The UK - our starting point.  Bertie and I shall be embarking on our epic journey across Europe and Asia from London, riding South to Newhaven to catch our ferry to France. 

We spent most of June 2008 riding through Wales, on a practice run to test out the equipment we have and to make ammendments to our kit.  You can see the route we took here, which was updated whilst on the ride using satellite technology provided by the Spot device from Adventure Trading Post.

The practice run was a useful exercise, as it enabled us to see what items worked and what needs to be modified.  The saddlebags, in particular, need changing, as the pack on the back of the saddle kept slipping, and eventually (after just 1 week!) split across the seams, and everything flew out.  Bertie was incredibly calm which was fantastic - however, it was not an ideal situation, and certainly good to find problems out now rather than abroad!

March 2009

The final weeks of preparation saw Bertie and I get vaccinated against all sorts of things, I learned how to trim his hooves and Bertie got fitted for Swiss Hoof Boots. I organised a photo shoot at Horseguards Parade, Whitehall, to which the Daily Mail, Telegraph and Kyodo News attended! I also received a Travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to aid the first year of the expedition. The final week was absolutely manic and I didn’t stop once, but it was all worth it, as on April 1st…

…We left!

I chose April 1st as our leaving date so that just in case everything went wrong, we could say the expedition was one big April Fool! Fortunately, so far, all has been going well. We have had a few minor hiccups, but thats what’s great about starting from home - all the little things can be sorted before we cross the Channel!

The first day went well and Bertie and I found ourselves camping in a field owned by a lovely mother and daughter who gave me dinner, breakfast and a hot shower. If only every day can be like this! On April 2nd, we meandered through gorgeous countryside and came across the Smith and Western, a wild west themed pub, full of memorabilia. If anything went wrong with any of my kit, I could quite easily have borrowed a saddle or bridle from them - the place was full of equipment, bull horns, hats…

That evening we spent the night under the stars, with our generous hosts giving us enough food for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a further breakfast! Amazingly, we also managed to carry eggs without breaking a single one!

On the 3rd we followed a bridleway through some glorious woods and spent the evening at a wine taster’s field. Bertie spent his first evening tethered and did very well, and we were invited to have some lovely red wine (me, not Bertie!) and chat about the trip.

The following day, we joined the Down’s Link, a public right of way which links the North and the South Downs. It runs along an old railway track, so the terrain is nice and flat and the scenery is stunning. We met many walkers, cyclists and other horse riders, all curious to know why Bertie was decked out in bags! The kit has had a lot of admiration, with plenty of comments on the comfy Keith Brian saddle, the Plas Equestrian bridle and Bertie’s yellow and pink hi vis socks! We passed a village shop and bought supplies - pie and cheese for me, polos for Bertie, and had a feast for our lunch break, with some of the red wine from the previous evening! That evening we were camped in a ladies garden next to 4 llamas - one of which was called Bertie! That morning, Bertie escaped…not far, he leapt over a fence and dashed across a field to join 2 little Shetland ponies. I spent half an hour playing tag with him trying to catch him - he can be really cheeky when he wants to be! Once caught, I indulged in the most delicious eggs I have ever eaten from our hosts free range hens, and set off again along the Down’s Link. Our picnic lunch was held in a beautiful castle ruin, and some friends and family joined us for the afternoon. That afternoon we started on the South Down’s Way and got to Devil’s Dyke, which in the Victorian era had it’s own train station - the remains of which we camped in, on what would have been the tracks, with the platform above us!

The next few days we spent on the South Downs, a stunning part of England, high up on the hills with fantastic vistas on all sides. The views are incredible, and a majority of the time you are on the top of the hills - so although they can be very windy, you can see for miles. The only downside is the amount of gates - horse friendly, but still, a hassle to keep having to go through every few minutes! We came across some of the South Downs countryside managers surveying a pond, and lots of Duke of Edinburgh walkers.

It was time to give Bertie a rest, so on the 6th Bertie spent a well earned day munching on grass, and I went in to Brighton to do washing, access the internet and buy supplies. The previous evening I had managed to damage my stove with diesel fuel (it is multifuel and runs on everything, but I had put the wrong attachment in and when I tried to convert it to gas it refused to work.) It’s fixable, but for the time being I had to find another solution - so I had wandered in to the Newmarket Inn on the A22, and the owners had kindly given me cheesecake and beef sandwiches for dinner. My Brighton trip involved buying a cheap calor gas stove for a quick fix to my cooking problem. I also discovered a show tree in Brighton - bizarre!

I had bought myself a book and magazine, as well as a journal to write in each day - however the evenings seem to disappear so quickly! Once a place to stay has been found, Bertie has to be untacked, checked over, fed and watered, the tent has to be put up, bags emptied and stored, food to be cooked, and the next day’s route to be looked over - there’s no time to do anything else!

We made very slow progress the next few days (7th-10th) due to slipping saddlebags and the risk of a sore developing on Bertie’s back - so he has been taking it easy, I have been walking alongside him and the bags were transferred to his front. He is now (as of the 11th) having a couple of days off to allow it to heal (it is not bad, but I don’t want it to become a problem).

We passed Newhaven, which teased us as our original departure from the UK was to be from this port with LD Lines - however now we are going from Dover with the Equine Travel Agency. So a bit more of the UK to explore, which is no bad thing! However, we got a bit confused that we may have taken a wrong turning and ended up in Australia…

On the 10th, Bertie lost a boot which I went to reclaim, which took ages to retrace our steps till I found it, and then the saddlebags fell off, so in 2 hours we did about as many miles. Frustrating as it was, we stopped at a pub for lunch as a treat and came across some Morris Dancers - so all was not lost!

My cooking has improved 10 fold over the past 10 days, so much so that I have decided I am camping cuisine queen! It might not look palatable to some, but I thought this was a pretty good shot at spaghetti bolognaise, AND it was all fresh ingrediants - none of this freeze dried malarky for this happy camper!

I’ll keep you updated on our progress as and when - the next time I get access to the internet will probably be at Dover, so take a look at the site in a weeks time for more news!

I would also like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped Bertie and I through our trip so far - to all who have put us up and put up with us, provided us with food and stopped for a chat - its been great meeting you all and thank you!

Becky and Bertie

25th April 2009

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but I have not been able to get to a computer!

Bertie had a day off whilst I visited Battle Abbey, which was beautiful, and explored the town; it has an amazing history and is certainly worth a visit.  Bertie and I also visited Rye together, and took a look at the most haunted pub in England, The Mermaid; apparently its so bad, people won’t stay there!  It was lovely, however, and my black and white horse outside the black and white house caused a lot of interest!

The last few days in England involved a horribly wet day on the Romney Marsh’s in which Bertie and I got hideously lost, not just on the Marsh but also in the Bermuda Triangle of holiday parks.  As luck would have it, however, we happened upon a farm who are used to having random horse travellers appear, the last one 2 years ago, heading in the opposite direction!  My thanks to Mrs Cooke who then showed Bertie and I a route out of the Marsh the following day and put us on the right track to Dover.

The night before we arrived at Equine Travel Agency’s HQ, Bertie and I stayed at a farm where lambing was in full swing, and I was able to bottle feed the orphan lambs!  There was also a playful calf and a host of kittens; it was a lovely place.

On arrival at ETA Bertie was taken to a field and in the evening given a well deserved meal.  We sailed to Calais on the 24th April, and with one last look at England we crossed the Channel and Bertie and I were dropped off just outside Calais at a yard where we could sort ourselves out.  My thanks to ETA for all their hard work, they really are brilliant and experts in their field.

 Tim from ETA and I waving goodbye to England!