Early morning bus to train station in St Austell for our 8:05. Susanne comes with us to station to see us off.

Love taking the trains. Luckily it's pretty empty at this point so we are able to get a table.

As we can’t easily get to the last two hikes on the south coast, we bus to Newquay on the north coast and walk Mawgan Porth to Newquay. Sea very wild up here! Windy and chilly as we walk mostly across the headlands, only a few ups and downs. We have completed 65 miles this trip.

We decide to skip walking today and go back to Fowey. When we hiked here a few days ago there was an art fair going on and it was crowded and we were tired and there were too many damn cars in the tiny lanes not made for damn cars. This time we love it. Old old buildings, little lanes twisting around themselves, and lots of good food. Bob decides it's a day for eating and drinking and that's exactly what we do. We have to roll ourselves up the hill to catch the bus after our cream tea.

Gorran Haven is a picturesque 13th century coastal village. A tiny cafe and even tinier shop sit at the bottom, at the edge of the shore, surrounded by a cluster of fishermen’s cottages, the oldest of which date back to at least the 1400s. Traces of an Iron Age fort can be found on Dodman Point, though we didn't see it. The secluded cove is way off the beaten path and I like it even more because of that! 

Today's 6.5 miles seems much more strenuous than yesterday's 11.5. One headland alone has 90 steps down and 164 up. Then came three more headlands. Our original plan was to go to Mevagissey—just two miles away—but we bail at Pentewan because (1.) we are tired, and (2.) we need to make a 2:30 reservation for our only Sunday Roast. This meal is a priority; to hell with our walking plans. 

A perfect day. Weather spectacular, walk not as grueling as expected, and Fowey is a charming charming little village—still a working port—with historic buildings and tiny lanes winding up and down next to the quay. Not many pics along the way as it is fairly redundant as far as photography goes.

Yesterday at breakfast we decide to spend the morning in Truro. We'll meet Susanne at the new cottage this afternoon. We know we need to do some grocery shopping and there's a M&S in Truro, plus the city is famous for its "ancient, cobbled and narrow streets with a range of stunning architecture featuring Gothic and Georgian styles", plus there are lots of little shops. What more could you want from a day trip? We learn from our server at the inn that in the UK a "city" means it has a cathedral. Never knew. 

We lose track of time in Truro and have to rush through M&S willy-nilly grabbing breakfast and lunch foods for the next few days. We then jog to get the bus from to Truro to St Austell, Bob runs down the hill to get our luggage which we stowed at the inn, then he runs back up and we wait for the bus to Charlestown, where Susanne is waiting for us at the stop!

We walk down to a pub for dinner and cider and then try the water, which is a shocking 55 degrees. 

Culbone church is the smallest complete parish in England. The internal length is 35 feet. The walls are two feet thick. A burial chamber of someone important from around 1800 B.C. was found on Culbone hill. That's B.C. not A.D. There's also a stone from the Bronze Age which they believes dates from when Celtic missionaries came from Wales and Ireland to spread Christianity. ​

We've been walking for about seven hours now and are BEAT by the time we finish. In Porlock Weir we stop for a cider while waiting for the bus up to Porlock. It's only a 20-minute walk but I am finished! 

Porlock is a cute little village but we're too tired to explore even though we have an hour until the next bus. It doesn't help that the restaurants don't open until 5. So all we eat are chips, a tiny pork pie, and ice cream. Sadly, this bus is the second of three we need to take back to our B&B. The bus is an open top scenic one and we go through spectacular countryside. 

While on the second bus we realize that we will have to walk back up that dang 25% grade hill again. Luckly, we only have to go halfway and someone picks us up and takes us to the next bus stop. We eat bread and peanut butter for dinner. Thank goodness there's a gigundo breakfast in the morning. What a day, what a day, what a day.

We have two sections to left to connect Minehead (the very start of the South West Coast Path) to Hartland Quay, which would give us a 108-mile continuous stretch. Because of our habit of walking sections of the 630-mile path based mostly on whim, a 108-mile section is an accomplishment! Today we decide to do the section that is the easiest to get to as well as the shortest. 

We had a choice this morning about which way to do today's hike. There’s a bus to Combe Martin but not to Holdstone Down. At first we thought we’d take the bus to Combe Martin and call Andy the private taxi guy to take us to Holdstone Down, then walk back to Combe Martin and take the bus back to Barnstaple. On the bus we decide to just walk out the bus and start the walk at Combe Martin then bum a ride back from Holdstone Down. Hitchhiking worked yesterday, right?

It is a windy day that goes from long-sleeves to short-sleeves off all day. The countryside is spectacular.

It starts out benignly enough but turns downright torturous, so steep that every step takes all you have and then some to hoist your other foot up to take the next step, going on and on and on and never ending because every time you think the top is just around the bend, it goes up some more. Here's what we discover: just because you find some cute little cans of 8% mojito and cosmo-flavored gin and tonic at M&S doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to down them at lunch while at the bottom of hell's own. We are forced to walk up not only with a full stomach but also a tad tipsy. Lesson learned. Hopefully.