Dave Byrnes' Adventures

Land's End to John O'Groats - 2010

Overview     Planning     Schedule     Map     Diary     Pictures
Day: 003
Date: 5 May 2010
Start:

Carbis Bay

Finish:

Portreath

Daily Kilometres:

28.0

Total Kilometres:

74.2

Weather:

Sunny periods, but mostly high overcast with a couple of sprinkles and a cold breeze at times

Accommodation:

Portreath Youth Hostel (£18)

Nutrition:

English breakfast, vegetable soup and bread for lunch, fish & chips (and peas) and ice-cream for dinner

Aches:

Blister on left heel, right knee a little sore (1/10)

Pictures: Here
GPS Track: Here
Journal:

I had a bad night's sleep, with my right knee painful under the weight of a heavy doona.  I woke with a headache and indigestion (something I ate last night?) and forced myself to eat the English breakfast that came with my room.  I appeared to be the only guest and had a nice chat with the host before leaving around 9:20am, still not feeling well.

The first part of the day involved 1.5 hours of road-walking to get around the Hayle River estuary.  The guidebook panned the section, but I still found it interesting watching the world go by and enjoyed the easy road-walking in my fragile state.  After Hayle, which was obviously proud of its main street flower gardens, the Coast Path returned to the coast.  After a kilometre behind the dunes, I descended to the sweeping flat sand beach.  The water looked clear and cold and across the bay I could see St Ives.  For a while, a military helicopter passed back and forth, low and just offshore, on some kind of exercise.  The sand was softer than it looked, making walking a bit more of a challenge but, on the whole, it was quite pleasant strolling along in the fresh sea breeze.  Near the end of the beach, I had to negotiate some rocky outcrops and was lucky to make it through one passage which would soon be flooded by the tide.  There were a few people surfing (in wet suits) and some kind of lifeguard training program was in progress.

The coast then changed to sea cliffs and the Coast Path climbed to follow the edge.  The walking was easy, much of it on virtual "lawn" with the sheer cliffs just to the left and farmland or heath to the right.  The wind had dropped a little and the cliff-top was quite flat, making the walking very pleasant.  I was gratified to find that my troublesome right knee was causing me little pain after the exertions of yesterday.  I still didn't feel very well, but happened on a remote cafe, serving tourists on the nearby coast road at around 1:30pm, and decided to get some lunch.  Homemade vegetable soup and some white bread was all that I could face, but I knew I needed to have something to see me through the afternoon.  I took an hour for lunch reading my book at an inside table.

I set off after lunch with only 10km to go to Portreath, my target for the day, and the path continued to follow the spectacular cliff-top.  At times, I feel like I am over-dosing on superb scenery.  I worry that I'm already getting blasé.  My reverie was halted by the discovery of a deep blister on my left heel, which I cut open and drained with my pen-knife.  Tomorrow, I'll put some Vaseline on friction points on my feet.  There were a few other walkers out and some bird-watchers, lying perilously close to the cliff edge, trying to identify or photograph the soaring seabirds.  Sadly, I couldn't identify a single bird.....but do enjoy "the big picture".  For the last hour or so, I saw no walkers and had the spectacular coast to myself, including a couple of very steep descents and ascents to cross narrow valleys.

I reached Portreath at 4:30pm.  I had called in the morning and booked a bed at the Youth Hostel, but it was 2km inland and I had been advised to get dinner in town before walking out.  After some vacillation, I decided to have fish and chips (again), since it was the only hot food available before 6pm in town.  I used the time in the cafe to log into an online website with UK maps to work out exactly how to get to the Hostel.  I'm not carrying maps for the Coast Path, instead relying on the guide book which has strip maps in it.  Unfortunately, these never show much that is inland.

I finished dinner with an ice-cream recommended by the friendly teenage waitress in the cafe and then walked to the Hostel along a beautiful old footpath through some woodland, arriving at 6pm.  The Hostel is the best value £18 I'm likely to get on the hike.  Apparently there is one other guest (Dutch), who I haven't even seen yet.  I have been given a room to myself with an ensuite and am writing this in the recreation room which has a large flat-screen TV and a table tennis table, all to myself.  It's part of a cluster of farm buildings and the owner has gone out of her way to make sure I feel at home.

Tomorrow is the UK elections.  I have been following them closely on the radio and am looking forward to hearing the results come in tomorrow night.  It should be close.  I mistakenly thought I would be a day ahead of schedule tonight.  Actually it's half a day, which is no problem at all.  The 28km today was easy, especially considering the late start.  Tomorrow, the path will be more challenging, but I'll make an early start and maybe get as far as Newquay.  Some rain is forecast for the morning.

ADVENTURE LIST

 

Round Ireland
(2016)

Hume & Hovell Walking Track
(2013)

Via Alpina
(2012)

Australian Alps Walking Track
(2011)

Land's End to John O'Groats
(2010)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2009)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2008)

Round Oz Bike Record Attempt
(2007)

Australia Tip to Top MTB
(2006)

Adelaide to Darwin MTB
(2005)

Sydney to Melbourne MTB
(2004)

Three Peaks Race
(2004)

Appalachian Trail
(1986)

Alpine Track
(1983)

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You can email Dave directly at dave@davebyrnes.com.au or subscribe to his Adventure Blogs here.

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