If you look carefully on the plate of food you can see a gap between the sausage and the hash browns. When the breakfast arrived that gap was filled with a little bowl of baked beans.

It was my fault as I didn’t read the menu properly so, although slightly shocked by the beans when my food arrived, it was a huge relief that the beans weren’t just put directly on the plate. I’m really not sure what I’d have done.

When the waitress came over with my drink I apologised, and clearly stated that it was my fault for not reading the menu properly, but would she be able to take the beans away. I told her that they freak me out. She was ever so nice but I could tell by the look on her face that she thought me a little odd.

I’m sure I could have coped if the little bowl of beans had just stayed on the table with me but I was so much happier when they got taken away. It turns out my desire to get them away from me was greater than my desire to not look stupid. And I have cooked baked beans for my children before, so I can override the phobia when necessary, but I’m always very careful not to touch them or get any of the juice on me.

It does make me wonder if I’d even like the taste of them now. There are certain foods I always used to avoid as a child only to realise, as an adult, that I liked them after all. But beans are different, they almost scare me. I’m sure I could get over this, like anyone can get over any phobia, like fear of flying or going in deep water, but as it doesn’t really impact my life I have no desire to do that.

A therapist once told me that to get over something like that you need to want to and people normally only seek help when the something is impacting their life. Like not being able to fly might cost them a job or relationship. Luckily for me I don’t think a bean phobia will ever become a significant problem so, for now, I’ll just stick to reading the menu more carefully.

Deliberate slow start

There were lots of reasons to stay in bed a little longer this morning. The main one was that the cafe I wanted to eat breakfast at wouldn’t open until 10am and as it was only 2 miles from the campsite there was no point in leaving too early. The other reasons were that I’d had a late night because of going to the shops, it was raining so I wanted to let the tent dry, and finally, I just fancied it.

The rain had been quite heavy but the wind was strong so I felt lucky that the tent was drying off so quickly. It’s extra work when the tent is wet because I have to separate the inner from the outer, carry more weight from the soaked tent, and then, when I come to pitch up, put it all back together again. So it’s definitely worth giving it a chance to dry out if I can. Luckily things were working out for me today.

Just as I was packing up, Marcus the campsite owner came to my tent with his dog. He was carrying the battery bank that he’d kindly charged for me the night before and we had a quick chat. Then, I finished putting down the tent, refreshed my water supplies, and headed back to the path for what I knew would be a short day in terms miles but strenuous in terms of terrain.

A fine day walking

I was a little worried when I started my walk today. The wind was very strong and I knew this section was particularly up and down.

Initially I was struggling because the wind was blowing me around and I also felt a bit dizzy. Some of the paths run quite close to the edge and there are lots of very steep sections and it did make me wonder if I was making the right decision to carry on.

In science, when experimenting, it’s important to change as few variables as possible with each test so that you can understand the impact of each variable on the result. I didn’t have time for any of that though so I ate lots of sweets, had plenty to drink, moved my now dry towel from outside to inside my backpack to stop it blowing around, and finally replaced my hat with a neck scarf over my head. I’m not sure which of these resolved the problem but I started to feel a lot better.

From there it was really quite easy. The climbs and descents were exhausting, but I just took them one at a time, and each one was soon behind me. I was having a really good day.

A relative rest

I didn’t count how many times I had to descend, only to then have to tackle a steep climb. It was a few times. But by mid afternoon the path stayed up high for a while which was a nice break.

I couldn’t help but notice how bad the land subsidence was around here. Big chunks of land now lost to the sea or soon to be. I could see how the soil that formed the cliff was quite unstable so I understood why it would eventually collapse. I guess that’s just nature.

As I neared Hartland Quay the landscape was unusual. There were more lowlands but also towering blocks of land. Bits of cliffs that refused to collapse – still stubbornly standing up high. I find it hard to describe, you’ll have to come and look for yourself. I have to confess, I was glad I didn’t have to climb all of them.

Taxi for Ben

I had one last up and down to Hartland Quay and then an additional climb on the footpath before I was due to walk to a campsite. This one is quite conveniently placed for the path as it’s only about a mile inland.

I then met a couple who’d lived around here for about 8 years but had moved down from the Midlands. I ended up walking the last part with them, chatting about my journey and also how they came to move down here.

Their car was parked at the carpark at the Quay, just before my final climb of the day. As I had to do the climb so as not to miss any of the coast path, they suggested I walk up the path and they’d meet me at the top and give me a lift to the campsite. Well I couldn’t say no to that.

I love it when this sort of thing happens. People are so kind and I’m always happy that I take them up on their offers. It was only about a mile to the campsite but really ended my walking day on a high.