Hello all
My stay at the campsite near Sennen Cove has been a great one. The people there have been friendly and helpful from the start.
I am aware from experiences on this trip that a bloke in a van is sometimes looked upon as something to be worried about. I suppose if I let my imagination run away I can picture what they may be worried about, but if people always say no to people in vans that are not "camper" vans, then they are missing out on people like me and all the joy that I could bring into their lives.
As I say this was not the case with the campsite which has housed me for the last three nights.
So, I was sorry to be leaving there early this morning.
I packed the van for travel - making sure that nothing would fly about as I turn the corners of the road. Plenty of time to drive to Marazion, find a parking space for the day and catch the bus back to Lamorna via Penzance.
I felt that all was going very well, until I tried to start the engine. Absolutely nothing happened apart from a click from the starter motor (I'm no expert so that bit could be rubbish and probably is).
The battery was flat and that I can be sure of. So, having already said goodbye to the woman who owns the campsite , I then had to go back to reception and ask if someone could start my van with jump leads. Instantly she was on the case and phoned her husband who stopped what he was doing on the farm and drove his tractor over to my van. He then took out the chunkiest pair of jump leads that I had ever seen, and I've seen a few. The van started instantly. I said my goodbyes again and was off down the road.
Marazion parking - went without a hitch
Bus from Marazion to Penzance - went without a hitch.
I thought to myself, "I'm getting a lot better at this free parking and bus travel business.
At Penzance bus station I coolly went and bought a coffee at a nearby cafe rather than pace up and down while I waited nervously for a bus as I have previously been doing on this trip.
When I returned to the bus station I was confronted by lots of American tourists who where nervously pacing up and down as they worried if they were in the correct place or not and whether their bus was coming.
I knew that the bus to Lands End (that's where they were all going) was the same as the one I was catching, so I told a couple of them that they were in the correct place and the bus would surely be along shortly. The news spread through the group and I noticed that some of them pointed at me as if to say "that's the guy who knows".
Sure enough the bus turned up and they shoved their way on-board as I casually made my way onto the bus, flashing my one day travel pass while listening to my I.Pod.
"Gee, that guy is so casual. Look at the way he takes it all in his stride". I'm sure this is what they would have been saying if I could have heard them.
Oh Yes. I've learned a lot about bus travel in the last three and a half weeks.
Last year I took a photo of a load of snails clinging to a plant. I remembered exactly where I was when I took it. So a couple of weeks ago I took a photo of a similar plant in the same place.
The first photo is the most recent one - taken in May
The second photo is the older one taken in August 2018 (I think)
My stay at the campsite near Sennen Cove has been a great one. The people there have been friendly and helpful from the start.
I am aware from experiences on this trip that a bloke in a van is sometimes looked upon as something to be worried about. I suppose if I let my imagination run away I can picture what they may be worried about, but if people always say no to people in vans that are not "camper" vans, then they are missing out on people like me and all the joy that I could bring into their lives.
As I say this was not the case with the campsite which has housed me for the last three nights.
So, I was sorry to be leaving there early this morning.
I packed the van for travel - making sure that nothing would fly about as I turn the corners of the road. Plenty of time to drive to Marazion, find a parking space for the day and catch the bus back to Lamorna via Penzance.
I felt that all was going very well, until I tried to start the engine. Absolutely nothing happened apart from a click from the starter motor (I'm no expert so that bit could be rubbish and probably is).
The battery was flat and that I can be sure of. So, having already said goodbye to the woman who owns the campsite , I then had to go back to reception and ask if someone could start my van with jump leads. Instantly she was on the case and phoned her husband who stopped what he was doing on the farm and drove his tractor over to my van. He then took out the chunkiest pair of jump leads that I had ever seen, and I've seen a few. The van started instantly. I said my goodbyes again and was off down the road.
Marazion parking - went without a hitch
Bus from Marazion to Penzance - went without a hitch.
I thought to myself, "I'm getting a lot better at this free parking and bus travel business.
At Penzance bus station I coolly went and bought a coffee at a nearby cafe rather than pace up and down while I waited nervously for a bus as I have previously been doing on this trip.
When I returned to the bus station I was confronted by lots of American tourists who where nervously pacing up and down as they worried if they were in the correct place or not and whether their bus was coming.
I knew that the bus to Lands End (that's where they were all going) was the same as the one I was catching, so I told a couple of them that they were in the correct place and the bus would surely be along shortly. The news spread through the group and I noticed that some of them pointed at me as if to say "that's the guy who knows".
Sure enough the bus turned up and they shoved their way on-board as I casually made my way onto the bus, flashing my one day travel pass while listening to my I.Pod.
"Gee, that guy is so casual. Look at the way he takes it all in his stride". I'm sure this is what they would have been saying if I could have heard them.
Oh Yes. I've learned a lot about bus travel in the last three and a half weeks.
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I arrived at Lamorna Corner which is the closest that the bus gets to Lamorna Cove. The cove is about 15 minutes walk from the bus stop.
Two days ago when I arrived at Lamorna at the end of a tiring day of walking, I learned about the walk up the hill to the bus stop from a couple of other walkers. They weren't entirely sure how far it was. I had a bus to catch which would arrive at the bus stop in about 5 minutes. If I missed the bus the next one was two hours later. A woman was walking towards her car and she appeared to be loaded up with laundry, so I guessed she may be a local person, so I asked her if the bus stop was a long way up the hill?
She confirmed that it was and she also confirmed that I would miss the bus if I walked.
"Jump in, I'll give you a lift".
She drove up that lane like a local and we arrived at the bus stop. I was just getting my stuff out of the back seat when the bus came around the corner. She jumped out of the car and stuck out her arm to stop the bus. I barely had time to thank her as I bundled myself onto the bus.
These acts of kindness that I have experienced on the walk are mounting up in number.
One more thing about the bus journeys. The drivers are absolutely brilliant. On this and many other journeys it was a double-decker bus that I was on and how the driver maneuvered the monster through those narrow lanes was beyond me.
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Despite a painful little toe (corn), I enjoyed the first half of the walk today. It was rugged and interesting. The second half - from Newlyn onwards was as flat as a pancake. As I've written before, it can get pretty tiring walking on the flat for a long time. Also Penzance was not very inspiring.
I arrived in Marazion and collected the van and drove to Sainsbury's to stock up on beer and pork pie. Also I bought some salad.
I then drove on to Porthleven, which will be the end of tomorrow's walk. I pulled up next to a campsite which is next to a pub. It was a perfect position and looked like it was pretty basic which was all I was looking for. The sign said that the camping reception was in the bar.
I asked how much it would be for me to camp there for just one night. I got the impression she was looking me up and down before she answered "£26.00 a night".
"I can't run to that much. Never mind", I said.
"Ok", was the only reply I got.
A tale of two campsites!
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I drove the van out of the centre of Porthleven and found a lovely car-park with an amazing view out across the bay and I sat there and ate my dinner (pork pie, salad etc). I also started this blog but started to feel a little uncomfortable about staying too long. The signs in the car-park made it abundantly clear that overnight parking/camping is not allowed.
So I am now sitting in a lay-by beside a fairly busy road, which will quieten down as it gets later. It'll do for the night and I'll be up bright and early in the morning to start another day.
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For some reason I haven't been able to upload any photos onto my laptop despite doing the same procedure as I always do. So, I'll see if I can find an old photo or two for you to gaze at.
The first photo is the most recent one - taken in May
The second photo is the older one taken in August 2018 (I think)
Take it easy
Rob.
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