Day 209 - Whitsand Bay

Whitsand Bay toward Rame Head

Day 2 in our attempt to have a beach day while the weather was behaving as wonderfully as it was. Once again we took the bus out of Cawsand toward the Tregantle Fort, but this time we stopped at Freathy, a small hamlet perched high up on the cliffside with a path we knew made its way down to a lifeguard hut and eventually the beach.

Funny enough, when we were dropped off by the bus at the car park where the path starts, we encountered the two lifeguards who would be manning the hut for the day.  hey told us that the red flags were going up again today meaning the Marines were having gunnery practice, so we would be restricted in going that direction. However, they did say that at low tide we could make it around the rocky extension their hut stood upon and then the beach would be open all the way to its easterly end at the Rame Head.

You can't take the boy out of
the man...playing in the sand.

Angela and I realized then that the car park was where we parked, and the path was the entry way we took, when we were with the kids on this beach so many years ago.

The entire beach runs for 3 miles and is made up of a lovely fine sand.  As I said yesterday, the rocky cliffs and their extensions into the sea become, during low tide, ideal places to explore for trapped marine life in the tidal pools or shaded areas to sit back and enjoy a book or do some sketching. And when the sun is shining and the beach sands heat up, the cool ocean breeze keeps you quite comfortable. It was also a weekday, so only a handful of people were walking the beach; if you wanted a spot of privacy, it was always available.

It's a hike down

As it wasn't that windy today the waves were relatively small,  and so we did not see many surfers. However, when the waves are up, this beach becomes a hotbed of surfing activity. 

Further offshore there are always boats with divers because this bay is famous for its shipwrecks. As we walked along in our bare feet in the warm sand and refreshing surf, we came upon the Eddystone Cafe. Named after the famous offshore reef that has had many a shipwreck, it's a takeaway restaurant/self-catering apartments/surfing school and looks to have once been a fisherman's cottage with its stone construction on the ground level. It is an eclectic mix of surfing and water sport equipment and a delightful spot to enjoy some lunch on a picnic bench, which we did. 

Eddystone Cafe

More walking and a relaxing read for myself and some drawing for Angela was in store for our after-lunch activity. 

As quickly as the tide went out in the morning, it returned back mid-afternoon, so we clambered back up the cliff-side and waited patiently for our bus to take us home. Truly a 30 SPF day!

Ale of the Day: Mena Dhu Cornish Stout Ale, St. Austell Brewery, Cornwall