Tintagel

Saturday 21st April: Weather: 10°C to 18°C and SUNNY ALL DAY - about time

Crackington Haven to Tintagel: 18.5k walk: Bus 8.53 to 9.17: 7hr 30min walk 9.30am to 5pm: 1000m ascent

Accommodation: Bosayne Guest House

Route Map Crackington to Tintagel

Golf and no mist this morning

Waiting for the Crackington bus

Cliff top walking is dangerous

Blue sky, blue ocean, fishing boats

Looking back at Crackington Haven

Looking ahead to Tintagel

Camelot Hotel look-a-like King Arthurs Castle in distance

Climbing up a long steep hill

Morning tea with blue skies - at last

The boys of Bude rats running 35k

Here come the girls of Bude Rats

Here comes me!!

A stunning sunny spectacular day - at long last. Highlight was all day walking the coast path in beautiful 18°C sunshine with no mist, no rain and no mud. Special highlight was getting to Boscastle and having lunch opposite the Youth Hostel where we stayed on our cycling trip in 1980. Next highlight was getting to Tintagel and the Bosayne Guest House to find our lovely room had a little sitting area overlooking the ocean and the Camelot Hotel - King Arthur’s look-a-like castle perched on a cliff top.

We’ve arranged for an early breakfast at 8am at Wyvern House instead of 8.15am so we can catch the 8.53am bus back to Crackington Haven where we walked to yesterday and start walking where we left off. A few quick phone calls home, and we’re packed and ready to leave straight after breakfast - the usual, but never mundane - muesli, fruit, yoghurt, toast and a full English Breakfast which we again pack in our take-away container. Paula our host has been very friendly and helpful.

It’s a cool walk down the road watching the golfers hit off on a clear sunny day - such a contrast to yesterday. Down to The Strand where we catch the 8.53am bus to Crackington Haven - same bus driver as yesterday. There’s 10 runners from the Bude Rats on board, going to Tintagel then running 35k along the coast path back to Bude. We arrive at Crackington Haven and are greeted by the “Danger Unstable Cliff” sign which we’ve seen many times in the past 11 days. Some days in the mist we’ve elected to walk the road, but today is brilliant sunshine and we can see where we’re going so we’re walking the cliff path.

There’s spectacular views out to sea with birds and boats, views behind us looking back to the Masts of the satellite station near Bude and ahead to the Hotel Camelot, the look-a-like of King Arthur’s legendary castle perched on the cliff top of Tintagel - that’s where we’re headed today.

There’s some steep up and downs and at 11am it’s morning tea time - take our pick of any number of seats strewn along the cliff tops. Soon after, we meet the boys from the Bude Rats running towards us. They’ve already run 12k of their 35k. Ten minutes later we meet the girls of the Bude Rats. It’s a tricky path to walk on, I wouldn’t like to be running on it. More spectacular headlands and we’re now seeing green fields dotted with wild flowers.

At 1.30pm we round a headland and walk down to the hidden inlet of Boscastle Harbour. It’s Saturday and full of tourists strolling the narrow streets. We sit and have lunch - bread cheese and tomato in the shade - opposite the YHA (Youth Hostel) where we stayed in 1980. There’s still 7k to go to Tintagel, so no time to sit for long and in 30 minutes we’re on our way up a steep hill - my golden rule of don’t eat before a big climb went out the window today as Boscastle Harbour was such a beautiful place to stop.

We saw Boscastle's blow-hole beneath Penally Point, often called the Devil's Bellows. It can be seen thumping and snorting about an hour either side of low tide, blowing a horizontal waterspout halfway across the harbour entrance if the conditions are right. Today we were lucky to hear and see it snorting away at 2pm just as we walked up the hill out of the harbour.

There’s a lot of up and down into and out of inlets, across farmland with wild flowers blooming and after 2 hrs with Tintagel in sight, we stop for a welcome break and afternoon tea. Another Australian couple have caught us up and Val, who had been staying in Tintagel waiting for husband Richard to arrive (he's doing the whole of the South West Coast Path) is staying at the guest house next to Bosayne where we are staying and shows us a short cut up past the Camelot Hotel. We’re welcomed by John our host, and surprised that the room has a stunning view of teh ocean and of the Camelot Hotel. And better still, there’s a bay window with two seats and a little table - perfect for a picnic dinner. After a shower it’s down to the Spar supermarket to buy 3 Tribute Cornish ales, then back to enjoy the view sipping our cold ales, followed by a salad with the morning’s sausage and bacon.

Time to blog for a few hours and after a few chocolates, a couple of biscuits and a hot chocolate drink and it’s time for bed. What a fantastic day!