The daily wonder, insights, challenges and photos of my journey from Rome to Canterbury on foot
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This morning I climbed up into the hills and the vineyard terraces for the final time. I was happy to do it although I may have sworn a couple of times on some steep rocky ascents and then laughed.
I walked quietly. I saw a fox eating grapes that had fallen from one of the vines. When he finally saw me taking photos he dashed off into some undergrowth and then who knows where. There hillside was filled with vines.
Read MoreThese past few mornings have been some of the most beautiful mornings I have witnessed. In the past, I never described myself as a morning person but on this journey, it is no chore to wake up early when it is still dark no matter how sore and tired I am and specially in this area. The light is at its prettiest until around 10.30am and then it starts becoming a little harsh and glary. It is the mornings when I take most of my photos and tend to meander and pause a lot.
Read MoreVal d'Aosta is stunningly beautiful. Giant snow covered peaks rising either side of the valley.
Snow-covered. That means it is cold. Which is fine when I am walking as I soon warm up but I am struggling to cope at night. The hotels have not switched the heating on yet. I am not sure how cold it has to be for that to happen. Tonight my hotel had a half-bath. I filled it with the hottest water out of the tap and squished myself in and sat there for 30 minutes just to get warm.
Read MoreEvery night for the past week I have been studying the weather forecasts, knowing that inclement weather could stop me walking over the Great Saint Bernard Pass. A week ago it looked like it would be sunny. A few days ago they indicated the possibility of snow. None of the forecasts ever really agreed.
Leaving Orsieres this morning in sunshine, I knew that rain and snow were both highly probable. The rain started 30 minutes after I left as I walked up into the hills, first as light showers and increasing with intensity as the day went on.
Read MoreIt was steep and the paths were narrow barely lining the edge of the mountain. Sometimes they were non-existent. I climbed over rocks following painted yellow diamonds marking the way. I stepped carefully, wary of the tree roots that rose above the earth, of the loose gravel beneath my boots, of the steep inclines that could see me lose my footing or injure my knees.
Read MoreI have walked 1,000 kilometres. 1,000 kilometres! Holy wow!
Today, was an almost perfect walking day.
16 kilometres is an easy distance to walk. It affords time for ambling and more pausing and it is easier on the feet.
Read MoreToday was my second shortest walking day since I started my pilgrimage. Despite my rest day and a couple of shorter walking days, I am feeling really tired and anything more than a few hours of walking results in feet and knees that throb constantly at night despite the stretching and massage. Lucky I have a supply of voltaren tablets.
Read MoreAfter yesterday's rest day, it felt good to get back on the trail this morning with the Devil on my back. The rain that was forecast never fell. Instead I was blessed with sunshine for most of the day and a mild 18 degrees. Perfect walking weather for my final hours beside beautiful Lake Geneva before I headed south away from the lake in the valley between the mountain ranges.
Read MoreVevey was definitely the right place for me to have a rest day.
I woke up at 7am but managed to sleep for one more hour. I indulged myself in a long and slow breakfast in my hotel. Coffee, orange juice, croissant and bread with butter and jam. You always pay extra for breakfast in hotels and it generally isn't value for money which is why it was an indulgence.
Read MoreToday was stunningly beautiful. So beautiful that any pain and tiredness were just over-awed. I walked beside the calm silvery waters of Lake Geneva. I climbed up high into the vineyards. I watched in awe as the haze cleared reviewing the jagged shadows of the Alps. I ate my jambon et fromage sandwich amongst the hillside vines siting on an old brick retaining wall, dangling my feet over the edge towards the vines below and was dazzled by the view.
Read MoreKym Wilson is an Australian writer, coach and pilgrim. In late 2013, she walked 2,022 kilometres alone along the Via Francigena pilgrimage trail from Canterbury to Rome seeking inner wisdom and healing.
