C2Cx2 Preparation
We used most of the equipment from our 2010 C2C. Significant extras were new boots to replace the ones from 2010 that were showing signs of wear, and a basic GPS to assist in navigation. We each carried a new, compact zoom camera – a Panasonic DMC-LF1 for Mary and a Panasonic DMC-TZ60 for Graham.
We began building our fitness for the walk with short 7km walks from home through local hills and valleys. We progressed to longer walks carrying packed rucksacks through the hills of a national park near our home on the western edge of Brisbane – at this stage we planned to carry all our gear during the walk. The first walk was 16km, then 20km, then 25km. The last of these walks was a major setback. It was a very hot day (32oC) causing Mary to suffer heat stress and, despite previous walks in the new boots, severe blisters and bruising under her toenails. Mary lost a couple of toenails and was diagnosed as having mallet toes. Undaunted, Mary purchased silicon supports for her toes and another pair of boots to accommodate the supported toes. Graham's allergy to predatory mites had flared during each of the longer walks. So we resorted to walking laps of a 4km track up and over 270 metre Mt Cootha, within sight of central Brisbane. The walk wasn't as interesting as the longer national park walks, but we could easily access the track by road at several points to evacuate Mary if her toe problems were too painful, and the track didn't cause allergy problems for Graham. We walked the track for 4 months before the walk, Graham weekly and Mary monthly. Several other walkers were using the track in preparation for long distance walks on the Camino in Spain. Mary also continued her gym workouts.
'Practice walk over Mt Cootha'
Because of Mary's foot problems we considered using a baggage carrier for the walk to reduce the pressure on her feet. Brigantes was the only carrier advertising support for the NoEW, and that was for the west to east crossing. In response to an email request, Brigantes agreed to carry our bags for a NoEW west to east crossing, and the C2C. A premium was charged for the unusual route, but we considered that was a reasonable price to pay for being able to do the walk.