Veryan is a good camp site, lots of amenities, including a social room where you could take shelter, if necessary. It was too stormy even to cook in the porch of the tent and we made do with a cold dinner and hot coffee. Well, I made do, even coffee and food could not tempt Jo from the sleeping bag where she soon drifted off to the sleep of the exhausted.
We enjoyed a nice day off in Mevagissey yesterday, including being able to do a laundry thanks to our wonderful hostess, Debbie. While we spent some time resting, we also managed to go out and walk around the village, visit the wonderful local museum and to have long coffee breaks with the Guardian newspaper and an even longer lunch at the Shark's Fin restaurant. The time went quickly and I am sure there was plenty more for us to see. Mevagissey Harbour Area After our day off, we were up early and feeling energised for the day ahead. With the mileage for the day coming in at roughly thirteen miles on hilly terrain, the route today is a challenging one with numerous swoops and sweeps. Walked mainly on the coast where we should enjoy good views, we have a couple of headlands to go over including Chapel Point, Maenease Point, Dodman, Greeb and Caragloose Points before reaching Portloe. In succession we move from Mevagissey Bay to Gorran Haven and, once round Dodman Point on to the large and impressive Veryan Bay. The plan in to make some miles and stop for lunch at Caerhays Castle on Porthluney Cove, about two-thirds of the way in to the journey. As we left Mevagissey the weather didn't look too bad with some cloud about but signs that the early morning sun might burn some of it off. There was a bit of road walking to get out of the way as we climbed up out of Mevagissey and then dropped back down to the village of Portmellon. Leaving Mevagissey, there were nice views of the sea and interesting perspectives over the village and harbour which gave you an idea of them in the surrounding countryside. Just after Portmellon we moved on to the cliffs where we could see for miles in either direction, with beautiful early morning light reflecting off the waters of the bay. Mevagissey It is a nice walk along this clifftop, with Chapel Point lying just in front of you. Approaching the Point, even from a distance away, you are quite taken by the beauty of the place. Just occasionally, you come across locations where all the different elements of the landscape come together to create a beautiful whole, without losing the attractiveness of the individual elements. For me, Chapel Point is such a place. The landscape is lovely, the architecture of the white house and church complement but do not detract from the sparseness of the location and the tall, tall trees towering over the whole give it a certain majesty and lift the eyes to the heavens. From every perspective it is a place of great beauty and for miles afterwards we could not keep our eyes away from it. From Chapel Point round to Turbot Point and Great Perhaver Beach lies in front of you. In the distance, you can just see the rooftops of the houses at Goran Haven tipping over the top of the hillside. Bees buzzed in the wild flowers and the sun through the clouds turned the sea waters silver, leaving the rocks of Gwineas sulking darkly in the shade of a cloud. We walked in to Goran Haven and stopped at the wee shop and cafe. The shop is the hub of the community and performs all sorts of functions from general store to post office, bakery to newsagents. After stocking up with some food for the next couple of day's camping, we went next door to the cafe part to enjoy nice coffee and cake. Of course, we stayed far too long talking to the owners and other locals and never quite managed to catch up with ourselves the rest of the day. From Goran Haven you start the highest climb of the day to go above Dodman Point, which you can see in the distance as you beard the hill. Walking on a narrow, earth-packed path, wild flowering garlic, Ragged Robin and Bluebell tug at your ankles as you walk through the narrow wildlife corridors. Much of this area is in the control of the National Trust and Dexter cattle and wild Dartmoor ponies graze here to keep some of the more vigorous vegetation under control . At the tip of Dodman, there are Iron and Bronze Age remains, including the outline of a fort. On the approaches to the Point, a huge granite cross dominates the horizon, built in 1896 by the Vicar of Caerhays, as a navigational aid for ships. From the top of the point, you look across the bay east to the Polruan / Polperro coastline, where we walked a few days ago. Closer to home, there is Maenease point just across the little cove. To the west, there are clear to views to the start of the Roseland Peninsula and down to Nare Head. Coming off of Dodman Point the land opens out and you can see across Veryann Bay and inland over the extensive farm and grasslands. It really is delicious, delicious walking, albeit over distance it is tiring on account of the rolling countryside. From the Point, the land drops down to take you to the beautiful Hemmick Beach where I could just have stood for hours enjoying the view out to sea and over to the Roseland. There were thick green shrubs growing here that were full of greeny / yellow flowers that were almost startling. The sea, sand, the rocks and the colour of the sea were just so pretty you wanted to spend the day there. Sadly, it was not possible on this occasion and we continued on, climbing back up to the cliff top for the walk over and down to Porthluney Cove and a lunch stop on the beach below Caerhayes Castle at the Beach Cafe. This was a nice little cafe with seats in and outdoors and serving a range of foods, some slightly different from the usual fare. While I enjoyed what turned out to be a huge pulled pork, stack sandwich, JE enjoyed a nice bowl of soup and a hot bacon and brie sandwich. As we sat in the safety of indoors at the cafe the storm clouds threatened and just as we left the rain came on and we were forced in to the waterproofs for the next section of the walk. From Porthluney Cove we were on an uphill section to reach a walk along the cliff top heading for East & West Portholland. Sometimes, despite all the training you do and the preparations you make, there are days or parts thereof, where you put the foot on the accelerator and nothing happens. No explanations for it. Some days it just is not there. For my walking partner this was one such afternoon and this section was a real struggle. The weather didn't help with a cold, cold breeze coming off the sea and driving the rain in to our faces. However, when it is like that, there is little that you can do other than put the head down and try to take up the miles. We have been fortunate in our years of walking that it has seldom come on both us at the same time. Despite the difficulties, it never took the smile from Jo's face. Along this final side of Veryan Bay we remained open to the elements and despite our constant walking we never warmed up until long after we had stopped walking. The path was difficult to walk on here with large and small stones jutting out of the path. You constantly had to be on your toes in case you either tripped over an exposed stone or slid on a wet one. Over time, even with full walking boots on, it began to tell on the soles of your feet with a constant, dull ache. With three or four steep hills on this section, despite its natural beauty, it became a bit of a chore. It was with relief we finally glimpsed the rooftops of Portloe nestled in the wee valley below. Our troubles were not over yet, as we had a wee bit of a job finding the side road that would take us out to our campsite, about a mile and a half out of the village. You will have guessed by now that it was steeply uphill. There was the obligatory field of cows and calves, through a farm where there were nice Shire horses and, at long last, Veryan Camp Site. The rain had gone off as we walked up from the village. By the time we were booked in and found a pitch, we were able to at least pitch up in the dry, albeit the ground was wet. It didn't last long and we were soon in the midst of a heavy storm that persisted the rest of the night.
Veryan is a good camp site, lots of amenities, including a social room where you could take shelter, if necessary. It was too stormy even to cook in the porch of the tent and we made do with a cold dinner and hot coffee. Well, I made do, even coffee and food could not tempt Jo from the sleeping bag where she soon drifted off to the sleep of the exhausted.
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