Month: June 2022
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Day 70: Ostia to Rio Martino
I’m lying on a sandy beach, the setting sun on my back. Yesterday I was in Rome, but that already feels like a week ago. That’s what travel does for me, stretches days to feel like weeks. Not when I’m living them, just when I look back at them. Rich experiences make each day it’s…
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Day 69: Ladispoli to Ostia
Having given up trying to get the old dexcom sensor to work, I inserted a new one. I woke up to a high alarm at 1am, injected 2 units, and then woke up to a low alarm at 4.30am. I wasn’t actually low, but was trending down sharply, so I stayed awake for the next…
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Day 68: Voltone to Ladispoli
I woke up feeling exhausted, but the promise of a bed at the end of the day got me on the water. Sleep hasn’t really improved, I’m getting 6 hours a night if I’m lucky. Despite my best efforts I couldn’t get my dexcom working, so today I’d be on the water with no idea…
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Day 67: Montalto Marina to Voltone
I need not have worried about being stuck on the beach, but I decided not to battle the headwind anyway, and spent the whole day sneakily lying on a deckchair under an umbrella, pretending I was a member of the beach club. Lots of admin done, yes I have to reply to emails too. If…
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The INSULIN 360 challenge
In August I’ll take a break from my kayak to join type 1 diabetic mountaineer and Action 4 Diabetes (A4D) co-founder Jerry Gore on the INSULIN 360 challenge, with the aim of raising £25,000 for Action 4 Diabetes, a charity that supports kids in SE Asia with type 1 diabetes. We will attempt to traverse…
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Day 66: Santa Liberata to Montalto Marina
Massy lived in the middle of the lagoon in the pretty little town of Orbetello, his balcony looking over the cathedral. Back in 1930, when fascist Italy was advancing its aviation, the lagoon was used used as a major base for sea planes. Today its a nature reserve, shallow and full of flamingoes in the…
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Day 65: Castiglione to Santa Liberata
Hot and humid air blew up from Africa on Sunday, the sirocco wind. The sea was churning with white horses by 10am, and I was happy to have the day off. Funnily enough the Italian surf life saving nationals were being held on the beach at Castiglione. I tried to enter the surfski race, but…
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Day 64: Punta Bianca to Castiglione
A curious phenomenon occurred at Punta Bianca – the cliff talked. It was as I lay in my tent that I noticed it- people above me on the cliffs chattering away. I got out of my tent to look, but no one was there. The sound of the waves breaking on the pebbly shore was…
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Day 63: Marina di Salivoli to Punta Bianca
I’ve found phone signal on Elba so can upload my blogs now! If you haven’t already seen, I now have a live tracker thanks to Geotracks. You can see my live location on the home page, or by clicking here. I woke up in paradise. It feels like I’m in another country, Italy a distant…
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Day 62: Marina di Salivoli to Marciana Marina
When I fell asleep on the beach my blood sugars were stable, but I was perhaps too much of a perfectionist and injected 1 unit of insulin to get then in the ideal range for the night. At 12.30 my dexcom low alarm woke me, and before the cereal bars and sweets kicked in, I…