The toe takes a turn for the worse

The toe's not looking all that flash, I'm afraid. I think I might be taking a trip to the doctor after all.

So no walking today, although this afternoon I drove into town to look at rain wear at the Fairydown clearance shop. Fairydown has a very interesting history. Apparently Sir Edmund Hillary wore a Fairydown jacket - and slept in a Fairydown sleeping bag - when he and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay conquered Mount Everest in 1953 (obviously he wasn't actually in the sleeping bag when he got to the top, but you know what I mean). In 2003, however, the brand was renamed Zone because market researchers came to the conclusion that the "fairy" in the name was putting off Australian males who thought it was a bit, um, gay. But obviously the re-branding didn't pay off, because in 2005 they changed it back to Fairydown!

Then things really got confusing. From what I can gather based on various news reports and forums, in 2006 Arthur Ellis (the company that owned the Fairydown brand) was bought by Alp Sports (another outdoor clothing retailer), which was owned by Jan Cameron, who also just happens to be the owner of yet another outdoor clothing retailer, Kathmandu. Or at least she was until September last year, when she sold her remaining stake in the company for $275 million.

Anyway, I only found this out a few minutes ago while googling to see if Fairydown have a website (they don't). This afternoon all I was interested in was getting something to keep me dry while walking. The Fairydown clearance place had a pretty good selection of stuff, and the prices were certainly very reasonable ($199 for a Gore-Tex parka), but unfortunately they didn't have the size and colour combination I was after. On the way home I checked out the Kathmandu clearance shop (totally unaware of the Fairydown connection), but their Gore-Tex rain wear seemed to be a lot more expensive. So I may stick with the rain suit I bought in Japan for the time being and see how it goes on some longish walks. Once I get the toe sorted out, that is.

Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 78.4km