After eight years of hiding in Carolynn’s Facebook, I’ve eventually joined the masses. Why? Well, after retiring last month I thought maybe it’s time I came out of the closet and got rid of that charlatan, LinkedIn and only when my ‘Decree Absolute’ came through from LinkedIn did I go public, come out and tell the world I now have a Facebook page!
What’s all this rubbish got to do with walking the SWCP, I can hear you say? Well, the important word in the above paragraph was ‘retiring’. I now have that precious commodity ‘Time’. My body, or more precisely my feet, seem to have other ideas though. If you’ve read any of my blogs in the past, you’ll know that they are all ‘walking’ related. Therefore ‘feet’ are rather important. The one pastime that requires your feet to be in good shape is mountain walking and over the last year and a half, I have firstly suffered Plantar Fasciitis in my right foot and now in my left. It’s slightly annoying and extremely painful and has got considerably worse since returning from Kilimanjaro and on this fourth day the pain is starting to tell. But, hey, I’m a man, so I won’t complain… much!
Day Fifteen starts at that ignoramus tea shop as we make our way back to the path proper. The ascents and descents become less severe and the magnificent view of the many bluffs that lead to Bude spread before us.
It’s a beautiful day’s walk, with the wind blowing the sea spray over the tops of the low cliffs, making them look like they are shrouded in mist and the finish, just out of sight on the horizon. Down below the receding tide leaves an inviting path, which I decide to take. It’s a path that will leave no trace of my passing as nature will erase my footsteps in the sand! As I leave the other three, Lottie runs between us, unsure of why one of us has split from the main group and she desperately tries to herd us back together. Eventually the round trip becomes too long and she gives up, giving one last look of disapproval before darting off to walk with her mistress.
As Carolynn, Caroline, Andrew and Lottie walked along the cliff top, I walked alone, barefoot along this beautiful stretch of beach with nature’s abstract canvas of folded multi coloured layers of rock that time and sea have uncovered along the cliffs.
A sudden turn and the scenery changes as Bude with all its colourful beach huts and gaudy beachfront cafés comes into view and hits your senses full on. Here is where I expect to find my compatriots ready with a drink of the amber nectar… but I only find Andrew. All three of the girls are waiting at a café at the other end of the beach, about one km away, so Andrew and I take the car to meet them! In the meantime, Caroline, Lottie and Carolynn walked over to meet us! This was repeated twice more and all I’ll say is that it was at least an hour before I got that well deserved amber nectar! Why didn’t we use our mobile phones, well, a mixture of flat batteries and no signal… modern technology!
The end of our fourth trip and I really am now looking forward to these days spent with Carolynn and our good friends Andrew and Caroline. The next section of the walk will mean the end of the first year and just over 285km walked… so, just over another three years to go.