Stuck half way!

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Too short a time to walk to Mt St Michael, too long a time to do nothing. It’s moving day here but it’s waiting time now. Just less than an hour until our train to Ivybridge departs so it’s typing time.

Ivybridge will by necessity be washing and drying time. I probably had 6 or 7 pairs of socks in various degrees of unwasheredness and undriedness. Fortunately we are at the accommodation for 2 nights, tomorrow being a planned rest day. As such we should be able to make some arrangements to clean and dry things. Our boots particularly are wet, mine wet from the inside more so than the outside. I must get into the habit of wearing or at least taking my serious gaters. It’s water either from rain or undergrowth but it runs down into my socks that do an excellent job of absorbing and retaining water. But generally our feet are holding up remarkably well. They are not pretty to look at immediately after peeling off wet socks and having walked 40000 steps but they are OK.

Admittedly we are at the rail station and there is a bus station over the road but there are walkers all over the place here. It’s obviously a big thing here. Our BnB was saying that a large percentage of their clients come as walkers of the SWCP. The section we are not walking is popular as it’s a bit easier and it contains a region known as the ‘Jurassic Coast’. There are long stretches on shell covered beaches that for decades have been hunting grounds for archeologists. Some quite important finds have been made there. As well there are several estuary crossings that are tide dependent and that is always in the lap of gods time wise. A few people remarked that yesterday’s photos had people in them. True, probably because there were significantly more walkers despite the inclement conditions. Many walkers look like they would struggle but they plod on and do a really good job. Frequently we will pass them on the path and then they pass us as we stop for lunch, some photos or a digestive biscuit.

On the train now but 20 minutes to go.

Penzance was good to us. Our BnB was good and managing to have a cooked chook saves us a bit of time, energy and money as far as evening meals go. I fully expect the meal menu to change a bit as we get to Dartmoor and Exmoor. The fish has been excellent here (but pricey) and the Cornish pasties really consistently good but as we’re going to Devon and inland things will change a bit. I’ll admit I’m ready for a couple of ale pies and maybe a lamb shank.

It’s about 2 hours and 10 minutes as a journey as Ivybridge is just past Plymouth. The train goes to Cardiff which intuitively is the wrong direction but after some thinking I’m satisfied that the direction is alright.

The weather is meant to be a little better over the next few days which suits us as even this morning we were plagued by the coats on, coats on conundrum. It’s not the English drizzle and mist and greyness that I sort of expect but here it’s a sudden, drenching downpour and the skies burst open revealing bright sunshine.

Moving now so I’ll stop for a while. Well I appreciate the irony there.

The train has reasonable internet service so we can check out our accomodation location and resources nearby. The house, Cadleigh Manor, looks quite grand but it is not immediately close to pubs, restaurants or even a supermarket. As such our lunch may become our evening meal and we will get something as we leave the train. Not as complicated as it sounds.

More and more passengers are boarding and the hubbub is something we are not used to. Seeing more than a few people is unusual for us and certainly from Lands End onwards we have been conscious of things being busier and busier. Trains here have been timetable perfect which is good as we were hearing of strike action and disruptions. The train service provider, GWR, have emailed with updates but everything has been smooth.



Julie is busy listening to the footy, Melbourne playing Brisbane. Thankfully not as animated as the Geelong game but it is only the first quarter.



Here the countryside is green but not that verdant green I often associate with the English fields. Leaving Cornwall will be a bit sad, the locals are very passionate about their ‘Kurnow’. I reckon they are as equally passionate as Yorkshiremen. No matter where they live all say their bit of the coast is the most beautiful and their local beer is the best. Their cars are almost always adorned with Cornwall stickers usually in Cornish and Cornish flags are very common. But Devon must be close and we will be in Devon for a while now. The 2 Moors Way is just over 110 miles (from memory) so for us it will be Devon, Devon, Devon for a while. Not a big fan of talking (or walking) in miles but it is so common here it is difficult to avoid. Distance markers are in miles so our calculations are usually based on that.





Actually in Ivybridge, Devon. But our luggage is not. With the change from the SWCP to the 2 Moors Way someone (not me this time) forgot to tell the luggage company! Our last BnB hosts are now on holidays so no one was there to say our luggage has not been collected and our luggage transfer company did not know to pick up and deliver our luggage. The solution Contours is now sending a taxi to pick up and deliver, if they can get into the BnB when the owners are absent. It’s only a 4 hour round trip, so no big deal!!! But we are trapped in our undies! And without my medication or tooth brush.

Sorry about the couple of upside down shots. Still perplexed as to how to fix that problem. Worst thing is sometimes I can and other times it doesn’t work.
Another chicken and salad night as we are not brave enough to go out in our smelly outfits. No really that was the plan anyway. The BnB here is again very nice, no ensuite (which is super unusual) but we only share with 1 other room which is not occupied at the moment. It may mean the other guests get a special show from me in my towel but so be it.
We have cider, chicken and salad but not much else but then again what more do you want.

That’s it for now.

Caio.

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