Day 112 - Saturday 29 May 2004 - Penzance to Lamorna

 6 miles walked today

1178.5 miles walked in total (10.522 average)

Apart from a crippling eleven and a half miles in four hours last Saturday, I haven't done any walking since Easter.  Today's guidebook grading was "easy, then strenuous".  But I found that even the easy bit today was a slog and I was very tired.

I left Penzance at about 9.30 am and started off along the prom past the harbour, lighthouse museum and art deco open air swimming pool along to Newlyn.  I really like Newlyn - it strikes an uneasy balance between industrial and arty but managed to pull it off really well  As I gazed into the windows of all the art galleries, all I could smell was fish!

It wasn't long until I was at Mousehole - this next stretch was also on pavement - and when I got there, I sat on the harbour wall and soaked up the sun for ages.  There were lots of people about - it's half term week and a bank holiday weekend and, despite the dire weather forecasts, there'd been a lot of camper vans and tin tents on the A30 when I drove down yesterday.

From Mousehole, I was on coast path proper which was much easier on the feet than the pavement pounding.  The path went through fields and cut up and down to the sea and involved quite a lot of clambering over rocks.  The sun was very warm, although there was a refreshing breeze and the bit through Kemyel Crease Nature Reserve - which was wooded - was a joy to walk through.   Shame it was only a short distance though!

As I came round Carn-du headland, I could see right down to Lamorna Cove and sat and watched all the waves crashing spectacularly onto the rocks which were very even and square in shape and size - it looked almost manmade.

I was really tired as I came down to beach level - mentally more than physically.  It's been a horrible week - we've lost a close friend and a much loved auntie this week so have had two funerals in four days - and work's a pile of shite at the moment.  I just wanted to sit down and do bugger all.  So that's what I did!  I sat on a bench and read my book, which I'd packed especially for such a purpose.

I find it quite hard to do nothing - even when we came down at Easter for two weeks, I only took two days off from walking and felt really guilty about it.  So it was a real luxury to sit in the sun and read - I'm trying to educate myself to do less.   It's not much, but it's a start!