TRAINING

-
Approaching Lennox Head
Last Saturday we completed our final training walk, from Ballina to Lennox Head.

When we are travelling, our phones are very important. We use the Samsung Health app to record the day's walking statistics, take photos with the camera app, then compile the blog on our phones in the evening.

Shouldering our full packs, we started out from Lighthouse Beach in Ballina. The fine drizzle gave us the opportunity to test out our hands-free umbrella holding system. We found something that worked for Kath, but Russell's is still a work in progress.

We followed the sealed path along the coast, admiring fine views before heading into the coastal scrub. The path was busy and we shared it with cyclists, joggers, fellow walkers and a couple of groups in training for long distance walking - one even planning on walking the Via Francigena like us!

The new facilities at Sharpes Beach - toilet, water, benches - were being well patronised. Someone had even built rock cairns on the new sculpture, though they certainly aren't needed for way marking.

We took the dirt track over the headland through the banksias, past Boulder Beach and down into the swampy section. It was a bit windy so we didn't see any rainbow bee eaters or sacred kingfishers or golden headed cisticolas in their usual spots. 

We tackled the second headland with a hot cross bun for sustenance before heading into Lennox Head to the Point Cafe, for our standard beverage order and a sit down - 10km, a third of our distance done.

After our break, we retraced our route back to Lighthouse Beach. The wind had picked up so we found a sheltered spot to eat our lunch, overlooking the beach. We had now completed 20 km, two thirds of our total distance for the day.

For the last third of our walk, we headed out along the breakwater then followed the river along the bike path into central Ballina. We found a few birds for Russell to test the zoom on his new phone camera. Remembering we are in training for Italy, our final stop was for mango sorbet - closest we could get to gelato!

Fiddling with the umbrella
Through the forest
Boulder Beach 
A chat along the way
Our regular order, Lennox Head
Going up
Along the boardwalk
Towards Sharpes Beach and Flat Rock
Down to Sharpes Beach 
Breakwater, Ballina
Along the Richmond River at Ballina
Some bird photos from the day's walk
Near the end of the day's walk - a welcome rest 
Map - training walk
Day:                     Training 
Distance:             30.32 km
Time:                    6 hrs 07 mins
Elevation Gain:   304 m

Comments

  1. Cameron Green11 April 2026 at 23:41

    It is all coming together!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barkers12 April 2026 at 01:41

    It's taken a while, Cameron, but yes, we think we're ready!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Russell Stubbings17 April 2026 at 00:53

    Thats an epic training walk! Great photos too. What phone are you using?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barkers17 April 2026 at 07:47

    We've both got Samsung, Russell's is the Ultra 26, hot off the press. He's been loving playing with the camera, especially all the AI features for a bit of fun.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PREPARING FOR ANOTHER LONG WALK

-
Image
We're excited to be getting ready for another adventure! This time we are heading to Italy. The plan is to walk from the East Coast to the West Coast,  starting from Marina di Ravenna on the Adriatic Sea on Tuesday 21 April, arriving at Ostia on the Tyrrhenian Sea on Sunday 12 July.  Using walking paths and small roads, we aim to cover about 25 km most days,  with plenty of rest days in interesting places in between. We've pre-booked bed and breakfasts and small hotels in the places we pass through.  We're planning to write a blog post about our experiences every day. Follow along to share in wonderful vistas, fabulous food and the joys of long distance walking! Coming soon: Reading, Preparation 
Read more

FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR OUR LONG DISTANCE WALK

-
Image
In the last post we talked about how we researched our trip. After we have planned our route based on this research, we have to make sure we are fit enough and have the right gear to undertake it. This is the focus of this post, what we have done in the past along with a couple of tweaks for this trip. Training We keep ourselves generally fit by walking and bike riding in the (hilly) Northern Rivers. As well as walking locally most days, one day a week we usually complete the Ballina to Lennox Head coastal walk, a distance of about 20 km. As departure date grows closer, we increase the distance by adding on loops into Ballina and carrying increasing weight, until we end up in full kit. We also increase the food intake! Foot Care We both currently wear Merrell Moab hiking shoes, which have wide toe boxes and are waterproof. We replace the inner soles with gel soles for added comfort. Our preferred socks are Darn Tough, although Kath is experimenting with toe socks this time as well. We ...
Read more