Princetown...

Well.., I survived..., and managed to do it without sleeping in the coach station, the maritime mission, or the Salvation army charity hostel. Before heading to Plymouth, I had tried to book in to back packers, but I could only find one online, and it was booked out. I figured that there must be more in town, but after walking to the information centre in the rain, I found out that the cheapest way to get a roof over my head would be to pay at least 45 quid for a room in a B&B.

I was just about ready to pay a huge amount of money for a night of not being mugged when I heard that there is a camping ground just out of plymouth... so, off I headed, not too keen about spending a rainy night in a bivi bag and a rather too warm sleeping bag. Fortunately, I found a hardware store on the way, and bought a tarpaulin and some string.

Bus fare each way: 1.5 quid
tarpaulin: 4 quid
string: 2 quid
a small patch of grass, no decent tv lounge, etc. (but free showers): 8 quid
not getting mugged whilst sleeping under a bridge: priceless!

I did my “tent” up a little tight so woke up a little damp in the morning, but it was far preferable to the sweaty mess I'd've been in, had I just slept in my bivi bag.

I left the camping ground nice and early, arriving at the bus stop at around 7am. only to find that the first bus didn't arrive until after 9. I had 2 hours wandering round Plymouth, (carrying far too much as per usual) and managed to buy a few pegs for my tarp and a map of dartmoor. The guy at the shop managed to convince me that I needed a compass too, but gave me a pretty good deal on them.

I finally arrived in Princetown at 12:30 today, signed into the backpackers, where I'm the only guest. I dumped my bags, and after a chat with friendly locals and a bite to eat, I headed out for a wander round town, and a little countryside. Dartmoor is a wonderful and somewhat unique area where everyone has legal walking access to most of the farms. It's sorta a combination of farmland and national park, with wild looking horned sheep, cows and miniature horses wandering around. In the course of my wandering I headed up to the top of the highest peak near town (complete with TV mast)... I figured that the mast was probably pretty close to the highest point, so I was heading toward it when all of a sudden, it disappeared, then reappeared, slightly... anyway, I got to the tor at the top of the hill and looked at the wonderful lack of view. It was at that point in time that I realised how important my new compass may be in the next day or 2.



After a lesuirely retreat to the backpackers, I wandered inside in time for the rain, had a shower, and headed over to the pub.., (where I felt my Scottish heritage coming through and I decided that my baked beans on toast in my pack would be more than adequate for dinner.) I might head back there for a beer tomorrow evening....

Tomorrow, I'll try to find some internet access, (if I'm not up too early for it) and then the plan is basicly to walk for 5 or 6 hours, then turn around and return via a slightly different path. Weather seems to be better in the morning, so an early start may be wise.