Latest / UK Travel Planning / Walking Land's End to Bath: A UK Trip Report

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Walking Land's End to Bath: A UK Trip Report · UK Travel Planning

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: What is it really like to walk 260 miles or 420 kilometres from Land's End to Bath?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, Catherine shares her three-week walking adventure through Cornwall, Devon and beyond, from midnight sleeper train down to Penzance to cliff top coast paths, Doc Martin's, Port Isaac, and a well-earned soak in the Therme Bath Spa.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Hi everybody and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Plan and Podcast.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we start, a quick heads up.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Catherine mentions the Night Riviera sleeper train in this episode.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: And Doug has filmed that exact journey.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: It is in fact our most popular video ever, at the moment anyway, on our YouTube channel.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: So the link is in the show notes if you'd like to see the train she is describing.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now this week's episode is one for anyone who's ever thought about swapping the higher car and the packed itinerary for a pair of walking boots.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: A walking holiday is something so many of you have asked us about.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: How does the luggage work?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: How do you find accommodation?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Do you need to be super fit?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it can feel like a bit of a mystery until you hear from someone who's actually done it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm really pleased to be joined this week by Catherine, who did exactly that with her husband Glenn, and has come on to share how it all came together.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let's get on with this week's episode.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Hi Catherine, welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planner Podcast.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's great to speak to you.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Doug and I did an itinerary consult with you last year in June.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a fantastic catch up as well.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're interested to see how it all went as well for your trip.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but for listeners who don't know who you are, would you like to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit where you're from and who you traveled with?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Tracy.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me on the podcast.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I've been a fan for a while.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, my name is Catherine, and um yeah, I live in Townsville in North Queensland, Australia.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I traveled to the UK uh earlier this year with my husband, Glenn.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: You did.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you had a slightly different um yours was that, shall we say it wasn't the average UK holiday.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Your trip was was very different from anything actually we'd ever done a consult on um and and looked at before.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it was really interesting.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but which and and we know there are a lot of people uh who are interested in the type of holiday that you did.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: So would you like to give us a kind of quick overview um of what you did?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is a walk-in holiday.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I work as an administrator in Allied Health, uh, so I was really looking for a total escape from my full-time desk job.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yes, we went on a long-distance walk.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: We started our adventure at Land's End, and that's located in western Cornwall, which is the most southwesterly point in mainland England.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: And we walked for 420 kilometres or 260 miles, and we ended our long-distance journey in Bath in Somerset, and the whole journey took about three weeks.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely fantastic.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: As you know, I'm uh I'm not really a walker or a hiker, so I take my hat off to both of you for doing it.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now this is the first quarter of the Lions End to John O'Groat's uh walk.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: So from the southernmost, uh southwesterly most point of the UK up to the northernmost point in uh John O'Groats.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So, what made you decide that you want to do this particular section or this type of holiday in the UK?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so back in 2019, Glenn and I did uh the Coast to Coast walk, which has actually just recently been made a national trail back in March.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: And that was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: I think that was 18 days, with 16 days walking, I think, and two rest days.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And we always thought, let's go back and do another one of those.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then we just didn't really think it would take so long, but you know, seven years later, um, and you know, a lot has changed in our lives too.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Our kids have grown up and they've all moved away.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm really looking for something that's going that, you know, gives me something to look forward to.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, why don't we we've done gone across England, why don't we start at the bottom and go to the top?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, and then that way we're just doing it in sections because there's only so much you can do, you know, to take time off and that kind of thing.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the clincher for us was that yeah uh part part way through we'll actually reach a point that we will have crossed on the on the on the coast to coast, uh which will be Keld in Yorkshire in the north of England.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought that's it, that's it.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna go from the bottom to the top.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's exciting.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's so exciting.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you've done that first quarter of it.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now you booked an itinerary consult.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm kind of uh I'm well known as not being a hiker.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so I so what made you actually kind of reach out and and book the consult, which was lovely.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was so fantastic when we did.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't get we we don't often get a lot of Australians booking consults, so it's lovely when we do.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um so what made you think, all right, we'll talk to to Tracy and Doug about this trip.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um I I actually first use your information when my mum and my sister were over in the UK last year, and they were going to York.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I just went, I need to help them, you know, because they're traveling around, they don't have access to a computer.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, I do, I'm sitting in front of a computer screen all day.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I did all this searching on the internet, found your podcast, listened to the podcast.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was brilliant.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: Set the this set the podcast to listen to.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I was just talking to Mum, she said they practically did every every single thing that you put on the list, and she raved about the information that you had given them, and it was so up to date and so current.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think that was that was the really great part.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think with with planning a trip, you know, it's an overseas trip is is so expensive, you know.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it takes a lot of money, it takes a lot of time, and um, yes, you can you can there's only so much you can search on the internet and YouTube, and I wanted to get it right, you know, and you don't know what you don't know.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: So um I thought you between you and Doug, who know so much about the UK, what is it they can tell me?
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: What what what is it?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and I was really desperate to know, is there something that I'm missing?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's too late.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: I hate that that FOMO of will we go there, will we have this amazing experience?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: But we'll say we didn't do this, or we should have gone there.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I I and I just didn't want that to happen to me.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought, please, Tracy, tell me if I'm gonna if I've planned something and I'm missing out.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, it was great to to to chat with you and and go through kind of your planned itinerary, and um yeah, it's it's always great.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, and a lot of people as well kind of get overwhelmed because there's so much information out there that you say there's only so much you can read, so much you can watch before you actually need to sit down and kind of sift through that overwhelm as well and kind of go, right, this is what we're gonna do.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then you do that and go, or is like you say, is there something we might have missed out through all this?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because there is just so much to sift through.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So it was, it was it was lovely to chat with you and kind of help you with that chip.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now you did go through Discovery Travel, is that right?
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: To um they booked your accommodation and they moved your luggage around.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because I guess that is a big question that we do get asked when people are planning these kind of um walk and holidays.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: It it's like how you know, how do you sort out getting your carrying stuff from place to place?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, so how did they help you with the trip?
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that that was that was great.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the the thing about uh doing long distance walks in the UK, it's just so well set up for that.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, because there's this right of way where you're able to sort of walk in places that that are normally sort of private property.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: There's there's these there's these paths that that they must allow people to walk through.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And also, there's so there's so many companies there that they do all of this um luggage transfer.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's brilliant.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: You you just uh put on put on your on your, you know, take all your luggage with you because you need so much luggage with you when you're going overseas, but you only have to take a day pack during the day, and then they will transfer, they've organized your luggage transfer from one hotel or bed and breakfast to the other.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's great as well.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't have to worry about it, it just gets taken for you.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: I've seen that actually in the Cotswolds when we've stayed in different places there where um, you know, because the Cotsworld Way is quite a famous actually, Doug wants to walk that.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's he's talking to me at the moment, he wants to do that for his 60th.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: He won't be doing it with me.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a friend he wants to do that with, but he he's been talking about that.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that's something as well, which is really great, because there's lots of companies that will move your luggage from place to place.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So that works well.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Did they also book your accommodation for you as well?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: They did.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's the other really huge thing, is that especially when you're going a long-distance walk and you're only staying in places for one night, it's it's very difficult to get accommodation for one night.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, then breakfast, they don't really like to sort of go to all that trouble for for one night's accommodation.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if they know they're getting the regular um business from these companies who are booking these holidays, then you get preference.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: And compared to trying to do it on your own, you you can book it yourself.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: But I've read lots of um threads and and different chats where they say it's really difficult to actually book accommodation individually.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: But if you go with with with a tour company, um, yeah, it's it's much easier.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And they're they're the ones who book that.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we had to negotiate some dates a little bit because he said, tell me, you know, what's the earliest, what's the latest you can go, because then he has to line that all up.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: He has to get all his ducks in a row and make sure all the accommodation right across the time that we want is going to be available.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: So there was a bit of a you know logistics, um, you know, baited breath, yes.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: And and so, yeah.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: But it's at the end of the day, it's really like um a bus tour without the bus.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is is that every everything is planned for you and uh you just turn up.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's to say it takes that logistical challenge of of thinking about that, and it's it's so well organized, and they you know, you know that they're gonna pick it up, pick up your luggage, it's gonna be taken to the next accommodation.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it's great that that kind of headache is is off your shoulders, especially when you're doing something like you're doing with the you know, planning the walkout is is already quite a lot of uh of thought goes into that.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, getting down to Cornwall, did you take the Night Riviera?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: We did, we did.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was oh my goodness.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: That was one of the suggestions that uh that you and Doug uh gave to us.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll never forget Doug's eyes just lit up.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Oh, you can take the Night Riviera, and uh and it was just as exciting as as he made out.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: That there's this beautiful lounge that you go to at uh Paddington Station.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, it is Paddington, yeah.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh and it's it's where Queen Victoria used to hang out before uh she caught the train.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: It it really, really stunning.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: At first you come in, you go, oh well this is okay, but then you walk around the corner and there's these there's these uh huge ceilings and all of these sort of um you know plaque sort of you know on on the walls and uh fabulous comfy lounges, and so that was really special.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: The um the staff, I I I don't know where they get these people from, but the staff on the train, like I just wanted to take them home with me.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: They were so lovely, like I've never been treated like such a special person, such a VIP, as I was on that train.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it was it was just magic.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: It was just magic.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And then to to get that train um quarter to midnight, uh, we took off and then we landed, uh we landed, we uh we arrived in Penzance um first thing in the morning, and uh yeah, it was just fantastic.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: If if if anybody's listening and kind of interested to see that trip, actually, Doug's um on YouTube we've got that, we've got a video, and it's actually our top video at the moment is that that um the the night riviera train because it is is so popular.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and Doug loves it.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I still haven't done it, it's still on my to-do list.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I yeah, so so I'm a bit jealous that you've you've done that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So and I'm so glad that you did and that you really enjoyed it.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that felt like part of the whole journey.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it felt felt like it was part of that, yeah.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: And and Doug says that, you know, the train trip is it's it's part of your holiday, it's not, it's it's it's part of the whole experience, is doing that.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um I'm gonna ask about um so you got down to Cornwall.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you're gonna go on this long walk.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for me, it's a very long walk.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um did you did you prepare in Australia before you left?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously it's quite a lot of walking every day.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, not enough.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um so but but uh look, you know, we uh uh like with these things, um, you know, we could have done a lot more preparation.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's difficult sort of when you're coming out of summer in North Queensland, you know, to prepare.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: We we did go on a walk, we did go on a couple of walks on Magnetic Island, which is the the terrain is very similar to the to the coastal path.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: But but the the temperatures were in the high 30, uh sort of mid-30s, and uh I actually got quite sick one of those days and then then thought, I don't know, is this a good idea?
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: But but um, but yeah, compared to you know, walking in the UK, walking in Cornwall, you know, the temperatures were 20 degrees cooler.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's very different.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: So it's hard, very hard to replicate that.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and by the end of the trip, we were super fit, super fit.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, probably we could have been a bit bit fitter um before we went.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's really tricky when you work full-time uh and you sit at a desk job.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, and I think if you were gonna let that stop you, you'd never go.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's true.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is absolutely true.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And you're right, absolutely, you know, far north Queensland, it's very, really hot at the time of year before you were going.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: So actually getting out and doing any preparation like that would be but really, really difficult.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's for sure.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um now we when when you we first kind of chatted through um when we're doing the consult, you were kind of looking at dates and when the best time to go was.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of were looking at that to help you kind of dodge the Easter holidays and the the you know the school times and what was happening out.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So did it work out right the actual dates that you went, that the ones that you eventually chose to go?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when was it?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was kind of April into early May.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's right, yeah.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: So um the dates are very similar to what we've done with uh Wainwright's coast to coast.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then I think spring is really great because even if you run into the odd um bank holiday, which is public holidays for um, you know, Australians playing along at home, uh in in spring it's it's that you don't get the crazy crowds, and that's what we wanted to uh avoid.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: We want to avoid the crazy crowds, and especially in Cornwall, we knew that well, we knew after I knew after speaking to you, I don't think I truly understood what a huge popular tourist destination all of those places are along the Cornwall coast.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so, yes, that was really important that we didn't go over the school holidays.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: But having said that, um, the couple of bank holidays that we ran into, look, Cornwall is just this beautiful, fabulous, happy place.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, on those days with the bank holidays, there was families, there was dogs, there was kids building sand castles, there was there there was just this beautiful feeling there.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not it's not like going to to London in peak peak hour, you know.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: It it's it's a different kind of atmosphere, I guess, because everybody's there to relax.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And so even though at different times there were a lot of people, it was a real sort of um, I don't know, just a really relaxed, um yeah, relaxed vibe, isn't it?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's a very it's a very popular destination for Brits as well.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess that's that that's um it's like when we're talking through other places, like there are certain places that that we just love to go to on holiday, and Cornwall is is extremely popular, so it's like everybody heads down to Cornwall, especially for people in London.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now a lot of them will head down to Cornwall.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people in London will have second homes in Cornwall, so they head down there.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um bit controversial, but they they do.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so talk through um so talk us through it's just uh a day.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: What was it like?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: What what was a typical day when you were doing uh the walk?
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so a typical day would be uh wake up in some beautiful bed and breakfast.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and uh we loved saying in pubs.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um there was a lot of sort of pub hotels where you'd have um the pub downstairs and the accommodation upstairs.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then they all came with breakfast.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um on a couple of a couple of times we actually had to skip breakfast um and sort of sort of take a packed lunch because if we had a really long day, unfortunately, you know, there's breakfast is only at a certain time.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: But generally we would go down to breakfast, as I say to my husband, I said, how I do miss going down to breakfast.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, so we'd get we get dressed, ready for the day, we'd pack our suitcases because they'd have to be down um in in the the foyer by usually eight o'clock.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you're sort of all shower dressed.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we we kept our toothbrushes in our uh backpacks, so we could we could do that after breakfast.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: So go down to breakfast and um yeah, double check everything that you had had in your bag, and then off we went for the day.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, oh to the to the next to the next place that yeah, and the the the mo the loveliest thing is that you only have to that this when you're in your normal life, there's there's so much that's going on, and even especially like when we got to London and it it it's it's all sort of crazy and manic, and you know, there's so many so much happening, but on the walk, all you need to do is worrying about how you get from A to B.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's all you have to do.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess it could take as long as you wanted to do it as well.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because obviously you're starting to get into longer days as well on the on the south coast, so you you would have a reasonable amount of time to be able to to enjoy the walk.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so let's talk a little bit about the first part, so the Cornish coast path.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So that passes through some beautiful.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So just talk us a little bit about that route and which bit you found the most spectacular, probably all of it, but but um which bit did you did you enjoy the most from that?
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh oh, every day was in what I think was most amazing was that the coastline is so different.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think when I first started planning it, I thought, am I just gonna get bored with this?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is it just gonna be the beach and the sea?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: And but the the coastline is so different depending on where you are.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, yeah, so from Land's End to St.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Ives, extremely rugged, extremely remote, uh just incredible views.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and you you get it get to these points where you've got such incredible views, and then you will go down, and then you end up in this crazy little valley with with with wildflowers and running streams and huge fat bumblebees and buzzing around and um just just the the terrain just changes so dramatically.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's really it's really quite exciting.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: It was so much more exciting and buried than than I I could have imagined.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: So so that route takes you that that's like from St.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: I've then New Key, Padstow, Port Isaac, Boscastle.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is that right?
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: Is that kind of that stretch?
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yep.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you had some rest days along this.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: So how long did that that particular stretch take you from that kind of that coastal path?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Was that a few days?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Did you take some rest stops along there?
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: How did that work out?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we were about two weeks walking along the southwest coast path, and then from we turned, took a right at Apple Dore, and then we headed inland after that.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so the most the most dramatic, the most dramatic scenery along the southwest coast path, all of it was incredible.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, so that the bit from Land's End to St Ives, and then Boz Castle, which was really super magical, and then Heartland Key, uh in in Devon, just before you get to Um Clovelli.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh Clovelli is lovely.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: You mentioned Clovelli, and I I absolutely adore Clovelli.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you had some you stopped, obviously.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's a couple of weeks.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I assume you did not walk every single day.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, so we we put we probably could have put a a third rest day in there.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: So we um it was there were long stretches, so we had I think a week or six days between each um rest.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we had um an extra day in Padstow, two nights in Padstow, and then we had an uh another rest day in Clovelli, which was super special.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is a very lovely place, it really is.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Port Isaac.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: So you are Doc Martin fans.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yes.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, well, yeah, I've I've yeah, I've watched I've watched so many Cornish shows because because I've been doing my homework, yeah.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: So how was your visit to uh to Port Isaac?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, it's Poison.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Am I going wrong here?
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Port Isaac.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sorry.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: They can tell Sunday morning.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, yeah.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so how was your visit to Port Isaac?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: How was the Doc Martin moment?
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was great.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Got there, saw the house.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: It was we we'd actually taken a little bit of a shortcut um across uh some farmland, some rolling hills, instead of doing the last bit of coast because we wanted to get in at a reasonable hour.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: And we knew that had we taken the rest of the coastline instead of this this shortcut on the map, that you know, we could have been in there at seven o'clock rather than five o'clock.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, and so the the shortcut that we took um came like right out beside the house.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Then we turned around and and and there it was.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to call it Port Wen.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was that's why I was going, Port W.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: In my head, I'm going Port When because of course that's what it is it it in uh Doc Martha.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: But it is and we actually went we visited later on in the day and it was it was really quite quiet.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: Was it quiet when you got there?
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Was it pretty I mean you can have a good quiet.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's what was really um amazed me.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: I and I guess that's the really lovely thing about um staying there the night is that by the time we got there the all the all the day trippers had gone and we we just sat we just sat on this the the rocky beach with um quite a number of other people uh looking looking through the doing a bit of mudlarking, looking through the the pebbles, uh and there were just just people just you know paddling with their feet in the water.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: There were there were dogs, so many dogs, dogs just running around, living their best lives, chasing balls, just it was just sitting there and and being part of that was super special.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh then we headed off to the old schoolhouse for dinner, and that was amazing.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: That was so good.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: And my husband, he just had the biggest bowl of mussels you've ever seen in your life, and and I had soup, and it was just you know, there was a fire and it was toasty warm, and it was it was magic.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's it sounds amazing.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so tell me a little bit about Clovali, because you stayed in Clovelli for for uh one of your rest days.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, what did you find so special about Clovelli?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was one of those moments where you know you've seen it on YouTube, you you've done all the research, uh, and I think the one thing that we regretted when we did the coast to coast was we arrived in Robin Hood's Bay and we left the next day.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: We just didn't think about spending an extra night there, which was crazy.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: And it's um it's it's kind of like um they're kind of like cousins, they're very sort of similar places, but um to to arrive and and and go down these um sloping streets and to actually be there was was just really special.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: It is, it is.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: I think Cleveland is a is a very, very special place to go.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um now you then turned inland, so um Export Glastonbury, Wales up to Bath.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: So how how was that part of the route?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: How did that go?
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, the in the inland path, it's it's interesting.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: Lands End of Johnagroats is is not a path.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's not it's not an official trail at all.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of made up of different trails.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we were on the South West Coast Path, and then there's other people like to do the Office Dyke path in, you know, sort of Wales, English border.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: There there's um the Cotswolds Way, as you were talking about, there's the Pennine Way.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: So there's it it kind of it's kind of choose your own adventure and try and sort of put it together.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why we went with Discovery Travels because they actually you can actually do the whole walk.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's like 80 or 90 days or or something crazy.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um but anyway, we can see that the that he'd planned that whole route.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so this this route from where we were in Apple on the on the coast to Bath was was a route that he'd actually pieced together himself through footpaths through, yes, yeah.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: So and and some of those are some of those are trails, some of those are those are footpaths.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: So and and so is it was not as consistent as you can imagine because the Southwest Coast Path is a national trail.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a national trail for reasons, because every step you take, it's just amazing.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, whereas this was some of it was amazing, and other parts were just sort of rolling hills, or there was there was old um um roads that were turned into paths where sometimes you'd have a wall on either side, or you know, it wasn't quite as nice in some parts, and that's when we decided we want every day to be really special.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: So then we sort of made a couple of detours.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: So I think um the day to Glastonbury, we weren't supposed to go to Glastonbury, but I just thought, how can you how can we be this close and not go to Glastonbury?
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so we actually um from Bridgewater where we were, we caught yeah, we took a bus to Glastonbury, and then we walked from Glastonbury to where our next accommodation was.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we did to it from the official path, and I think that that's what I learned uh doing the consult was that you know it's great to have something set in your mind about what it is that you're going to do, but be open-minded to to what else is out there, and the same same with Wells.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: So actually, this on the second last day, we actually played hooky.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: We we decided just to we did our walking uh as as as sightseers as well as as tourists.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you were walking so close to some of these amazing places, it would be a pity to have not gone to see them.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: It it yeah, it and that that was our feedback actually to Discovery Travels to say that look, there's there's these incredible places that we would never be there again.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we were going to do the same thing for Wells.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: We were going to do half a day in Wells and then walk the rest of the way.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: But we spent three quarters of the day in Wells.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: We could have spent the whole day in Wells.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: It was such an amazing place with the cathedral and and the and the um the hot springs, uh not the springs, but the but the natural springs and running down the street.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, it is Wells is lovely, it's a lovely, lovely city to go and visit.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: And we were we were so happy with ourselves.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think you you've got to be brave because we're actually going against what we had decided to do, and we just went, it's okay, this is gonna be better, and it was.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's okay, and that's it.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Having that kind of flexibility going, okay, this is the plan, but actually we've got these places that you know, those are the things that if you when you get home, you go, Oh, I wish we wish we'd included those or wish we had missed those.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: So so I'm glad we that you managed to, you know, to incorporate that.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: That that was uh I think a really, really good idea, a really smart idea to do that.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's just say you you have no regrets, you kind of go, Well, we we made the absolute best of what we did.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, now a lot of walking.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, was there any point?
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Did you find it hard, or did you just kind of I I have a feeling you just went into it with like let's just enjoy every single day.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: But uh was there any point where you went, Oh, my feet are a bit sore, or or oh, it's another day walk-in, or was it all just kind of, yep, go for it?
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I mean, I mean, we're we're human beings, and uh yeah, we made the most of it, but there were a couple of days, so day two was was really hard.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um we should we should have broken that that trip, and we did see on YouTube that a lot of people split that in half at Zenna.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we went from Pendine to St.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Ives and we walked for 11 hours.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: We walked for 11 hours and and I just went, is this day ever going to end?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but and I think it was after that experience, I think it was really hard for two reasons.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: One, because we'd already had a full day of walking the day before, which which was a really long day.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so our bodies were were um already in shock from that.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then the day two, it was we never expected to be 11 hours.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we should have actually walked into Xena and caught the bus to St.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: Ives.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: But it was a really good learning experience for us because we we had had such a hard day, and we just went, we don't want this trip to be like this.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: So then we we rethought it and thought, well, the bus connections, and this is what you know, what I'd like to tell anybody else who is thinking of going on long distance walks.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: In in England, there's so many little villages, and in Cornwall, the the bus, the buses are so good.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: So the bus connections um are great.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: So what we decided to do is look at the map every day, think how long is this going to take us.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so out of St.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: Ives, we caught instead of doing a couple of hours, which would have taken us um I can't remember the now that's me, me saying that.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: I can't remember the place that we after St.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: Ives, but there was a lot of road walking, and what we decided to do was catch a bus.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we had a half an hour bus trip, and then we walked the rest of the way, and that actually sort of got us back to the actual path.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: And we were so much better, and that's what we did.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Every day we just went, can we do this whole thing, or do we need to just catch a bus for a little part of the way and just make it easier, more doable, more enjoyable?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly, more enjoyable, yeah.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I can see that it's that flexibility again, isn't it?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: Is kind of going, okay, and it's fine to do that, it'll make it better to do that.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the the ability to be able to just hop on a bus for part of the route is it it's a great way to do it.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: As you say, you're gonna see the scenery anyway when you're on the bus, and probably see a little bit, meet a few of the locals as well on the bus as you're going from place to place, which is always really cool.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and as I say, make the best of it.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's a good job, really.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: I guess that that those first couple of days being a bit tough, I made you sit kind of sit back, okay.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: How can we make this a bit easier on ourselves?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the thought of 11 hours non-stop walking, it just fills me with horror.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, yeah, and they and they were tough, they were tough hours as well.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it sounds it, it sounds it.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: Right, let's talk about some of the favorite things.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, some of the favorite places that you went along the way.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, what was your and I know this is really hard, but it was there a particular like favorite place along the route, um, or anywhere that surprised you as well.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, somewhere that that you just thought, oh, this is absolutely amazing, and anywhere that you went, oh, okay, I didn't expect this.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is a lovely surprise.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so uh so Tintagel, um, I was just saying all the different places we were going, and I had seen Tintagel, and you just you just basically wanted to grab me by the shoulders through the screen and go, you have to have to spend some time in Tintagel.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, well, I'm sorry, I've got to walk right past it.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, no, you can't.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: And and so because of that, um that there was no direct bus link um from our bed and breakfast.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we so we took a cab uh directly to Tintagel, and we spent about about three or four hours there.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: And that was spectacular.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: And the and the um the weather that day was spectacular, the blue sky was out, it was fabulous.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then from Tintagel we walked to Boscastle.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a fantastic day, and uh, I would have regretted it had I not done that.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: So so that was probably the the most spectacular, um, most exciting, like sort of tourist uh destination.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh then Padstow was our probably my favorite stopover.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was just so quaint.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we had French, French doors, French windows that looked straight out onto the harbour.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um when we got in, when we got in that night, there was a sea shanty um men's singing group that were playing in the bar.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_01: I just thought I have come home here.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: It was just fantastic.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: And to spend two nights there and just it's it's like it's like a sort of mini Disneyland for people who just love Cornwall, you know, because it was every every place that you visit in Padstow is just really special and and fun and uh the the pubs are just unique and just decorated so fantastically.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was really, it was really, really great.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh anywhere that surprised you along the way?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Anywhere that you kind of went, oh.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: Surprise me.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Perrinport.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: Perrinport.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Have you heard of Perrinport?
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I have.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: You and Jimmy.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we had never been to Perrinport, we had never heard of it.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we certainly didn't bother looking it up.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we just thought it was just one of those places that you stay on.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, there's this incredible pub called the Watering Hole that's on the beach, literally on the beach.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and then we saw all these people walking over to the watering hole, which was opposite where we were staying.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the in the bay there, just off the beach, is this huge rock called Castle Rock, and it and the the most spectacular sunset with with the sun going up, sun going down, and this castle rock in in the water, kids, kids building same castles, and people sitting at these tables sat on the beach with an appear.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: It just was like a hundred people just sat there living their best lives.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was I didn't want to leave.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not surprised.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_00: It does, it does, it sounds amazing.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: You're really good at kind of I can just imagine the atmosphere and just how lovely that would be.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: I can just it would be it would be fabulous, absolutely fabulous.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: Now you start you stayed at lots of different accommodations because obviously it was what was there a particular standout for you?
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, sound sounds like you stayed at some really good um pub stays, which always good.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, yes, I we always love a good pub stay.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: But I think I think probably one of the most special was uh a little little it was probably called a a hamlet, uh a place called Stoke Rivers, and because it's off the beaten path, because it's on the way from Apple Dore to to Bath if you're walking there, which not many people are, uh, but it was a bed and breakfast that um was run by a couple.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_01: They had a garage next door to their house, and they'd built this bed and breakfast over the top of the garage, and the wall, the the back wall of the the side wall of this bed and breakfast was windows from the floor to the ceiling.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_01: And we looked out, overlooked the the the old churchyard and the and the and the graveyard in um from the back window and this huge big tree in their yard, and then the sunset just behind this tree.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_01: And uh because there was no place to eat there, they'd they'd contacted us ahead of time and they said, What would you like to eat?
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_01: And they said, We we can go we can go to the local supermarket and get get you whatever you like, bottle of wine, you know, um, you know, your favorite sort of uh uh ready meal.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we sort of got got on the got on the website, said this is what we'd like to have.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: It was just really special because we had our own own meal, our own bottle of wine.
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: We watched the sunset, we uh arrived early, um, we got the maps out on the bed.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think we watched um we watched Cleopatra, an old movie, on on the Telely when we were there.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was yeah, really special, really um it was really romantic, actually.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_01: It was really a lovely spot, and it was very surprising.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'll have to get the get the name off of that B and B off here, and we can share that because I'm sure people listening will be going, Oh, that sounds really nice, like the idea of that.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you mentioned a little bit about food.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so obviously you're gonna have got some pretty good seafood, I would imagine, along this trip.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so some good pub meals, hopefully.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so were there any particular meals, any food that you particularly enjoyed along the way?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh the we normally have um on a Friday night, we will normally have fish and chips with my family back back here in uh in Australia.
• 37:31
  SPEAKER_01: My nana, she's 94, and my auntie and uncle.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's it, that's a tradition.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so on every Friday night we wanted to we wanted to have fish and chips.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so it just happened that we were in Padstow uh on the Friday night.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um we didn't go to Rick Stein's, but um we uh went to the the the the pub restaurant down uh where we were, and uh the biggest um seafood platter I have ever seen in my life, it was just fantastic.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: So so that was that was one.
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh probably the probably the most um memorable dinner we had was at uh the colonial beach bar and restaurant, and that was at Tol Khan Beach in New Key.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that was another have you have you No, I've not eaten there.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: Was it was that also pretty special?
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just the Colonial Restaurant, the the the the fit out, just just the the decor, the the these giant paintings.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it was like I've never been to to South South Africa or any places like that, but it's just I had that feel of the you know the fans going around and and the it was a little atrium where we sat, which was jutting over the beach, and you could see the the dogs and the beach and the kids and the and the sun going down, but it was just I felt like we were a million miles away.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: It was fantastic.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_00: Oh fantastic.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'll have to add that onto my list.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was highly recommended by the um the bed and breakfast that we were staying in.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_01: So we said, can you suggest somewhere for dinner?
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and we were blown away.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also really because that one when we kind of recommend accommodation, is that that's a great thing about BB's.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: You go to BB's and you can ask the owners like where's the best places to to to eat in the area, and you get all that kind of insider knowledge.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because much as I'd like to eat in every restaurant in the UK, uh this is the same in London where people ask me about afternoon teas, it's like I'd like to have every afternoon tea, but it's just not possible.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: So it's always good to ask the locals for those sort of recommendations, you know.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you've obviously um that paid off, and uh it sounds like I'll I will add that to my uh list of of places to to eat when we're because we're hoping next trip to spend a bit of time uh back down in Cornwall and Devon because it's it's a such a beautiful area of the country, it really is.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I yeah.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: Now I I don't know when obviously when you're walking, whether it's different if you like I I like shopping, so I do a little bit of so souvenir hunting and stuff like that.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: Did you buy anything when you're I obviously guess it's a bit difficult when you're walking, but you are walking some through some little villages and past, I'm sure some there's lots of little shops in Cornwall with lots of cute little things that you could buy.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um so did you buy anything, or was that something that you find you just can't do that when you're walking?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: We we we did keep that to a minimum.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um and and one, yeah, it's handy that you that you can't you can't sort of um you don't go past too too many tourist shops.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we so the shopping sort of happened before and after.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: And and the thing is you we had to be very careful on the trip because even though you can take 30 kilos of luggage on the international flight, the luggage transfer can only take 20 kilos.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_01: It can only, yeah, so it's a maximum of 20 kilos, so we had to be very, very careful uh about about not having too much luggage.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_01: So then then after after our walk, we we uh piled up with stuff.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: But um I did uh two two things that I got on our rest days.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_01: One, we had to go to Wade Bridge um on our rest day in Padstow, which was a bit of a shame, but we had to get our washing done.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you do?
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_01: So we took a uh to Wade Bridge and there's uh uh an art gallery in Wade Bridge.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: We just thought we'd wander around while the washing was was was being done, and uh happened upon an art gallery there, and I've got this beautiful little print of wildflowers with the the coastline in the background.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a very special uh print.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_01: And then in Clovelli, um there's the the Clovelli Soap Company, and so uh I got some handmade soap from the Clovelli Soap Company in Clovelli.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: Lovely, lovely, and not like you didn't buy anything that was too heavy or bulky, so that's also yeah, useful and useful, useful things, useful um soap, and also nice to have a picture when you get home that it can remind remind you of your trip.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so at the end of your trip, you arrived in Bath.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: So um how how did it feel like to get into Bath and did you enjoy Bath?
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it yeah, it it was it was uh we felt extremely triumphant.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and we we came in.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_01: There's a plaque on the on the ground there next to Bath Abbey, which is the beginning and the end of the Cotswolds Way.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we went and we stood on this plaque outside Bath Abbey because that's where we're going to start the next part of our walk.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's amazing.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Did you get a photo of yourselves on there?
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's already to go for the next trip.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes, yes.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: So uh yeah, so we took several photos there.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's weird because all these people are there and they're taking photos like you don't realize we have just walked 420 kilometres and we have walked here for you know land's end.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that was really exciting.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then to to celebrate, we had booked in advance the Therme Bath Spa, which is which is um the it's it's the hot springs that is um that that you know the Romans um made famous back in the day.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, so and there's a there's a rooftop where the hot springs uh where they there's a pool there, and it was fantastic.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: It had um sauna and um you know steam rooms and so that was that was um how we pampered ourselves after our our after our big long walk.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a perfect end.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a perfect, perfect kind of uh congratulations to yourself and a and a treat at the end of it.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: You certainly deserved it.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: You absolutely deserved it.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: You did.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um so obviously we're talking about the the next, you're gonna do the next part of it, which is great.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_00: So have you got an idea in your head about when you're gonna do that, or is that that's still early kind of just dreaming phase at the moment?
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's still still dreaming phase, but um our our two operator said to us um at the end, said, Look, this this Cotswold's way, he said it sells out really quickly.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's Soon as you know your dates, he said, get them to me.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: He said, because I need to to book these in.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it's kind of good, you know, we've got someone else going, Hey, when is that happening?
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: So we're probably looking at um autumn uh next year, so probably September, September next year.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's exciting.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think Doug for Doug it'll be the it'll be the following year when he's 60.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that's uh we'll have we'll have to find out how how it went when you do do it.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think it's it's a very iconic walk.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: We know a lot of people who who've done that, and he's he's kind of fixated on doing that one.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that'll be great.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was just going to say, I'm really excited about that, and my mum's really excited because what we what we're going to do, what we've planned to do, is because mother loves the Cottswalds, uh, and she's gone over to England lots of times.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but what we're thinking of doing is adding her to our itinerary.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_01: So what mum is going to do is is spend every single night with us um on the trip.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_01: But then she will make her own way from yeah, so they'll transfer her luggage as well, but instead of doing the walk, she will just take a bus or a cab or help arrive at the next destination and then just have a lovely time and meet us for dinner.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that'd be lovely.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_00: That'd be that's a really nice lovely way to do it.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_00: I bet she is, I bet she's thinking that that'll be absolutely brilliant to do that.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so just to kind of swinging back about the walking, just because I I can hear Doug saying, ask some stuff about how the walking, how much preparation do I need to do?
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do you reckon an average walker can do the trip?
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like if somebody's thinking I've never done a walk and tour before, or I've never walked that far, um, what what sort of tips would you say?
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_00: What would you kind of advise them to think about if they want to do this sort of trip?
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_01: I I think look at the guidebooks and believe them.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: If it says it's strenuous, if it says it's really hard, they're not joking.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then also over overestimate because I don't know who's writing these books, but you know, the time that they say it takes and the time that we took.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um the other thing too is because a lot of these people, these these two uh these books are written by people who live in the UK.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're happy to to steamroll through and get to the other side.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: We've never been there before.
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_01: So a lot of the reason that it takes so long is because we are just trying to take in every single step, every single moment.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: We have taken so many photographs, you know, so we're enjoying it.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's that aspect of it.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to take you longer because it's a place you've never ever been before and you you want to enjoy it.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: But but having done it and looking at all the different buses and cabs and transfers that are available, it's so easy.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_01: So easy.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_01: You could you could just we we could have just gone, look, we want to do a walk every day, but we we don't want it to be the whole day.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: We want we we were quite happy for it to be the whole day.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: But um, if you want to do half a day of walking and then half a day of sightseeing and you know putting your feet up at the at the BNB, absolutely, it's so easy.
• 47:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely so easy.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's good to know.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that that that actually tempts me to think about doing it as well.
• 47:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think that I can like you did add the bus bit in and take a little bit.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_00: So because I there's no way I'd want to walk for like long.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe I could probably do about four hours, maybe that would be kind of my max for a day, but then add in doing the bus stuff, then you know.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: So watch the space.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: You don't know, Catherine.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: You may have inspired me to try this out, which would be really cool.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, um, oh, you were talking about kind of the the weight allowance.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: So you had the obviously 30 kilograms internationally, but only 20 did to send that you could do on this transfer.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_00: So were there kind of essential things that you took with you that you would recommend anybody of doing it to take?
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like obviously, I assume you had very comfortable walking boots that you'd broken in before your trip.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: So we did.
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_01: We had um we had walking boots, we had um sneakers, so and we were very proud of ourselves.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: There was nothing that we encountered that we didn't have um planned for.
• 47:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we had you need waterproofs because you don't know when it when it's going to rain.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, we just had lots of layers.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: We had um a raincoat that that was fully waterproof, but then I also had a fleece that would go underneath that because if if you get quite a bit of rain, even though it's the raincoat you're not wet, it feels cold and wet if if it's on your skin.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: So then I had other layer in between, and then I just wore most days I just wore a woolen long-sleeved um shirt, and it and I and it doesn't smell like it it sort of wears, it doesn't take in any of the I don't know, the the the body odors, but I mean it's it's cool anyway, like it's really cool.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I had I had several beanies, um, all of the different sort of depending on the weather.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_01: So I had my sort of everyday beanie uh and that was quite light uh that my daughter had knitted for me, so that was really special.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then I had a super uh warm beanie with a pom-pom on the top, so that was sort of my glamorous one, and the the pom-pom matched my brown um fleece, which was important.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that was warmer and that would come down over my ears, and then I had a third beanie which had sort of some insulation insulation, so like if it was cold and sort of wet, that would sort of keep my head not only warm but kind of dry and and and sort of really keep out the cold.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um constant constantly sort of changing up what you're wearing depending on on what the weather is, yeah.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_01: And all of that can fit all of that can fit in a day pack.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so did you did you take walking poles as well or or do you not use those?
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, sorry, walking poles, we we would be lost without them.
• 49:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, fantastic.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_01: Just the amount of like when you're going up steep steps or going down steep descents, uh, it just it just saves your knees.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um, we probably should have got them out earlier on day two.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: But um, but yeah, they absolute godsend, we we would we'd be lost without those.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, but fantastic.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_00: I shall add that into my list.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess uh also just in terms of asking about I guess the help that Doug and I gave you with the consult, did you did you feel like reflecting back?
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, it was it was it helpful?
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely absolutely.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: I I I guess I didn't expect to really sort of think think more deeply about the trip and and what I was going to do because I was quite determined that this is this is this was my plan, this is what I was going to do.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it was from talking to you and Doug that I just went, I think we need to really think about some of the places that we're going to and spending more time at these places.
• 50:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and and so, and that's Tin Tagil was was a perfect example of that.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was really grateful about that.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and the other thing was that I realized that walking was actually a great option because in talking to you and Doug, you were saying how popular it is, and then sometimes you know it's super popular that you can't even get a park there.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: So I just thought, well, what what other better way than to to experience by walking and not have to worry about the the the driving as well?
• 51:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's something that we didn't have to worry about.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_01: Was was driving down those narrow roads or ever having to find a park.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_01: It was brilliant.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I think walking and luggage transfer is the best of both ways.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's I think it's a lovely I think it's a lovely way to do Cornwall.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and honestly, you're you're kind of making me you're inspiring me to think about whether that's something that I I want to I want to try out.
• 51:43
  SPEAKER_00: Because I think uh yeah, it's a sale.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_00: Cornwall is it's a beautiful Cornwall and Devon are beautiful, beautiful counties to visit.
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_00: And um doing them, walking through them is certainly a different way to to experience it.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what you did.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_00: You you thoroughly, you truly experience the beauty of being down in in Cornwall and Devon for sure.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we did.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: We felt absolutely fell in love with Cornwall and and we were surprised at how many people are just doing day walks.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's another option for people.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_01: If if they love the sound of it, but they don't want to walk all day.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_01: You could you could get um the luggage transfer, takes your luggage, you make your own way to the next place, find out maybe there's a day walk that just is a couple of hours, um, experience some of the outdoors, some of the best scenery in and around that place, spend the rest of the day doing whatever you like.
• 52:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that sounds really good.
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_00: Now, you are a um obviously a podcast fan, you're a listener, you're a supporter of uh of our work, which we really appreciate, Catherine.
• 52:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um so as always, you know what I'm gonna ask at the end of a podcast.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_00: What would be the one tip that you would share with anybody who's planning this type of um trip to the UK?
• 52:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh don't don't be afraid of the detour.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_01: Embrace the detour because it it might be the most exciting thing that you do.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get in your own way.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's yeah, don't be too rigid, I guess, because that having that flexibility to just kind of yeah, to go and see, open to to to the new experiences and things that you might be able to to see sometimes a bit off the off the beaten trap or off your itinerary sometimes.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think you're right.
• 53:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it can make a difference.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_01: And get a consultation because uh what what better way to to find out about where you're going than to talk to people who've actually been there?
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Catherine.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, thanks so much for joining us on this week's episode episode of the podcast.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's been a lovely chat.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, and uh hopefully if I if I make it up to far north Queensland, I do we'd go we drive we love the drive up there, so you never know.
• 53:38
  SPEAKER_00: Might be able to meet up for a coffee at some point, which would be great to catch up.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we'd love to have you.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_01: Fantastic.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll do that when we get back to back to uh Australia next month.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but actually by the time the podcast comes out, we should we should actually be back in Australia.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be lovely.
• 53:54
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I will do it.
• 53:55
  SPEAKER_00: But thanks so much for for coming on, Catherine, and sharing your experiences and your tips from your trip.
• 54:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's been brilliant to chat.
• 54:02
  SPEAKER_00: My pleasure.
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to the end of another episode.
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_00: Now, right at the end there, Catherine mentioned booking a consultation, and she is right.
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_00: Talking your plans through with someone who's actually been where you are going makes such a difference.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_00: And that is exactly what Doug and I do in our UK itinerary planning consultations.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: So if you'd like our help with your own trip, the link is in the show notes.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_00: You will also find everything mentioned today, including where Catherine stayed along the way, at uktravelplanning.com forward slash episode 215.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: And if this episode has you dreaming of swapping four wheels or for two feet, please share it with someone who would love it too.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: But as always, until next week, happy UK travel planning!