ahead of schedule due to not having a rest day in penzance. although
feeling very proud I'd soldiered on and not wimped out, I made a
tactical decision to rest up for a day at pengoon farm.
the walk to get there was pretty pleasent, albeit long and tough on
the nice set of blisters I'm now sporting on my little toes! the view
out from penzance coastline was amazing, especially st. michaels mount
at which with the clear sunny sky, I couldn't help but stare. with my
experience (if a few days counts) of the Cornish coastline, even
without the pouring rain, I wasn't feeling too hot about taking the
south coast route out of penzance.
I could see the trail a mile off and made the decision to head inland
instead (my feet thanked me). this took me through a maze of hamlets,
each with their interesting stories to tell - none of which my ears,
or legs in this case, had the time for - so on I plodded...
the south coast route, although hardcore and basically like like a
rollercoaster, sticks out like a massive green OS sore thumb on my
maps... the route I'd chosen didn't...
with 15 foot high hedges strafing each side of the road, it made
picking out landmarks a total pain in the neck.
"was that a church? how far is that?" I said to myself about 100
times; no it was just an ancient farm - again and it's not 500m, it's
about a mile and a half... bugger!
even though I'd been walking relatively blind (map wise), I'd followed
my pencilled in route to a T. now this was too good to be true. all
the land marks I'd picked out earlier didn't fit with what I was
reading on the map. to cut a long story short, asking a cross eyed
farm hand for directions is something I DO NOT plan to do again!
finally I arrived at pengoon farm and spotting the sign which read
"scones with cream and jam served here", I basically hurdles lorries
to get there.
2 strawberry & cream scones later, a billy can of tomato soup, a hot
chocolate and a coke later, it was time to pitch up and get some
rest. good night readers...
p.s. it's just started raining :(
p.p.s I've just been woken up to the sound of the family in the
campervan next to me returning home after their, what seems to be
sugar filled night out. the father looks like a pig in trousers and
the daughters best friend is an extremely nervous looking colly. and
yes it sounds funny, but when a dog looks over at you with a look of
"help me please", you can't help but feel concerned.
iPod in and think of home... night.
Rest day # 1...
well this is officially the first rest day I've taken. I was woken up
by the delightful sound of a child playing in the field next to me. by
child, I mean a feral gypsy and by playing, I mean the act of banging
a metal bin with a stick.
I wrighledout of my sleeping bag and headed for the shower block.
after freshening up and covering my entire body with Deep Heat, I
enjoyed a breakfast of a coke, a scone and jam and a refreshers sweet
bar... any of those my 5 a day? thought not.
Cornwall is a real pain in the arse weather wise. where as in Brighton
if a day starts nice, it generally follows suit and stays that way.
here the weather is so unpredictable that it meant I was opening and
closing my tent every 5 mins. can't wait to get more inland so it
levels out more.
... it's been about 10 hours since I woke up in a bit of a grump and
what a day to change my mood! I have well and truely beenhumbled by
the kindness of a family here at pengoon farm. about 10 mind after
raising the colours at camp H4H, a man strolled over dressed in jeans,
a smock and a brightly coloured flat hat. at first I didn't know what
to think, but soon after having a chat about my wind up radio, we wee
onto the topic of what I was up to.
he was clearly a supporter of our troops and I instantly warmed to his
points of view about enlightening the nation about the people affected
by Iraq and afghan, not just those unfortunate to have given their
lives.
he then followed that with 6 of the best words I've heard for a while;
DO YOU WANT A COFFEE MATE?
anyone who knows me, knows I don't need asking twice - especially in
this cold!
it was so nice to be putting the world to rights in the warm and the
coffee went down a real treat. we were then onto the boddingtons and
the convo spanning topics such as the local pedo problem, friends
losing out to cheap labour as well as a resident of the camp who'd
been through the falklands and after losing a best friend, turned to
drink and drugs. although some of the topics were a bit too much for
me, these people had invited me into their home and for that I
couldn't be thankful enough!
apparently I'd met this family the day beforewhen I arrived at the
campsite. I apparently looked like I could have died at amy moment,
and I'm really not gonna argue that.
all this kindness made me wonder if I'd usedup my good luck and if
there would be many friendly faces ahead of me, but that thought was
soon washed away by more boddingtons and even more conversation.
after handing out my 2nd 'official nice person' card, I thanked
everyone and made my way to the crown pub - shame it was closed - what
a bugger! I was looking forward to a steak!!
all was not lost as upon picking up a cold pie from the farm shop, the
farmers wife offered to warm it in their AGA... result!
I'd soon munched it down and got my kit for tomorrow squared away.
it's gonna be wet so I'm off to dream of steak and chips. night.
Pengoon farm to Truro...
this day should have been nice. the weather ended up being perfect for
walking even if the route went up and down more than a rollercoaster.
all was fine until 8 miles out from Truro when I cut a blister by
accident. 8 miles of hobbling later I arrived and the less said about
thisday the better. I dumped my bag at truro cathedral and nearly
cried. so much pain met by the amazing sight of this ancient
structure. booked a b&b and headed off for steak and chips... short
and sweet today, sorry people, battery is about to die. 21milea
tomorrow, wish me luck :)
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