Cornwall and Corsica 2017

Getting closer to leaving for London

We left Tintagel, after stopping to get Cornish pasties for lunch at the pasty shop, and hiked to Port Isaac today. The distance was around 16 km. We passed through Trebarwith Strand and then the trail got a little harder. There were several signs of slate mines, and the shoreline is lined with slabs of slate rock. There were fences and steps made of slate as well. There were a few big valley descents and then ascents, but what made it especially hard was the wind. The big low pressure system that crossed Britain is finally leaving. We didn't have any rain today but the wind was gale force on the cliff tops and hard to walk against where it funnelled up from below. Gusts would cause you to walk like a drunken sailor. Luckily it was mostly at our backs and away from the cliff edges, so we weren't worried about getting blown over a cliff. We are staying tonight at the Old Schoolhouse hotel in Port Isaac. There was filming going on for the Doc Martin show when we arrived. In the show this town is called Portwenn, so there were a few fake Portwenn signs for the sets. We saw two of the show actors and there were a lot of film and lighting trucks in town. We had a fish and chips dinner at the hotel and went for a short walk afterwards. It's cool and windy out tonight and there are people walking around in down jackets.Read more

Today we set out from Port Isaac with a really nice day. A little cool but sunny and not much wind. It was around 20 km total distance. The path had lots of ups and downs for the first two hours until we reached Port Quinn. After that it was less steep and mostly crossed rolling grassland above the cliffs and often beside rock walls made of slate. The wind started to come up later in the afternoon, but nothing as bad as yesterday. For the last few kilometres we crossed two beaches and the path crossed over sand dunes behind the beaches. With about a half hour to go before reaching the ferry at Rock, which connects to Padstow across the Camel estuary, the rain started to fall. When we finally arrived at the ferry we were pretty wet. It was £2 each to cross. When we got across the water to the Padstow ferry launch, we found a pub and went in to get drinks and dry a bit. After that we walked to the Tor View guest house, which is about a ten minute walk from downtown up a hill. It's not as well located as other places we've stayed, as the Royal Cornwall Show is on and everything was booked up months ago. It's a nice place though. We walked back into town and had dinner at the Lion pub. It's been lightly raining since we arrived. Tonight we are trying to dry things out with limited hanging space. We have to pack up to catch our bus and train back to London tomorrow. The bus goes at 8:30 am. The South West Coastal path walk is over - at least for now.Read more

We caught the bus from Padstow to Bodmin Parkway rail station. We left early as the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show started today and it the largest annual event in the U.K. Over 125,000 people, 500 cattle, 180 pigs, 1400 horses and 1500 sheep are competing this year. The roads were pretty jammed up getting into the site. As well, the British general election is on today. So, we got to the train station early and waited for our train and then travelled to Paddington Station in London. We are at the Indigo Hotel, where we stayed when we arrived here May 27th. We changed and then took the tube to Liverpool Street and there we met up with Stanny and David who took the train in. Stanny was in Whitehorse with Michael visiting us last August and we haven't seen David for at least 10 years. We went for a nice dinner and drinks and caught up on news. After dinner, Stanny and David caught the train back home and we took the tube back to Paddington. We had one drink at the Sussex Arms and watched a rugby game on TV. We are now back in our room getting ready to fly to Marseille tomorrow.Read more