A practice walk on the enchanting Isle of Portland.

How do you walk 40 miles in three days- focus on the first step.

Over the last few weeks, my walking training has amounted to whatever I can fit in around....well, LIFE. It's mainly consisted of speed walks to and from work, an evening stomp around the city streets, leisurely lunchtime strolls, and any weekend walk I can bribe the boys to join me on. I've walked one double figure walk with three of 'Las Seis Camngas!' but our what's app feed is full of long walks and the clocking up of miles... which is blummin' brilliant- only none of those miles are mine. So, it comes as no surprise that I'm feeling less than confident about tackling 120kms in six days, which essentially means a double figure walk a day for six days... Eeeek!

So, when my lovely friend Lou's parents were going on holiday and said we could bunk up in their gorgeous home in Portland for a few days, my Camino-buddy, Jane and I felt it was the perfect opportunity to walk double figures on three consecutive days. Although, once we'd arrived and eaten our body weight in cheese and biscuits, I could have quite happily admired the view and chilled in the back garden... and whist that would have been wonderful for my soul, my soles needed to find their groove too. So, at 8am the following morning we set off, with bellies full of brie, onto the South West coastal path and the steep hike was not for the weak of knees or tums full of cheese, but the view got better and better as we climbed so upwards we went. And once at the top, it really did feel like we were on the top of the world... what a view!

The Isle of Portland is four miles wide by a mile-and-a-half wide at its broadest point and the Portland loop of the South West Coast Path, circles around the island at approximately 10 miles, and we had planned a route that would total 14 miles. Having spent many a camping holiday on the Dorset coast, I thought I knew the local landscape, but Portland was very different to areas of the Jurassic coast I had previously visited. With its rocky coastline, its breathtakingly rugged beauty, was enveloped with a low-lying mist which created a dystopian feel. Nevermind, top of the world... at 8am on Bank Holiday Monday if felt more like the end of the world- and I write that with a heart full of fondness. It was stunning! We were in awe as we ambled through Tout Quarry and the stone sculpture park, surrounded by Portland stone and searching for carvings in the rocks. We were spellbound as we climbed steep crags, with boots covered in clag (not easy, let me tell you!) and made it to 'The Bill' for breakfast. In the shadows of the red and white striped Portland Bill Lighthouse, that well earnt banana and nuts tasted sublime.

Onwards we walked roadside past coastal forts and woodlands, glimpsing turquoise slithers of the sea and the white pebble beaches, which were smuggler hotspots back in the day. We saw 14th Century 'pirate' gravestones and walked so many steps that I swear I heard my knees scream. The route was quiet and we chatted to a few other walkers and watched in awe as people bouldered and rock-climbed- (definitely not for the feint hearted!) and we marveled at the brutalist-architecture of Verne Prison and the family friendly Fancy's Farm- a previously owned MOD buildings. We descended from a-top the island down a steep incline called Merchants Incline, previously a gravity-operated railway, with beautiful views of the Harbour and Chesil Bank and apparently Weymouth in the distance (we couldn't see through the mist!). Reveling, in our fortuitous decision to walk anti-clockwise, so that we walked down the incline instead of up.

Then for some reason unknown to novice walkers, we decided to walk two miles back to Fortunestown along the brow of Chesil Beach and for those of you who are aware of how hard it is walking on stone beaches, you will already realise (way before we did!) that it's an absolute muscle shredder. And to top it all off, the Cove Pub in the distance wasn't getting any closer and my mouth was getting drier and drier in the anticipation of an ice-cold shandy. The last mile of the walk seemed to take longer than the previous 13 miles put together, but we finally made it and celebrated my first 14 miler in style... shandy and a bowl of chips, anyone? There and then, high on the joys of the walk, decided we'd do it all again clockwise the next day... and we all know what that means... Merchants incline. Eeeek!

But as always, the thought of it was far worse than the actual incline-climb and on Tuesday morning we made it to the top relatively unscathed, to see the Olympic Rings- a memorial form the 2012 Olympic Games. Although, we then found ourselves back on the coastal path we saw coves and scenery from a different view point to yesterday. And more importantly, my body was holding up- it didn't feel like we had walked a fairly long distance the day before and i felt just as much joy at putting one foot in front of the other. Winner! There's something about getting up and thinking about nothing but walking... no work, no tea times, no fitting it in around everything else-just you and your footsteps. And the walk in the sunshine to Weymouth on Wednesday was equally as manageable... although, the Fish and Chip reward waiting for us at Weymouth Harbour might have had something to do with that. Thirty miles in three days was fine and filled me with confidence that the 120km of the Camino in six days is totally possible for me... although I'm definitely not going to attempt it with belly full of Fish and Chips.

Thanks for having me Portland... its been idyllic. x