< Littleport Denver >

Sleep

As predicted, I didn’t sleep well last night. I rarely do the first night away somewhere. I think my sleeping pad was too firm as well.

Dampener

The alarm went off at 6 am. There was no condensation on the inside of the tent; apparently condensation can be a problem with single-shell tents.

As we prepared to get out of the tent, it dared to start raining. It was only light, but if it continued, it would put a dampener on breakfast. Luckily, the pattering stopped after a while, so we got out and got on with brekkie and whatnot.

Birds

I strolled to the gate nearby and watched a herd of sparrows on one side and a quiver of wagtails on the other while I ate my porridge.

Poles

While I was gone, someone had come up to Mr Pandammonium to ask about the tent. They were thinking of getting a tent with walking poles for tent poles because they were going trekking or some such.

Practice

After breakfast, we packed everything up, including the tent, even though we’re staying here tonight, because it’s good practice for when we’re walking the Hadrian’s Wall Path.

Diversion

We set off to the Ship Inn at Brandon Creek at the confluence of the Rivers Great and Little Ouse. My bad leg was pretty stiff and sore to begin with, but it loosened up after a while. I still had to rely heavily on my walking poles, though.

We had an important diversion before we got anywhere near the Ship: Mr Perkins.

Elevenses

When we were almost-but-not-quite nearly at the Ship, my leg became very sore indeed. We stopped for elevenses at a picnic bench on a mooring, which gave my leg a nice rest; I also popped some painkillers. After that, it wasn’t so bad, and it got another rest at the pub.

Gravity

As we left the pub to return to the campsite, I went and put my foot in a hole in the ground I didn’t see till I’d put my foot in it. I lost my balance and tumbled forwards, my rucksack adding momentum to my fall, and gravity had a good laugh. This time, I landed on a different part of my more bruised knee. That made kneeling later even harder.

Straps

It wasn’t until we were killing time at the Swan before detouring to Mr Perkins that I realised my shoulders were so sore because I’d tightened my shoulder straps too tight. When I wore the straps looser, it was much better, although the damage had been done.

Tent

We put the tent back up, after a minor dispute over whose pitch it was (definitely ours), and cooked our tea. Someone else came over to admire our tent. They were impressed by how small and light it was, and how it used walking poles for tent poles. Their tent weighed 2 kilograms – not good for the three-month trek they were talking about. It seems we have the super-duperest tent in the whole campsite.