Tuesday 4 November 2008

5th Sept 2008 - Ilfracombe - Tintagel – Penzance

Day 4

After breakfast, packed my stuff into the car, bid goodbye to Katie and drove to Tintagel village, about 2 hours away. The main reason stopping at Tintagel is for the Tintagel Castle, set on a dramatic and picturesque headland that is virtually an island, connected to the mainland by a slim finger of land. Over the centuries much of Tintagel castle has fallen into the sea and very little remains today. It is famous for its association with the legend of King Arthur, who was said to be born on Tintagel Island where the remains of the 13th century Castle stand today. It’s raining ever since I woke up this morning so I was a little worried as from what I’ve read on the internet, one have to climb more than 100+ uneven steps to get to the castle. It’s still raining when I reached the village and so there I sat in the car, looking at the sky, thinking if I should do this. After 5 minutes, the rain subsided and the sun shines through the clouds. That definitely put a big smile on my face. So I got down the car and walk towards the castle.

The coastline around Tintagel is significant because it is composed of old Devonian slate; about a mile southwards from Tintagel towards Treknow the coastline was quarried extensively for this hard-wearing roofing surface. The turquoise green water around this coast is caused by the slate/sand around Tintagel which contains elements of copper: strong sunlight turns the water a light turquoise green colour in warm weather. I didn’t take the normal walking route, but the route for wheelchair users towards the castle viewpoint. Well, that leads me to the other hill side looking onwards to the castle hence giving a good view for some photo capturing. Later, I descended the hillside leading towards the castle entrance (it’s actually the foothill where the ticket booth is). However, before I went up the booth, I descended down to the Castle beach, where Merlin’s cave is located. The cave is accessible during low tide.

After that, I went back up to the ticket booth, paid £4.70 for the admission ticket and started climbing up the uneven staircases up towards the hill. The staircases are actually pretty well built and is nothing like what I have imagined (rugged rock made stairs). The climb is not difficult at all. I soon reach the main hall. The view from the top is absolutely amazing. For me, it’s not so much of the ruin castle I’m interested in but the bird's eye view from the top of the cliff that has fascinated me more. I spent quite a bit of time exploring the area (which is actually quite big) from end to end. It is definitely best be viewed on a clear sunny day like this. After almost an hour, I went down the steps to go up yet another fleet of the steps to get to the other half of the castle. This portion of the castle is much smaller in size but you can still see clearer the castle's outline.

After that, I walked backed to the town and bought a Traditional Steak Cornish Pasties(£3) which is so huge, its bigger than my palm. Just as I stepped into my car, it started raining again. Talk about good timing. The pasty is taking me ages to finish. After the pasties, I started my journey to Penzance. Along the way, I heard from the radio news that South Wales is hit by thunder storm and floods. Oh boy, hope Penzance and South Cornwall are not affected. I arrived at Penzance Backpackers Hostel around 4.30pm, but I couldn't check in straight away as they restrict their check in time to either 8am – 2pm or 5pm – 10.30pm. So I waited in my car until it’s time and rang the bell. The staff answered the door and checked me in. This will be my base for the following 4 nights. I'm staying in a 7-bed female dorm for £15pn. There's a fully equipped kitchen, tv lounge and also free but unstable Wi-Fi access.

After settling my stuff, I went out exploring Penzance town and also stroll along the promenade. The Promenade is said to be one of the longest in UK. The waves hitting the edge of the promenade is very high and strong. Several teenagers were having fun waiting for the high waves and then tries to outrun it. Feeling slightly tired and cold, I went back to the hostel to surf the internet.

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