Cookery school boss David Jones has done it!

The 50-year-old chef completed the last leg of his 630-mile coastal path hike-of-a-lifetime on Wednesday as he strode into Poole in Dorset.

And this morning, he was expecting to be back on the Dart with his rowing club pals.

'I expect to get back to some social rowing,' said David who is a member of the Kingswear Rowing Club as he explained that he planned to get out on the river in a seine boat to put his back into some rowing.

David, who has raised more than £5,000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association charity on his marathon walk, said as he walked the final few miles to his finish line: 'I have really enjoyed it. It has been fantastic. I have learned a lot. I am fitter, I am re-energised and it has been a fantastic experience, there is no doubt about it. But I will be glad to see my own bed again and my legs will enjoy not having to cover 25 miles a day.'

David set out on his walk covering the entire length of the South West Coast Path before Christmas.

Christmas lunch was a turkey sandwich somewhere in west Cornwall. New Year's Eve was a glass of wine or two at a friend's home in Holbeton before heading for bed early – ready for the next day's hike.

David and his wife Holly even celebrated their 20th anniversary while David was on his walk – as Holly was providing back-up throughout with their couple's camper van.

'Everything has been put on hold,' said Holly. 'We will be sorting it all out when we get back home.'

David, who is co-owner of Kingswear's Manna from Devon Cooking School and a driving force behind the annual Dartmouth Food Festival, made his walk in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Both his parents suffered from the disease.

For most of his hike David has had to put up with some of the worst wet weather the westcountry had experienced in living memory – which has meant fording small streams which had become torrents and finding ways around landslips which blocked his path.

And he managed the whole trek with just one blister, said Holly.

As he covered the last few miles, David said: 'It's looking all right. We could have done with a bit of sunshine and it is a bit murky but at least it is not raining and we are happy.'

David made the walk with the couple's pet spaniel Rex.

'Rex has been really fine,' said David. 'He is still running around as if we had just started.'

He added: 'Things at the end are much better than when we had that hideous period of terrible weather. The ground is still very waterlogged and quite challenging in places but nothing serious has been falling from the skies for the last few days – which I suppose is a bit of pay back for what I have had to put up with and the wild west, as I now call it.'

David said he and Holly were planning a steak dinner on Wednesday night, staying with friends near Corfe Castle, before heading home.

He pointed out that his target had been to raise £5,000 and he believes that the figure was now nearer £6,000.