I've had a lovely walk on the coastal path today through loads of purple heather.
I had to get up at 7am so that I could go for a little walk before we went on the long drive to Perranporth. Ann wanted to get there by 8.40am so that we could get the first bus to Porthreath for the start of our walk. However just as we were coming back from my morning walk it started to rain so Ann said we'd have breakfast and watch 'Jeremy Kyle' instead. I was so disappointed. But by about 9am it had stopped raining so Ann said if we got to Porthreath by 10.55 we could get the first bus to Perranporth and walk back from there. We left home at 9.45am (just as 'Jeremy Kyle' was getting interesting!) and got to Porthreath at about 10.30am. The trouble with getting buses to the start of our walk is that we always over estimate the amount of time it will take us to get to places and then we end up hanging around at bus stops. Ann says it is better this way as most of the buses we get only run every couple of hours and if we missed one we'd have to abandon our walk. Our bus today was 15 mins late so we had to wait about 45 mins for it, though I must admit I did get a little walk round Porthreath and we did find somewhere free to park. As usual I was a very well behaved collie on the bus. I get to travel free on the 'Western Greyhound Buses' and it cost Ann £4. It was the big green double decker bus and although I was a little bit scared when it got to the bus stop I didn't bark, I just immediately got on and stood patiently while Ann paid the driver and then sat down under the seat. It was a little bit scarey on the bus - it seemed to be going very fast on little country roads - perhaps it was trying to make up time? Also there never seems to be anyone on this bus. It runs from St Ives to Newquay but I'm sure a little shopper bus would be a better option.
We got off the bus at about 11.45am and I had to stay on my lead while we walked up a road to the top of the hill. Perranporth Beach looked very busy because it had turned into a lovely day and there were lots of people about. Ann says when we do our walk from 'Newquay to Perranporth' we may possibly have lunch at the 'Watering Hole' on Perranporth beach if we set off from Newquay early enough. I've been there before and I love it. There's lots of water bowls for doggies and people give me little titbits.
The website guide described this section of the walk as 'moderate to strenuous'. I thought most of this walk was easy but there were about four or five sections where we had to go down to coves and back up again and all of these bits were very steep. The walk was 12 miles long and Ann said it was divided nicely into sections - Perranporth to St Agnes, St Agnes to Porthtowan & Porthtowan to Porthreath. Each section was approximately 4 miles so Ann had a plan. She said we would walk to St Agnes by which time it would be lunch time, and although she had a ham & cheese panini in her rucksack, she said if we found a nice cafe with an outdoor area we'd stop and have a proper lunch. Unfortunately the only suitable place we found for lunch was the 'Driftwood Spas Hotel', which did look lovely, has a good reputation and a nice outdoor area. But we'd only been walking for one and a half hours so still had a long way to go and Ann didn't want to stop for too long. Instead we had lunch on a seat overlooking St Agnes Cove. At least Ann had lunch - she didn't give me anything and her ham & cheese panini looked lovely?! I just lay down by her feet and had a little rest because I was a bit hot. There were quite a lot of seats on this section of the walk and after about 15 more mins, we passed an old couple sitting on a seat having lunch. I stood infront of them and gave them my 'appealing look'. They told me to sit, which I did immediately, then they told me I was a good dog and gave me a very nice piece of bacon quiche. Ann told me I wasn't to go 'savaging' because she always gives me enough to eat, but secretly, I think she was quite pleased that the old couple liked me. Actually, we didn't see that many people on this walk. There was a lot of people around in the four key areas - Perranporth, St Agnes, Porthtowan & Porthreath - but not that many people actually walking.
I have to say - the worst thing about this walk was the lack of water. In each of the three sections that Ann had divided our walk into, there was only one stream in each. Ann always lets me wallow, swim and have a drink. Perranporth to St Agnes wasn't too bad because I got to play in a stream running down to a little cove about half an hour before we got to St Agnes and that kept me cool for about an hour. However between St Agnes & Porthtowan I was getting really hot and dehydrated and Ann was worried about me. My tongue was hanging out of my mouth and I drank all of Ann's water on this section of the walk. Fortunately she has now bought my foldable doggie water bowl. It's grey and I would have preferred pink, but she said they only came in one colour - and actually I was just grateful that she'd brought me water. I tried wallowing in a few ditches but because it hasn't rained much for ages they weren't even muddy. We ran out of water before we got to 'Chapel Porth' beach and Ann was really worried because she knew we still had a couple of miles to go to Porthtowan. However when we got to Chapel Porth there was a lovely stream running down to the beach and I was allowed to walk in it all the way from the car park up the valley to where the coastal path started its ascent. I was so happy and so was Ann. It really cooled me down. Ann said that maybe we should buy one of those 'plyatapus' water things that proper walkers carry in their rucksacks. The only thing is - they weigh a ton and Ann only likes to carry one little half litre water bottle. She doesn't drink much and normally I'm OK drinking out of streams.
When we got to Porthtowan we went into a lovely little ice cream shop. We sat outside and I was allowed to have a little rest in the shade. Ann bought herself a very yummy 'hokey cokey and coconut' ice cream. I only know it was yummy because she told me - she didn't give me any. She did however buy me a bottle of water but I didn't want any because I'd drunk masses at Chapel Porth.
From Porthtowan to Porthreath we were walking alongside a lot of MOD land but apart from a couple of very steep up and down bits it was a reasonably easy walk. In fact I think I would say that each section of the walk was about one and a half hours.
We left the ice cream shop in Porthtowan at about 3.15pm and got back to Porthreath at about 4.45pm so our walk today took us about 5 hours including a couple of 15/20min stops.
When I got back to the car Ann said I could go for a wallow in the stream that we'd parked next to. Even though it was next to the main road she let me off my lead so I could go and play in the water. It looked like a nice stream so I dived straight in. Unfortunately it wasn't a nice stream and I emerged with loads of horrible black bits stuck to me. I don't know what they were - it was almost like bits of ash. Ann picked me up, put me in the car and then took me to St Erth river so I could have a really good swim and get clean. When I got out at St Erth the boot of the car was filfthy - I don't know what I wallowed in. Ann shook off all the horrid stuff from my towels, I had a good swim in St Erth River and then I was clean again. Ann was pleased cos she just wanted to shower herself when she got home. - She said she had a 'sweaty back' from carrying a rucksack for 5 hours.
I've had a lovely walk today, I've had a big dinner and have been lying asleep on the sun terrace for ages. I'm a very tired little collie dog.
Ann has been trying for about two hours to put loads of photos of me on this blog. She's managed to put eight on at the top of this post but wanted to place them at varying points throughout it and she can't work out how to do it. She's even missed watching 'Eastenders' 'cos she was trying so hard. However when we started our blog we only knew how to post one photo so I've told her we're making progress.
She's going to post this now and I'm hoping she's going to take me out for my bedtime wee soon because I'm a tired little collie and I'd like an early night!
