DAY THREE… 53 miles (85 km)
Sitting outside our tents as the sun sets on a little chair with salmon bubbling on the little cooker in front of me. We are camping on an organic farm. Mum and daughter have been collecting apples for juicing. Behind us, less idyllic, a lad is spraying something onto a roof of a shed which looks rather like creosote and is not that far from my tent.
The very enthusiastic farmer has brought us a bottle of his apple juice and a bottle of beer, as a greeting. When I asked to see his cows and the new born calf we were taken on a tour of the herd and entertained by stories of the latest cow’s birth trauma. The calf looks fine. Though one cow did have a still born and the farmer went off and bought a baby calf and introduced it to its new Mum.
The night was not the peaceful one I intended. I went to bed but lights kept flashing on and off. One hour later, I noted that the son was still on the roof with a torch mending it? The noise of hammering and flashing lights continued, despite me telling him that I was trying to sleep. Then an almighty thunderstorm broke out. Ironic, having told the son that his light was disturbing me, the sky took over, but many times worse. I had to resort to a Zopiclone sleeping pill. Another calf was born in the night