Contact — Penelope Janu

Setting the scene:

I’ve recorded various hiking adventures (and misadventures) in the past couple of weeks, but now our hike is over, I was intending to end my blog posts (because reading about someone else’s holiday has its limitations). But my friends, family and readers have been so generous in their support, that I thought they deserved to have the icing (or more accurately casting) on the cake. So I’ll round off our hike with a post about…. .

What happened next:

Remember the sore shin I referred to on my Day 7 post? Our walk was over! We went out to dinner! I was walking very slowly, but surely after a good night’s sleep all would be well?’

Only, it wasn’t. When we hopped on a bus to Glasgow after our final day, my shin was still very painful. Our little hotel was lovely and I didn’t want to leave it, but I had to. We’d already established a piggy back from Mr Darcy wasn’t the solution to my problems, so it was time to get my lower leg (which was now red and puffy) examined. Since I could no longer walk very well, we caught an expensive taxi to the hospital (it was only 5km away - I was so annoyed that we couldn’t walk!) There was a four hour wait, but the nurses and doctors were great. And the prognosis, while not ideal, at least gave me certainty. I have a stress fracture in my tibia.

Walking on my leg (in the absence of trojan soldiers to lift me Cleopatra-like, or a helicopter airlift, or a horse) on the last 20km of our hike was patently overdoing things a little. On the bright side, I now have a moon boot, and I can blame my hobbling on that!

The Duck House:

We are now staying in The Duck House in Kent, England. The Duck House is a tiny cottage with beautiful gardens, built on the grounds of a much larger house (conveniently located in the middle of nowhere). The willow tree that gracefully dips its fronds into of the ponds reminds me of the willows I read about in childhood. And the interior of the cottage is charming (a very appropriate English word!). But the very best thing about being here is that our daughter Michaela, who has been working in London for a year (so far), is with us. We’ve already been out and about, exploring so much of what I love about England. The country towns, the gardens, the old buildings. But, besides friends and other family (including the four legged members), I’m starting to miss a lot of things from home. Items at the top of that list? The sounds of the waves on the shore, my very own bed, and the scent of eucalyptus. But…

Back to work:

It won’t all be bush tracks when I get home (not only because I can’t walk very well). I’m up to the next round of edits for Shelter from the Storm, which I can’t wait to get stuck into (hard work, but it always makes the book the best that it can be). I’m also excited about attending the Romance Writers of Australia conference in Fremantle mid-August, together with an Australian Romance Readers Association signing event. In early September, my good friend Pamela Cook and I are going to the snow (moon boots and ski boots are interchangeable, aren’t they?). Later in the month, I have a family wedding! And from 23 - 25 September, I’ll be attending the Northern Beaches Reader’s Festival, which all Sydney (for very good reason!) is talking about. There is so much to look forward to after our wonderful Scottish adventure. And so much to plan before we go on our next walk.

In the meantime, thank you for reading this blog. Letters are currently out of style, but recording our daily events has reminded me that letters and other correspondence play such an important part in our lives. It has been wonderful to reflect on not only the walk, but the scenery and events I loved (and endured) along the way, and it’s been equally wonderful to read your comments here and on my socials 💕