of your queries and offers.

Daily Diary

Please click links below to find out more detail about each specific day:

Thank You

Specific thank yous:

The Three Mariners, Oare – thank you for allowing me to pitch my tent in your beer garden, and providing me with complimentary dinner and drinks.

The Davis Family, Eastbourne – thank you for putting me up, feeding me, washing my stuff and driving me to the hospital during my two nights over my rest day.

Andy Pringle - thanks for liaising with some papers on my behalf.

Also thank you to everyone who donated last week, and all the kind messages that I received.

The walk can be followed on Facebook and Instagram and any donations are greatly appreciated.