I was in a really energetic mood today. I've done so much running I've worn myself out!
Today we walked from Newquay to Perranporth. We left the house at about 9.15am and got to Perranporth just after 10am. It cost us £3.50 to park in the Beach Car Park all day. The bus stop was right next to the car park and the 587 bus arrived right on time at 10.15am. It cost Ann £1.80 to get to Newquay. I was free because it was a Western Greyhound Bus. It was one of the little green buses that I normally don't like. I was a little bit scared when it stopped and opened its doors because they made a whoosing noise but I didn't bark. When we got on the bus there was only one other person on it so we sat down near the front. It's only 8-9 miles to Newquay from Perranporth via the main road but the bus seemed to tootle around to every little village and caravan site it could find. It took us an hour to get to Newquay by which time the bus was completely full and the girl that was sat behind us kept putting her feet on my tail. I didn't moan though - I just accepted that because the bus was full everyone was a bit squashed. Ann had a really smelly woman sat next to her and she didn't moan.
We started our walk at exactly 11.15am and got back to the car at exactly 3.15pm. First we had to walk through Newquay to get to Fistral Beach where all the surfers were. It was really busy in Newquay and I had to stay on my lead while we walked past loads of busy cafes and pubs. Newquay is quite tacky and there were loads of evil looking dogs with chavs. I just walked properly next to Ann and didn't make eye contact with any of them.
When we got to Fistral Beach I was allowed off my lead. Ann wasn't sure if I was allowed on this beach and we couldn't see any other doggies playing, so we walked on the footpath that runs alongside the beach and the golf course. I would have liked to have gone on the beach because chasing surfers into the water is one of my favourite games but Ann said I could go on the beach when we got to Perranporth.
As it turned out I got to play on loads of beaches today. The tide was right out which meant that every beach we came to had masses of space for me to play. This walk was supposed to be 13 miles long but Ann doesn't think we've walked that far. At the end of Fistral Beach we had three choices:
1) Walk to the headland at Pentire and then get the ferry across the 'Gannel'.
2) Walk through the middle of Pentire, down to the 'Gannel' and cross it using the bridge.
3) Walk back towards Newquay, onto the main road for a while until we could go through fields and join up with the coastal path.
Ann decided that option 2 was best because the tide was right out and she thought we'd be able to use the bridge which is only available at low tide. She was correct, but we think that choosing this option probably meant we were walking a couple of miles less than what the website stated. Also the website said that this section of the walk was 'moderate to strenuous' but we didn't find any of it strenuous. But again this is probably because we walked on all the beaches (apart from Fistral Beach) instead of on the path on the top of the sand dunes.
I had such fun playing on the sands in the 'Gannel'. There were loads of people walking their dogs and I got to run around and play with them, splash in the water, roll in the sand & chase birds. In fact for the first two hours of our walk I didn't stop running. I was just in such an energetic mode. Ann told me I had to pace myself but I knew I had energy to keep going for however long our walk was.
Once we'd crossed over the Gannel and were walking on the other side from Newquay, Ann could see all the houses in Pentire, and she was amazed at how posh they were. We've walked around Pentire before but thought it was full of cheap hotels. The houses that are built on the edge of the Gannel are lovely.
There wasn't many people walking on the coastal path today but there was still quite a lot of people on the beaches and the lifeguards were still about. Ann had thought we could stop for lunch at either Crantock Bay or Hollywell Bay but apart from passing through the grounds of the Crantock Bay Hotel (which looked too posh for us) there was no where for lunch until we got back to Perranporth. Ann had brought three quarters of a litre of water for us but she didn't drink any and I had plenty of streams to drink out of. Also although it was warm (Ann just had a Tshirt and cut offs on) it was very overcast and cloudy so I didn't feel as if I was in desperate need for water.
Once we got to the 'Gannel' I was allowed off my lead for most of the walk. I would have been allowed off my lead all the way to Perranporth but I did three naughty things which resulted in me being put back on my lead for a little while:
Firstly - There was a large section of the coastal path, just before we got to the big beach at Perranporth, that belonged to the MOD. There were signs up all over telling us to keep to the path, not to touch anything strange that we might find, and also that there were adders about. I was naughty. I deviated off the path, I went underneath fencing where MOD stuff was and I went rooting around in the undergrowth. Ann gave me a warning which I ignored so when I was disobedient again I had to go back on my lead.
Secondly - I was allowed off my lead when we got to the big huge beach at Perranporth. But then I spotted a life guard on his quad bike and decided to see if I could catch him. I ran as fast as I could & then I heard a strange whistle so I stopped. It was another lifeguard in the 'lifeguard lookout' whistling at me. I looked at him and then decided that chasing was more fun so I ran after the quad bike again. Unfortunately the quad bike was going too fast so I thought I might as well go back to Ann. When I got back to her she put me on my lead for a while. She also had to shout an apology to the lifeguard in the lookout and told me I was a naughty dog for disobeying orders.
The third naughty thing I did was try and steal a pasty from a couple with a big fat black labrador called Cloey. Both of them were sitting on the beach stuffing pasties into their mouths. They smelt really delicious and big fat Cloey was just sat there drooling. She'd obviously been fed masses of pasties before because she was really podgy. Anyway I thought I'd show her how it was done, so I went up to the couple, nudged them and then sat and gave them my 'appealing look'. The woman said, 'Aren't you gorgeous' and she was just about to give me a big bit when Ann came up, apologised for me being so greedy and said that I wasn't allowed pastry. At which point the man said, 'Good girl Cloey', and she got the huge bit of pasty I was just about to get. And then I had to go back on my lead - it really wasn't fair.
Because we hadn't found anywhere to have lunch en-route Ann said we'd pop into the 'Watering Hole' on Perranporth Beach before we went back to the car. We got there about 2.45pm. The first thing Ann did when we got there was take me to one of the dog water bowls but I didn't want any. I love the 'Watering Hole' - we've been there loads of times, there's always plenty of water for doggies & there's usually people who give me little titbits. Then, she tied me up at one of the picnic tables while she went to order a coffee and a bowl of cheesey chips! When she came out I was sitting, doing my appealing look, on top of the picnic table. All the other people there thought I was cute, but Ann pulled me off and made me lie under the table. She said I was 6 years old and should know how to behave. However she did fill my foldable doggie water bowl with water for me which made all the other doggies jealous cos they had to drink out of the communal dog water bowls. I wolfed down all my water just incase Ann made me share it and then I put my wet, soggy head on Ann's leg to see if she would give me any cheesey chips. The lady who was sat at the next table said, 'Aah, doesn't your dog love you?' to which Ann replied, 'Not as much as cheesey chips?' However, I did get three cheesey chips.
Then it was a quick stroll over the remainder of the beach, I was allowed a final wallow in the stream and I was back in the car by 3.15pm.
Ann tells me we have two more sections of the SWCP that she'd like to complete in the next couple of weeks. Helford to Coverack & Porthcothan to Newquay. Once we've done both of these we'll have walked all the way from Padstow to Falmouth. Just how impressive is that?!!
