Day 6 – 26 May 2010
Left B&B in Paignton with larger pack than normal as Team having to get Ro to hospital in Barnstaple today. Weather still fine but thankfully cooler for running. My route included interesting jog through Brixham, Berry Head and a ferry crossing from Kingswear to Dartmouth. (no charge!). Welcome break at cafe at Dartmouth Castle – was running out of drinks by then. Extra mileage around Stoke Fleming etc – another footpath diversion before finally meeting the ever reliable John at Blackpool Sands – very friendly people – gave John free parking and us both free coffees! Decided to end day there as we had to find a campsite as well as driving north to meet dear friends Chris and Sue who had taken Ro up to Barnstaple. A mammoth trip for them from their home near Bodmin. ( All went well ‘up north’, Ro’s arm is mending nicely, and they even found time to check in at home for some more ‘computer printing’, call in the Cancer Research Shop for updating and finally buy yours truly another Ron Hill running shirt.) Finally ended day with wonderful meal at the Deer Park pub adjacent to the Camping and Caravanning Club site at Stoke Fleming. We were served by Martin Bolton who is not only an excellent cyclist and expert with carbon fibre materials, he is well-known in SW sailing circles and a good friend of our friend Steve White who did so well in the Vendee Globe circumnavigation race last year. Finally – thanks to Janet the ‘plaster nurse’ at Barnstaple Hospital who both treated her so well and ensured our trip wasn’t delayed too much! And a very special thank you again to Sue and Chris.
(posting delayed – no Wi-Fi)
Day 7 – 27 May 2010
Team dropped me at southern end of Blackpool Sands and encouraged me to get my old legs moving again! Weather still sunny but a cooler breeze making running more pleasant. Was greeted with a cup of coffee as I ‘sped’ through Torcross beach/Slapton Sands car park where so many US servicemen so tragically lost their lives during training in WWII. For the next couple hours I followed the coast path past Start Point – a really pleasant section in ideal conditions before arriving at the ferry point for Salcombe. John and Ro had arranged a wonderful reception for me by all customers sitting outside at the Ferry Inn as I got off the ferry. Another very nice ferryman again refused to let me pay! A pint of shandy later I climbed yet another hill out of Salcombe – the team met me again at Hope Cove and finally at the River Avon ferry point at Bantham. A good day overall – first week completed, total mileage 189, daily average 27 miles and over a quarter of SW Coastal path completed. We ended the day at C&C camp site at California Cross near Modbury. Again, Ro managed to cook us a wonderful Pasta meal with her one good hand whilst John did the washing up ... before retiring to a very cold tent – a very gallant gentleman indeed!
(Again, delayed Blog publishing as no Wi-Fi.)
Day 8 – 28 May 2010
A day made difficult by river crossings as well the very narrow lanes causing access problems for John and Ro. I started the day from near Bigbury-on-sea and had a reasonable run to the Erme estuary ... where there is no ferry – so the choice is either to take an inland diversion of an extra 8 miles (630 miles is enough for anyone!) or to wade across! As the tide was out I chose the latter – tying shoes to my rucsac but taking great care with my so far reliable feet on the stony river bottom. All went OK but was aware that about ½ hour was taken from my day. Due to poor phone reception I was unable to update the team with my progress until just before arriving at Noss Mayo where they were parked on the harbour beach – tide still out fortunately. No ferry was available at that time so they drove round the Yealm estuary and dropped me off again on the other side for me to continue my final session of the day to the outskirts of Plymouth. A shorter day than normal – only about 23 miles or so. However it was enough to complete one third of total distance in 8 days. We spent the night at Riverside Campsite, Marsh Mills, Plymouth where the lovely Rachel insisted our 3 excellent meals were 'on the house'. We seem to meet so many kind and thoughtful people every day on this trip! Still no Wi-Fi on site but am going to try a coffee at Macdonalds and use their Wi-Fi near here to update the Blog. Final note – both Ro and John doing their best to keep me going – have re-named John as Mr Motivator!
