Pure luxury. A reasonable nice day. Breakfast and a newspaper. Lunch in the bar of the Park Hotel. A stroll through bookshops. Catching up with the new arrivals at the hotel. Very relaxing. By the time we'd returned to the campsite the place was heaving with tents which, of course, included so many Aktos that you'd be forgiven for thinking the world had been invaded by strange, nylon, aliens.

Roger at Challenge Control with His System!

The final dinner was great fun. There were speeches from Roger. And then some more speeches. And more. All first timers were made to take a bow. Then the second timers. And the third, and so on. There were special mentions for international Challengers and for the 'Super Legends' who'd reached 20 or so. Route vetter John Donahue made a very fine and funny speech although I can't remember what about - it may well have been in praise of the internationals. And then to the bar. Stan and Bill from Callater Lodge were there. If I had trouble understanding them before, well, I was completely lost now.

It was a memorable end to a memorable two weeks.

We decided to leave at a reasonably civilised hour. We found Christine about to get in taxi to the campsite. There was no more walking for Christine. I was shocked. But we jumped in. I felt like a naughty child, skipping school for the day. But - although one of the shortest taxi journeys imaginable - it felt like the ultimate luxury.

It was all over for another year.

But this route could have been a lot better. Perhaps, next year .....