Sometimes my cousin Sofie and I go on walks. As the one person she knows with a tent and an abundance of free time, I was invited to gatecrash her four days on the South West Coastpath in exchange for providing a shelter for the night.

It’s a long time since I’ve been to Cornwall. As a family we used to head down fairly often. I seem to remember 9 year old me finding the idea of walking a coast path pretty dull, but right now it’s one of the most calming and peaceful things I can imagine doing. I expect this is because at 9 years old I had no desire for a calming or peaceful environment, and was intensely focused on completing Pokémon.

Sofie had planned four days of walking, beginning in Penzance and heading around the peninsula past Lands End and towards St Ives. The daily mileage was nice and sensible, achievable with ‘holiday vibes’ rather than the sort of type 2 fun I sometimes go and get myself into. This was very welcome and allowed time to stop, sit, sunbathe, and swim in the sea.

Day one took us from Penzance to Treen, via the amusingly named Mousehole. A friend had mentioned ‘The Mousehole Cat’ which is apparently a very good children’s book, but on this day there were no cats to be seen. The town is absolutely beautiful, and I expect if you asked an AI bot to draw the perfect Cornish fishing town, it would probably come up with something like Mousehole.

The coast path itself was more varied than I had expected, winding its way up and down nearer to the sea, and up higher again for some great changes in perspective. A couple of miles on either side of towns seemed to be very well trodden and maintained, presumably due to more ‘out and back’ walks, but sections in between could be much more overgrown. We joked that it was half coast path half jungle!

Our lunch stop was at a lovely little cafe in the small village of Lamorna, where we each enjoyed a crab pasty and a cider. The conversation turned to sustainability and dietary choices. Is it ‘better’ to eat something made of soy grown on the other side of the world, or a pasty full of crab thats been caught a few miles away? Not a question for me to answer, but fun to ponder, and the pasty was delicious.

It wasn’t far from Lamorna to Treen campsite where we were staying that night, conveniently located next to one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. The sort that is posted all over Instagram by ‘influencer’ types. I think to myself it’s about time I quit judging them – A lot of these people are making a living or at least a passive income from thier influencyness, I beleive some even get free socks, whereas I’m here spouting my thoughts and pictures onto a blog with 10 readers. Perhaps the influencers are the smart ones. Anyway, The beach was beautiful, the sea was warm (enough!), and I’d recommend the campsite too, it had good facilities and a nice little cafe/bar a 5-minute walk away.

Overnight it rained hard, and I slept like shit. This was a blessing, as come morning the worst of the rain had passed and we had a cloudy but dry start to the day. The campsite had a little kitchen area where we made breakfast and got chatting to a couple from the Isle of White who were cycle touring. They’d decided to base themselves at Treen for a few days and cycle from there rather than carrying all their kit up the relentless coastal hills. Probably a wise move!

Day two’s walking was to take us around the corner of Porthgwarra and north past Lands End towards St Just, where we were booked to camp at the YHA. The fog and mist hung low over the sea this day, making for some gloomy and atmospheric vibes when passing the tourist circus that is Lands End. I’m having a hard time describing Lands End without regurgitating the words I’ve just read in PJ’s book, but essentially it feels as though it should have some sort of sense of significance, but is really just a place where you can pay an extortionate amount of cash to be photographed by a sign.

Far more significant in my memory will be the Sennen Cove Cafe, where I was gifted a not insignificant quantity of grilled chicken on account of it going out of date the next day. Sofie is vegetarian (With the special exception of crab pasties) and so it was my duty to prevent unnecessary waste, and eat it all. Backpacking its easy to carry ‘just enough’ food rather than the necessary amount of calories to maintain your activity, so bonus free food is always welcome.

The gloomy misty soggy vibes continued from Sennen to the YHA, and Sofie was beginning to struggle a bit with some sore toes, but we made it through and were pleasantly surprised by the YHA being almost empty on arrival, this meant we had our pick of the campsite and could have a little rest in the lounge in peace and quiet.

I took this time to write in my little diary, which is becoming a routine now having done it for over a month. I don’t write loads, just a couple of paragraphs about the day and how I’m feeling, and give the day a score out of 10 based on how I feel. It’s a nice way to be emotionally in touch with myself(whatever that means?) and I’d really recommend it. It only takes 10 minutes on an evening.

Sleep at the YHA ended up being less good on the arrival of a group of school leavers chatting and giggling all night in that way that groups of teenagers sometimes do. I spent a while debating whether to play the grumpy adult role and go and have a word with them, or whether to wait until they’d gone to sleep and pull out all of their tent pegs. In the end, I did neither of these things, which is probably for the best.

Day Three took us from St Just to a small cove just before Zennor, and to our only wild camping stop of the trip. This day was given an interesting feel by the presence of a trail marathon going in the opposite direction along the coast path, during which my mindset switched from ‘What possesses people to do this mad shit?’ to ‘That looks quite fun maybe I will enter one next year’. We’ll see. Heading around to the north coast a lot of this day took us past old mining infrastructure and remnants of Cornwall’s industrial past. Similarly to parts of Wales its hard to imagine how different these now peaceful places must have been.

finding wild camping spots along the coast path is a little bit of a challenge, I kept my eyes open the whole way around, and good pitches were few and far between. Fortunately, we came across an absolutely perfect spot situated right where we needed it, and near to a stream for fresh water. Ideal. Sofie did her very first wild poo, and I took a wash in the stream and a walk on the beach before settling down to bed and finally getting that perfect night’s sleep, 8 hours easy, earplugs in, no worries, apart from some wild and unusual dreams which I dare not put in writing. Ask me about them in the pub.

We woke earlier on our last day, as even in places where people often turn a blind eye to wild camping I prefer to be discreet and get packed up before any chance of somebody arriving. After a stop for breakfast near gurnards head we popped into Zennor to a gorgeous little cafe called The Moomaids where I treated myself to a scone with jam and cream. I put the cream first because that just makes sense doesn’t it.

Heading out of Zennor the last day seemed to fly by, we spotted several seals floating about in the coves, and the miles just ticked by, with us soaking up the last of the beauty of the ocean before arriving in St Ives and the trip coming to an end with one last dip in the ocean and some chips on the beach.

I thoroughly enjoyed this time by the coast and its stark contrast to the mountainous terrain of North West Scotland that I’d been in only weeks before. If you asked me to pick between the two I’d have a really hard time. But I did enjoy the lack of midges!

I’ve started having thoughts of trying to join the two over many years of trips to effectively walk the length of the UK. If nothing else, it’s an easy way to plan some holidays! Amusingly, this period not working was partially intended to help me consider future employment options, but is turning out to be equally useful in inspiring me to do a ton more fun adventures!

A few equipment realisations from this journey:

• When it’s this hot a sleeping bag is unnecessary. On my trip to the south of France next week I will just take a bag liner, and sleep in a jacket if it gets nippy.
• Trail gaiters might look a bit silly but they are great for walking coast paths or on beaches. No more sand or small stones in the shoes!
• My tactic of using a pack liner and dry bags rather than a waterproof cover is a good one.
• Sofie had binoculars, which were good for spotting seals. I’m glad she had them and would definitely suggest taking some!
• I carried suncream and despite loving the feel good motivational advice track ‘Wear Sunscreen’, I chose not to wear it, which is a habit I should probably get out of.
• My towel is a tiny bit too small to get changed with in public places without seriously risking flashing a bollock to an unsuspecting bystander. Sorry.

Next week im off to the Cévennes in the south of France, and spending a little time in Paris. I’m very excited to be getting abroad for the first time in a little while! In the mean time, I’ve learnt the bass line to Rocket Man, got my hair cut, and am trying to plan something for my currently free 3 week period at the end of Ausugt – Hit me with suggestions if youve got any! ✌️