South West Coast Path from Porthcurno to Penzance
I took the bus to Porthcurno and then walked the 10-mile stretch of the coastal path back to Penzance. Someday I'd like to do, if not the entire South West Coast Path, at least a large chunk of it, as the coastline is simply breathtaking.
The Minack Theatre, built into the cliff face overlooking the sea, was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who did most of the construction herself. Its first production was, aptly, Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the theatre hosts a varied season each summer.
The waters off the Cornish coast are a surprisingly Mediterranean shade of turquoise.
The coast alternates between rocky crags and sandy coves.
The path has many ups and downs, as the stairs on the right attest. When I first went looking for the start of the path from the theatre, I couldn't find it because it seemed that the sign pointed straight over the cliff, and it wasn't until I peered over the edge that I spotted the path.
Gorse grows in large quantities at the cliff edge.
More gorse.
The sea carves the rocks into interesting shapes.
The path was mostly along the cliff edge, but occasionally wandered inland.
Sun, cloud and water: just add fire, and you'd have a Turner painting.
Daffodils grew in patches along the path, as well as all over the countryside. Several Italians in my youth hostel were working as daffodil pickers.
More daffodils.
I don't know whether this rock reached its precarious position through human or natural means, but in any case it's quite impressive.
The rocky coast produced amazing sea spray.
The motion of the water flowing in and out of these rocky pools was quite lovely, but of course that is lost in a static photograph.
The tiny fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced "mow-sel") is what I imagine Trewissick in Over Sea, Under Stone is like, and was also beautiful in its own right aside from the literary resonances.
The harbour at Mousehole.
St. Michael's Mount, a monastery built on a rocky island (at least it's an island at high tide) by the same monks who built Mont Saint-Michel.
The town of Penzance, now without pirates.
St. Ives
St. Ives is another lovely Cornish village, this one with a large artist population and a great sandy beach. Here it is at low tide...
...and at high tide. I took this picture from the train station, just before departing for London and from thence back to the States. It was physically painful to leave, but I hope I shall return fairly soon...
