Rivendell - I'm here!

From 29 December 2008 to 19 June 2009 - five months and 22 days - that's how long it took me to complete this journey. To the reporter for Meie Maa who asked me back in the winter if I thought I could do it, I answered, 'Ask me that in August.' But I made it! ... and in less time than I expected. In case you have forgotten what the starting conditions were - here's a photo.

Somehow the weekly STATS don't seem so relevant this week. Still, a few might be interesting. When I began, the days had barely begun to grow longer. Up here we had just 6 hours and 11 minutes of daylight. On June 19, 2 days before the Solstice, that had increased to 18 hours and 27 minutes. In truth it hasn't gotten totally dark for more than a week.







The last weeks of the Rivendell challenge were difficult. Rain and high winds made walking and especially cycling extra unpleasant. We did get one day when the clouds broke enough to make riding and picture taking tolerable, so I headed out in search of lilacs, one of my favourite spring flowers.


For a few glorious weeks, our whole town is awash in their colour and intoxicating perfume. That includes our castle and its surrounding park.

















Summer, prayed for, cursed at and longed for has just about arrived, the sea and the beaches are waiting for us.

So, as the sun sets, on this adventure, my eyes and heart are already onto the next challenge - Lothlòrien!

Summer is here- finally and there's much more to see and to do and to show you. See you all on the trail!