Breakfast proved eventful at The Cavendish hotel. There was a large group of wrinklies on tour and staying at the Hotel - probably the "Over 80's Nude Surfing Club" or somesuch and they were first down for breakfast, but also not far behind them were various people all sporting CCS T shirts on a Company Piss up. They staggered into breakfast looking worse for wear - some still clutching bottles of beer! One of the blue rinse brigade rose from her table, marched over to a tableful of hung over individuals and proceeded to give them a blast of her tongue - along the lines of how inconsiderate they were to have been causing a rumpus at 4am in the morning after a night on the lash. They stared at her aghast - too bleary eyed to respond - and she returned to her table to a standing ovation and hurrahs all round.
I had a slow start to the morning - I had to cross the River Gannel which is just South of Newquay and there is a walkway whcih can be accessed 2 hrs either side of low tide - so I thought that would be about 11am ish - so meanwhile - I got myself to the chemist for some Factor 50 - plus a tube of Lip Salve. Standing outside the chemist, I ripped the packaging off and chucked it in a large Council bin - unfortunately, I was left holding an empty plastic tube and had to then dip my arm into a pile of festering waste to try and find it! The path went through the centre of Newquay and past the old Harbour, so I walked down and had a look, but there didn't seem to be much happening.
I rejoined the path and headed up towards Towan Head. At the head o the harbour was an interesting old building known as a Huers Hut. Dating back to 14th century - this was used by lookout men to spot shoals of pilchards and they then alerted and directed the local fishing boats.
My view from Towan Head was spoilt by the fog - but it was starting burn off as I walked back from the head to the start of Fistral Beach - Newquay's famous Surfing mecca. Conditions for surfing didn't look that good, but there were a few people catching the waves at both ends of the long beach. From the far end of Fistral -the path went out towards Pentire Point East, where there was a superb house built into the cliffs with helicopter landing pad and half built swimming pool. I was now at the mouth of The River Gannel and there were several alternative routes to cross it including a small Ferry in the high season. I headed for the footbridge mentioned earlier and the path went through the suburban area of Fern Pit and there was some lovely property overlooking the estuary, which was very beautiful in the early morning sun.
Across the river, the path then wound behind Crantock beach and climbed back up to the clifftop at Pentire point West. The small sandy bay of Porth Joke followed before reaching another popular and more secluded surfing spot - Holywell Beach. It is so named because in the past - there was a trickle of water from a small cave which was thought to have healing properties and sick children were brought along to be dipped in the water.
The path then skirted around a large and ugly army camp at Penhale where there were some unusual looking clifftop radar equipment, before going out to Ligger point with some great views and then you reach the massive long beach of Perran. It was then a choice of scrabbling through the soft sand of the dunes - or the firm sand of the beach - so that was a no-brainer! The beach seemed to go on forever, reminding me of Saunton Sands - but eventually I reached the small seaside town of Perranporth. Originally, I had planned to try and get to St Agnes - but I was fairly footsore, so given that there was a good choice of accommodation - I decided to call it a day. There was also a good beachside cafe - so I took the opportunity to stuff a Cream tea in my face before phoning around for a B&B.
I found one - small grotty smelly single room -I was the only occupant and they were advertising NO VACANCIES - but the man I spoke to on the phone had said YES we have a room I think, but my wife deals with this and proceeded to laugh nervously! Wife wasn't amused to return from the Supermarket to find that hubby had taken someone in - she wasn't prepared! - the perils of finding accommodation, out of season! At least they had a bath. I later hit the town and tried to find somewhere to eat - the first pub stopped serving food at 6.oopm! - bizarre - but not worth employing a chef to stand around scratching his bollocks all evening, I suppose. Anyway, they recommended another much busier pub, The Green Parrot where I had an excellent meal. Probably only about 13 miles walked today - but an enjoyable hike - and I would head for Portreath in the morning.
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