There are few settlements on the route today, apart from the main villages of Nos Mayo and Wembury on either side of the River Yealm and one or two very smaller places off the path, but we are carrying everything we should need. From Battisborough to Nos Mayo, ferry to Warren Point and a walk round the corner to Wembury; a long hike on the open coast follows, before coming in to Mount Batten to catch the ferry to Plymouth. We are in hostel accommodation tonight which is located about fifteen minutes from the harbour area. It is not our original choice of hostel. It closed down the day before we left to start the adventure, after being booked for about two months in advance, so panic stations at the last minute.
It was tough walking on the sloping hillside, your ankles constantly being turned over on the narrow, muddy paths. We met a few other hardy walkers who had braved the rain and they were all to a man pretty wet. Approaching Nos Mayo, the weather cleared a bit and as we turned the headland we had views over the River Yealm to Newton Ferrers. The walking improved here, the paths widened and we enjoyed a nice woodland approach round the headland and into the harbour. Lots of wild flowers. albeit petal closed, Ragged Robin, Bluebell and wild garlic. There is an amazing variety of snails to be seen on the paths, particularly when it is damp, with beautiful green, yellow and red shells. As you apporach Nos Mayo, there is a split to the water way, with the River Yealm turning left and the Newton Creek going off to the right. In the junction of the 'Y', sits the village of Newton Ferrers. As we were catching the ferry below the Y, it meant we would not go anywhere near Newton.
Fortified by lunch, we set off again in the afternoon in wet and windy conditions to walk along the cliffs and hills to Plymouth. There were some really beautiful beaches, coves and rock features here but the conditions were not right to fully appreciate them.
The last mile is always the longest and still cold and wet it was a weary walk through the town to the hostel. However, we felt pretty good in ourselves having covered seventeen miles at a good pace and the weariness would wash away in a shower. A day that could have been full of complications had been pretty straightforward and it was good to have it at our backs. While the miles had been long and tired we were only tired, not broken. We also had the added bonus of an extra day off to look forward to and the thought of that raised our spirits.