This morning we did things very differently. As we would be staying a second night, I didn’t need to carry my pack. Also had to catch a 7.30 bus to get to the starting point,whichmeantleavingwithoutbreakfast. It was easier to bus it to the next town and walk back the other way. Sounds confusing but it worked well. The bus, even out here, in what seems no where land, is a double decker, and with the extra narrow country roads,it’s amazing how they pass vehicles coming the other way. A half hour drive took an hour, with picking up people and school kids, and then watching vehicles backing back up for a long way sometimes to be able to let the bus through. Newquay is where we got off. It’s probably the biggest city in Cornwall. After a super fresh large Cornish pasty, we set off. A bit of road walking, plenty of flat coastal and beaches, and a couple of headlands made walking a treat. Also, the weather was much more moderate today and the scenery spectacular. Again talked to lots of people. People are very friendly. I guess lots on summer vacation, and locals enjoying rare a feast of summer. I’m loving it, as completely different weather to last year. After arriving back at yesterday’s finish point, I spoke to locals whilst waiting for the bus. When the bus arrived, I told the driver where to drop us, and he said he would if he remembered. I told him, if he didn’t, I would let his tyres down. Not sure if he took me seriously, but we got off at the right stop.

Now we’ve gone from huge english breakfasts to zilch. No brekky included. With the thought of another scorcher, we decided to leave early. Nothing in Padstow was going to be open before 8 am. According to the guide book, there would be food until Trevone Bay,an eight km walk. Sounds alright, so off we went at seven am. A slight hill leading out of Padstow on bitumen and then through some long grass  past some paddocks with a scare crow kite to a board walk over a marsh. Sounds easy enough. The book made it sound easy with lots of signs. No that didn’t happen. In fact, in the first ten minutes, we looked at the book a number of times, as there were no signs. After twenty five minutes, we walked over the same board walk, and paddock. We had done a big circle.Luckily, we  came across a local walking her dog, who pointed us back towards the track. By the time we reached our breakfast town, we had walked at least an extra two kilometres. After a sausage,nice thick bacon and egg on a roll,called a BAP,we left as the day was now warming up. Mostly coastal,and only the odd cliff, we passed, and spoke to many people enjoying their time along the beaches where there are hundreds of holiday shacks. When we reached our destination, I’d already spoken to the host of the accommodation, who instructed me to catch bus number fifty six. As luck would have it, the hourly service arrived seconds after arriving at the bus stop. I asked the bus driver to drop us at the golf course, and that was no problem. He drove straight past the golf course, which was on the top of a great big hill and stopped at the next local village. When I questioned him, he sort of shrugged his shoulders. I was pretty pissed off, but I couldn’t do much about it. Bloody dumb pommy bastard. Anyway, luck returning our way, the bus going the other way saved us about ten minutes later. She was a sweetie after I explained what happened, and took us back for no fee. After checking in, relaxed for a bit, we had to have an early dinner, as the kitchen closed at five pm, which lots of patrons couldn’t work out why, including me. And I didn’t want to wrestle with another bus to go back to the village.

A colourful snail. Could be me lol

After mueseli and yoghurt for an early breakfast, I didn’t think I would last the day without more fuel. The taxi picked us up at 8am and took us for the thirty minute trip to Port Isaac, where our walk would commence today. Luckily, there was a bakery open, so i bought a large famous Cornish pasty and a ham,tomato,and cheese sandwich. The morning was quite cool, and clouds covered the sky. The cliffs were still daunting, and my body was coping, not going at too hard a pace. We met a mother and son that were young and fit, and thought they would leave us behind. That did not happen. We passed, they passed, we passed and never saw them again. As the morning wore on, the clouds gave way for the sun, and it got hot, really hot. The coastal path offers no shade, so I put my hat on for the first time in years. The cliffs became less steep, which made walking a lot more enjoyable. There were now beaches and people were a plenty. Also, as the tide was out, we were able to skip the headlands and walk on mostly firm sand. The walk today finished with a ferry ride to the village of Padstow,a really quaint lovely old fishing village. The room in this old building had been modernised as lots have. The stairs in these buildings are still the same, usually very narrow and very steep. Lucky enough on this occasion, we only had one flight. Also there was a huge living room with a large TV. After a couple of beers and a yummy pizza that the lady in the bar organised from another business, I fell asleep watching Wimbledon.

Not much to say today. My old bag of bones didn’t recover overnight as I would have liked, and I figured, if I did two days yesterday, I am entitled to rest. Also, the extra day will do Randy’s knee a lot of good. After porridge, smoked salmon and poached eggs, toast and tea,I washed my clothes and relaxed. At around three o’clock, we decided to go for a walk. I thought our accommodation was miles from the beach, but it was only a ten minute walk. A nice day, and plenty of people and children enjoying their Sunday afternoon. A couple of pints with the locals was a treat. We then found out that our inn didn’t do meals on Sunday evening, so had to walk back to the beach and got some nibbles at the hotel there. It seemed strange that there were plenty of empty tables, and people with reservations were still coming in,yet we couldn’t get a main meal,so I had another malt sandwich. Tomorrow morning we will have an early breakfast and catch a taxi to the starting gate 😀

Unfortunately, Randy’s knee is not going to do it today. As much as he doesn’t want to, he will catch the bus,  and we’ll catch up later this afternoon. I walked out of the bnb at 8 am under heavy clouds, strong breeze, with an English breakfast in me, as is now definitely the norm. I walked out of the village and spotted a pilgrim about half a kilometre in front of me,and thought this could be my first victim to leave in my rear view mirror, as I knew a big day lay ahead. The walking at this stage was steep through a meadow, and the long wet grass made slow progress. After catching my young 30 year old, and nattering for a km or 2,she said I’m outa here, see you later. As she took off, I thought I’ll see if I can keep about 10 metres behind, and yeah, I was keeping up. After a couple of ks, she stopped to get a stone out of her shoe, and then I took off. Up one cliff, down another, it was relentless. By the time I had reached the sixteen km mark, I knew I needed a rest. I had also run out of water, so I knocked on someone’s door, who filled up my bottle and gave me an extra one, as it being quite warm,said I would need it, as the tough trail I was on was about to get harder with many ascents and dangerous descents. After a half hour rest and changing my socks, I was ready to go again. My 30 year old friend finally caught me as I was changing my socks. I thought I was doing ok, considering I beat her by fifteen minutes. The last 10 kms had another five cliffs to encounter. Some were two hundred plus steps going straight up, and then much the same coming down, remembering, loose slate and stone to combat. Sometimes there were built steps from timber in a very uneven format. Again, the views forward and behind were stunning, and to continually see people that look like ants in front of me, was always a haunting thought, knowing that is where I’m headed. After going hard all day, I finally reached Bocastle at four pm.I found Randy, and we then had to catch a bus to our accommodation. After a forty minute bus ride, we then had a ten minute stroll on a beautiful country road to the mill house inn. On that stroll, my body was in distress. I had a bit of a dry reach.I think a bit of dehydration, heat stroke and absolutely pushing myself beyond the limit may have had something to do with it. Twenty seven kilometres doesn’t sound a lot, but the terrain made it the hardest day I have ever encountered. Lots of local people I spoke with told me most people do this section over two days. I now understand the logic in that.I staggered up a couple of flights of stairs and fell asleep in a hot bath. Randy did the smart thing and went to the bar. I eventually got my self dressed and joined him for dinner. Eight forty that night, I was stacking zzzzzeds.

According to the guide, today’s section is the toughest. Couldn’t be any tougher than yesterday. Although the ascents were steeper, which meant the descents were also steeper, especially with loose large gravel under your feet. There were more ks today, and another 400 metres in total height. Fourteen hundred, and more tomorrow. In other words, the cliffs were bigger, which meant the coast line was even more stunning. Apparently, another tough stage tomorrow and more ks again. Twenty seven. Like yesterday,there was some lovely walking through meadows. However, the up and downs became frequent and harder as the day wore on,and some scary ones,where you were descending ,and no edges if you happen to slip.Randy is still nursing his dicky knee, but feels he has that under control. I left my water bottle behind, so I had to drink water from the lovely water falls that were cascading along the little creek that sometimes appeared at low levels along the path. No rain at all today. The sun came out every now and then from behind the clouds, and the wind was incredibly strong at times, especially when hiking over the tops of the cliffs. I can’t believe I got sunburnt today. The weather was probably mid 60s in Fahrenheit, so that’s probably 20 in celcius. Pleasant walking weather, apart from the gale force winds. The wind was reaching probably 50 to 60 knots I reckon, enough to throw you off balance when up high on a cliff. Any way we got there. I have lightened my pack, by taking out my waterproof shoes, my poncho and my sleeveless vest. I have a friend I met last year who lives in this region and is looking after them for me. I will pick them up another time. I think I will benefit a lot, as the lesser weight will have less impact on my knees. I’m also hoping to get in touch with my other friend. The people along this coast line are very friendly, and are only too happy to assist coast path walkers

Today after, what has become a habit now, a full English breakfast, put the pack together, and start walking. Stepped outside and bang 300 metres up that steep cobble stone street. The people here are incredibly meticulous. There are people cleaning, people painting a front fence,sanding and painting the top of the fence, absolutely amazing how proud these people are. Once you walk away from this unique village, the sun disappeared ,and rain took over. But like yesterday, it wasn’t long before sun and clouds were the order of the day. A couple from Austria in a panic were busily getting into wet weather gear as the rain was passing through. What started easy, like walking through meadows amongst the sheep and lambs, soon became difficult. Rugged rocky coastline, and gusty wind almost knocking you over didn’t make the very steep ascents and dangerous narrow descents any easier. At one point, I was reluctant to climb up a very steep cliff with steep fall offs on both sides. But you can’t go back, so you just keep going. By the time we finally reached Hartland quay, that breakfast was well and truly out of my system, and I was running on reserve. My trusty flask was empty and my legs were aching like I’d been kicked by a mule. The sad news is, we now have four kilometres walk inland to Hartland, to our accommodation, and tomorrow morning, we have to get back to restart our path walk. We walked into the Hartland quay hotel, and requested a taxi to take us to our accommodation,and the guy, without hesitation, grabbed his car keys and said  I’ll take you. Wow, how good is that? If I  had the energy, I would have kissed him. Probably lucky I didn’t, maybe we would be walking after all. When I woke from my very deep nap, Randy was already down in the bar, having a well earned drink. Straight after dinner, I was asleep in no time. The frightening thing is, tomorrow, apparently much the same, but five kilometres longer, before the path gets easier. In fact, the next stage is classed as one of the most difficult. Wish me luck.

Well, I wasn’t going to have a second monster breakfast in two days. I think Randy talked me into it. However, no problems walking it off today. After breakfast, the first port of call was the pharmacy. Randy’s left knee was swollen, and it was giving him some problems. He got a stretchy knee support brace. We then proceeded down the hill, turned left, and started walking with the sun shining. It wasn’t long before we started climbing, and it started to drizzle, although I didn’t get wet as the breeze kept me dry. Before long, we were fifty metres above sea level, and the views were stunning. But not long after, the track turned inland and was really narrow, up and down like a yoyo,and the prickles from the bushes, leaving trails of blood on my exposed arms and legs. The coast was never far away. It seemed for many kilometres,  you were either going up or down really rough terrain for a large chunk of the day, there wasn’t much  sign of civilisation, meaning no shops for food, not that I needed any. I did stop a few times to have a cuppa from my trusty flask. We did keep crossing paths with one lot of English people who were walking for a few days from the east coast. Every now and then, we would go through a gate and walk through lush meadows across farming land. Only saw a few sheep. We finally arrived at Clovelly, pronounced Clu velly, and then it was another tough 300 metres down a steep hill of small cobble stones. By now my knees had had enough. A village with beautiful quaint cottages dating back to the fourteenth century. It’s so small and steep, you cannot get a car in here. People use a sled to bring their groceries and everything to their house. Anything larger, and a donkey is used. The three hundred year old inn, where we are staying tonight, is covered in scaffold as I speak for a repaint and renovation. The youngins running the bar and restaurant come from a long line of generations. I feel really relaxed here and part of the place over the time of three pints and a glass of red plus my seafood pasta, and a cheese board, which Randy and I shared. Makes a hard day’s walking very rewarding. After dinner, we walked down to the quay and had a night cap at the Red Lion, before struggling back up the hill back to get some well earned sleep.

That’s where we’re headed today. Last night after dinner, nothing exciting, just relaxed, watched a bit of TV,and had a good night’s sleep 😴 . Started the day with a huge English breakfast,which included  two fried eggs, a sausage, bacon,mushrooms, baked beans, a hash brown, toast and tea. I’m thinking, eighteen relatively easy ks, is not going to walk this monster off, so I only ate half a hash brown. Maybe I should have said I left half a hash brown, as I did eat the rest. And that kept me going all day. Randy ate all his though. It’s difficult saying no to these monster breakfasts when they’re included in the price of the accommodation. At breakfast we met our first fellow walker, a lady of about 32 who had just finished part of the walk and was heading home to Newcastle in the north of England. When we walked out of our accommodation, Randy mentioned how good the weather was, he changed his mind by the time we reached out side as misty rain 🌧 and a stiff breeze welcomed us. I thought maybe shorts and singlet might not cut it, but I was ok. With in the first kilometre, I was feeling good. After a while, the misty rain dissolved, and walking was quite pleasant. Today, like yesterday, reasonably flat coastal path walking, until we missed a turn and finished the day walking a country road. Some times the signage is great, other times a bit sketchy. Probably my fault for not relating to the guide book more often. While resting and sitting on a park bench over looking the water drinking tea from my flask, we met another young lady walking the path from Holland. Married, she left her husband at home and was travelling in her camper van,moving it every two or three days to a new site and use public transport after walking for the day and morning back to her start point. She was much a free spirit as she smiled when I said it must be a dutch trait. Randy and I soldiered on for roughly another six ks and arrived at our water front inn before three. It was nice to relax for the rest of the day. Earlier in the day,whilst walking through Bideford, I called into the barber I saw last year for a haircut and beard trim. Ten quid is all it cost. Bideford is quite a large town and still growing, so it is hard to fathom why the post office has shut permanently. I thought dumb decisions like that were only made in Australia.

Yesterday, I bid Emily goodbye and  caught the train from Caphan Junction to Barnstaple, with a train stop at Exeter. As it turned out, Randy’s train from Heathrow, was also going to change at Exeter.,and we would join the Barnstaple train together. However, when I boarded the Barnstaple train, Randy’s train had not arrived and was running late. Apparently someone had jumped in front of the train, which delayed it. Sad, because apparently it’s not uncommon. Randy caught a later train and we then walked the 10 kilometres to our accommodation in Instow. The walk was easy and pleasant along a bitumen path meandering through wooded landscape with the river Taw on our right. Although the breeze was quite cool, I was quite comfortable in a singlet. Arriving at around 5.30 pm, we relaxed in the hotel room with a nice cup of tea before heading down stairs for dinner.