Yesterday I could see clouds for much of the day, but for only 10 minutes did one ever come between me and the sun. Today – much to my relief – it was the other way round and it was cloudy nearly all the day, with a couple of bouts of light rain. You will see that my waterproofs are as orange as my suntanned face!
Today I did the whole journey by road – mostly on minor country roads, though there was a nasty 20 minute section where a road marked as a minor road on the maps turned out to be busier than any of the bits of B road I have so far walked along. I fear the process of traffic watching and dodging may be much repeated – sometimes for whole days – later in the trip.
The reactions of motorists when you step aside to give them room are about 60% wave of thanks and 40% ignore. I was impressed that one white van man flashed his hazard lights at me after he had passed me – but most interesting was the cyclist who shouted ‘Bill Gates is a murderer’ as he went past.
I went via St Agnes and then Perranporth. Walking the length of the amazing beach at Perranporth, as I had done in 1973, was tempting but too far out of my way – it was nearly 17 miles today as it was.
Little bits of long distance walking technique you might not think of: (a) buy trousers with a back pocket – somewhere to put the map! (b) it is crucial to make sure the plug for your multi-charger is right the way in – today I spent the afternoon with no camera, no OS app, and no record of the address of my hotel, though my vague idea of where it was turned out to be correct.
Things I haven’t yet done which I would normally do on a walking holiday: (a) watch TV (b) stop at a coffee shop (c) drink wine on my own (the latter deleted after a visit to Newquay Pizza Express.
Finally my stories about previous disastrous visits to Newquay:
1973: My school friend Arnold had planned much too long a walk, from Portreath to Newquay. Our hotel was on Pentire Head, which we approached across Crantock beach. However the river Gannel flows across the beach and we had to take a 2 mile detour inland to cross it, making a total journey of 25 miles. As we sought directions to the hotel, the man we asked was sick on the pavement, which about summed up how we felt. Being witty 17 years olds, Newquay then became ‘Pukey’.
1986 – a family holiday with our three and nephew Ollie. We decided to go Bowling. The brochure looked like it was on a retail park, but no. We were in two cars and took forever to park. Once bowling the scoring units did not work so the game was meaningless. So we went to the in-house burger bar and ordered our food. The guy behind the counter then disappeared for 50 minutes and returned having been to Iceland to buy some chips! The building can be seen from outside my hotel – but is now a gym.
So I am expecting something odd to happen this visit Maybe the fact that I can, from my hotel room, simultaneously hear two different lots of pop music and some young men shouting does not augur well for my sleep?
Tomorrow should be a shortish day in comparison to the first four, which is a relief, as each day has left my exhausted so far. I was asleep by 9.15 yesterday. The Porthtowan Airbnb by the way was much nicer than all three hotels so far – and cheaper!
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Daily Data
Days left until John O’Groats | 72 |
Route miles walked | 64.95 |
Estimated miles until John O’Groats | 985 |
Additional miles walked (evenings and rest days) | 3.5 |
Counties walked through | 1 |
Number of walking companions so far | 0 |
Number of stiles crossed | 19 |
Current sponsorship total | £12,068.82 |
Cast of characters | Jeremy Pemberton, Laurence Cunnington, Adele Poulson, Brad Poulson, Graeme Parkhill, Andy Hellwig |
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Keep going Guy. Am enjoying your stories especially as I am a West Country girl! Margaret Elliott (alto)
Lovely stories Guy - not long to your first rest day! All the best from Glenn and myself.