Launceston

Y ou’d have thought that not having to worry about a long day’s walk or having to get up early I’d have had a good night’s sleep last night wouldn’t you? Nothing could be further from the truth.

I made sure that I stayed up later last night, watching TV and replying to people’s comments on the site, to try and really tire myself out but what happened? I woke up at 5:15am…again – damn it! When oh when will I be able to sleep for more than five hours before waking up? If the past couple of days wasn’t enough to completely knock me out then what would it take for me to sleep a full night’s sleep?!

Not able to get back to sleep again I spent some time checking emails, blog/Facebook comments etc. before realising that if I didn’t get out of bed soon I’d miss out on breakfast. I wasn’t particularly hungry after last night’s whale-size piece of cod but seeing as I’d paid for breakfast I thought I’d better get my backside in gear. I got myself dressed, slightly amazed that my legs still worked after yesterday’s efforts, put on some comfy socks – no boots! – and made my way to the restaurant to eat. Did I care what people thought if they noticed I wasn’t wearing shoes? Not bloody likely!

Why is it that a small B & B can produce the most splendid full English but a hotel can just about muster up something that is just about passable? Don’t get me wrong, the breakfast was ok and certainly not the worst I’ve ever had, but compared to some of the fry-ups I’ve had this past week it wasn’t a patch on them. Maybe I’ve just been spoilt these past few days? Surely a hotel can source better sausages or afford more than one rasher of bacon? I’ll be sure to stock up on extra toast and fruit tomorrow morning before the day’s walk I think!

I sat in my room for the rest of the morning with the TV on. God, daytime TV is so bad! It was nice to get a few emails and texts from some of you and a couple of requests for login accounts, which I gladly sorted out.

As my stomach started to tell me that it was beginning to feel a bit empty again I thought it time to try the boots on for the first time and head on out for a pasty. I also had six maps to send back to Matt as they were done and dusted and were now only extra ballast. Boots on, without too much pain, I headed out of the hotel to the town centre.

First job: find the post office and post the maps back to Matt to keep for posterior’s sake. Fortunately it was opposite the chip shop I went to last night so it was easily found. One thing that really surprised me was, when I got the package weighed (the maps in a jiffy bag) it came to a rather hefty 0.795kg – around 1.75lbs! I couldn’t believe that they weighed that much, but then I remembered that each map came in at around 115g so that sounded about right. I tell you what, losing nearly 2lbs on the weight of the pack will certainly be welcome from now on. Roll on sending some of the other maps back over the next few days.

I got myself a very tasty pasty for lunch, bought a postcard to send to the girls and took a little stroll round the town centre. To be honest, there’s not really a lot to Launceston but it had a lovely old church – St. Mary Magdalene – built before the Reformation in 1511 by Henry Trecarrell. It has an intricate carved granite exterior which was very impressive indeed. I had a look round inside and then sat down and had a quiet few minutes thinking about mum and dad.

Here’s a random fact about Launceston some of you may be interested in, well maybe: the city of Launceston in Tasmania (founded in 1806) was named in honour of the birthplace of the governor of New South Wales, one Captain Philip Gidley King (1758 – 1808). I walked past the house he was born in and there was a plaque on the wall telling anyone who was interested enough to stop and read it this very fact.

Having not listened to my iPod all week it was weird to walk past an open window on my stroll round to hear Three Days Grace’s track “No More” playing. It reminded me how much I’d missed my music so I’m sitting here writing this listening to, and very much enjoying, some top tunes.

After stocking up on a few bits, including food for tomorrow’s walk, I sat in the White Hart Inn and enjoyed a pint of Skinner’s Ginger Tosser; how could I not get a pint with a name like that?! It was amusing enough asking for it in the first place but what made it even funnier was the fact that the guy who was serving me was indeed very ginger himself. It was all I could do to not start laughing…you couldn’t make this stuff up I tell you!

As I sat enjoying my pint I wrote the postcard to the girls. Hopefully it won’t take too long to get there. I promised Alice I’d send her and Elisa postcards if I found any where I was staying that day.

On my way back to the hotel I paid my £3.50 and had a look round Launceston castle. As castles go it wasn’t too bad and the view from the top, over both Bodmin and Dartmoor, was something to be seen, especially as the rain was clearly coming down over Dartmoor.

Unfortunately it would appear that I could well have a cold on the way. Maybe this is the result of my first day’s walking from Land’s End to Penzance when it absolutely tipped it down for most of the day’s walk? My throat’s beginning to get a little sore and I keep on coughing. Not happy about that I can tell you but what can I do? No man flu here thank you very much!

I suppose it was bound to happen at some point, and I guess the fact that I’m physically quite tired most of the time means I’ll be susceptible to colds etc. a bit more than usual? Maybe, as I get fitter and stronger, I’ll be able to keep them at bay better? We’ll see. For now though I’ve made a trip to Superdrug to stock up on some throat and cough lozenges to hopefully keep the worst of the cold at bay.

It would seem from some of your emails, texts and comments that my blog has become a bit of a hit with some of you? It’s nice to know that all the effort I put in to keep it up to date isn’t going to waste, and it’s great to see your comments each day. Keep them coming please.

Sarah told me that Alice and Elisa are enjoying it too. Sarah reads it to them each day. Thank you Sarah, that really does mean a lot to me. I guess I’d better be careful of the language I use on here from now on knowing that?!

I’ll do my best to make sure it continues to this standard throughout the rest of the walk and doesn’t fizzle out after the enthusiasm of the start of the adventure begins to wane. If you start to see my efforts drop please shout, ok? I know I’d like to read it all back again in the future to remember this amazing time all over again and I’ll be upset with myself if I don’t give my writing the time it deserves each day. I know there will no doubt be times when I won’t be able to update it due to network connectivity but on those days I’ll make sure that I write up the post and save it for posting when I next can.

Who would have thought I could write so much on a day of doing next to nothing?!

Photos

I f you want to find out more about this day you can see the photos I took.