It’s been a funny day today. So much has gone well but I have been a little grumpy. Just worried about a few bits and bobs. Power is my biggest concern. One battery bank is totally empty and the other is at 50%.

When trying to calm myself down I was thinking, well, what if you do run out of power. How bad would it be. Then I listed all the things I wouldn’t be able to do without my phone, and I worried a little more!

Walking is good though. Just carry on walking and it’ll all work out. One way or another. And you’ll be stronger or wiser as a result.

Struggling to sleep

Taking that man’s advice yesterday was one of the best decisions I’ve made. Seeing how far it was to where I was thinking of camping, trying to press on to there would have been a big mistake.

Instead I was pitched up nice and early and I could relax. Sleep, unfortunately, wasn’t easy to come by. I obviously must have slept because I know I was dreaming. And I know I was dreaming because I remember some of those dreams. But it wasn’t a very good sleep.

I took the time in Brixham to have breakfast and then get some supplies from the Coop. The breakfast was too big but I was hungry when I ordered. It was a nice little cafe though and it was full of locals talking about their fishing jobs so it must have been a good place. I wasn’t involved in the conversation but did listen in. One guy was asking about how able someone was – that someone wasn’t in the cafe. Another guy answered that he was really good with the nets and stuff but not so good at the engineering side. I thought that fair enough. But then he added – “so don’t get him to change a lightbulb”. So that made me chuckle.

Once outside the cafe I’d remembered that I’d noticed a hot spot on the back of my heel so took the time to remove my boot and sock so I could apply a blister plaster. My first one of the trip. I haven’t got a blister but it’s a good idea to nip these things in the bud to prevent pain later on.

Compressed memory

Eventually, I was heading out of Brixham, on my way to Kingswear and Dartmouth. I remembered this as being a fairly short walk. When I saw the signs saying 8 miles I thought, ok, a little longer than I remembered. But the terrain is hard work. It took me until late afternoon to complete the section.

It was a very nice walk though. Not easy, as always, but very picturesque. You’ll probably notice in the video that I focus on a rock on top of a hill for a while. Well, that’s the point where I wild camped in 2023, and where, due to bad pitching and planning, the tent got knocked down and damaged in the wind. Sleeping under the stars is nice I’m sure, but it was a bit of a shock to have the tent open up around me in the middle of the night. I wrote about it at the time so won’t go on, but after calling home, and maybe a couple of tears, Jenny drove down from Leicester to bring me a spare tent and give a pep talk. She saved the day. Maybe that’s why I don’t remember the section in detail because of what happened.

The rock is also the spot where I dragged Jenny to, on a recent holiday, to persuade her to marry me. It was there, despite the bad, I was reminded of how amazing she was. She was the first person I called, and she didn’t hesitate to come down and save me. Considering I put myself in this situation, and had no one to blame except myself, I think that makes me a pretty lucky guy.

Funnily enough, I’ve forgotten how hard that walk is twice now. Even though we’d parked in a nearby car park, it was still quite tough going. It still makes me chuckle, thinking of her struggling up that last hill, knowing what I was about to do and her not having a clue.

Noisy head

My head wasn’t being kind to me today. I mention it in the video. Not outright evil. But nagging.

I guess I was worried about a few things. And the stupid thing, as I’m sat here at camp writing this, knowing all is well, and all will be well for this day, is seems so daft. The good news though, if you just keep pressing on, taking care of what you can take care of, those feelings pass.

The ferry ride was fun, as always, although I do prefer the smaller more scary ferry rides. Over in Dartmouth I toyed with eating in a cafe, but not sure of the terrain ahead and where I could find space to camp, I decided that as time was currently on my side (I had 3 hours till it’d be dark) I could make use of that to find a decent spot.

Ideally I’d find something before Stoke Fleming because I remembered after that it was either beech or built up until Beesands, but knew I’d have the time to push through if necessary.

But it wasn’t necessary. About 1.5 hours after leaving Dartmouth I’d found a great spot. Shielded from the path, great views over to Beesands and the lighthouse at Start Point. It even had a bench. I wasn’t sure if it was a mirage because it was so good. I even had the confidence to put my tent up before dark.

Just before I shut the door of my tent I noticed the light flashing on the lighthouse. I thought I was really lucky.