Leisurely - my @#$%, five hours - #%&!! I thought the stairs to our room were bad...they were nothing compared to the walk we did today. I have never undertaken such an arduous task before and hope never to again.

Now, after my little whinge, let me say it was worth the agony of my muscles screaming "No more, I can't take another step!" for the incredible views from the top of the mountains that separate Monterosso and Vernazza, and Vernazza and Corniglia. It was amazing to see the village we had just been through grow smaller and smaller as we moved on to the next village, it slowly growing bigger and bigger. And the water...it is so crystal clear and a beautiful blue colour, there isn't any surf to churn up the sand like in Australia, just little waves rolling very gently on to a smooth-rock beach (yay, no sand to get into places you don't want it too).

We caught the regional train to Monterosso, the most northern of the five villages to begin our journey. The walking track varied from rocky uneven paths with tree roots sticking up, to roughly constructed stairs that seem to go on for ever and roughly paved tracks so narrow that when you met an oncoming hiker one of you had to stand aside as best you could to let the other one pass. Some of the tracks were in the open and other parts were shaded by overhanging trees. The stairs were a killer though, I'd just think we'd finished with them for a while, and then turn the next corner to discover...more steps. I wish now I had counted how many there were in some cases, but I needed all my concentration just to get up them. I hope the photos give you an indication of just how steep they were. Hayley was incredibly patient, stopping for me to "take a picture" (code for have a rest) more times then I care to remember.

All the way along the track I was reminded that it wasn't originally intended for the pleasure(?) of the hordes of tourists that visit the area, but as a means for the local farmers to move between their crops of grapes and olives that are grown on the sides of the steep mountains. There were little locked gates (one gate was actually an old spring bed base) leading off the track into small areas of these crops or to the rustic homes dotted on the slopes. Most of them were built far away from the track to avoid the prying eyes of tourists.

Coloured netting was tied above ground level under the olive trees, like a carpet, to collect the fruit as it dropped from the trees. At one point we saw a flying fox system which we decided must have been used to move the produce into storage.

We were amazed by the number of Australians we came across in the Cinque Terre region (perhaps we'd all seen it on Getaway), a lot doing the "walk" as well as a plethora of other nationalities. We'd try to guess which country people might be from if they smiled and nodded at us, when we stood aside to let them through when we met, or on the other hand didn't even acknowledge we existed and barrelled on past.

At some points it was possible to see all the five villages on the five cliffs that jutted into the sea...it was just amazing (have I used that word already?). As we neared Vernazza we came across what was obviously an international school group doing the walk, and it was easy to understand in every language we heard that they were all complaining about the steps they were climbing. We decided when we arrived in Vernazza, not long after, that they were actually doing it the hard way, as there were basically steps straight up from Vernazza to the top of the mountain, at least coming from the other direction there was a mix of steps and level ground as you snaked up the mountain.

It took us three hours to complete the first leg of our journey back to Vernazza where we were staying...the brochure indicated it would take two hours to cover the three kilometres. We decided to have our first pizza in Italy for lunch and were standing in front of one of the many restaurants trying to decide what to have, when the owner came out and said "You sit at table, no cover charge."…one of the benefits of travelling with a beautiful daughter. He led us to the al fresco tables which overlooked the small harbour where all the little fishing boats were moored, pointed to a table and said "I clean, you sit"...who were we to argue? We ordered a basil pesto pizza which was very delicious and chatted to some German tourists who, when we asked were they doing the walking track, replied "No, we have motorbilkes." Not sure why that stopped them walking the track, but I wished I had a motorbike. I offered Hayley the chance of not continuing on to Corniglia, the next village, but unfortunately she declined, and was keen to push on.

Well I thought we'd already completed the hardest section but boy was I wrong. The track from Vernazza to the next village Corniglia was even higher and steeper, much the same type of track though, steps, steep slopes, narrow paths. Even so, we made pretty good time completing the four kilometres in the two hours the brochure advised it should take. After a quick look around the village we made our way down the zig-zag stairs to the railway station to catch the train back to Vernazza, weary after our big day of trekking.

Once back in Vernazza, we bought some ingredients for a salad and sat on our great terrace looking serenely (read "exhausted") at yet another beautiful sunset over the sea. I'd bought a funny wurst-looking sausage about the same length as a cheerio but twice as thick to have for dinner, it was very tasty but impossible to cut with Hayley's handy Kathmandu knife so I just ended up biting bits off it.

Then it was off to bed for some well earned rest and to prepare for our move to the "room without a view" and then last leg of our walk along Cinque Terre tomorrow.