Blogs from Portreath, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Having settled into the 20 ish km per day routine the thought of a 30 km day was a bit scary. Couple that with some steep hill descents/ascents in the first hour or so we decided to cut short the day and only walk 20 of the 30 km that was scheduled. As it happens we were meant to be collected and driven back home so things worked OK and easy. As it was the last 15 km was pretty easy and we finis be mid afternoon but that extra 10 would have taken close to 3 hours and much of that walking was on tarmac and around an estuary, walking down one side and back up the other. It was possible but would have made for a big day walking from 9 o’clock to about ... read more

Confidence. It's a funny thing. One moment you can be riding the crest of a wave, feeling unbeatable and exuding unbelievable self-belief. The next, after the smallest of mishaps or setbacks, those niggling self-doubts start to snowball out of control like a swine flu epidemic. Before you know it you're questioning your own ability to put one foot in front of the other, impossible to climb out of the bottomless pit of negativity, despair and depression. Today's walk from Phillack to Portreath followed this line of thought to a tee. After yesterday's short hike along easy pavements, followed by an over-indulgence on pasties and pints, we woke feeling like we could take on the world. A bacon and sausage bap, the breakfast of kings, only added to our supreme confidence levels. From our campsite, situated on ... read more