Deb Travels the World

Steps / Distance: 36,677 25.07 km
Rating: moderate

In fact, I found this quite easy today, but I think that's because the tide was out and I could walk on the hard sand of the flat beaches, instead of scrambling up and down the dunes behind the beaches. Especially Perranporth beach, which was long, but quite an easy walk. I also had the shorter option of the ferry instead of the foot bridge and did the walk around the Fistral Beach and Pentire headlands yesterday, saving time this morning.

Note the beaches are relatively empty compared to the past week, now that the kids are back in school after their mid-term break.
Crantock Beach

Polly Joke (aka Porth Joke). You can see the poppies in the background behind me.



Holywell Bay and Gull Island

And the endless Perranporth beach. This reminded me of our camel ride in Egypt, except these are horses, of course.

I'm staying in a cottage in Rose, a 45 min walk from the end of Perranporth beach. In retrospect, it's not a great location for walkers, given the distance from the path and the busy roads I've had to walk in order to eat and buy groceries. My husband says it's the journey not the destination, to which I responded that the journey to this particular destination sucked 😁. Lesson learned.

Weather is still perfect, although the 10-day forecast is starting to show some rain. It keeps changing, so we'll see if that happens.

Steps / Distance: 17,803 12.14 km
Rest day, but walked the first 1/2 hr or so of tomorrow's path

I walked around the headlands including Pentire peninsula, Fistral Beach, Newquay Beach and Harbour. Lots of sandy beaches. Happily, I also did my laundry and then had a great crab salad at the Fern Pit Cafe.

My hotel is close to the church tower in the distance.

And this is how far I am from home (well, farther away than NY

Steps / Distance: 34,282 23.41 km
Rating: easy

This was another day where I hadn't been able to get accommodation at a normal stopping point and so have 2 nights booked in Newquay. And, enjoying how well it's worked for me so far, I'm taking a rest day in Newquay tomorrow.

Today was certainly less difficult as reflected in the rating, but I felt the weight of my pack; probably because I'd bought some groceries and it was actually about a kg heavier. I'll have to be more careful about that, but sometimes it's hard to just buy one piece of fruit, instead it's all packaged in multiples.

Anyway, the highlight was seeing and walking with Jess again, with whom I walked part of the way to Instow a few days ago. We walk at different places, so we didn't stay together too long, but it was great seeing her again. Here she is showing how to climb over a wall.

Nice views today, walking past and, sometimes across several beaches, including Trevone Bay, Harlyn Bay, Treyarnon Bay, Booby's Bay and the expansive Constantine's Bay. Walking on sand is tiring!

Looking out at the Atlantic. I imagine if you squint really hard you might be able to see Newfoundland 😁. It was a cold wind coming off the Atlantic today.

Approaching Porthconan, where I caught the bus to Newquay.

Steps / Distance: 40,645 27.75km
Rating: strenuous, then easy

Views of Port Isaac as I was leaving

Up to Port Quin, the path was tougher, with lots of steeps steps up and down. I twisted my knee early on and it protested the steps for the 1/2 hr or so afterwards, but I walked it out and had no further problems with it. The cow followed me on the other side of the fence.

Lundy Hole is more interesting when the tide is high and it pushes up through the hole

The Rumps is a popular hiking spot

My Mom was given an Enid Blyton book, Five on a Treasure Island (published in 1942 and she was probably given it a few years later). We read it together when I was young, so many times that we could recite the first chapter or so verbatim. It starts with the line: "Are we going to Polzeath, as usual?, said Julian at the breakfast table." As a result, I've wanted to go to Polzeath and see what all the fuss was about 😁. Today, I did just that and sent my Mom the photos. She remembers the book, as well. I was tempted by the sauna, but had an ice cream, instead.

At Rock, I caught the ferry to Padstow, apparently the first of 23 ferries on the Coast Path

Steps / Distance: 34,180 23.36km
Rating: severe

13 days down means 25% done.

Like the Hartland Quay to Bude path section, this one is also rated severe; however it is significantly shorter (rated as 6hrs as opposed to 8.5hrs). For me another difference was having my full pack on a severe section. It was difficult, but I didn't find the descents to be quite as deep and the ascents were a bit easier in that there were better footholds, I think - not as many steep steps or slippery scree sections.

It did have me breathing heavy, though. For me the most difficult part was the climb-over fences and walls. They were especially difficult because they mostly came up in the last hour or so when I was already tired.

These cows were blocking my access to the gate and kept moving closer to it whenever I moved. I finally got around them and took this pic on the other side of the gate.

A couple of hours in, Trebarwith was a welcome stop for toilets and a mango ice cream. I realized later that I should have also bought another bottle of water as I came close to running out as I reached Port Isaac. Trebarwith has the only facilities on this section.

I dipped my toes into the Celtic Sea at the Port Gaverne beach. Most swimmers were in wetsuits, but some kids were jumping off the cliff on the other side. The water was cold!

The Port Isaac beach was less sheltered. No swimmers there, but nice houses on the cliff.

My hotel is lovely and super comfy, especially the pillows. In the school theme, the rooms are labeled "biology" and "physics". 🙂