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Walking South West Coast Path

This summer, I walked part of the South West coastpath with three friends. Two of them are walking the whole thing bit by bit (630 miles from Minehead on the north coast of the South West peninsular to Poole on the south coast). My friend and I decided to join them for the far west section around the very tip of the peninsular in Cornwall. It was 50 miles starting at Hayle (just east of St Ives) and finishing in Penzance and we took five days, although I have to admit I cheated a bit and took the bus on one and a half days! That was actually very useful as I found out how easy it is to travel around by bus in this area - such nice small, friendly buses, and a great way of meeting the locals!

I've walked parts of the coastpath before, especially where we live in Devon. The scenery is always stunning and this section was no exception - small coves, fishing boats, crashing waves over the rugged coastline, blue sky, a sea so turquoise in places that you'd think you were in the Caribbean, beautiful wildflowers, and amazing coastal wildlife. It's all so accessible too, especially as this part of Cornwall is so narrow. Nothing is very far away. In fact we could have stayed in one place really and just got the bus or a taxi backwards and forwards after each days walking. Instead we carried tents with us, camped on three nights, and stayed in an inn right by the sea at Sennen Cove on one night.

View more photos, or visit the South West Coast Path website.

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