Port Isaac to Padstow

We left The Anchorage just before 9am in the rain, but once again the sun came out later in the day. There was less wind today so it was quite warm in the sun. We followed the coast path around the promontary to the centre of Port Isaac where we bought cheese and onion pasties and 'Cornish heavy cake' (a sort of shortbread with dried fruit). We climbed up the narrow lane out of Port Issac, with good views back to the hardbour. At the Hathaway B&B we joined a footpath which led us onto a headland and we were soon at the lush Pine Haven.

The guidebooks admit to the steep climb out of Pine Haven towards Varley Head, but they rather downplay the subsequent frequent ascents and descents as the path clings to the edge of the cliff round Scarnor point, along Reedy Cliff, around Kellan Head and into Port Quin. In my opinion this section of today's walk was a tough as yesterday's. However the scenery was delightful and it was nice to be back in Port Quin, indeed walking right past the holiday cottage we had in the fish cellars (originally used in the processing of pilchards) when the children were small. We sat just above the beach and ate the Cornish heavy cake, watching several people with dogs on the beach, and talking to a couple of walkers we'd seen several times on the path yesterday. We'd assumed they were British but they weren't (perhaps German or Dutch?) and they'd left their car in Bude and were planning to catch a bus back there from Padstow this evening.

The walking was easier after Port Quin, past Droyden Castle (a folly), Gilson's Cove, Epphaven Cove and Lundy Cove (with a natural arch called Lundy Hole). There were ponies grazing on the vegetation and we could see the characteristic shape of 'The Rumps' in the distance, with the islands of The Mouls offshore. We past Carnweather Point and met up, for the first time today, with the walkers who we'd first met at Bears & Boxes.

We stopped for lunch at the bottom end of the promontory leading to The Rumps. It wasn't a very comfortable stop - there was nowhere to sit so we leant against a wall - but the views were spectacular. Up until lunchtime we'd had views back to Tintagel and beyond (was it Hartland Point we could see in the distance?) but now we turned the corner and walked towards Pentire Point. Then we turned towards the south and headed into the Camel Estuary, with views to the section of the path that we would be walking next month - we could see Stepper Point with its daymark and Trevose Point with its lighthouse. The walking was gentle, though my knees were hurting and I found even the gentle descents difficult.

We skirted the attractive little beach at Pentireglaze Haven. The tide was going out but not so fast as to make the signposted route onto the main beach at Hayle Bay passable. Instead we followed the path along the cliffs past New Polzeath to the road at the top. We couldn't immediately find a shop selling ice-cream so we decided to keep going to Daymer Bay. The walk around the headland on which Polzeath sits was surprisingly pleasant - the houses were set well back and there were attractive little bays and excellent views (Padstow was coming into view). At Daymer Bay there were people windsurfing and kitesurfing, but my first priority was an ice-cream closely followed by a cup of tea, both from the shop that I'd correctly remembered, in the corner of the carpark.

We followed the path around the seaward side of Brea Hill and then walked along the beach to the northern end of Rock, where the passenger ferry to Rock leaves from. We'd seen the ferry coming and going as we approached Rock, but it left shortly before we reached the departure point, so there was time to take some photographs of the views up the Camel Estuary.

The ferry returned from Padstow very quickly; it just shuttles backwards and forwards - there is no timetable. It was all most efficient and although the fares are only quoted as returns (£3 per adult) we were only charged £1.50 each when we asked for one-way tickets.

We'd expected to have 45 minutes to occupy in Padstow (we'd told Linda Hawkins at 6 Riverside that it would be after 5pm when we arrived and it was only 4.15pm) but when we walked past the house (just on the opposite side of the harbour) we noticed an envelope pinned to the door. Closer examination revealed that the envelope had our name on it and it contained a note and a key. We let ourselves in as instructed and found our room at the top of the house, with excellent views over the harbour and the river (see photograph to the right). An unfavourable review of the B&B on the web had pointed out that the view is actually of the car park, but I didn't find this intrusive and we weren't at all disturbed in the night.

After having a shower we went out to explore Padstow. It's a lovely place but I can understand why people call it 'PadStein'; not only does Rick Stein own a restaurant, a hotel & brasserie and a cafe, there's a patisserie, delicatessan, shop and food school - and we eventually opted for Rick Stein's fish and chips for our evening meal (though we did choose grilled bream and grilled salmon rather than cod in batter), followed by a drink of Rattler cider at the Old Custom House, literally just around the corner from our B&B, again with excellent views of the harbour.

Following leg of path