I knew when I booked this trip that today would be a special day - and it didn't disappoint. We started where we finished at Porthcothan Bay yesterday with the promise of great weather all day. Which was a great bonus.
The B&B was a little weird but pleasant and the landlady asked us if she could take pictures of us to support dropping of distribution of plastic drinking straws... of course we obliged ( why not all plastic?!) but not sure where those pics are gonna end up!
The tide has switched completely from when we started a few weeks ago and is now high most of the morning so you can really see the sea right in. Feels quite fresh and autumnal this morning. There is a lone surfer just out of shot in the bay.
With the high tides come new experiences in the rocks - sea mainly.
We are soon around the corner to our first beach just after Park Head. And despite the lack of beach, Harry is keen for a play.
Then onto the iconic Bedruthan steps, Diggory's Island, Redcove Island etc. All come into view representing famous pictures of Cornwall. We can't get on the beach as sea is right in but it is still spectacular.
From both sides...
And a gratuitous selfie to add to the collection. Sun is out and, with no wind, it is feeling really like summer today.
Just past here we hit Mawgan Porth which is fantastic...
Even though it isn't yet October, all the grockles have gone home so dogs are all over the beaches...
On top of the world again with the rest of our day ahead of us...
And then we hit Watergate Bay. Sun is out, surf is up so there are literally hundreds of surfers out today... it is absolutely beautiful - the best yet...
The vastness of it really hits us as we work our way along the cliff top...
And down onto the sand where we have a quick coffee from the coffee shop next to Jamie Olivier's Fifteen... it's all I can do to stop from getting a bottle of Chablis from the Watergate Bay Hotel and settling in for the afternoon... so many fond memories of being here with the kids as babies...
But push on we must and so we climb the cliffs... and are rewarded with yet another beach on our way into Newquay...
The weather, the terrain and the lack of people combine together to provide stunning views
This is all the headland we have covered since going around the lighthouse yesterday - you can see it in the left side of the pic if you look really hard (or zoom in!)
We had up above the beach to find that Harry has already been here and he has his own place... we have no time to relax and chill but we are definitely enjoying the views...
And so should you...
So we round the Newquay headland and arrive on Fistral Beach - surfing capital of the UK. They hold the big surfing competitions here.
Pausing only for a quick Nasi Goreng at Rick Stein's "fast food" place...
We move further on the beach which is packed with surfing activities.
We are supposed to stop at Fistral which is part of Pentire and not Newquay ("quieter and more stunning"). But the tides are giving us problems for tomorrow. We can't get over the River Gannel to the next part of our journey at high tide, without a major trek, around the river until around 11am tomorrow. So we decide to push on to nail that today and come back to eat/sleep... when we get to the river footbridge, we realise why it might be so problematic at high tide...
This is completely buried underwater at high tide. And passing is impossible. The ferry stopped two weeks ago for winter.
Walking in the river with the tide out is amazing and beautiful. Not sure how nice this would be with the tide coming in fast!
We climb out and leave the path, where we will join it tomorrow, at another beach, Crantock...
And we make our way into the old village of Crantock for a quick pint before catching the bus back to Newquay.
The hotel has a pool and a sauna which is most welcome. Because of our excursions today, if we make an early start tomorrow we will go home tomorrow night for other commitments this weekend... wind and rain tomorrow afternoon will surely make the whole thing different again.
