Breakfast was arranged for 8 am. But at 8:10 am I am still trying to crawl out of bed. I am worried that the battle wounds from yesterday have not healed overnight. Still, I do manage to get up finally and discover that things aren't too bad. The blisters have gone down, the chaff is almost gone, but my ankles are still a little sore. Altogether, not too bad, considering that I walked almost 30 km yesterday.

Breakfast is a little Spartan. My main whinge is that the egg is missing. There is a small note from Kris wishing me well for my travels. I make a note to send him a postcard when I finish my walk or when I get back to Australia.

Today, my plan is to walk halfway to Grobbendonk. The girls walked 32.8 km from here to Grobbendonk in a day. But I know it will not be possible to repeat the distance I walked yesterday. There is a possibility of an overnight stay in the youth hostel at Zoersel, which is about 20 km away. This seems like a good solution. I walk to the bus but miss it by 10 minutes. Since it is a 50 minute wait until the next one, I find a seat and write up my diary of the last couple of days. The bus driver seems surprised when I ask for a ticket to Brecht. Perhaps he thinks it is strange to be carrying a backpack and catching the bus instead of walking the 3-4 km.

The walk begins by winding its way through the streets of Brecht, finally reaching the canal that runs between Schoten and Turnhout. The path now follows the towpath. Now, admittedly it was a Saturday, but I did not see one vessel for the entire walk along this section of the canal, although a few were moored along the banks. At the bridges, the canal widens and there are cafes but they are all closed. Perhaps they are now reminders of busier times.

The path crosses the canal at Brug 11 and then continues along the road out of site of the canal. The towpath continues on the other side and would have been a more scenic route, but this is the last bridge crossing before the GR5 turns South passing farms and the forests around Drieboomkesberg. Along this section four women out for an afternoon stroll ask me for directions.

The path continues to the Trappistenabdij van Westmalle, a Trappist Abbey. This is one of the abbeys where the famous trappist beer is brewed. I taste this dark Belgium beer for the first time at the caf� adjoining the Abbey. I meet the four women again and they tell me they had been reluctant to ask me for directions when they saw me taking a rest in the forest because I didn't look like the walking type! They were certainly surprised when I told them of my plans to walk the GR5.

This was my first visit to a youth hostel. People had recommended them to me on previous trips to Europe but I had always been reluctant to stay in one. Supposedly they were cheaper than hotels but my impression was that they had some restrictions such as curfews etc. that made them an unattractive proposition for me. However, someone had recommended this particular hostel to me along the way so I had decided to give it a try. I telephoned them from the caf� and reserved a bed for tonight.

The gagelhof youth hostel, I am told, is quite different to other youth hostels. 14 family groups share the task of operating it on weekends and vacation periods. The original hostel, built in 1936, was destroyed by a V1 / V2 rocket destined for Antwerp during the Second World War. The existing hostel was built entirely by volunteers. I was told that the author of the topogid I am using, Freddy Tuerlinckx is a member of one of the families.

The place is clean and modern and I was expecting a very pleasant stay. The total cost was 630 BEF, which included bed, breakfast, dinner and even a couple of beers. Dinner was soup, hamburger, salad, and fries with some fruit salad for dessert. Breakfast was spartan: bread, jam, cheese, meat and coffee. I slept in a dormitory containing six double-decker beds. I shared the room with one other man, an Englishman/Australian whose story, I am sure, would fill an entire book! He claimed he came from Brisbane.

I enjoyed the stay here and plan to use the youth hostels for the rest of the walk where possible.