6^th May 2014

So after a particularly uncomfortable nights rest and a particularly early morning I dragged my aching body from the canvas coffin did the usual check for ticks and parasites and lugged my backpack onto my back all the time very conscious of my knee injury and the pains of my gammy toe. Elwyn Morris has seen up close what I am talking about and its scarred him for life. Still I had no choice I had to be in Hunstanton that morning or I wouldn't be eating that day and along this stretch of coast there wasn't much to be foraged. 

I did however have a coffee before I left and hoped the caffeine would keep me going. It took another 7 miles, about 3 hours to get to Hunstanton but luckily for me the rnli station was one of the first buildings I came across. I was actually quite surprised as I was expecting it to be on a lot further than it was.

I didn't have a phone signal at the station but was fortunate enough to be able to use the phone at the cafe opposite to call JøAnnë Peters who was in return able to contact robin. Robin soon came down with parcels in hand. A nice new pair of boots, a buoyancy aid supplied by Mike Maynard and of course my rations  robin was also kind enough to give me half a bag of sugar and a large selection of biscuits. 

Hunstanton is one of a handful of rnli stations that have the use of a hovercraft, awesome! So obviously I had to go have a closer look and obligatory photo. The visit was all too short really but after discussing the next few crossings and having some breakfast it was time to head off. Having new boots was lovely but I knew I would have to take it slowly over the next couple of days in order to walk the boots in and both knee and gammy toe hurt like hell. I set off in search of the famous multi coloured cliffs and then up on to the promenade. When I reached the end of the promenade I found myself at heacham and a small but idyllic beach. The sand was soft and the dunes made a reasonable shelter so I stopped and pitched up. Watching the sun go down whilst munching on a whole packet of chocolate bourbons and drinking coffee with sugar was simply graceful and beyond anything I could describe here, I only wished I could capture the moment on film but some things just have to be experienced to really be appreciated. It almost felt balearic. A calm sea and perfect beach - a perfect moment.

So I woke up on heacham beach with the sound of fighter jets filling the air, reasonably refreshed, had breakfast and coffee with sugar and head off towards kings Lynn. on the way to kings Lynn I had to pass Snettisham and entered the rspb bird sanctuary the other side. About half way along there is a lovely bird hide opened by bill oddie so I stopped off and took my boots off to allow my feet to breath and my boots to air. It is so nice having dry feet for a change. I also needed to give my knee a rest so boiled up some water and had another coffee with sugar and rehydrated some custard with apple  

After a nice break I headed off along the path until it seemed to end but I could just make out a shallow track leading on to join with the sea wall again so I took a chance and headed towards the wall. Once on top of the wall I followed it because to be honest you can't actually do much else! Eventually I came to a gate so opened it and passed through. On closing the gate I noticed a sign saying"sandringham estate private" could this have been the grounds of queen Elizabeths summer retreat? Something I would have to investigate when I got home. Either way I'm sure she would understand.

6^th May 2014

So I'd just passed through Sandringham estate accidentally and was following the sea wall, on the horizon I could see what looked like shacks. Well it actually looked like a scene from the hills have eyes! Was I gonna be dismembered and put into cold storage for consumption later that night? I kept going and saw more and more of these strange looking dwellings. On closer inspection they were little house boats or if you like boat houses. In the distance along the wall I could see a landrover parked up and as I approached it a man appeared from out of one of the house boats. As he approached me he waved his hand and greeted me. As it turns out this wasn't the set of a horror movie but in fact a small community of fowlers. Ian informed me that once again I was trespassing but seeing as it was for the challenge nobody would really say anything. We had a cup of coffee and chatted about this unique village on the salt marshes and how in the last storm the boats were nearly destroyed and a couple of them had tipped over. We also chatted about ians life as a punt shooter. Basically they strap a gun to the front of canoes and go out shooting wild fowl. Before I left ian gave me some cuppa soup sachets and his last tin of heinz vegetable soup which I must admit I do enjoy and had missed a little.

Well my knee was really aching and I knew I had to do something about it when I reached kings Lynn. As itgot darker I had no other choice but to set up camp so I located a reasonably level pitch at the bottom of a sea wall service ramp that appeared to lead nowhere. The grass was long and I was sheltered from the wind so it seemed perfect. My knee was now really painful and I didn't sleep too well at all, getting comfortable was impossible. When morning came I slept in a little longer than usual in order to rest my injury. The battery on my phone had now completely drained so I would have to forgo any photo ops and navigate blind hoping nobody panicked and called the coast guard.

Eventually the wall came to an end and I approached the small town of kings Lynn. I must admit I thought it would be larger. Anyway I located a boots store and immediately purchased a huge pair of clippers so i could perform and act of self mutilation, personal chiropody. I then set off towards the river in order to see if I could use hoolley but only a short walk away was a bridge so instead of making life difficult I headed for it and easily crossed the river. It was only 10 mins away.

Once across the bridge I headed along the wall, my toe was now really hurting and where I had been walking askew I had also caused a blister on my little pinky.

My advice if you are considering doing a similar trek - don't! Your body will hate you and your soul will be destroyed...

Well after a day of ridiculous pain and discomfort I decided to take an early day and found a small wooded area to pitch up. I immediately boiled some water with some salt in and bathed my achinf foot as best as I could in a pan no bigger than 8" in diameter. Once my foot well toes had soaked for a while I attempted to trim the offensive nail to reduce the impact and pain whilst walking. I managed to cut it back a bit but the pain was getting too much so I tucked in and figured I would see how it was in the morning.

6^th May 2014

I hadn't realised it but when I left kings Lynn I had also left norfolk and had now entered Lincolnshire. Yet another county down and a new culture and landscape to explore. The swelling on my toe had gone down alot so I put on my boots carefully. Thankfully it was a noticeable improvement so I set off along the wall looking for the next river to cross. Over the next few days I would have to cross one river a day minimum.

After a few hours hiking the damn toe flared up again and my knee was still hurting after every step. I had to do something, the sun was out and it was a lovely day so I dropped my pack down and sat on it, removed my right boot and took out the clippers. This time it was personal I was gonna hack as much off as possible and reduce the profile as much as possible. I slowly and brutally shaved millimetre after millimetre, it took a while but I was winning so I kept on at it until the nail was starting to look normal ish and the profile was considerably lowered , yes there was blood but an acceptable amount and nothing I was concerned with. I had just about finished when a young lady and her daughters or maybe nieces passed by. I had seen them earlier walking their dog in the other direction. They were now heading back so I asked them where the nearest convenience store was so I could get some pain killers and carry on with the trek. They gave me directions and they carried on after I assured them I was fine and my injuries were quite minimal. I then finished sorting my toe out but as I was about to put my boot back on one of the little girls came back and asked if I wanted a lift to get the pain killers. Well I must admit I wasn't looking forward to the long hike to the shop and graciously accepted the kind offer.

At the store I was able to get the pills and also some bread for lunch. I took the pills and then set off to get back to the trek, as I was deciding which way I should go a cat pulled up along side me. "Can we drop you back?" I couldn't believe it they had waited and wanted to help me get back on track again by dropping me back off at the wall. Of course I accepted this random act of kindness above and beyond the call of duty!

By the time we had got back to the wall the pain killers were kicking in and I could feel a noticeable difference in walking with the reprofiled toe nail. For a start it didn't hurt so much and I was putting less weight not only on the blisteted pinky but also my dodgy knee.

I kept heading along the wall until I hit the next river. How was I going to cross it? The tide was out and thick soft mud banks would possibly mean adam getting stuck and drowning when the tide did eventually come in...