Zennor to Pendeen

Zennor to Pendeen - Thursday 13th September 2012

Path Facts - Length: 8.3 miles, Ascent: 1924 feet*

A shortish day to end this leg with. The backpackers was quiet with only one other guest. 8.30 am breakfast for an extra £3 for cereal + tea / coffee.

Walking was again like moorland with slow going over boulders and boggy stretches but with spectacular coastal views and some good sun.

Hayle to Zennor

Hayle to Zennor - Wednesday 12th September 2012

Path Facts - Length: 11.2 miles, Ascent: 1924 feet*

Started off about 9.30am. There was a bit of a trek along the road coming out of Hayle. The path goes inland a little way around a nature reserve then heads back through a very posh area called Lelant and alongside the St Ives park and ride railway on the way back to the coast. There were views back to the dreaded Towans sand dunes.

Portreath to Hayle

Portreath to Hayle - Tuesday 11th September 2012

Path Facts - Length: 12.4 miles, Ascent: 1371 feet

Today was a lot cooler with the forecast giving 14 deg C, but bright and sunny as the view back to Portreath shows.

 

Perranporth to Portreath

Perranporth to Portreath - Monday 10th September 2012

Path Facts - Length: 12 miles, Ascent: 2454 feet

Good breakfast accompanied by the lady at the hotel describing various grizzly deaths on the beach...(!) A late start due to needing a new SD card for the camera, so we didn't get started until gone 10 am.

Newquay to Perranporth

Newquay to Perranporth - Sunday 9th September 2012

Path Facts - Length: 11 miles, Ascent: 1581 feet

Continental breakfast before getting on the 9am bus to Newquay. Started walking by 9.30am. My enduring image of Newquay town centre was a pub owner jet washing the remains of Saturday night's binge drinking from his forecourt. Nice!

Arrival - Newquay

Newquay - Saturday 8th September 2012

Travelling in style this time, first class train direct from St Albans to Newquay for £42! Given that the journey to and from the West Country is getting longer the further West we get, this seems like a better option. You can chill out, read a book, eat and get complementary tea and coffee. Need to book well in advance though for a cheap fare.

Porthcothan to Newquay

Porthcothan to Newquay - Thursday 26th April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 11 miles, Ascent: 1750 feet

Much better weather today, a below average distance and moderate height gain. Probably a good job as I think various body parts were beginning to feel the cumulative strain.

Padstow to Porthcothan

Padstow to Portcothan - Wednesday 25th April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 13.5 miles, Ascent: 2500 feet

For several days the weather forecast had been promising a huge swirling mass of rain and wind crossing the country. Although the estimate of it's arrival had been put back a few times last night's forecast more than hinted that today was going to be the actual day. Just before a breakfast a heavy shower hit. 

Breakfast in the Golden Lion was accompanied by a small Westie type dog frantically barking and paddling at the window at the presence of a passing Afghan Hound. A regular occurrence apparently.

The path picks up again near the war memorial in Padstow. The skies were still pretty dark but luckily it turned out that the worst of the real storms had passed the West Country in the early morning and were heading further East.

Port Isaac to Padstow

 

Port Isaac to Padstow- Tuesday 24th April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 12 miles, Ascent: 1800 feet

Tuesday morning and would you Adam and Eve it, sunshine! A good breakfast at Hathaway and being halfway up the hill on the right side of town seemed like a good head start on the day's venture. If there's one disadvantage to moving on every day, it's that it sometimes feels like we're only skimming the surface of the places on route. By the time you arrive anywhere after a day's walking, the thought of going on too much exploration in the evening is not uppermost in the mind.

Tintagel to Port Isaac

Tintagel to Port Isaac - Monday 23rd April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 9 miles, Ascent: 2740 feet

The weather looked pretty bad on the start of this walk. From the B&B the rain was hitting the window and the wind could be heard gusting. Are we fair weather walkers though? Well probably, but nonetheless, after stealing ourselves with what must have been a 10 egg scrambled egg on toast + home made bread (v. nice thank you Bosayne!) we ventured into the cold and wet.

It was cold at first but not as bad as anticipated from inside in the warmth of the B&B. The rain was fairly light and eased off becoming intermittent.

The path is joined again right next to Tintagel castle and I was trying to get a moody photo with the rain and the mist, conjuring up the atmosphere of the place but ended up with Andy inviting himself into the photo, complaining that I needed "people interest" - so this turned out more Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries..."

Crackington Haven to Tintagel

Crackington Haven to Tintagel - Sunday 22nd April 2012

Path Facts - Length: 11 miles, Ascent: 4045 feet

Above was the view from the window just before breakfast. We breakfasted at 8.15 am in order to catch the 9.30 am bus to Crackington Haven. Missing this would have entailed waiting another 3 hours. It was pretty cold but not quite as wet as anticipated once we got going.

Arrival - Bude

Bude - Saturday 21st April 2012

Arrived in Bude about 3pm with Andy due to come down later in the evening. The weather forecast for the coming week was mostly terrible and there had been a couple of showers earlier but the sun was currently out and the gulls were making the usual sounds of the seaside.