Writing a blog on a smartphone after each day's walk was a bit of an innovation for me. It gives the blog a bit more more immediacy, but is also fiddly to do, so I've been back and made some edits to expand/improve on what I wrote at the time.
We have walked about fifty miles, and feel we have achieved something.
We were very lucky with the weather. Although prepared for all weathers, we managed to avoid any rain for the whole six days of walking. The rain began about two hours after we had arrived in Henley, and our train journey back on Friday was in heavy showers. Although I may have grumbled a bit some days, it was never too hot, either.
Most of the walk is by a quiet river, although in June sometimes the vegetation was so high we couldn't actually see it. We saw dragonflies and damselflies in their hundereds, and were bitten by horseflies. There were all sorts of water fowl, and the one surprise was the snake. We were disappointed not to see a kingfisher (where we had seen a few on our 2010 walk from the source to Oxford).
Looking back on the week suggests a few overall preferences:
Best day's walk: Goring to Reading, because of its variety
Best breakfast: Premier Inn
Best lunch: Barely Mow, Clifton Hampden (good food and ale, and all in cosy and literary ambience)
Best evening meal: George, Dorchester
Best hotel room: George, Dorchester
And now, on to plan the walk down from Henley-on-Thames.
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