No point complaining

Thursday 1 November, 2018

In many ways, this was a rotten kind of day, but I don’t want to dwell on the terrain or the poor condition of the path. I was warned in the blessed South West Coast Path Book; but until you are actually on the path, it’s very hard to actually judge what they are telling you. The stretch from St Ives to Pendeen is the hardest on this part of the path and the fact it is Day 1 is just bad luck; but it did serve to teach me just how remote a spot can be, even when you are only ten kilometres from St Ives. Walking gives you a very different perspective than just going from place to place by car.

So I have certainly learned a lesson about mental preparation, and I think that, from now on, I’m going to have the local taxi company’s number in my pocket. It wouldn’t have helped much today until later in the afternoon, but it will from now on, and imagine if today had been bad weather, rather than the stunning day I was lucky enough to get.

You get the gist of the day from the photos and I am quite happy to forget all the cursing as I sit in the pub enjoying a couple of pints and a big dinner. Tomorrow looks to be a much more enjoyable day with the last of the sunshine, so I’ll make the most of it.

The one comment I would make about this walk is that, so late in the season, there’s not much conversation. I struck up a couple in the bar tonight, but the Camino and walking with Paula have spoilt me, and I would prefer companionship to this rather solitary journey at times. The time to oneself is a blessing after the last couple of years at work – I’m certainly not hankering to go back – but no one is walking through: they are wandering the paths on short half-days with their dogs. Can you imagine Fergus or Zaffy on a cliff path?

I love this pub (it’s the one that belongs to chap who appears as an extra in Poldark). It’s a real local, the beer is great and the food wonderful. It’s the sort of spot that you can sit at a table and read and enjoy a book and eavesdrop on the locals telling tall tales. I hope there are more of these along the way.