Day 22 Finish line!

Today I finished my Cornish Coastal Challenge!!

I left Penzance at 9.30am and arrived in Newlyn at 10am to be met by an applaud and lots of photos. The short walk from Penzance harbour to Newlyn was wet and blustery but there was a hot cup of tea and lots of cake awaiting at the end. After a few photo opps on the boat and with the crew I sat and relaxed feeling quite chuffed at my acheivement.

I would like to say a huge Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way by either simply talking to me, to donating generously, to providing a place to stay and even buying me dinner. Thank you so much! I have really enjoyed the experience and loved meeting so many people. My total raised currently stands at around £600 but I still have more to collect and if you are reading this and haven't yet donated to this great charity then please do so now. We all use the sea whether it be sailing, surfing, swimming or just enjoying the fabulous view whilst walking. Lifeboats are a common sight around the Coast and I am truly amazed at the support that has been shown for the lifeboat crews, they are amazing people and very important part of our coastal towns and villages.

Day 20 to Day 21 Cadgwith to Penzance

Day 20: The day it snowed the Ocean!


Today was very, very, VERY windy and the waves were HUGE but thankfully the wind was in my favour as it was behind me pushing me uphill. We walked from Lizard to Porthleven with the occasional shower. We saw some incredible sights, such as the illusion that it was snowing. This was in fact the spume from the sea being blown ashore by the massive winds we were experiencing. It came in a blizzard fashion, up the side of the cliffs leaving them white like Dover. Below you can see the white milk like sea and to the right a picture of a beach completely covered in the foam.

As we left Kynance Cove and headed towards Porthleven we were literally blown away by the scenery and the winds. We watched waves crash into the coves with such force that you could be forgiven for thinking that a hurricane was iminent. We lunched at Mullion Cove and then joined many tourists on the harbourside wall watching the waves in complete awe.

Day 21 was great, it was the homeward leg of my trip around Cornwall. Again it was raining, but that didn't matter as the excitement of reaching home territory was taking over. We saw seals and basking sharks as well as crazy people swimming and BBQ-ing on the beach. The walk itself was very flat and quite easy although in distance it was 14.75miles, so not a short walk. The path, in contrast to the North Coast was practically at beach level so we were often covered in sea water more so than the rain. There were still a few cliffs to walk like this one just past Praa Sands.









As we rounded Cudden Point I had a small celebration dance as I was met with this view. Home!

Mounts Bay and St. Micheals Mount, what a sight? Even in the rain... We now walked with pace as we knew it was near the end. In Marazion we had a pint or Cornish Cider before trekking on the in rain to Penzance. In Penzance I joined the Fireball sailors at the Sailing Club for a drink where they were very generous and made lots of contributions to the cause. Thanks guys!!

If you haven't guessed, this is me rather wet arriving in Penzance.

Day 15 Day 19 Polruan to Cadgwith

So, it's been an interesting walk, not only did I manage to almost kill my walking buddy with heat exhaustion but I also hurt my own foot by walking too fast!! Lets go back a few days...

Random: We are not sure what this was but we found it at Par Sands...

Leaving Polruan, Laurence and I headed for Pentewan. The day was very hot and clamy and we pushed on through Fowey making a short stop at the Lifeboat Station. We walked with a good pace to Par Sands where we suddenly slowed down due to the midday heat. Walking round to Par Sands we passed a place called Little Hell and I can tell you that it certainly felt like Hell walking with our backpacks and trying to keep a steady pace. Leaving Par we passed Carlyon Bay -  a bit of a dive due to the abandoned buildings on the beach. We arrived in Charlestown where we had a drink and sandwich and I even managed to steal a Pirates Parrot!

The route from Charlestown to Pentewan was very up and down and we became very angry at the seeing the same sign numerous times. "Pentewan 3.5 miles" It certainly wasn't considering each sign had about a 40 min walk between each one!! Again I think someone in the South West Coastal Path team is having a laugh. As we arrived on Black Head it became apparent that my buddy was in a bad way so we headed for a road where I bundled him off in a car to our next destination.

Pentewan we were joined by my posh friends Sophie and Chris who treated us to dinner after our long ordeal. Yes Sophie this picture is for you!!

My buddy Laurence went home that night to recover leaving me to continue on the next day to Portloe. Waking up at Pentewan I was a bit dazed and confused especially when I found that the Pesky Piskies had stolen my toothbrush! I know I left it beside my pillow when I went to bed, so either they stole it or someone had been in my tent!! I hope it was the Piskies...

Day 16 I walked a relatively easy walk, meeting lots of great people on the way, especially Bob and Mary who donated generously to the RNLI after hearing about my challenge. We walked together to Caerhays Castle where we went our separate ways. That night I stayed in Veryan at the Camping and Caravaning club, where the amazing staff made me feel very welcome and gave me a free pitch for the night! Thanks guys!

Day 17 seemed to fly by super quick. I left the campsite around 9am and headed for Falmouth. the path was easy and steady, contouring around the coastline with hardly any ascents and descents. I arrived at St Anthony's Lighthouse around 2.30pm which was great timing for a 14mile walk on the coastline. I caught the ferry from Place to St Mawes and then St Mawes to Falmouth where I was met by my mum. That night I stayed at home in a bed and had a long bath follwed by a big tasty homecooked dinner - Bliss.  Falmouth view it below.

Falmouth to Porthallow, Day 18, was a relatively easy walk apart from around Helford where the path was very muddy! I met lots of families trying to walk around the point but they soon realised that Crocs are not quite the appropriate footwear. It was quite uneventful really but I enjoyed the great views back across to Falmouth.

So, today I walked with my buddy Laurence again! He is much better now. We walked without our backpacks as my mum lives out near Lizard so I could leave our bags there much to our relief. We walked in lovely sunshine round to Coverack, a beautiful village where we had lunch overlooking the beach. Felt like we were in Greece or somewhere like that. Leaving Coverack proved difficult as the path warned of challenging routes, naturally we paid no attention thinking, 'It cant be that bad, can it?' As we left the village a came around the headland we soon realised what the sign meant, we were literally up to our armpits in heather, gorse and nettles. The path had literally been overtaken by bush! We battled our way through, getting scratched, torn and tripped up by various green plants before we came out at the top of a headland revealing views right across to the Lizard point and the new Lifeboat Station sitting in the cliff side. We only made it to Cadgwith today as the rain came in and we became rather wet like soggy sailors, so we ended the day with a pint in the Cadgwith Cove Inn. Lovely stuff!

Day 14 Millendreath to Polruan

We set off a little late in the day with our first stop at the Lifeboat station in Looe. We were met by John a lovely man who showed us in, gave us water and sat us down for a few minutes before showing us around the station. We had our picture taken in not the usual manner!! As you can see.
John then took us down town for pasty and set us off on our way with a free ferry trip across the river.

We started our long trip to Polruan in the midday heat which  was very challenging. Reaching Polpero wasnt so bad until we left Polperro. The route between Polruan and Polperro was particularly tough as there were a few steep ascents and descents. After sweating profusly, we passed a sign that said Polruan 3 and half miles, thinking we were half way there we pressed on. What seemed like hours later we passed another sign that said the SAME thing. How could it still be 3 and half miles? The sign a little further on said 4 and half miles. We soon came to the conclusion that someone in the South West Coastal Path Team must be having a laugh. Either that or we were becoming delirious in the heat...

We collapsed on a headland after an awful hot hike still realising we had another two miles to go. we wanted to cry but there was no water left in us!! We staggered into Polruan rather late and headed for the pub and a cold pint of cider. We asked the pub about accomodation as we were rather lacking on that front. Luckily a lovely lady called Beth Rigg came over and said her husband was the Ray, was the treasurer of the Fowey and Polruan Lifeboat and that their holiday cottage was empty so we could stay there for £20. Of course we jumped at the offer, our tired feet were weary.

We then got chatting to a man next to us who explained he was from Newlyn and his boat was here for some repairs. His name was Steve and just before he left he gave Beth the £20 for our accomodation! We could hardly believe it and we would just like to say a big thank you to Steve! That night I slept so well.

Day 13 South Coast!!!

Yey I made it onto what felt like the home stretch. A beautiful sunny day to start the south route. I was in high spirits and I was joined by Laurence, a friend of my sister. We arrived in pretty  Portwrinkle around 3pm and continued on to Millendreath Cove outside of Looe. On the way I moaned and moaned that I had not seen any Marine animals in the way of dolphins etc. Only then, after moaning did I spot a fin in the water. we watched this fin drift slowly across the surface and decided that it was Basking Shark, seeing as my wishes were coming true I decided to wish that Johnny Depp would walk around the next corner! And would you believe it, as I got around the next headland I was met by... a large feild of muck, not Johnny Depp - Gutted!

That night we stayed at Bay View Farm where Mike Elford, the owner, let us stay for free and gave generously to the RNLI pot. Thanks Mike. That night we tucked into a chinese takeaway and watched the sun go down over the pretty view of Looe.

We set up our little camp making sure the RNLI cause was obvious!








The amazing view overlooking Looe.

Day 12 Boscastle to Bude

So today was to be another immense walk, 16miles of Coast Path to Bude. I left at 8am saying bye to Josie and headed out in clear weather. About an hour into my hike it began to rain and it did that ALLDAY! I walked in mud that was so slippy and gooey I fell over four times being left to look like a bug on my back incapable of getting up because my bag was so big!

I hiked all day in wet clamy conditions finally reaching Widemouth Bay where I had truly had enough, I smelt like a wet dog and that was bad. Mum met me and we stayed at Cerenity eco campsite, where Jake the owner let me use her shower to be sure I had a hot one. She even let us stay for free as we were chsrity walking. Thanks Jake! The next morning we visited the Bude Lifeboat station before heading down to the south Coast. I could hardly believe I was already heading for the south coast....

Day 11 Port Isaac to Boscastle

Leaving in the rain was miserable but little did I know the worst was to.come. The walk from Port Isaac to Boscastle was known for being very challenging although that is quite an understatment. The path was more tha trecherous with steep inclines over loose rubble of slate and shingle, many of which I had to get on all fours to climb up.

This is taken from part way up.

I even had to do this in the rain, it actually felt impossible task sometimes. I passed a lovely lady just outside of Port Isaac, called Josie. We passed each othr a few times.in the day and.ended up walking into Boscastle together. We stayed at the YHA which was lovely and then we headed to the pub for dinner. Josie was a wonderfully interesting lady who seemed to have done an awful lot of adventures in her life. She very kindly treated me to dinner as her donation to my charity walk. I cant explain how greatful I was of a good hot meal. Thankyou so much Josie!