We thought as it was the last day we thought we would make the most of the time left. We would body board in the morning and go for a walk in the after noon. There were 4 volunteers, T&C, Helen and I, the plan was to go down to Polzeath see what the waves were like then decide.
BBC weather predicted calm seas so we were not expecting much, but when we got there the waves seemed big enough for beginners so we went to one of the trailers to get some gear, we all needed boards (£3 per hour) and two of us wetsuits (£3 per hour) so £12 and hour for two hours entertainment seemed good value. We were soon suited and booted and ready to take on the Atlantic waves.
Getting in was the first hurdle, but we were at the end of the summer, so the sea was warmed, and we had wet suits on, so the thermal shock did not live up to our fears. In fact it was not cold at all, I would not describe it as cosy but not unpleasant. We worked our way out to where the waves were breaking and a couple of other boarders were hanging out and waited for our first wave. It turns out that there is a knack to catching a wave, for the best results, pick a big one and then try to catch it just as it breaks, that way you have a steep edge to get moving on. Next make sure the nose of the board stays above the water otherwise expect to become a submarine!
We were glad to get out of our wetsuits and into dry clothes, over time it does make you cold and it is very tiring fighting the waves and walking back out into the surf. I would definitely do it again perhaps even try a surf board. We headed back to the hut for some well earned lunch.
Some of us dragged ourselves off the sofas to go for a walk from a book called “Shortish walks in Cornwall”. We picked on a stretch of coast we had yet to see. We parked up as the book described in a small layby near Treligga, but not after visiting the village whilst looking for th layby from the book description.
The walk started by heading towards the sea in both directions, lower in altitude and in a northerly direction. There was an option to visit a mall beach down some wooden steps then some cut into the rocks, I was the only one to take up that option, I was after some snaps of the lovely beach with large rocks from the cliffs scattered around. There were also a couple of deep caves.
From the beach it was back up the steep steps up to the coastal path, which once we had found it followed the top of the cliff for a couple of miles, then the path descended into a valley, at which point there was a sign suggesting a permissive path heading in land, we came to regret not taking the easier route. At the bottom of the valley the path headed in land up the valley, we saw some interesting plants including lots of wild mint.
After a few hundred yards of slow ascent the path veered right and we then had a very long slog up a hill to get out of the valley if it had been any steeper it would had steps in it. At the top of the valley we walked through a dairy farm where the cows were all waiting to be milked. We walked through the farm and up their drive to the road then it was a short walk back to the layby. It had been quite a tough walk especially after a morning in the sea.
That evening we went down to the pub in Port Gaverne I had the Mussels starter which was tasty and well cooked but a bit short on mussels, followed by the grilled sole which was excellent. A couple of pints of Sharps Doombar washed it all down nicely.