I’d been thinking about strawberries ever since Jenny sent me a picture of some of the ones we’d grown at home. When I’m walking I often feel really thirsty and no matter how much water I drink I never feel refreshed. Especially when it’s hot. But I also really crave sweet things, like fizzy pop or sweets. So the thought of eating a strawberry was really appealing.

So when I noticed from my map that there was a coop in Port Isaac I decided this was my chance to buy some and satisfy that craving. Somehow I managed to fit them in my rucksack, as I really wanted to enjoy them at the end of my day,  I then pressed on to find a camping spot.

The problem is that after Port Isaac there doesn’t seem to be many suitable spots to pitch a tent. It’s quite tough going, lots of climbs and descents, but all the level land is being used for cattle and I didn’t fancy pitching amongst lots of livestock. It’s bad enough walking through them as they all stare at you – I didn’t fancy sharing a field with them.

When I eventually found my pitch, which I thought was probably safe from the cattle, I set up the tent and then ate the strawberries. It felt so good.

Let’s hit the beach

Shortly after leaving the hostel I got to Constantine Bay Beach where the path goes over the sand for a while. I don’t remember last year having to walk on much sand, but this time it seems to be quite often. At the end of most of my days I have to pour some sand out of my boots and dust down my socks. I decided to follow the lead of the early morning joggers and walked nearer to the sea when the harder sand was. Made it much easier going.

Then onto Booby’s bay where there are warnings about submerged metal objects so apparently you need to be careful. Both of these beaches were quiet but it was still quite early, later on in the day they might look quite different.

Once back up on the cliffs I came to a brilliant cave where a crater has formed in the middle of the cliff top. I could hear the sea through the cave but I don’t think the tide was high enough for the water to get through. I wonder if there had been any warning when this piece of land collapsed into the sea. It does make me think when I’m picking a camping spot.

One for Ed

I’ve got a friend where I used to work and he told me he’d love to live in a lighthouse. So when I rounded a corner and saw this I felt I had to share a picture with him.

I had to walk at least 100 yards from the footpath to get the picture but I think it was worth it. Or maybe not, maybe he’ll now be thinking about that lighthouse and what could have been and have regrets. Or maybe it’ll give him optimism for his future life.

As I rounded a corner I then spotted the roof of the Padstow lifeboat station. Later on I could see it better and saw it was on stilts on a beach but set back into rocks. Now, I think the Lizard one is better but this was a close second. The RNLI really do know how to make a good building.

Regrets from the past

I was finding the walking quite easy so far today. The paths were varied, which kept my interest, but nice and easy to walk on. I even had room in my mind to notice all the wild flowers lining the route. Really very pretty. Now, if I could get my garden like that, I’d be a happy man.

From Trevose Beach I could again look back at the lifeboat station and I got a very good view but I was soon moving on towards Harlyn Beach. Again here the path made you walk along the beach for a while but I liked that. There were big plates of rock that had been curved by the sea. They looked really unusual. They were also easier to walk on than sand.

I’d already been told by Rich that Harlyn Beach was one of his favourite places for surfing. It made me start thinking about my children and the activities I’ve done with them. But more so it got me thinking of the activities I haven’t done with them. I’m quite envious that parents have had these experiences and I maybe didn’t do enough. Maybe I’ll see if they fancy one last family holiday with me and we can go surfing together.

Sometimes dreams won’t do

There is a cafe at Harlyn beach and I was tempted to stop and buy some breakfast but I decided to get some miles under my belt. I’d only buy another bacon roll and can of coke and I didn’t really need it. I had enough food and water to keep me going so I was glad to make that decision. As the walking had been so easy as well I didn’t want to break the momentum – I’d already covered a decent amount of miles. It does though take a while to get around each bay but there is nothing strenuous.

Even though everything was going well I wasn’t feeling amazing today. I’m not sure why and I’d had a good night sleep, and was fed and watered. So maybe it was just one of those things. I tried to think of the walk and all my future plans after this walk is completed, trying to get myself motivated. But nothing seemed to be hitting the mark. Normally when I think about my future dreams, especially when I’m among this wonderful scenery, it really brings me up and makes me feel very optimistic, but at this moment, for these few hours, it just made me feel a bit flat. Not awful, far far from awful. Just not the highs of other days and a sense of doubt and looming disaster hovering over me. The good news, it was only 11am, I’d already covered 6 miles, and was heading to Trevone beach. The day was still young and my head had every chance to improve. If you ignore it then it sometimes goes away. It was just being a bit mean and tricking me that something was not ok.

Attention to detail

After rounding Trevone bay the path is great with some reasonable climbs and descents but really, if I think of the coast path as a whole, not too difficult. I hear a lot from other walkers, coming in the opposite direction, about the terrors to come but I really don’t think about it. It’s all relative and ultimately I just take my time. If the climb takes a long time, then so be it. When walking the West Highland Way everyone went on about the Devil’s staircase, which compared to some of the coastal path is quite tame. So, as much as I appreciate being warned, I think sometimes it’s just better to cross each bridge – or climb each cliff – as they come.

Heading to Steppa point things went a little wrong with my navigation. I don’t know what I hadn’t noticed but for some reason I’d cut most of the head of Lellizzick off of my route. It didn’t matter because I just followed the path to the point but then, and I don’t know how I did this, I went the wrong way back and managed to lose the coastal path for a little while.

I knew I roughly had to head towards Padstow along the estuary but I did manage to get myself quite disorientated and ended up cutting over some fields to eventually get back on the path. I do make these silly mistakes sometimes but I’m going to say it’s because I’m enjoying the views so much that I’m not always paying attention to all the signs.

Time for a ferry

Finally back on the path I was met with many people heading the other way, out of Padstow, also getting lost and looking confused. So it wasn’t just me. I did get asked for directions a few times but I did caveat any advice I gave with the fact I’d just got lost. These people weren’t on big walks but I think taking a suggested route from Padstow to fill a few hours. Although based on my directions it may have ended up developing in to more of an adventure. I decided to walk down the beach to get to the town rather than the path. They do run next to each other but I’d started getting into this beach walking.

I didn’t really go into Padstow, just sort of clipped the corner. I’ve been there before but I don’t really remember it. But today I wasn’t in the mood for a town, and it did seem quite busy even on the outskirts, so I just headed for the ferry and crossed over to Rock. I do love a ferry.

Onwards and upwards

Once off the ferry I took the opportunity to fill up with water and then headed back out towards the sea. The walk from here just gets better and better. Tougher and tougher, obviously, but so much fun.

An hour walk from the ferry I got to Polzeath where I was approached by a man who worked as a groundsman for the campsite there. He was from Birmingham but moved down to Cornwall about 4 years ago. He was asking about my trip and wild camping. He said he planned to walk the whole of the UK coastal path one day which is a mammouth task. He seemed to be quite experienced with camping and walking though so I’m sure he’ll make it.

After grabbing some food in a cafe I made the steep climb out of the bay and on my way to Pentire Point and The Rumps. It’s funny when you’re standing here because you can look back down the coast and, as the crow flies, it must only be about a mile to Trevose Head. It’d taken me about 4 hours to get here and I felt like I could almost touch where I’d come from. Stupid estuaries.

I know I say this a lot, but from here to Port Quin and then on to Port Isaac was amazing. I obviously walked the whole way but I think I saw exit points to car parks en route if you only wanted to walk part of it. It was quite a strenuous walk but very rewarding. I’d happily do it again. As it was now after 4pm I couldn’t help but notice the amount of people I saw on the path reduced drastically. I’m not sure where they all go.

I did meet one man who said he had a house in Port Quin and was talking about my trip and he was saying the walk to Port Isaac was amazing but a bit up and down. When I told him I was wild camping and I get nervous about it being illegal. He told me he was the local judge and I’d be ok. I assume he was joking.

I found Port Quin really pretty and saw some children being taught how to paddle board. They were in a big group and seemed to be taking it in turns to fall in. It looked great fun. They couldn’t stop laughing as each one fell in.

A long day

The walk from Port Quin to Port Isaac was long and very hard work. I think I was only averaging about 1.5 miles an hour but I was having fun. The morning blues now a distant memory. I was getting a little worried as it was getting quite late and I knew I needed to make it to the coop and then further along the coast to wild camp. I was a little concerned about the terrain and being able to find a suitable spot.

It was nice to be in Port Isaac. I’ve been here before and my family had friends here. It held some nice memories. The walk out was very difficult and I did struggle to find anywhere to camp. As time went on I got less and less fussy but eventually found somewhere with about 20 minutes of sunlight. The panic though was offset by the amazing path and fabulous views. I could even see Tintagel in the distance.

One more thing – 28 miles covered today.