Sometimes referred to as a ‘Glorified Pub Crawl through England’, our tour is for people with a love of walking but at the same time, don’t take it too seriously. This time we had 10 guests on tour, 6 from Queensland and 4 from South Australia.
It’s a tour that’s well suited to those who feel that a good days walking should be rewarded with a few wines ( or beers, or Malibu and Coke as was the case this year! ) and a lovely dinner. I hope this gives you an idea of the kind of people I take on the tour and also an indication of the level of fitness required to participate.
You don’t have to be a super athlete, nor do you have to be able to carry a 25 kilo back-pack for 8 hours a day. All you need to be able to do is…………just walk!
Our tour began when we all met in Sydney, the destination of our very first walk, The Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. This is a great walk and always proves to be a good walk for everyone to get to know each other because - A- Everyone is pretty well chained to each other and to the bridge and - B - we all have to wear the same boiler suits which are in no way flattering regardless of size and shape!
If you haven’t done the Bridge Climb before, I urge you to do it whether it be on our tour or simply the next time you’re in Sydney. It really is a fantastic walk and tour that not only gives you some amazing iconic views but you also learn a lot about the city of Sydney and the history of the Bridge which is almost 100 years old now.
As always, we spent just the one night in Sydney before getting two thirds of our journey to the UK out of the way and arriving in Dubai. Here we had 2 nights and days to experience this city that I can only describe as the fastest moving place on Earth!! I visit Dubai every year and it changes dramatically in the short space of 12 months. It’s an amazing place and a sight to behold.
For me, the tour REALLY begins once we arrive in England. We leave the big cities and their noise behind and head to the beautiful English countryside.
Over the following 18 days we walked the green green hills in every kind of weather, visited one of England's most spectacular Country Shows, marvelled at buildings over 500 years old and walked along Hadrian's Wall, Northern Europe's most significant structure from The Roman Empire, dating back to AD122.
We enjoyed home-cooked meals and local hospitality in the many country B&B's we stayed in. We sampled local beers and not so local wines!
The last 4 days of the tour was spent on-board our own canal barges as we meandered along the famous Llangollen Canal, working as a team as we passed through the many locks along the way.
Strangers became friends and fantastic memories were made and I can’t wait to escort the next Walking Tour of the United Kingdom.