Day: 98 Location: Dover 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

It’s quite a surreal feeling to have walked across three countries and raised so much money for JDRF while doing so, a charity I am so passionate about. I remain so focused as I know there is still a massive job at hand.

The past few weeks in France were a different experience from the first 2.5 months. I was fortunate to have my lovely parents Jane Bartlett and David Bartlett over to visit. This gave me the luxury to walk as much as I wanted to each day and be picked up/dropped off by car, not limited by the location of my accomodation or my route. I also didn’t have to worry about finding accomodation or food! It also gave me the opportunity to visit war memorial sites after finishing walking and also a couple of wineries while we were In Champagne.

More importantly, I have two of the most supportive people in my life by my side! (And mum massaging my legs/feet) 💕

I managed to walk over 1000km in the month, so having them around certainly helped me use more energy to push myself further to help me get ahead of schedule. It was vital to get as far ahead of my schedule as possible due to a few issues regarding my visa.

I left France (and my parents) yesterday in Calais, where I boarded the ferry over to Dover (no I wasn’t swimming)! I was lucky to make it into England, through customs without deportation or any issues regarding my visa! 🙏🏼 The English border securities biggest concern letting me in was that I might provide extra support to our Aussie Women’s Cricketers. “They are already going to be too strong for us, we don’t need you cheering them on too!”! (Proved to be accurate after the Aussies massive win today)

I am very excited to be starting my journey in England! This will be my third English summer in the past 5 years and it certainly feels more like home to me! I’m excited to be able to communicate with everyone more fluently, see some friends, watch some cricket, oh and walk over 1200km...

The body is holding together well! After the pain and injuries I suffered walking to Melbourne 6 years ago, I would have never believed anyone if they said I’d be injury free after over 2800km over tough terrains. My muscles continue to hate me and are causing me a fair bit of pain, but no injuries or concerns at the moment! 😊

I have been carrying with me some letters written by some amazing people with Adelaide living with or closely connected with Type One Diabetes.

The last letter I left to open was written by Chloe, a lovely young girl who has T1. Those at my gala would have heard her speak and would know just how brave she is! She asked me to not open the letter until I needed some inspiration! I have been so close to opening it during some really tough days, but decided to open it just before crossing the channel from France to England! Certainly a great reminder of just why I am doing this and how important funding to JDRF is!

I managed to have a day off today and certainly took the opportunity to rest, while taking a bit of a walk around Dover to keep the muscles moving!

Excited to tick over the 100 day milestone in a couple of days! 😊💕