essential kit arrives just in time

SO... vital equipment has arrived. A new saddle pad to keep George`s back in shape.
The new one..obviously - is the black one. SMART. I pictured it with the old one. Its the same make, a PROPAD PLUS from Griffin NUUMED. The old one was FABULOUS and has actually gone most of the 6,000kms or so I have travelled with George. You can see that it looks less, well, NEW, than the new one. SO NUUMED sent me a new one. I am so happy. These are top of the range, and I`d have had to go without food (no bad thing) to buy one.
Whenever people ask me about numnahs and saddle pads I always mention these. (are you listening Marianna?) because..they last, the don`t slip, and the make sure your horse carry rider and loads of saddle bags without getting a bad back. George hasn`t even one white hair on his back.
Oh, one other thing -Griffin-NuuMed supply the British Equestrian team with saddle pads and numnahs which means it isn`t just me that`s noticed how good they are. And George is in pretty exhaulted equine company.
Beneath the saddle pads are the newly created saddle bags.. made out of cycle panniers and two small rucksacks that were supposed to be school bags.. lets see what happens...
Th next photo is of more essential kit, but for me.
On the last ride my sunglasses got lost. that was bad.
So I had to get new ones. I usually get CEBE glacier type ones, but they weren`t available. So I looked at the reviews. Surprisingly North Face Summit glasses came out best- I didnt even know they MADE sunglasses. Anyway I ordered them from Action Outdoors. I was really afraid they wouldnt make it in time, as I had made some previous attempts to order that failed to work out..but here they are, and me still waiting for the lorry.So many thanks to Action Outdoors for being so efficent.They also sent the knickers-
The knickers? they are Paramo. Who, you might ask, would pay 18 quid (or 16 in the sale) for knickers? We all know knickers are £10 for 4 pairs. The answer is anyone who has had saddle sores and rotting feet at the same time.. can`t walk, can`t ride, can`t sit down and cry because everything hurts..is willing to pay almost any money for this not to happen.
A friend once sent me a pair of "sports knickers" and I sent a note to thank her - "I`ll wear them fo riding, walking, skiing.." I wrote.
She replied "Penny. These knickers are NOT for running and riding. These knickers are for seduction..The same applies,now I look at them more closely, to these. Don`t they exude allure?

getting ready.

OK any time now the next adventure will start. I am going to repeat the ride I made in 2004 from Southern Greece to Northern Greece. My plan is to try and chronicle the changes that have happened since the last ride. Obviously the fires of two years ago will have made a big difference. The floods that are happening now are obviously connected with the destruction caused by the fires then.. though...as I know, those are not the only reasons that the landscape is changeing so much.
George is gearing up for the start by eating as much as he can.
WELCOME newcomer... BLING. Bling has been on one long ride already. It was the experience she enjoyed most in her wholelife. When she saw me with the saddle bags (I`m making new ones for on the saddle, and patching up the old ones for in front of the saddle)she was filled with joy, and sits near them all the time, so I can`t remove them without her knowing.
Above is a photo that says it all about the relationship between Bling and George. George LOVES Bling because she isnt afraid of anything and runs ahead clearing the route of dangers- or at least proving that what he perceives as dangers aren`t THAT bad. Wildboar? Turkeys? spookey paper bags? Bling fears none of them. So our progress has many less halts and spinning round from George, and we get along much more smoothly and efficiently.
The other photo shows some new kit: my old thermarest mattress, which was the most wonderful thing in the world has been replaced by the featured thermarest neoair - which is VERY light, but the reviews all said it was easy to puff up.. NOT my experience, but - too late now. It cost arm and leg, and I`ll just have to get dizzy everyday.
Next to it is a JackWolfskin gossamer (isn`t gossamer a kind of condom?) tent which weighs hardly anything, is impressively waterproof - easy to put up and has a mosquito net, which you can use alone if it is a beautiful night and you want to look at the stars. It - at 1/2 the price of a new bivvy bag and weighing very little more than my now leaky OLD bivvy bag- will give me more flexibility about camping in rotten weather than I had with the bivvy.
Also featured in the picture is a NEW Anavasi map of Giona. I bought a whole load of maps from a shop called "Traveller" in Thessaloniki. The people in there were unexpectedly wonderful. They didn`t patronise me by pretending that maps that I KNOW are hopelessly inaccurate are any use. They gave me some interesting pointers about how to tell if a map actually has been properly updated, and someone has actually CHECKED stuff, or whether it is just a copy of an old map.
Last time I was on Giona I did get lost even though I had a map, and, I am sure, even armed with Anavasi`s latest best effort, I will get lost this time too.Anyway I`m OK with being lost on mountains. BUT what I said to "Traveller" and I also say to blog readers is that if you don`t like being lost, then your best chance of NOT being lost in Greece IS an Anavasi map. Some people mention that the layout of "Road "maps is very clear - and this is true.. but if they lead you to a dead end or a ravine because they havent been checked...then you are ****ed - albeit clearly ****ed. The photo of the end of a clearly marked road from a "Road" map makes this point -clearly.