Boog's Blog

Praa Sands to Porthleven.

Have not as yet found out about the conjunction "H". Porthleven is, like many seaside towns, porthmaer for example, appears to be a conjunction of port and another word with the H seeming to be a conjunction of unknown origin to us.

In town a Scotsman explained it is Celtic. Of. As expected.

Porthleven looks a lot like Boscastle only a bit larger. Same harbor design.

Met Pauline and Julian at the harbor for a quite tasty cream tea. Pauline had worked with Dennis and Jane in Wales and were nice enough to meet us and show us around a bit. Hopefully we will be able to see them again in California.

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Walk to Marazion and St. Michaels Mount. The coast path between
Mousehole and a bit past Marazion is a cycleway, paved in parts. Flat, easy walking except for the knee deep puddles.

Wildlife Sighting: Many rabbit holes; we actually saw more rabbits today (2) than we have on the entire trip so far.

From Lelant to St. Michael's Mount is allegedly part of a pilgrimage path to Santiago. Another leg completed by QB.

St. Michael is the patron saint of high places. He was seen around the mount in a vision by local fishermen, so the story is not heavily supported by concrete evidence.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael's_Mount

Dinner at the Turks Head, a 300 year old pub, maybe the oldest around. Celebrated with Doombar.

The meal came with a creme sauce. We asked if the creme could be left off. The chef said the dish would be too dry and suggested a tomato sauce. I suggested the addition of some chili. It came with a spicy tomato sauce. This is not Bobby's England!

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Train to Penzance, another base stop for walks in both directions. Mousehole and a bit further west. Marazion to the east.

The coast has changed character and geology. Trees are more prevalent, but surprisingly, leaves are starting to turn on very few trees.

Boulders on the sea which is now part of the English channel. Less wind, warmer, big boulders instead of sandy beaches. Somewhat like the difference between road biking and mountain biking. The coast path, at times, becomes the technical mountain biking equivalent.

After some point on the way to Lamorna the boulders became, for us, impassible. Hips do not raise high enough to step over the large ones, so we bailed.

Returned the way we came, in the rain, watching wonderful waves beat the Penzance shore. A good days walk.

Beer: Skinner's Cornish Knockers ale, light. 3.2 Boogs

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Shopping and exploration of the town. Intended to see the Tate museum but…….. Closed.

http://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-st-ives

..and had to settle for teas and scones.

Wine: house red. Break from beer and cider.

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Today's goal was Lands End. Reputed to be tacky. It is, but not much.

The coast has definitely flattened out. More frenquent ups and downs but each rise is lower than the North Coast.

The walk today is, according to the book, a "good" walk. It is except for a) two terrifying vertical ascents in the b)gale force winds, c)rock climbing on our hands and knees- we would have turned back at this point but the return would have been too hard. Also, dangerous mineshafts left over from the recent tin mining era. No choughs spotted. Some guillemots.

Lunch in Sennen Cove before heading to Lands End. A ham and mayo (WTF?) sandwich please and leave off the mayo. No problem. Arrived with no mayo but a very generous amount of butter was added. No concept that just mustard, as indicated on the menu, was sufficient.

Good lesson on fishing and mining in this area from the taxi driver who took us back to the hotel.

Beer. Tribute Cornish pale ale 3.65 Boogs. Lighter than Doombar.

QB had Dourade.

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Many The Mud Song versions on the path.

Coastal walk, part one of today ends at Hayle where there is a nature preserve in the estuary. Carried binoculars for just such an occasion.

Dunes, beach walking, and a visit to a tea shop in Hayles before the birds. Not so many birds. A swan and some water birds. Possibly an oyster catcher.

Beer: st. Ive's Boilers Cornish ale. 3.4 Boogs –a little light for our taste.

Dinner at Porthminster Cafe. Came highly recommended by several on the trail. Excellent. Mussels prepared in a broth of red chili and lemongrass with some bok choy thrown in for good measure.

Hotel is the Tide House. Ancient building, 16th century, recently renovated.

Shared from Google Keep

Rest day, feet up, planning, testing, hot tubing, laundry.

Main excitement was the fuse, power went out. Unlike Binghamton where when we had a similar outage 35 years ago, the handyman when asked about the fuse went fusebox???, here he just flipped the appropriate switch.

The English are so professional.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/carnewas-and-bedruthan-steps/

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Friday partly cloudy and warm.

Due to time, weather and legs, Boogs are sampling more than sacking the SWCP.

Windy!! Felt unsafe on the cliffs
Sustained winds of 40km/hr with much larger gusts.

One featured coast walk is the one from Crantock, the starting point for us today. Includes a long walk on Perranporth beach. Avoided the military area-as often the case on a spectacular section of the coast. Spectacular and rugged! We bailed before Camp Penhale because the path was described as "heart stopping" along sheer cliffs. With the high winds we decided not to risk it.

Much of the walk we did take is along what looks like a rolling hill golf course. Carpeted in green. Then abruptly it ends and becomes lovely dunes. Very hard to walk up the dunes but delightful coming down.

Discussed wind with a surfer who was finishing up. Asked about wind direction. Best off the cliffs like today as the wind holds up the waves for a better ride. Best mid-tide.

After a fine Cornish ice cream ( the kind that is so high in fat that all the sugar is counteracted according to Bobby) in Perranporth, we then attempted to walk along the beach. Wind was so strong, blowing sand everywhere, we had to turn back.

Went back to Watergate bay for a walk along its beach, caught it as the tide was coming in.

Dinner at Jaime Oliver's Fifteen- was worth going back after trying it yesterday. Top quality place, best so far on this trip.

Todays Beer: Artist's Pint. Closest they have to Doombar. This is a little sweeter. 3.6 Boogs.

Shared from Google Keep

Windy!! Felt unsafe on the cliffs
Sustained winds of 40km/hr with much larger gusts.

One featured coast walk is the one from Crantock, the starting point for us today. Includes a long walk on Perranporth beach. Avoided the military area-as often the case on a spectacular section of the coast. spectacular and rugged!

Much of the walk is along what looks like a rolling hill golf course. Carpeted in green. Then abruptly it ends and becomes lovely dunes. Very hard to walk up the dunes but delightful coming down.

Discussed wind with a surfer who was finishing up. Asked about wind direction. Best off the cliffs like today as the wind holds up the waves for a better ride. Best mid-tide.

After a fine Cornish ice cream ( the kind that is so high in fat that all the sugar is counteracted according to Bobby) in Perranporth, we then attempted to walk along the beach. Wind was so strong, blowing sand everywhere, we had to turn back.

Went back to Watergate bay for a walk along its beach, caught it as the tide was coming in.

Dinner at Fifteen- was worth going back after trying it yesterday. Top quality place, best so far on this trip.

Beer: Artist's Pint. Closest they have to Doombar. This is a little sweeter. 3.6 Boogs.

Shared from Google Keep