Finding My Place: Mapping A Journey Of 8 Hours, 41,300 Steps, Approximately 41km/25m

1473 Steps

5424 Steps
Halzephron Cliffs
Gunwalloe Beach
Peaceful solitude

6591 Steps
From here I look to where I am going
The land hidden behind the haze
A vague glimmer of shimmering rocks shine through
A glimpse of whats to come

7619 Steps
Loe Bar
The sea on one side
The Pool on the other
A favourite place
Yet stirs up a moment of sadness

8910 Steps
Sounds of the sea
Deep
Crashing
Soothing
A music that transports to other worlds
Places of daydreams and muses
A sound of thunder that warns yet entices
The sound of nature that sooths even the coldest of hearts
A wave that transcends our essence to a place of remembrance
A place of truth

9767 Steps
Civilisation to contend with soon, but briefly

10965 Steps
Porthleven

12277 Steps

12437 Steps
The strange things that bring a smile to my face
The images that are conjured up in my imagination

12502 Steps
Rainbows in the sea spray

13057 Steps
A quick stop
A banana
A drink
The persistent flow of waves
More sea spray rainbows
Abandoned engine houses in the distance
The hazy horizon

13274 Steps
The warmth of the sun
The comforting sound of bird song
The joy of movement

13809 Steps
A place untouched
Smooth, sleek and shiny
Not a foot print in sight

14165 Steps
A steep narrow path

15115 Steps

15487 Steps
A moment to stop
To look back on the trodden path so far
To smell the grass
To feel the wind
Listen to what the sea has to say
To see the gorse, feel its yellow
To feel my roots intertwine with the world around me

15541 Steps
A splash of purple
Easily missed
I love purple

15834 Steps
The pleasure taken from the view of a zig-zag path
Why?
The aesthetic contrast of the angular, ordered pattern in the rugged beauty if the land?

16307 Steps
From the bottom of the zig-zag

16594 Steps
The top of the zig-zag
Slightly breathless
Very happy

16869 Steps
Trewavas Cliff
A place of strong wind
And for climbers to play

17224 Steps
Up close to the once distant engine houses

18628 Steps
A path of gorse
The smell of sunshine

19097 Steps
Rinsey Cliffs
Childhood memories
A house on the cliff edge
Full of mystery and fear
Never ventured in, always at a distance
But a place where my imagination roamed
A path well trodden during my 38 years
Full of feeling and familiar smells

19577 Steps
Lesceave Cliffs
Coconut gorse
The hotel on the hill
Memories of adventures
Freedom and exclusion
A warmth on my back
The sun sooths and comforts

20290 Steps
Half Way
Stomach rumbling
Time to sit
A much loved beach
Giant egg shaped stones
Feet ache
My face and eyes smile
This is where I belong
In this space
A space that can be in many places
In this space of being
Food and tea
I soak up the sun
My shoes come off
....I wonder
Why the need to measure?
Steps, distance, time....
Why map?
Is it to create meaning?
We always need meaning, a purpose
I map and create a meaning to my being
Is this our meaning, just being?
Being gives us meaning
When we lose sight of who we are
We stop being and lose meaning
We start doing
We try hard
The harder we try, the further away from being we become
So then we start needing
Needing stuff, needing others
We think that by having we are being
But we are not
When we BE, we don't NEED anything
What a wonderful place to BE....
Fed and watered
Time to move
Time to turn around
The journey back
A change of shoes
12 noon
The sea now to my right
The sun now in my face

22387 Steps
The space where physical exertion takes me
The space of calm and belonging
A space of strength and the fluid movement of the body, soul and mind
Where aches and pains no longer matter
My perfect condition
My perfect place
I experience therefore I am

23610 Steps
Back past Trewavas Cliff

23861 Steps
A beautiful red ladybird

23610 Steps
The top of the zig-zag

Earlier, quiet and people free
Now full of walkers enjoying the freedom
They too search

24205 Steps
The bottom of the zig-zag

24462 Steps
























25379 Steps
A quick stop
Somewhere sheltered and quiet
A plaster needed
A hot spot on a hot foot
A place of  harsh rocks
Rock pools
And bliss
A place where not many will venture
A little piece of heaven

25850 Steps
A very hairy caterpillar

26414 Steps
A slow worm sunning itself
Sleek, silent and elegant

28403 Steps
Porthleven again
Big waves and surfers
The underlying reluctance of having to come into contact with people
Even at a distance

28929 Steps
Diving seagulls
The smell of chips

29648 Steps
The pier, finally
It seemed an age making my way through the thickness we create

30481 Steps
The sea churns, thunders, froths and caresses
It is truly magnificent
Its energy infinite
Its purpose set in stone
Confident and sure of its meaning
It moves with a strong grace
Its strength ever present
No matter how vocal
We too have this infinite purpose
We are part of the beauty and strength we feel in the sea
We too could soar with the wind and ride with waves
In those moments of awareness

31356 Steps
Church Cove 3 3/4 miles away

32610 Steps
Loe Bar
The wind has picked up
It rushes across the exposed Bar chilling my warm skin
I retrace my path along the beach
Out of the thousands of prints, which ones are mine?

34316 Steps
A tide line that never ceases to enchant me
Its shape forever changing

35700 Steps
An encounter with some arrogant, rude walkers
A rare occurrence

36405 Steps
Halzephron Cliffs again
Head down, push on
Not far to go

38843 Steps
Church Cove again

40189 Steps
The fragrance of daffodils
The flat, unforgiving concrete

41300 Steps
My back door
My home
The end of this journey
Whispering thoughts of the next one