UK & Ireland - day 19 (2015-09-28) - Newquay

The day started with sad news from New Zealand that my Dad's sister, my Auntie Noeline, passed away this morning at the age of 94. Thankfully she passed peacefully and without pain.  I hope that I am as lucky when my time comes. 

Today's mission was to walk south on the coastal path from Newquay, with everyone agreeing that they did not want to walk as far as yesterday.  The only catch was that we had to cross the estuary at low tide or take a very long detour around the estuary. Low tide was at 12:10 pm, so we set off just after 10 am, and the tide was well out by the time we reached the bridge crossing the Gannel estuary, so we stayed dry. 

                       Bridge across the Gannel estuary from the coastal path

                                       Jim and Randy above the Gannel estuary

The path took us up over the sand dunes above Crantoch Beach, and then down into Porth Joke (no joke). Before Porth Joke, Randy decided to stop and watch the ocean for a while, so Marlene, Marty and I continued on towards Holywell Beach. I veered off at Porth Joke to investigate the sea caves, while Marlene and Marty walked up onto the next headland. If we had been here last week we may have seen them filming the second series of Poldark, in which Demelza is rumoured to be displaying a baby bump (according to the local newspaper). 

There were several caves around the cove, and I was a little tardy in rejoining the others, causing them unnecessary angst, as with a tidal variation (low tide to high tide) of 8 metres expected today, we needed to get back across the Gannel estuary before the incoming tide covered the bridge. 

The deepest cave was about 30 feet deep, so nothing too daunting to explore.  In one cave I found a deflated rubber ball, which I thought might have been Wilson (think Castaway, the movie). 

                                                              Porth Joke - cave 1

                       Porth Joke - cave 2

                      Porth Joke - cave 3

We made it back across the estuary with barely an hour to spare, so I really didn't endanger the whole group after all.  The climb back up into town was worse than climbing the sand dunes, but we soon found ourselves at Sainsbury's for lunch.

In the afternoon we withdrew cash at a bank machine and picked up a really good take out salad box for dinner, which I augmented with a Cornish Pasty, one of many that I have sampled in the past week....when in Rome and all that.  The Cornish are big on their pasties and there are probably 20+ stores in Newquay selling pasties in all sizes and with a variety of fillings.  However I have not seen Cornish Hen on the menu anywhere we have eaten. 

Tomorrow we leave Newquay for Lostwithiel and our last few days with Randy and Marty. We have several things that we want to do in Lostwithiel, so they will be a busy few days.