Day 3. Portofino, Base "0" Santa Margherita.

Much more enjoyable day. Train north to Santa Margherita, then bus to Portofino, probably the most up-market resort on the Italian Riviera, often visited by the Sunday Times food critic and film director, Michael Winner.

Walk through the port to admire the expensive yachts, then up to the lighthouse where we observed some scuba diving lessons while having a cup of tea.

From Portofino we made a steep climb above the town and onto a more comfortable path. I think everyone had moaned so much about the steps, that the leaders thought they needed to change plans and took as on paths that were less rocky and stony, but challenging nevertheless.

We stopped at Base "0" for lunch around 1pm. No-one knows why the spot is called Base "0" and we couldn't come up with a suitable suggestion.

Very enjoyable day. Everyone more relaxed and a lot of chatting and laughing going on, probably since we weren't constantly looking at where we needed to put our feet while walking. 15km covered with 500m ascent and descent.