July 17, 2024

After breakfast we packed up and left the campground by a path that intersected the track and we were back hiking in sunshine with a slight cool breeze. In the long grass by the side of the track we passed a flock of pheasants and then on a bit there was a little mole lying dead on the track. Less than 100m on I spotted another dead one just to the side of the path. They were the only 2 we had seen and there was no obvious cause of death. It was sad to see our first native animals dead by the trail.

Soon after that, we passed a gentleman hiking the coastal path in the opposite direction. He commented that the track was poorly signed posted. We agreed and were surprised. We thought the reason for the poor signage was because we were hiking westwards when most hikers go east. We thought maybe the east bound signs were better. Apparently not – at least not in this section.

Along with poor trail signage, we hiked a long section of trail that was badly overgrown. Bracken, blackberries, grasses and prickly weeds were head high and the narrow trail was hard to discern through the dense foliage. Feeling our way so as not to trip or stumble slowed us down. While concentrating on every step, we were unable to look out at the ocean views but with the weeds so high, we couldn’t see over them anyway.

It was hard work and disappointing but we fought our way through to a seaside village where we shared a blueberry muffin and enjoyed hot drinks at a fancy hotel. Up and west from there the path improved and we  again had some great coastal views.

Another stop was lunch, then in the afternoon we had 2 ferry trips from the village of Place to St Mawes and then on to Falmouth. We looked out for Henry VIII’s castle and saw some contenders when looking out from the ferry – unfortunately there was nobody to ask for confirmation.

Once in Falmouth, we had a very long road walk through the town out into the countryside to finally find the campground where we camped for the night.