Heading out from Bude found me on a ‘people day’. Everywhere interesting people!
The day before, I cross paths with Josh again, he’s flying after his days rest. Now dropped the heavy pack and gets a pickup in the evenings from his father as he gets closer to Padstow. Unlikely our paths will cross again, he’s trying for Lands End in the next seven days.
Pete in the cobblers in Bude helps me out waterproofing my aging boots with dubbin. Long chat about living in Cornwall, living in London.
Walking across Widemouth Beach these two lions appeared with Belinda who is dogsitting them. She lives in a campervan and dogsits this breed, asking with the occasional house sit whisker owners are away. She is booked up for the next 18 months, traveling all over the country. Next heading to Norfolk, then up to Durham for a month, then Scotland. Loves the life and freedom.
Next, Paul. Parked up just above the beach in the van he has lived in for the last 15 year, which is amazing. He sells artwork out the back of it. Beautiful internal woodwork panelling, with a woodburner fire. His wife shared it for 9 years with him, but eventually said enough and now lives in one of the houses he has built, each time selling on. They are childhood sweethearts, met when they were 12 have been together for 42 years and could not be happier. She is joining him again in a couple of weeks and they are heading off to Albania to visit their daughter, son-in-law and grandkids. He moans about Brexit, which has stuffed him up royally. Now he cannot travel freely and has to duck in and out of various European countries after 3 months to comply with visa regulations.
As I take my leave from Paul, he hands me a small painted pebble he sells to tourists. A reminder in my pocket of our chat as I pass down the path
Barry, farmer, lived his entire life in Millook, barely a hamlet with a few cottages. The cottage he was born in now bought by a couple from Surrey as their holiday home. He lives on fresh air and scraps, barely keeping the few sheep going. His father before him both a farmer and a coastguard. When he was a boy, he remembers the night u-boats torpedoed a Liberty ship bringing supplies to the UK from America. They brought up the bodies of two American sailors.
Gully, (short for Gulliver) in Crackington Haven, as i walk past, calls over from the building site he is working on with information on good camping spots up ahead song High Cliff. Archie, his mate, looks like a twin for one of Belinda’s water dogs…
A quick lunch in Crackington, then on to my hunt for tonight’s wild camp.
Finding a flat spot is always the challenge. Add to that need protection from the wind and also far enough away far the path, depending on how populated/isolated it is.
Tonight, although the photo looks flat, it’s actually on a bit of a tilt. But great sunset views again. The wild ponies who are my neighbours tonight are far enough away on the opposite hill side, not to have to worry about.