20/04/14 - The Mermaid

Walk From - Pub Walks along the South West Coast Path
Distance - 5 Miles
Geocaches - 4.  1 Bottled.




Last Night
We get settled into Cockle Cottage.  Molly has her own sign to warn off anyone that wants to impose on her territory.

Scary Dog Lives Here

We need somewhere to eat.  Too tired to hit Newquay, so we head to our nearest establishment - The Mermaid.  This is also our first plotted walk for tomorrow.  Superb food and excellent Betty Stogs.  This is a Cornish Beer, for anyone who thinks I went out alone.


Get home, Sonia goes to bed early, leaving me with pub reviews to write and Hitler Movies to watch.


The Walk


Porth at EveryTrail

As we didn't fancy a drive out, we pick the closest walk to our cottage.  It starts from last nights pub.

Home of the Perfect Betty Stogs

We head out through housing estates, wondering how much the houses are likely to cost, knowing full well that we cannot afford them.  After heading through some sports fields, we arrive at the hamlet of Columb St Minor.  The high towered church dominates the village.

Hightower

There is a pub in the village - one to be marked out for a future visit.  As there is a sign for a live band in the Window - dated February (no year given), we are unsure if it is open.


Then we drop down to a stream and have a stiff climb back up the otherside.  It's all progress, as soon we reach the South West Coast Path and Sonia is happy again.  This lady misses the seaside.

Happy when on the coast

Watergate Bay

As always on the Cornish Coast, there are never ending photo opportunities.  There are also a few caches.


Cache one of the day is soon found.  Cache two requires a drop down onto a cliff ledge, which is a bit scary.  Cache three, which we reach on the outskirts of Newquay, is even too scary for me to attempt.  I clamber down a gap in the cliff face but there is little between me and the sea below.  I knock it on the head.


And why are we in Newquay?  We thought it would provide more entertainment for our GCSE revising teenage son.  When we told him what we had booked, we were met with a "I'm too old for surfboarding and building sandcastles".


So we are on our own.  The town comes into view and its sprawling.  Sonia states that she would have preferred to book a little fishing village.

Newquay.  Not New York

There are two more caches on the Trevelgue Head.  We spotted this yesterday and knew we would have to cross the bridge linking to Porth Island at one point on our travels.

Looking back from where we came

Our exciting Bridge Crossing

Superb views from this headland.  Two caches found.  Back to the pub (too early) and a check out of the menu of the Tapas Bar opposite.  One for a future night.


Get back, just as the rain starts.  Perfect first walk.