Well here I am on my own. I'm in the same campsite at Porthcothan as I have been for the last two nights, but now Jennie has gone home. It will be at least two and a half weeks until I see her again. It was a lovely break from the walk and a great chance to relax together.
Jennie dropped me off in Padstow and we had a coffee together before she headed off in one direction and I in another.
I have to admit to a strange feeling of loneliness for the first hour or so of today's walk. Not only has Jennie gone but also the people who I have met so far on the walk from Minehead. Having had a rest day means that some have now moved ahead of me by a day, also some have stopped walking having reached their own personal goals. Andy and Jan have been constant companions for the whole of the walk, some days we did not meet on the walk at all, due to different starting times, but most days we would at least have a chat. Even on the days when I didn't see them, knowing that they were either in front of me or behind added to my sense of doing something together.
The four Canadian ladies have now gone on ahead, they are walking all the way to Penzance I believe. I didn't really get to know them but they were always there or thereabout on the path.
For the last two days up till my rest day, I have walked a lot with a chap called Ian who was a biology professor. (I assume teaching biology at university makes you a professor, I could be wrong.) Ian -like me - is walking on his own; the difference being that he is carrying all of his stuff. I saw him briefly this morning as he packed up his tent to walk to Newquay, which I will be doing tomorrow.
So, there I was walking along feeling a little sorry for myself, contemplating loneliness. It wasn't long before I realised that my small feelings of being alone are as nothing compared to many who live with loneliness for much of their lives.
I recently read Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. It is a very touching and funny novel and I urge anyone to read it. The book is the best I've read which deals with being alone. I loved it.
So just in case you are starting to worry about me, you can stop now because I've had a great time walking today and I took tons of photos.
Pasty
This where I stopped for lunch:
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| The view to my left - Trevose Head and the lifeboat station. |
 The view to my right - Padstow Bay with Pentire Point in the distance.
And this is what I had for lunch :
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And for afters (desert)
It is not very well known, but just as there is a lot of controversy about how to eat a scone with jam and cream, (and I won't wander into that inter-County minefield); there is also a difference in the way that people of the two Counties eat a pasty. A Devonshire person always (without fail) eats a pasty from left to right; a Cornish person eats from right to left.
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It is surprising how cold it gets in the evening and I'm starting to feel quite chilly, so I'll put up some more photos on what has been a lovely day for taking them and then I'll get into my bed and read some more of my book. I've an early start planned for tomorrow. I can't wait to get to Newquay to hang out with my fellow lemonheads.
            
And
Take it easy
Rob
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You’re not the sort of person that stays lonely for long.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good walk!
Lovely photos btw.
Lovely Pasty.
ReplyDelete