Porthcothan to Newquay - 10 miles

Well we've now walked the SWCP all the way from Padstow to Falmouth, that's 169 miles. Impressive or what?

Today we had to leave home at 8am so that we could drive to Newquay in time to get the 9.05am bus to Porthcothan. We parked for free on a road next to the car park which was right next to the bus station and then I was allowed to go for a little walk around Newquay as we had about 15 mins before the bus came. It was very quiet in Newquay at 9am on a Sunday morning. There were three other people waiting for the bus and one of them said I had a really pretty face. I was a bit naughty when the bus came - I barked at it. But that was the only naughty thing I've done on my walk today. Ann says I've been an exceptionally well behaved little collie. The bus was a little green Western Greyhound one so I was free, it cost Ann £3.80.

It was really interesting on the bus. It was the Newquay to Padstow bus and it went to Porthcothan via the airport and lots of very pretty villages that we hadn't been to before. We got off the bus at 9.55am and it was really cold. There was frost on the grass and Ann said she wished she'd brought her gloves. When we were driving to Newquay the ice warning message had popped up in the car. However, by 11.30am it was so hot Ann wished she'd worn her shorts and a vest top!

The minute we got off the bus I was allowed off my lead and we had quite an easy walk along the cliff tops to Mawgan Porth. For the first hour we didn't see anyone but then when we got nearer to Mawgan Porth there were loads of people out and about. The tide was out so we had a lovely walk across the beach there. We got to Mawgan Porth at about 11.30am and the signpost said that Watergate Bay was two and a half miles away so Ann said we'd stop there for lunch. She'd brought a ham roll for lunch but as it was so hot she thought it would be nice if we had a proper stop at a pub/restaurant called the Phoenix which she'd spotted from the bus.

We got to the Phoenix at 12.25pm and Ann tied me to a picnic table while she went to order lunch. The blackboard advertised a beef roast dinner, with yorkshire pudding, cauliflower cheese, roasties & other veg for £8.50 and Ann thought yum, yum. So did I, because normally when we go out for Sunday lunch I get little bits of beef. However, the bimbo behind the bar said lunch didn't start until 12.30pm and she wouldn't let us put a order in and sit and wait. We were really cross. It was lovely and sunny and we would have sat and waited for an hour if need be. Ann bought a diet coke for £1.30 which was mainly ice and by the time she'd got settled at the table and given me a drink there was a huge queue of surfers ordering lunch. And actually we didn't really like it there anyway. Ann felt very old as the place was extremely busy with young, gorgeous, surfers and I didn't like it 'cos nobody paid me any attention. We were sitting on a biggish decking area upstairs and wished we stayed downstairs where we'd met a very nice man selling paintings. Ann had originally tied me up to a picnic table downstairs when we arrived but the downstairs bar wasn't open so she'd asked the man if I was allowed to walk through it to get upstairs. He told us the bar was very dog friendly so we went upstairs. However he also said we could stay where we were and he'd look after me while Ann went upstairs to the bar. We wished we'd done that as he liked me and I think he liked Ann even more?!

Watergate Bay is about 3 miles from Newquay so after a 15min rest we set off again. We had to walk above very high cliffs to Porth. There were loads of people on the beach at Watergate Bay with surf boards but the waves weren't very big. It was a lovely walk to Porth and when we got there Ann let me have a wallow in the stream that ran down through the beach. She was still thinking of having a roast dinner and the bar on the beach there, advertised Sunday lunches and there were seats available outside, but then she decided she wasn't that hungry after all. So we continued walking to Newquay.

When we got to Newquay it was very busy and I had to go on my lead because we were walking through the town. There were masses of people about. We had a look at the menus of a couple of pubs that had beer gardens but decided to give lunch a miss and so got back to the car at 2pm.

I'm not sure if we're going to do any more walks this year. Apparently if we do any more of the SWCP this year we are going to have to stay in B&B's because getting to the start point of our walks, and then walking the walk, have to be done in daylight hours. Logistically, that's not very possible because winter buses don't run very regularly and we've now got a long way to drive to do more sections of the SWCP. ....But I know that Ann has still got a lot of holiday to take from work so I'm hoping we can go away together and spend a few days walking. I'd love that!

Helford to Coverack - 13 miles

Today our walk was supposed to be 13 miles but I think I've walked more like 16-17 miles. I'm a very tired little collie dog.

We met Bev & Doug & Dave at Coverack car park and then Ann drove us all to the car park at Helford so we could start our walk at 10am. It cost us £2.30 to park all day there but we were the only car in the car park. And do traffic wardens ever patrol these areas? Ann decided not to risk it.

This section of the walk was lovely. For the first hour or so we were walking through loads of 'woody' areas. It was really beautiful as the leaves were a lovely colour and the path was littered with acorns, conkers, leaves, etc. When we first left the car park we went in the wrong direction. We walked down the hill into Helford village and crossed the ford/bridge. That was lovely. I had a good old wallow in the river. And then Ann decided that we were going the wrong way.

Fortunately we met a lady with a massive grey dog (he was almost as big as a pony) who told us that the start of the coastal path was at the other side of the car park.

The first hour of our walk was really lovely - we were walking through loads of woods. Then we came out of the woods and had to walk through fields to 'Dennis Head'. Well that was a waste of time. The path twisted round so that we'd walked in a circle and came back to the field that we'd walked through when we came out of the woods. Ann reckoned that had added at least a mile to our walk.

After that I had to go back on my lead as we walked down a road into St Antony and then I had to stay on my lead as we walked along a little country road around the edge of Gillan Creek. We only saw about two cars but Ann said I had to stay on my lead just to be on the 'safe side'. The tide was in. Apparently if the tide had been out we could have gone across stepping stones which would have saved us walking about 2 miles. Though there was no mention of that on the official SWCP website.

The walk alongside St Antony & Gillan Creek was lovely. The leaves on the trees were a lovely red colour and it was so peaceful and beautiful. I have to admit I like to run around but because I'd had at least an hour 'off lead' I was quite happy to go back on my lead and trot along next to Ann. Dave had been on his extendable lead for the whole walk - he's naughty, he runs away if he's allowed 'off lead'. Doug was OK. He gets to run free. But because we were on a little road Ann thought it was best if we all went back on lead.

Anyway, once we'd walked round Gillan Creek and then down a private road to a beach at Gillan I was allowed off lead again. So was Doug. Dave was allowed off his lead for about 2 secs, then Bev saw that there were chickens and ducks in a garden by the beach so he had to go back on his lead incase he killed them. Dave's a bit naughty. He does stuff like killing seagulls, so chickens & hens would be easy prey for him.

Once we'd passed 'Nare Point' Bev started complaining that her toes were hurting. Ann tried to pacify her by saying it wasn't much further. All Bev wanted to do was take her shoes off. At this point Ann offered to take Dave's lead. Dave was being a naughty boy, and was pulling on his lead which was resulting in Bev's arm being pulled out of it's socket- not literally?! In all fairness Dave was a good boy once Ann had him.

However, once we rounded 'Nare Head' and could see 'Porthallow' we thought it would be plain sailing. At 1.05pm we met a couple who said they'd left the pub in Porthallow at about 12.35pm. I was so happy. We thought 'whoopee doo' - we'll be at the pub at 1.30pm.

And then disaster struck - Bev fell off the path into a load of ferns. If it hadn't been so serious it would have been funny. There she was screaming and lying face down in a bed of ferns, saying that her ankle was in agony. The path was very narrow at this point so she stayed sitting down while we complemplated what to do. Us doggies were happy because while she was sitting there she gave us some treats out of her bag. Then she decided to take some pain killers and hobble to the pub. Well it was either that or call out the air ambulance. And there wasn't anywhere for that to land so they would have had to winch down someone to rescue her. Anyway she managed to hobble to the pub and we got there at 1.55pm just as they were stopping serving lunches.

Ann ordered cheesey chips and a sandwich for her and Bev and then she gave us doggies a drink in my foldable doggie bowl. We'd had quite a few drinks on the walk but we were all really thirsty again. I had to wait for my drink because Doug & Dave immediately stuck their faces in the bowl and gulped up all the water as soon as Ann put it down. Then I think they must have chewed a hole in it because as soon as Ann put some more water in it for me it started leaking. I had to drink ever so quickly before it all disappeared. We were all tired doggies so we all behaved ourselves in the pub and had a little sleep.

After lunch Ann told me that Doug & Dave were going to stay at Porthallow and look after Bev and we were going to walk another 4 - 5 miles to Coverack to get Bevs car. It was lovely and sunny when we came out of the pub. For the first half hour or so I was on my lead for some of the time because the coast path goes inland for some of the way and we had to walk on little country roads. Then it went down to the sea again and I got to go of lead all the way back to Coverack. We left the pub at 2.45pm and got to Coverack at 4.30pm.

There was hardly any other people doing this walk which we thought was a bit unusal because we normally see loads of people walking on a Sunday. The website described this section of the walk as 'moderate' and it was a fairly easy walk apart from a few bits where we had to go up and down. It was certainly quite nice to be doing this walk in October because the trees were really pretty and it was a lot less bleak then some of our walks.

Ann drove Bev's car back to Porthallow and we got there at about 4.40pm and found Bev hobbling around outside the pub with Doug & Dave because the pub had shut for the afternoon. Apparently she'd sat on the bench outside the pub for a while but thought she looked like an old wino so had a wander around. Fortunately Bev could drive so we went back to Helford to get Ann's car and then came home so that I could have a nice long sleep.

We've had a lovely walk today but I bet Bevs ankle will be hurting even more tomorrow.