Battered and Bruised (and an even sorer bottom)/ Cock action

The day after the cycle ride I put off the trek for the next day and basically did absolutely nothing but try and make space on my computer, as seems to have run out, and lounge around reading on the beach to give my legs a rest.  I had made myself a packed lunch of assorted sandwiches, some of which were utterly horrible - (never mix strong cheddar cheese and pate, for some reason they don't go together well)... but at least the local beach dog liked them;  and then watched the Star Trek movie in the evening with the kids which was just as good as last time... (got terribly excited about it all and embarrassed the children with my enthusiasm, but impressed them with my ability to do the Vulcan "live long and prosper" hand thingy.)

So I had therefore committed to doing the cross island trek the next day with Ed and Claire, the other guests at Rau's Guesthouse . 

What was I thinking???

It started off pretty easy, well, until we had entered jungle proper.  The track was suddenly very narrow and occasionally difficult to work out if it was indeed a track.

There were some markers nailed to trees, but sometimes someone had to scout ahead to see if we were going the right way.  We often had to had to climb over logs or trees on the path and it was often slippery or just very very uneven, gnarled with the slippery roots of trees webbing over the path to snag your  shoes,  or for you to slip in if you stood on one the wrong way.

It was "only" 650m up to The Needle a large pointy rock from which there are supposedly excellent views, but the island has to be a good 9 miles across too, as the crow flies, so our twisty-turny steep path our total journey was probably considerably more.

It was an overcast, but very humid day when we left to get the bus around to the other side of the island to begin the walk and pretty soon it began to rain, though the canopy above us was so thick we could just hear it rather than feel much of it, but it made the climb and then the descent so much more difficult as everything was just that little bit more slimy and slippery.

Just before we got to The Needle, we realised we were climbing inside the cloud and so when we reached it, we couldn't see any of the view, but then as we stood there, tired and disappointed, it suddenly blew away revealing a lovely view across the jungle, down the mountain to the sea.  

There was nowhere to stand or sit to enjoy the view but the narrow path which we were aware had a steep drop either side...we literally were walking the line straight up a crag of the mountain. With nothing but mosquitoes and spiky plants if we slipped.

The path after the needle then ran up, but largely down, which seemed more difficult than going up (if that was possible!) and I fell twice, once snagging my ankle in a tree root, whilst the rest of my body carried on, (still, proving I can do the splits if needs be, but bruising my ankle rather nastily) and again just having my feet disappear from under me and landing very hard on my bottom and bruising it nastily too.  This morning I can feel them, but they still don’t show so they are pretty deep I imagine.

We soon came to the stream, which we followed being bitten unmercifully by mosquitoes, until we all agreed it was time for a 15 min sit down for lunch.  We were already pretty muddy with filthy hands and nails and very hungry indeed.  We couldn’t stop for long though as the mosquitoes were unstoppable despite the amount of deet we were spraying on; - I think we were sweating it off in the humidity rather quickly.  And the bastards can bite through your clothes too.

The path continued, often zig zagging across the stream again and again, which despite really trying to stay on the rocks, and I found myself crawling across like Gollum catching fish, (as the stones were very very tricksy, precious) and everyone had wet squelchy feet by the third or fourth crossing.

At one point we had to cross the stream again, and then immediately traverse a rock wall with very little hand grip, or indeed grippage of any kind, to make it to the path on the other side.  Ed is making it look easy here, as he is long of arm and leg, and 6 ft 4, however it was a little harder for Claire and me.

And then we were suddenly 4 travellers.
A beautiful Rooster, whom we named “Barbecue”, joined us for a good 3 k of our trek, lured in part by my occasional gift of some macadamia nuts but clearly also by a general sociable urge.

There was the occasional pleasure of a let up of jungle for a little waterfall, or when we entered steamy  Fernland, but we were aiming for a big waterfall which basically marked the end of the jungle and a 3k homeward trek by road.

When we reached here, Barbecue sadly left us with a final farewell crow, to go back to the jungle again, and the waterfalls frankly were less impressive than I’d hoped after all that walking.  I had planned to swim in them, but when it  finally came to it I was just too exhausted, bitten, battered and bruised to even contemplate stripping off, swimming, drying, warming up from the cold mountain water, re-deeting and the rest. 

So we just looked. And then decided to get home before we just couldn’t.  They say once you stop it’s so much harder to get started and after the 10 mins we spent at the waterfall, my feet were already burning up and seriously protesting with the renewed assault and everyone was aching with fatigue.

Apart from the light relief of the "cock action" we had been trekking, clambering, slipping, climbing, wading and ducking for 5 hours, steeply uphill or down hill and the road was we’d hoped, going to be nicer and easier but really, it wasn’t.

Drank 2 glasses of wine and was in bed by 9!

Today I am a mass of aches and pains, bruises and bites, but I do have a certain sense of achievement.  It’s my last day here, as I leave tomorrow, so I shall get going before I have no more beach time left -  as the sun as now out and the beach is calling!

Plane goes tomorrow at midnight, and 26 hours after that, I touch down in Heathrow!

The end is nigh L so today I finally treated myself to one of the Wigmore Store's famous double scoop ice creams which was almost as big as my head.