Journal:
I got up at 6am and packed and made myself breakfast
at my friend's, Keith and Fin's house in Watford
before bidding Keith (he was the only one up!)
farewell and walking to Watford Underground station
where I caught a 7:43am train. After changing
trains and a bit of a walk from Marylebone on a
cloudy and cold grey London morning, I arrived at
Paddington at 8:30am. My train to Penzance
wasn't scheduled to leave until 10:06am, so I had
plenty of time to buy some sandwiches for lunch, get
a coffee and check my email before boarding.
The train was an express with only one stop in the
first two hours and I enjoyed whizzing through the
English countryside while reading the newspaper.
The only thing spoiling the ambience were the three
girls under seven in the seat in front who seemed to
only have one volume setting. I enjoyed their
company for four hours.
From
Exeter the train largely followed the coast and
there was some spectacular coastal scenery including
rocky cliffs, long sandy beaches, muddy estuaries
and picture-book villages. It was a beautiful
train trip and to top it off, the weather gradually
cleared.
I reached
Penzance soon after 3pm and waited at the bus
station in a bitterly cold wind for the bus to Lands
End which arrived at 3:30pm. There was one
other hiker on the bus, of similar age to me, who
looked like he may also have been heading for John
O'Groats. We reached Lands End at 4:30pm.
There is a large tourist facility there which seemed
to be closing and I had a quick wander around before
finding the start of the South West Coastal Path, my
route for the next few days. The coast was
treeless and windswept with sheer rocky cliffs and
pounding surf. Visibility was excellent and I
could see rocks and reefs offshore and the Scilly
Isles in the distance. The water was a
beautiful clear green colour, reminding me of home,
although it looked pretty cold.
The crowds
thinned out as I headed east along the cliff-top
path and I was excited to be underway. After
about 3km, the path descended to picturesque Sennen
Cove, a fishing, surfing and tourist village.
After walking along the foreshore, I headed upwards
and inland to the hostel I was hoping to stay in,
but found the landlady just heading out, saying they
were closed for the night. She directed me to
a B&B down the road, but the prices there seemed
exorbitant, so I declined a room and then returned
to Sennen Cove, having walked a 3km loop, with a
plan to get fish and chips at a shop I had seen,
then continue walking along the coast in the hope of
finding somewhere to camp.
This I
did, and found a relatively flat (one of the few),
but quite windy spot near the top of a low cliff in
a beautiful location with views across to Sennen and
Lands End in the setting sun, and the sound of waves
crashing on the rocks below. I updated my
diary but the battery died on the laptop before I
could post it. I found out in the morning I
didn't have mobile reception, anyway. I went to bed
and read for a while soon after 9:30pm in the fading light after an
excellent day.