We were at the start point by 10.30 AM and immediately saved £1.50 by parking up the road from the pay and display car park, where there were no meters or yellow lines.

A quick change into the walking boots and we were away walking down to the car park by the beach and then following the coast path as it rose by the holiday homes on the west side of the beach.

The beach below us looked very inviting and surprisingly devoid of people, I guess Saturdays are always going to be quiet as they are changeover days.

We soon left the tarmac narrow road and we descended slightly to the start of the coastal path signed as the North Coast Path.

The first section took us up a steep hill to the more level coastal path at the top of the cliffs. The rise is called Western Hill and it is quite steep and got the blood coursing well.

At the top there were as usual magnificent views in this case westward looking to the major headland some 6 miles away and our target destination for lunch.

There was a short section of flat walking before we could see ahead of us our first descent but our second ascent as the path descended into a valley before rising equally steeply up to the top on the other side.

The valley was just above a very pretty but inaccessible beach, nice to admire nevertheless and the views across to the west were superb.

We descended to the valley and noticed a National Trust sign at the bottom, the area we had just left was called Carnkannel Downs.

The path zig zagged it's way up to the top at the other side and we imagined a descent section of flat coast path walking.

Not so unfortunately, only a couple of hundred yards further on and there was yet another valley to descend into and this one had zig zagged paths on both sides.

Once again another beach and inaccesible once again.

In the distance beyond the beach and a couple of headlands we could see a small rocky outcrop, a check on the map indicated that it bore the name Samphire Island. On the east coast Samphire is an edible seaweed, didn't realise it had spread to the Westcountry

The map indicated a range of strange named headlands and coves, We passed by The Horse and Ralph's Cupboard and Porth-cadjack Cove without a second glance. The names must have stemmed from some event but all were a complete mystery to me.

We were soon at the top of the valley again and either the valleys were less steep than they first looked or we were getting fitter.

Although we didn't know it that was the last climb of any difficulty for the rest of the walk, amazing, another 11 miles to go and no more major climbs.

Lest you think it was all easy from here as we found out two hours later what you lack with the steep cliffs you more than make up for in the Towans.

For the uninitiated the Towans are an amazing 4 miles or more of large sand dunes, some stabilised with marram grass and other huge dunes most definitely not.

The coast path was at times very close to the edge of near vertical drops at times to the rocks a couple of hundred feet below and on the other side the coastal road ran more or less parallel to the coastal path, sometimes 100 yards away and at others the road was right next to the path.

A couple of hundred yards west of the second of the valleys was a very large car park, just above Basset's Cove.

Beyond this car park the next two miles of the coast were particularly flat.

The map indicated that we were walking along Reskajeage Downs, another strange name!!

Below us we passed Crane Islands and various small coves way below us, almost 300 feet in fact at times.

Beneath one particularly steep cliff lay Deadman's Cove, either sailing folk washed up dead ashore or perhaps some falling over the steep cliff at this point.

Just over a half a mile west of Deadman's Cove there was another Deadman's Cove, perhaps the name is catching or the OS map is at fault.

We moved on from Reskajeage Down to Hudder Down.

Strangely at one fairly remote point there was a cafe, cars parked and quite a few people milling around. The attraction was Hell's Mouth, an awesome cliff section with a large cave opening at the bottom an steep and jagged rocks around it.

It is now a tourist attraction but once it was a wreckers point where lights were placed to attract boats in where they had no chance on the rocks below. I can hardly imagine how the wreckers carried their booty up the steep and perilous path to the top.

Less than a half a mile west of Hell's mouth was Fishing Cove with a lovely beach and accessible down a path, perhaps the first accessible beach west of Portreath.

We then swung north as we approached a national trust area called the The Knavacks and Navax Point which had been visible to us ever since we reached the top of Western Hill just out of Portreath.

The other visible landmark was Godrevy Lighthouse on Godrevy Island and this had also been visible from atop Western Hill. The Lighthouse and island and indeed Godrevy Point can be clearly seen in the picture which also shows the prominent trig point on The Knavacks.

We stopped a couple of hundred yards beyond the Trig point for lunch. We were roughly half way and it was only 12.30 PM, 6 miles or more in under 2 hours, at this rate we would be in Hayle by 3 PM, or so we thought.

The reality was quite different.

After a fifteen minute break we continued around to Godrevy Point. Less than three hundred yards from the point the was a cove and many seals were in the water just below us, resting and playing, a wonderful spectacle indeed.

After a few minutes watching the seals we made our way around to the point itself and immediately opposite the point lay Godrevy Island with it's lighthouse, only a couple of hundred yards from us.

There were countless seabirds resting on the rocks surrounding the island and we enjoyed a few minutes watching them, before continuing on our way west.

As we made our way along and down the coast changed completely, from exceedingly steep and rocky cliffs we had been walking along all the way from Portreath to getting on for a 4 mile stretch of sandy beach backed by huge sand dunes which at times stretched back getting on for a mile inland.

A very different scene indeed from the morning section of the walk.

We made our way down to a large car park with many cars, ice cream vans and toilets!!! A welcome stop but quite different to the isolation we had experienced earlier.

Sand walking began in earnest after this.

To get to the Towans, as the sand dunes are called we had to cross Red River, a little detour inland over a bridge and back and along a ridge of shale and stones overlooking Gwithians Beach.

Just behind us a company had scoured out a large section of the sand and stone which it is still working.

After the easy ridge walk behind the beach we moved onto the Towans themselves.

Our guide book indicated that the coastal path was well signed with waymark posts all the way along through the Towans for an easy transit through them.

We started well enough, the marram grass had stabilised the dunes and the walking remained easy.

We were soon through Gwithian Towans and there was even a stand with a map of the Towans and the various sections of it. All too easy we thought.

Gwithians Towans led to Upton Towans and then we lost our way, the waymark posts seemed to just disappear and we found ourselves wandering up and down increasingly large sand dunes.

The walk was getting quite strenuous, now and again we found a waymark post only to somehow not be able to see around corners and over dunes to the next marker.

As a result we took rather a long time to progress through Phillack Towans, Mexico Towans before reaching humanity again in the shape of an incredibly large caravan and camping park seemingly in the middle of the dunes.

From here we were able to find the coast path markers again and we once again made improved progress on towards the end of the Towans and the start of the River Hayle. If we ever do this again I think we'll simply walk along the beach the whole way and not try to follow the approved coastal route, it will be a lot easier.

Across the bay we could see St Ives getting ever closer and then ahead of us the dunes came almost to an end and we were at Black Cliff marking the transition from the dunes to the entrance to Hayle Harbour. Almost there or so we thought.

Just beyond the Black Rock on the path by some substantial holiday bungalows there were two possible routes signed as coastal path routes, I took one up between two bungalows and ended up wandering through another holiday site, the original Hayle Towans site when bungalows were built as such and not just caravans.

After much wandering around we end up at Hayle Cricket Club ground where a match was in progress.

We ask directions and are directed off towards the village of Phillack not were we were aiming at all.

We reach a pub called the Bucket of Blood and I'm almost in there for a couple but no we are not yet there.

Beyond the pub there is the village church and we turn right and head down a steepish hill to an estuary at the bottom called Hayle Estuary. A sign indicates that it is a bird sanctuary.

We cross a bridge and we have arrived at Hayle or an area of it called Copperhouse, a mile or so inland from the point we were actually heading for.

Our 12 mile walk had been stretched to 14 miles and we arrived at 4.15 PM. That's 2 hours for the first half of the walk and getting on for 4 hours for the second, a slight imbalance.

From here how did we return to Portreath, a taxi passes by which we hail and 20 minutes later and £12 lighter we are at our car once again. That taxi ride saved any further hassle and in our view was worth the expense.

Two days to go and we have the section from Porthallow to Newquay, about 23 miles to go, it should be easy!!!!