20180602 Porthcothan – Newquay

Date: 20180602

Time: 9:15 – 15:25

Distance: 23.9 km

Stay: Pentire Hotel, Newquay

Walk

The stretch from Porthcothan to Newquay is not too heavy. There are some rises and falls, but they go gradually. Today it mainly goes along the cliffs with down below rock formations in the beginning and later mostly beaches.

There is a lot of surfing again and it is quite busy on some beaches. I have heard from the landlady that this week is a holiday for the children. That explains why there were so many people (and children) in various places during the day.

I come across more collapsed caves, big holes in the ground. That means watching out that the ground is not disappearing below my feet…

After a few kilometers I arrive at a cafe of the National Trust. However, it is still too early for coffee.
Right after that I meet Davey again. He apparently likes to leave early. We walk a bit together and chat a bit. Then I pick up my own pace again and continue.

In Mawgan Porth it is time for coffee. I am now about halfway and after walking a bit over the beach, I sit down at a beach cafe for a short break. While I’m sitting there, I see Davey pass by again. I’ll catch up with him soon enough.

After Mawgan Porth, the big beaches follow, with lots of surfers. However, the Coast Path mainly goes up over the cliffs. As expected, I pass Davey again.

Newquay has been visible for a while. When I look back, I also see yesterday’s lighthouse for a long time. If it had not been so foggy yesterday, then I could already have seen Newquay.

Newquay stretches over a number of kilometers along the coast. The first part of the Coast Path is still close to the coast and I keep away from the buildings. After that I still end up between the buildings and eventually in the middle of the town. It is pretty busy, holiday and Saturday …

At the end of today’s trajectory I am looking for a pub for a pint. That will be the Sailors Arms. Here I sit outside on the terrace to watch the people that pass by.

However, I am not yet done walking today. My hotel is located on the other side of Newquay, so I follow the Coast Path a few kilometers further until I am in Pentire. That means fewer kilometers tomorrow.
After a bit of searching, I find my hotel and am ready for today.

Weather

Nice summer weather today, sunny and with a strong breeze to the sea. There were clouds and occasional even dark clouds, but they didn’t bother much.

Lyric of the day

Today is Fortarock in Nijmegen. In recent years I have been there every time, together with my brothers and nephew and of course with the guardian of the park, Rob (no, not me). Unfortunately I have to miss it this year (you can’t have everything). To compensate, we are going heavy today and the lyrics are from Opeth, who will be second-last on the main stage tonight. It is a song from my favorite album, Blackwater Park, The Drapery Falls:

Please remedy my confusion
And thrust me back to the day
The silence of your seclusion
Brings night into all you say
Pull me down again
And guide me into pain
I’m counting nocturnal hours
Drowned visions in haunted sleep
Faint flickering of your powers
Leaks out to show what you keep
Pull me down again
And guide me into
There is failure inside
This test I can’t persist
Kept back by the enigma
No criterias demanded here
Deadly patterns made my wreath
Prosperous in your ways
Pale ghost in the corner
Pouring a caress on your shoulder
Puzzled by shrewd innocence
Runs a thick tide beneath
Ushered into inner graves
Nails bleeding from the struggle
It is the end for the weak at heart
Always the same
A lullaby for the ones who’ve lost all
Reeling inside
My gleaming eye in your necklace reflects
Stare of primal regrets
You turn your back and you walk away
Never again
Spiralling to the ground below
Like Autumn leaves left in the wake to fade away
Waking up to your sound again
And lapse into the ways of misery

Photos