SWC - Porthcothan to Newquay Day 2

Monday 14th October - 20km walk to our Esplanade Hotel at Fistral Beach

To our surprise we had a taxi pick us up after breakfast and drive us back to little Portcothan where we could pick up the track from yesterday.

Today’s walk was very scenic with fine cliffs, little headlands and rugged coves. Our assents were around 670m (2200ft) which afforded us with wonderful views again across the Atlantic Ocean or The Celtic Sea. At times the path lead us very close to the cliff edge and the drop was quite sheer and very steep. It was challenging to go
too close for risk of the cliff breaking off. I’m sure it wouldn’t but that’s how it felt. It’s very open with no barricades. We appreciated the ruggedness and natural beauty of the cliffs.

We passed by a mob of black faced ewes without lambs and they were camped within metres of the edge of a cliff. Two female farmers came along in a ute and tipped a bucket of feed out in to the paddock. The ewes were reluctant to budge from their cliff hangout but eventually they ran through a gap in the stone wall and put their heads down to feed on the grain. It was cool to see a farmer in action.

Our next highlight for the day was the Bedruthran Steps. They were rugged stacks spread along a beach. We were unable to access the beach as it was closed by the National Trust.
At this point we met some other walkers from Bath and they took our photo. Simon was bear hugging me!

Our lunch spot was a grassy cliff top today which overlooked the rugged coastline going South.
We had more Cornish pastries from the bakery in Padstow. They were so yummy! 😋

The rest of the hike was about another two hours until Fistral Beach where our beach hotel was located. Along the way we came across various beach resort style accomodation as we progressed closer to the big port town of New Quay. New Quay was a bit like Coffs Harbour or Taree. A bit of a dive so we hurried through to the other side where Fistral Beach was. It was getting close to 4pm which is when the ‘mizzle’ comes in on the Cornwall coast. Mizzle is the name the locals give the weather as it’s a cross between drizzle and mist.
Anyhow the weather turns a little miserable after 4pm. We were surprised to see so many surfers 🏄 🏄‍♀️ 🏄‍♂️ still out in the water and they actually stayed out til after 7pm which was getting quite dark.
Our hotel was huge and looked out to the west across the ocean. It would be a great spot to view a sunset but the mizzle spoiled that idea.
Still a beautiful hotel where we enjoyed a bottle of Prosecco and a lovely dinner.Read more