Week 3 Day 6 - Port Isaac to Padstow

This was another one of those days which starts overcast and misty in the morning and ends up sunny and warm in the afternoon.

We park at Port Isaac after a long drive via Wadebridge and Rock to check out the bus route for our return journey. The walk from Port Isaac to Port Quin is quite strenuous with several steep ups and downs with steps.

We have elevenses just after Port Quin and then it starts to rain very lightly but enough to put on waterproofs. The walk to Pentire Point is much less strenuous with gentle climbs and descents and the sun re-appears as we near the headland.

We have lunch on a stone bench overlooking the sea and are passed by a group of elderly bird watchers out looking for rare species with their long distance telescopes. On our way down to Polzeath we see a school of dolphins playing around a small fishing boat that is heading out to sea.

At Polzeath we walk across the beach and head on to Daymer Bay and Rock. We get to Rock at 1455, just missing the ferry to Padstow which leave as we walk up the slipway. No matter, the next one arrives 20 minutes later and we get to Padstow at about 1530. After a welcome cup of tea and slice of cake in a cafe right by the quay we head off to find the bus stop for buses to Wadebridge. On the way we buy a post card for Stuart & Lynne and an ice cream each. I almost lose mine as the ice cream falls out of the cone but I manage to catch most of it.

We catch the 1630 bus to Wadebridge, where we post the post card and take out some cash, followed by the 1725 to Port Isaac to retrieve the car. After a quick shower at the camp site and a change of clothes we celebrate the end of the week with a meal out (crab salad for Liz, ribeye steak for me) at the Port William pub we visited yesterday at Trebarwith Strand.

This has been quite a good week walking wise with plenty of good weather and very little rain. We have achieved our original objective and reached Padstow. We will be back in September to walk on to Newquay, Perranporth and, hopefully, St. Ives.



Distance completed today: 11.7 miles
Total distance completed: 166.8 miles (26.5%)