DAY 132 - VODICE TO BIOGRAD: 22.05 MILES (44,010 STEPS)

30 August, 2011

22.05 miles (Total: 1247.05 miles) 44,010 steps (Total: 2,428, 301 steps)

I set off from Vodice in very bad shape (pic) aiming to reach Biograd.  Again it is a ridiculously hot day and by 9:30am I can feel the sun burning through my shirt and so brought out my fleece to put around my shoulders underneath the backpack.  The coverage from the interviews in Sibenik had clearly been quite good because the number of toots and waves I received on my way increased and that helped to spur me on.

Sometimes we surprise ourselves with what we are capable of: Just last year I recall walking 16 miles from Durham to Newcastle on a cool spring day and then suffering for a week as a result. Now I was into my third consecutive 20 mile day in forty degree heat and with a 30 pound rucksack. I realise that most of the physical barriers we face are in the mind and if we have a clear ‘why’ then we can survive almost any ‘how’.

You discover things about yourself on ventures like this and that is the reason why sport, Scouts, the army, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and gap years have done such a tremendous amount to help young people realise who they are and what they are capable of. The tragedy is that there are many people in their fifties and older who have never really tested the full capabilities of their physical capacities and never really discovered the real person within.

On these tough days you come face to face with yourself and in my case I found only one redeemable quality and that is that I am an incurable optimist. I would often joke that my blood group was B positive. I would think that around the next corner was going to be a great little air-conditioned cafe serving ice-cold Diet Coke and chocolate ice cream; that I might meet someone who would provide me with an opportunity to talk about the truce and the walk; that any moment the phone might ring with some great advance on the Olympic Truce; that at my next stop I would find a beautiful clean hotel with a bath, buffet breakfast and broadband for thirty euros per night. Sometimes in safe environments that optimistic tendency reveals itself, as being a bit of a dreamer, but under pressure it becomes a wonderful strategy for survival.

I arrived in Biograd, which is packed full of tourists, and there is very little accommodation. I eventually found a small chalet in the woods, which was perfect as it was only 20 euros. I quickly changed and headed down to the beach as night was beginning to fall and floated in the sea under a glorious red sky and gave thanks for being a day and 20 miles closer to the visit of Rob and Di. I slept better with the help of some cool red wine and a great pizza, although the mosquitoes clear liked my choice of pizza Napolitana as much as I did.