St. Ives, Room with a view!

 

   View from our room at Chy Morvah (means house by the sea) with other side of St Ives Bay in the distance, and close in, the swimming pool for our use.  I was hoping to have a swim today when I got back from my first day's hike but our group did not get back until after 5:30 and I was in desperate need of a cup of tea and a shower.  

For our first day of walking, Wendy did one of the shorter guided walks offered, walking from our hotel, through lovely woodlands to a high point with a sweeping view of the coast, then down to the beach at Carbis Bay. It's a huge expanse of beautiful sand, with the usual beach amenities of hotel, restaurants, coffee bars, ice cream stands. We sat and watched some kayak lessons while we had our lunch. After a brief walk on the beach we made our way back to St. Ives and 'home'. 

    For our camino buddies, look at the signpost Wendy came across on her walk.  Hard for us not to follow the shell!

    Marion's walk is called The Coastal Path and there are 11 participants with 1 leader.  Wendy's walks are called The Classic Walks and she can chose from easy, medium and hard.  There is a leader for each group and there are 25 to 30 participants who each day choose the walk they want to do the next day.  My (Marion's) group started the coastal path along the northern coast of Cornwall at Treyarnon Bay.  This is not very far south of Padstow for those checking maps.  We were dropped off by bus and walked from there right along the coast line to Porth, on the northern outskirts of Newquay.  17.5 km and 1345 feet of ascent.  Lots of ups and down and by the middle of the afternoon I was beginning to wonder about my idea of fun!!  It was a pretty warm day and hard work.  We hiked for 6 hours with a 30 min. lunch break and a 1 hour bus ride on each end.  I was beat when I got "home" but after a couple of cups of tea and a nice long shower I felt human again.