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Day 3 is the longest day on the Queen Charlotte Track, 23 km, excluding the detour to Eatwell’s lookout, and a good 7 or 8 hours walking. It takes in the highest point of the track.

Janis decided to take the boat, with our bags. She walked me part of the way from our overnight stop at Punga Cove to the start of the track. After that I was “on my own”. However, there is a gentle stream of treckers on the track and we passed and repassed each other depending on individual rest stops so it was far from a solitary experience.

In the quieter moments I practiced walking more mindfully (not always successfully, but there were moments of deep peacefulness). When I spoke at my friend Clare’s funeral in September I said that she would be with me wherever I walked and yesterday was definitely one of those days. When I expressed that thought I had not read Thich Nhat Hanh. He writes:

“Many of my ancestors and many of my friends of my generation have already passed away…So I walk for them.”

It made me realise why, when I walk, I so often think of my grandparents and our walks from their cottage in North Devon. I walk for them too.