I've been to the southern-most point in Canada, at Point Pelee National Park, so the idea of going to the western-most point of the UK was quite appealing. Only it's not the western-most point, as we saw on a map. According to a Wikipedia entry, "Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland Cornwall and England. However, it is not the westernmost point on mainland Great Britain, as this title narrowly goes to Corrachadh Mòr in the Scottish Highlands." I'm not sure what the difference is between the most westerly vs. the western-most point, but let's just say I was really west on the mainland. And here, I refer to the mainland because you also have to consider the Isles of Scilly (pronounce "silly"), where you can fly in less than an hour from Penzance or take a ferry for about 3 hours, and they are farther west of Land's End. Whatever the case, I made it out west and also enjoyed more of the rocky cliffs I have come to really love and wish I could go hiking on every day for the rest of my life.
To get there from Penzance, we took the Land's End Cruiser, a bus that appears to double as one of the local public transportation buses but also as a tourist bus to get you to places like St. Michael's Mount launch point, St. Ives, and Land's End. They are open-topped double decker buses, so we decided to go up top, even though it was a bit chilly when we left and spitting rain (we brought our raincoats in case!), and despite the chill remaining, any rain stopped, and it was actually a gorgeous drive through the countryside to get to Land's End. We were even surprised to see a stone circle, where a man was taking photos with a large camera. I was able to get a somewhat decent shot of it on the way back so we could try to find out what it was, and we also ended up noticing that across the road were also some cairns. It turned out that the stone circle is called the Merry Maidens of Boleigh. There are actually all kinds of stone circles and other ancient sites all over Cornwall, but for some you'd probably need a vehicle to discover more of them. Anyway, we thought it was really cool. You always hear about Stonehenge, which is obviously impressive, but there are all these other ancient sacred sites that you don't know about as an outsider. It's these types of discoveries that excite me the most, things that usually only locals will know about.
When we arrived at Land's End, it was really foggy. We weren't even sure if we would be able to see much, so we were feeling a little disappointed. We had arrived around 10:30 am, thinking the fog would have lifted by then, but it hadn't. We knew we could at least get an enjoyable hike in and some fresh air, but of course, we wanted to see the coast as well. Happily, it wasn't long after we arrived that the fog did start dissipating, and the rest of the day was good mix of sun and cloud.
My husband had been to this place as a child with his grandfather as well, and he remembers there being none of the tourist attractions that are there now. There is a very cheesy entertainment park that seems to be designed for kids who couldn't possibly enjoy nature without it. Everything is expensive and to me, it detracts from the area more than anything, but I must admit, it's inland enough to not spoil the view of and from the coast, and it did at least have a good bathroom we could use in the complex.
Our hike wasn't as long as what we had done in Fowey or St. Michael's Mount, but you have to decide where you want to catch the bus back, so we couldn't go quite as far as we might have otherwise because we would have had to backtrack, and in addition, we also wanted to leave enough time for cream tea back in Penzance because we'd only had it once since being in Cornwall, and that just didn't seem like enough given that we were there for 5 days. But there were inclines and declines, and gorgeous scenes of the coast. I got to see a lot of snails and also saw a gannet, which is a huge, mostly white sea bird that can only be seen in coastal areas. Land's End is also comprised of moorland, which is sort of like a boggy meadow, if there were such a thing. It's really humid and moist, almost mossy, and there are little bumps and shrubs and flowers. I was thinking that a hedgehog would be well hidden in that terrain because it would really blend in.
Our end point was Sennen Cove, from where we could catch the bus. They have a really beautiful beach. In fact, in any of the photos of the water you have seen so far, if you didn't have any context, you'd easily be forgiven for thinking they might have been taken somewhere in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, or the South Pacific. I never knew that anywhere in the UK would have such aquamarine and turquoise waters. It's no wonder people call it the "tropics," its sub-tropical climate being caused by that part of the country jutting out into the sea where the Gulf Stream actually passes by, so the warm waters create this beautiful micro-climate. I didn't know this, but it all makes sense once you learn this information. The water is also really clear, the kind I feel comfortable swimming in, and it was such a shame when we got to Sennen Cove that I saw their beautiful beach and was completely unprepared to swim or even take a walk in it. But we were also getting hungry for our cream tea and needed to get back soon, as it was, so we enjoyed walking on the sand for a bit and then went back to the main road to catch our bus.
We hiked 34km, ascended the equivalent of 115 floors, spent one of our hiking days in the rain, and got a bit too much sun on a different day. I never noticed the time passing, and while we only spent 3 full days in any of the locations where we went, it felt like we were gone for a couple of weeks, and I felt healthy and happy and above all things, vital. I have included a photo of myself from Land's End that looks like I'm a bit tired and/or weathered, but when I see it, I see a person who is doing what she can to live life to the fullest and is finding adventure when she can and who is accomplishing walks over what would have difficult terrain some years ago, maybe even just last year, but whose work toward being healthier seems to be paying off. My eyes have laugh lines and maybe wisdom lines more than lines of fatigue, and even though my hair will always frizz in the humidity, I have realised that I'm content with myself and with life and so grateful to now be living it side-by-side with my husband.
And there are yet more adventures in our future, I'm sure...
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