21-Jun-1996 - Day 4 - Willand (Rest Day)

Laid and sat around all morning, finally heading to the pub at 12:30. The meals there are nice, well cooked, but lack a certain 'je ne sais quoi'. Adequate, but nothing to get excited about.
In the afternoon I went for a quick cycle to Willand to get some provisions.  I was talking to the lady in the shop when they suddenly opened up the till and handed me eleven pounds to go towards the British Heart Foundation (I was raising money for the BHF on the back of my cycle ride).  It is the first time en route that anyone that I have talked to has actually offered anything.

In the evening, just as I was to start writing cards and this diary, I heard a bang.  I looked outside but could see nothing.  Getting out of the tent I saw that a pole had snapped.  After much banging and hammering and cursing I managed to fit the emergency repair sleeve in place.  I then went to phone my parents to see if they could contact Vaude, the tent manufacturer and organise a replacement.

Feeling weary and wary of the tent’s imminent collapse, I retired to sleep, ready for an early morning.