Day 1: Underway!

Distance: 13.1 miles
Weather: foggy




Months of preparation. We devoured scores of maps, arranged 86 places to stay, watched every episode of Downton abbey, practiced saying "ello, guvner" (al only), read a dozen lejog blogs, walked for miles - and today we took our first real steps. It feels great! The banner above is our entry in the official Land's End registration book; here we are with the sign that means go:




Taking the first step was an emotional moment. But the most powerful emotion of the day was not joy; it was terror:




We figured out a while ago that if we started our day at a B&B in Penzance, we could leave our stuff there, take a bus out to Land's End, and then walk back. That way, we'd get to do the first day with no packs! Smart, eh? Well, to be completely honest, one of us (Dawn) had to carry water and food. But the other of us (Al) had just his camera! The bus is a double decker; we got the premium seats upstairs in the front. What we didn't understand is that the bus doesn't use the A-road (that's what they call highways). The busses take the scenic route, visiting every hamlet on the way. Which is great, except that these hamlets are connected by lanes maybe a foot wider than the bus. This leads to many scenes like this:




Combine this with steep hills, twisty curves, and a tradition of driving a million miles an hour .... and that's where terror comes in. If you ever need to get from Penzance to Land's End, the milk run bus is the only way to go!
We got to the end of the line at around 9:30, and spent almost an hour hanging around waiting for someone to show up so we could register. We are not walking over 1000 miles and not getting a certificate! Wandering around, we felt like we'd come 5000 miles only to find the Oregon coast. There was fog, pounding surf, cliffs, birds - you know the scene. Down the path a ways were surf shops, a fishing town, a wide beach in a cove. Beautiful and familiar. Made for a very nice friendly start to our walk.




After a couple of miles along the cliffs and we turned inland, and then we knew we were in a different world. We made the ten miles back to Penzance along a series of footpaths, muddy bridle paths, country lanes, and a final mile along the A-road. Along the way we passed by an ancient Celtic well, ruins of a 2000 year old roman town, and a really old church. So we knew we weren't in Oregon anymore. I expect we will have lots of that ahead and since this has gone long enough we'll write about it then!




Tomorrow is the first day of the real deal: full packs down the southwest coast path to Porthleven.

Location:Regent Terrace,Penzance,United Kingdom