Day 7 - The Day Full of Treats

Hey everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. After the emotional rollercoaster of day 6, you might be thinking, “Oh no, here comes another Rhiannon breakdown!” Well, don’t worry, there’s more to come in later posts, but not today as thankfully, day 7 was much better!

We set off to Shrivenham at 9 a.m, and this time we had a few extra faces joining us. Ed continued as an honourary member of the core group and our bestie Pernille was back (yay!), along with one of dad’s best mates, Nick, and Gaynor, who we absolutely adore. It was still a small group, but having these close friends with us started us off on the right foot. After the usual blister clinic, we were off and walking.

Gang for day 7!

The scenery was beautiful, with so much greenery surrounding us, and once again, the weather was on our side.

The distance for day 7 was 20.1 miles, and after the 22-mile slog the day before, we knew it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park (pardon the pun!).

20.1 miles

Most of the walk was along a long path in the middle of stunning fields, so navigating was pretty easy. That gave us plenty of time to chat and laugh. Our group’s anthem, "I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers, was played on repeat for about an hour — and it never got old!

One of the standout moments of the day came about an hour into the walk. Donna and I swapped socks. I can’t quite remember why, but I think mine were causing issues with my blisters. So, being the hero she is, Donna offered to swap. That’s true love right there — swapping sweaty, dirty socks!

The Perfect Break Stop

Around 6 miles in, we met up with Tom, who had set up the most amazing break stop. He brought bananas, oranges, drinks, and best of all, Pernille had brought Danish pastries from her trip to Denmark! We were over the moon! It became a serious mission to make sure everyone got exactly the same amount of pastry because we were all so desperate for a bite - that was Emilia's job!

This was Tom’s first time meeting us at a break stop, and let me tell you, he set the bar high. Over the next five days, he continued to impress us — truly our hero!

After that break, we were all on such high spirits! So, we plodded on, and I have to say, Gaynor and Nick bought such fun vibes and having them there that day really put a smile on everyone’s faces. Something I will never forget is having a wild wee with Gaynor, Donna, Emilia and my Auntie Paola! We were all lined up together and it was a very funny moment. There are photos of that time, but obviously I will never post them!

As we hit the 11-mile mark, there was a bit of a lull. We all knew that lunch was close, but we still had a couple of miles to go. Thankfully, Uncle Richard was cycling back and forth, keeping morale high and reassuring us we were close to Tom and the lunch stop. Let’s just say, the headphones came out a lot earlier than they had in previous days — we all needed some time to focus on just putting one foot in front of the other.

BBQ Heaven

When we finally reached Tom, it was a sigh of relief. Lunch that day was the best treat yet. Tom had set up a BBQ with a canopy to shade us from the sun and brought camp chairs for us to relax in. He was grilling sausages and had made hotdogs with all the condiments we could ask for. On top of that, there were beers, fizzy drinks, water, and sweets — it was the perfect spread. Dad took full advantage of the camp chair, whilst me, Emilia, Ed and Fran lay under the canopy.

The king in his chair!

After lunch, we all really enjoyed the walk, it was across beautiful fields, and it was very much a girlie afternoon – the boys went off ahead and us girls stayed together chatting and laughing together. It was me, Emilia, Paola, Donna, Pernille and Gaynor and we were messing around and gossiping for hours. Nice to have some girlie time amongst it all (sorry boys!)

 Almost There!

By the time we reached Shrivenham, we felt like we had been walking for days. But seeing the town’s sign was such a relief — mainly because we were all dying for a pint after completing another 20-mile day.

The last couple of miles were tough. It was mostly road walking, and everyone was pretty tired, except for Nick, who decided to sprint up the final hill to the pub! It quickly became clear who had been walking for six days and who hadn’t! We all eventually got up the hill and made it to the hotel and went straight to the bar (shock!)

At the pub, we all started buying rounds of drinks and got a little tipsy. Naturally, we started craving a Chinese takeaway, so we ordered the biggest feast possible. We probably ordered enough food to feed 50 people, and guess what? We ate it all.

We all went to bed that night with full bellies ready for the next day of walking! So, day 7 was great. Obviously by this point in the walk, every day was hard. We were all sore, and tired but looking back, you forget all the pain and just remember all the good times. Day 7 was one of the biggest bonding days for us because we all knew we were sore, but despite that, we had so much fun and so many laughs. Mum was definitely with us that whole day, bringing the sun and making us happy, like she always does.

Thanks for reading.

With love,

Rhiannon