After the taxing day yesterday, and still very tired this morning, I was a bit apprehensive about today. I knew I had a long way to go and that the walk is in basically two parts for the day. The hotel was really friendly, and I had a nice breakfast. Cornwall's food (so far) is a massive step up from North Devon and Somerset!
Staying on the path was nice because we went straight onto it this morning. It was a sunny morning but we knew the rain was coming this afternoon... and the wind!
We were almost straight into our first fantastic beach - Widemouth Sands...
Time for a play with the ball and the other dogs 😀
As we climb (again) the scenery delivers once more...
Where we are heading...
We plunge downwards and then up again where it gets more and more spectacular...
It's steep dude!
Striding-Edge-on-Sea v2
And we arrive in Crackington Haven where there is another amazing beach... in the book, this is the end of the first days walk for those starting in Bude. Would have been quite easy to stay in the pub!
But, after a quick (and delicious) Cornish pasty - first one in Cornwall, we are back on the path and looking back on the bay...
And we start to climb up higher than we have been before...
And, after a while, we reach High Cliff. The highest cliff in Cornwall (see it, say it). The views are great but we have 30mph winds to contend with and rain! To give you an idea what that is like follow this link: TopOfTheWorld
The (volcanic?) rock and undulating path are amazing again - we are really out there today...
The terrain changes again and so does the sea colour... the rain keeps coming and the cliffs are sharply steep with the wind trying to whip us off but we're not going anywhere...
One ascent/descent before Boscastle, our destination today, we have to walk through Pentargon with an amazing waterfall and a stiff climb...
The weather make us feel like we are in Sheffield today...
And so we arrive in Boscastle...
A very picturesque village, that was almost washed into the sea in 2004. Spectacular shots of that - just have a look here
We are soaked! (Fortunately not enough for a 1 in 400 weather event!) Time for a hot shower and some food in our digs... our hotel is seriously old - 16c. It has been a hotel since 1750 - Lady Molesworth, Baron De Ounslow (unrelated to only fools and horses), Lord and Lady Hamilton, etc. All stayed in our room. I hope they changed the sheets!
My good lady S arrived this evening to see what it was all about - she will join us on the path tomorrow - I hope she knows what she has let herself in for... we'll see...
