Day 9: 270km of 301km, walking into Clanwilliam

Proteas among the daisies

Our early morning routine was a pleasure this morning, stretches at dawn and on the road soon after, this first 8 or so kilometres of walking are always lovely, we are energised after a good sleep and looking forward to the day.

After breakfast we packed, left our cottages and turned left out of the gate to tackle the next 15 kilometres.

I immediately battled, could not get my rhythm going and the pain of my feet was making me feel ill. Even Fred has the odd blister now! At least the beauty of these proteas and the other flowers along our route were a pleasurable distraction.

At our rest stop among the potato fields outside of Clanwilliam, I noticed that one of the blisters was exposed, so Frik did a quick repair, I took some serious pain killers and enjoyed the rest of the day, far more at ease and particularly enjoying our first time in the Cederberg.

We also had a taste of the dramatic rock formations of the Cederberg, walking past the Soldier's Head. We will have to come back and spend more time here.

Cederberg, Soldier's Head rock formation

• Walking log: 24th August

270km of 301km.

We are now nearing the end of our Eco Ventures Ultra Walk. I can feel the pressure of this event slowly peeling back and finished today with relief. We have this in the bag.