Apart from the occasional photograph, more to mark our progress than anything else, the camera stayed in the bag for the morning. Occasionally, the mist would lift or break and offer us a sea view but they were few and far between. With the rain overnight, the paths were already muddy when we reached them, as we walked they became, in places, little rivers, making the walking difficult as we slipped and slid on the uphill sections. This first cliff section between Portwrinkle and Downderry has the potential to be the kind of walking I love when you are on a narrow path on a cliff, close to but above the sea and, with a wonderful sense of wildness about it. But I really do prefer it without the rain.
There was little conversation between us as we tried to deal with the terrible weather in our own idiosyncratic ways. At such times I like to turn inwards and find an internal peace and satisfaction and try to leave the wild elements to themselves. Adapting the techniques of walking meditation and staying with the breath, it is amazing the sense of contentment you can achieve on the wildest of days.
With a strong wind blowing, we decided against taking the cliff top walk on the section between Seaton and Looe and opted to take the detour up the hill above the monkey sanctuary and then walk the road down to Looe. As well as taking us back from the coast, it also gave us a bit of protection from the wind in the woods on the hilltop. It was a long, hard and hot climb out of Seaton (in waterproofs, remember) as it rises to almost five hundered feet above sea level at the sanctuary. Following the road we went through a farm, through woods down to Bodigga Cliff and then fields to drop down to the village of Millendreath where there was a large holiday complex. We had hoped to catch a cup of coffee at the holiday complex but were disappointed to find no facilities.