Three days on the coast path

Sixty kilometres, two campsites, one very generous café owner, and more wind than I thought possible in July.

I had wanted to walk this stretch of coast for years. The plan was simple: start at the harbour, follow the cliffs north, take the bus back.

Day one

The first day was all climbs and descents, each cove separated from the next by a steep headland. I stopped counting the steps after the fourth staircase.

Day two

Rain in the morning, then a long, flat section along the dunes. A café owner in a tiny village refused to let me pay for my soup because, she said, "nobody walks here in the rain unless they really mean it."

Day three

The wind. It pushed me north for the last twenty kilometres, which was lucky, since that was the direction I was going.

I came back with sore knees, a sunburnt neck, and a notebook full of small drawings of rocks.