My rest day was mostly spent fixing equipment and eating. I also picked up a parcel with a new rudder and some blood glucose testing strips from Jorg, a guy I’d contacted on Warmshowers. Annoyingly, a second parcel containing insulin hadn’t arrived and we thought it had been stopped by customs. With no telling when it’d arrive, there was no point in waiting.

The next day the cold wind had died and it was already getting hot when I left the canoe club at 10 am. I felt rubbish for the first hour, perhaps my body protesting after its rest day. The scenery was amazing as I paddled around the Massif des Calanques, an area of rugged limestone crags that is the backdrop to Marseille. France’s highest coastal cliffs towered above me and I explored the beautiful inlets and hidden beaches. The place was busy with people enjoying all the good things – climbing, paddling, walking, mountain biking, scuba diving, fishing. What a cool place!

After an hour and a half, I received a call from Jorg saying my insulin had arrived! I didn’t fancy repeating the morning paddle twice over, so left my boat on a secluded beach and set off for Marseille on foot. Yet again, the turn of events gave me a great opportunity- an amazing hike through the Calanques. I got some odd looks as I scrambled up a scree slope in my rubber beach shoes, but I have a good history of walking in unsuitable footwear and they actually provided surprisingly good grip on the rocks.

A couple of hours later I picked up my insulin and started the trek back. The views were incredible, photos do them no justice. Sweat ran down my face as I climbed up a gorge in the beating sun, and I couldn’t wait to jump in the sea.

I got back on the water at 4 pm and headed offshore a little to catch some of the light breeze on my back. The sun began to set and I made the decision to continue in the dark to a headland directly ahead, rather than turn in to shore. The light slowly faded, the sky a soft cloudy mauve. An orange glow spilt over the black silhouette of the mountains from Toulon and the coastal towns lit up with hundreds of twinkling dots. The sliver of moon changed from white to golden and the first stars emerged. On the horizon 3 brightly lit cruise ships sailed in convoy. I aimed for a lighthouse, my senses alert, slightly on edge. I imagined the creatures beneath me in the inky water and jumped when a flagged buoy sprang out of the blackness. Vision impeded, I felt for the waves beneath my boat. The lighthouse rock loomed and I found a spot to land on Google maps. I crept silently through the water, listening for the water lapping against rocks and straining my eyes to see the beach. It came in to view metres away and I set up camp, back in the repaired tent.