South West Coast Path. Day 3 (Morning): Kingston To Burgh Island

I left the Dolphin, staggering under the onslaught of a full English breakfast: orange juice, cereal, bacon, egg, sausage, black sausage, tomato, mushrooms, fried bread, baked beans, toast, jam, coffee. Good grief, how on earth would I manage to eat this every morning? It had rained torrentially all night, but the day dawned fresh and clear. Of course, everything on the ground was saturated, which made the going difficult in places.  

Goodbye Dolphin Inn...

I followed a track down to Westcombe Beach...

The occasional bursts of sun in the clear air etched out the rockscape beautifully.

Ahead I could see Burgh Island off Bigbury-on-Sea. 

Crossing one of the path's innumerable streams...

... I descended to Ayrmer Cove...

... with its striking, striated rock formations.

I climbed above the cove...

... getting nearer and nearer to Burgh Island. 

You can see the tidal sandspit connecting the island to the mainland like an umbilical cord. At high tide the sandspit is submerged and Burgh Island becomes a true island. The large white building is an Art Deco hotel. However, it was only late morning — far too early to start thinking about a room for the night. A wooden Coast Path sign beckoned me on...