Where are you good people walking DURING the week?

[watershed]

Today we celebrated a significant personal chronological milestone (the one day of the year when Mrs N pays the restaurant bill) with a walk off the side of Exmoor to complete the penultimate loop in the "Two Moors Way to the north coast by circular walks" project that I started last week by accident.  One more and we can start on joining the our existing walks to the south - a far more significant undertaking as the gaps are larger and less attractive from a walking perspective. I may try tying the Tarka Trail as well.

I hope you had a happy Birthday Ninthace

[rural roamer]

We had a lovely 5.5 mile ramble around Orford yesterday. Not as busy as I expected now it’s school holidays. They’re probably all in Aldeburgh and Southwold.

A view across to Orford castle and church




Looking over to Orford Ness. You can just see the lighthouse which they have just started dismantling as it is about to be lost to the sea.

[Dodgylegs]

We had a lovely 5.5 mile ramble around Orford yesterday. Not as busy as I expected now it’s school holidays. They’re probably all in Aldeburgh and Southwold.

Orford brings back special memories, thanks rural roamer for the photos. it's an amazing place!

[cornwallcoastpathdweller]

Man and dog just returned from the regular Newquay to Porthcothan 9 mile plod.  'Cornish sunshine' aka drizzle most of the way but it kept the temperature down nicely.
Two coastpather tents seen pitched up this morning, a Vango Soul 200 near Trescore Islands and a Scout 2 at Porth Mear, both having a lie in 

[Jac]

Man and dog just returned from the regular Newquay to Porthcothan 9 mile plod.  'Cornish sunshine' aka drizzle most of the way but it kept the temperature down nicely.
Two coastpather tents seen pitched up this morning, a Vango Soul 200 near Trescore Islands and a Scout 2 at Porth Mear, both having a lie in 

9 miles before 0930 hrs!

[cornwallcoastpathdweller]

9 miles before 0930 hrs!

I did set off at 6am (which isnt pleasant)

[gunwharfman]

The walk that I had planned for myself didn't happen.

I've spent my time being careful about Covid-19 and had made the decision to go on a train from Portsmouth (5.00 a.m) to Winchester and walk the South Downs Way on to Petersfield on Wednesday. I was all prepared, mask, gloves, and gel.

On Tuesday I had paid asn booked my e-ticket and had printed it out. I had all of my clothes organised etc and ready and my phone alarm was set to wake me up. I did all this about 3.00 p.m. and soon after.

Sometime later around 5.00 p.m, I began to feel light-headed, my head started to ache and when I got up from my chair I felt that I was going to fall over. Within an hour I felt even worse and so went to bed, I felt terrible and tossed and turned throughout the night. Them my alarm went off and I knew that I couldn't even make it out of my bed, so I didn't.

Wednesday proved to be terrible, I had 5 major bouts of vomiting, I was disoriented, my vision went haywire! Getting to the toilet was so difficult, I could only do it by gripping onto a radiator a door handle, the top of the stairs rung and getting back to bed was just as bad. My lowest point was when I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get there and back.

My wife nursed me through the day, making me drink water and some other fluid from the chemist, it tasted foul, to replenish the salts etc I'd lost by the vomiting. A truly horrendous day, at one point I seriously asked myself if I was going to die! A bit over the top I know but I felt absolutely rotten to my core.

I was still bad on Thursday, I started the morning with one vomiting outburst but then it calmed down somewhat. I was still woozy and unsteady on my feet but I was improving.

I'm now in front of my PC, still a little woozy, my eyesight is now fine and I feel weak but I can eat and drink. Oddly though I've only had two slices of dry toast since Tuesday (on Thursday) and at the moment I don't feel hungry.

That experience for me was unbelievable, It came onto me so fast, I've never had such an experience like that in my whole life and I'm still trying to work out what it was? The chemist said I'd just picked up a 'bug,' easy to say but what bug? Of course, was it food poisoning?

I'm now just going to just plod through the day hoping by tomorrow I'll be back to near normal. The only benefit from it is that I've lost weight.

[Jac]

Nasty Glad your feeling better GWM.

[gunwharfman]

Thank you, I've improved as the day has gone on, just a bit wobbly on my legs and I feel a little woozy if I try to move too fast, e.g. get up from a chair too quickly.

My wife, ever the practical, reminded me this morning I only wasted £12.50 on the train fare, it could have been worse.

[Little Foot]

Good that you feel better GWM. You had it rough. Sounds something like Norovirus, but you generally get the squirts with that, although I'm sure at times it differs with each person. I've also had hangovers pretty similar too lol. 


Are you sure you can't get a refund for your tickets? I generally can with mine.

[gunwharfman]

To tell you the truth I can't be bothered at the moment.

I've fallen over many times, I've had a backache and so on but never anything like that and luckily not a toothache either.

It's made me realise how lucky I've been over the years when hiking here and there, no food poisoning or 'bugs' for me. If that had happened to me up in the mountains how would I have coped? It was the speed that it hit me that was the main shock of it all! Just something I think I should have thought about from time to time but I didn't.

[ninthace]

Interesting question is if you have been meticulous with your mask and anti-Covid measures - where did you get it from?

Norovirus is also known as the Winter Vomitting Bug so wrong time of year and it is characterised by D&V.  Mrs N had it on a ski trip a few years back - waste of a lift pass.

Hope you are soon running again

[gunwharfman]

My mask, I made it myself, made from a piece of silnylon type material and I wiped the outside regularly with a small sponge soaked in thick soapy water. I didn't plan to breathe through it as such I was taking in my air via the bottom of the mask which stitched along its bottom length was a length of thickish cotton material and formed what I'd hoped was a good enough seal around my neck. I washed it in soapy water every day and then dried it. I used it for a while and then moved on and since then I've tended to use the ordinary masks. I just got lazy and went for the easy way to do it. I also by then started to feel I was more in charge of who got near me or didn't. Of course, I have no idea if my Heath Robinson mask helped me or not but I'm still here.

Maybe over the top but I don't mind, having worked for the NHS in psychiatric hospitals for years and remembering our infections used to whizz around the wards at the drop of a hat I think looking back I was a bit over-cautious. I'm still annoyed however how incompetent and lacking leadership skills and clarity this Government has offered to us and the prize to the nation of 46,000 deaths and still rising. I'll get over it though.

I have improved enormously during today thank you, my legs still feel a little trembly but I'm hopeful that by tomorrow I'll be back to normal. The last time I had anything like this was about twenty years ago. Hopefully never again.

[richardh1905]

Glad to hear that you are on the mend, GWM, food poisoning / stomach bugs can hit hard - but on the few occasions that I have been laid low like that, I have recovered quickly.

[cornwallcoastpathdweller]

Would suggest a nice 'feet up' television weekend after that GWM, good job it didnt happen part way through your walk.  There is always another time for that.