Bright and early on a sunny summer’s morning I bundled Kylie into the car and drove south to Cornwall, with the intention of making the most of the last days of our British summer, my gardening leave and my company car. Actually it was rather cold and wet... and I bundled Kylie into the car before sunrise so it wasn’t exactly bright and early but I’m just trying to set a nice scene.
Anyway so with Kylie snugly asleep next to me with all manner of pillows and blankets, I cruised my way west along the M4 before turning south on the M5 just before we hit Wales. Okay, maybe the motorway names are irrelevant; I’ll try to keep it more refreshing I’m just a little rusty. So just before lunch we arrived at our first destination Lizard Point A.K.A ‘The Lizard’ which is the UK’s southern most point. With grand ideas of adventure and exploring the old lighthouse and other tourist attractions, we decided a quick walk down to the old coastguard would suffice as it was rather windy and we were getting hungry.
Bundling back into the car we followed the coast until we reached Marizion. There isn’t much to this place except St Michel’s Mont which is an island abbey and one of Cornwall’s iconic sites. For fact enthusiasts there has been a monastery here since the 5th century, and the main chapel was raised in the 12th century by the Benedictine monks of Normandy.
We followed the coast again to the town of Penzance, a nice old brick fishing town, which is said to be rather authentic and not polished... we agreed so only stayed here a short while and decided to travel a few more miles to a smaller fishing village with more charm for some well earned lunch. This lucky little village was Mousehole (pronounced mow-zel), it is a charming village of winding cobbled lanes... so charming and compact that we struggled for parking and Kylie was forced to jump out of the car whilst I put on my hazards and she attempted to get us a couple of famous Cornish Pasties for lunch. Very disappointingly they only had cheese and vegetable left, which we struggled down whilst dreaming of NZ pies! Disappointingly full from our pasties we continued along the way to the famous ‘Minack Theatre’ which is an amphitheatre carved into the cliffs overlooking the sea, a place which would have been great to see a show, if only the UK had some sunshine.
With grey skies above and daylight fading, we started to wonder where we would sleep... we had accommodation booked for the next two nights but thought we would just wing it and sleep in the car somewhere (I know right, we are so rock’n’roll). We followed the coast again knowing we would find something, and came upon a campground in Lands End (England’s most westerly point), we paid the measly sum and went to work setting up Camp Passat with the back seats down and the cargo cover covering the boot, we put a piece of material around the windows and our fort was complete! For dinner we wandered into the local pub and shared far too much delicious food and washed it down with Cornish ale and red wine respectively, before retiring to Camp Passat where I wasted Kylie at hangman and we slept soundly in the storm of a night that ensued.
With slightly wet pillows from the rain seeping into to our clearly flawed curtain system we showered and hit the road for St Ives. For breakfast we stopped at an amazing ‘Escape to the Country’ style house which was serving Cornish cream teas. It was a delicious way to start a day, for those who haven’t tried Cornish cream it is so thick you spread it on like peanut butter and cover it with lashings of jam. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Content, we hit the road again until we reached our Castle overlooking St Ives... yes I said castle... yes from car to castle... I know. After all the driving we simply relaxed in our room and ate dinner at the in-house restaurant, perfect.
We set out to explore St Ives on foot after a gorging at the buffet breakfast. Again we were faced with another picturesque fishing village with cliffs, golden beaches and cobbled streets. We took our time and soaked it all in, enjoying what would likely be the last sunshine for the year. We watched a local sea lion chilling out and strolled through the quaint stores and the harbour before retiring for another relaxing afternoon at the castle including a swim, a spa and a sauna... lush.
We meandered our way home on the Tuesday, stopping by Glastonbury Tor and an outlet fashion village (Kylie getting another handbag) and made it home safe and sound.
Talk soon with our next entry to be our English safari, before we hit the south of France for 9 days.
Much love.Anyway so with Kylie snugly asleep next to me with all manner of pillows and blankets, I cruised my way west along the M4 before turning south on the M5 just before we hit Wales. Okay, maybe the motorway names are irrelevant; I’ll try to keep it more refreshing I’m just a little rusty. So just before lunch we arrived at our first destination Lizard Point A.K.A ‘The Lizard’ which is the UK’s southern most point. With grand ideas of adventure and exploring the old lighthouse and other tourist attractions, we decided a quick walk down to the old coastguard would suffice as it was rather windy and we were getting hungry.
Bundling back into the car we followed the coast until we reached Marizion. There isn’t much to this place except St Michel’s Mont which is an island abbey and one of Cornwall’s iconic sites. For fact enthusiasts there has been a monastery here since the 5th century, and the main chapel was raised in the 12th century by the Benedictine monks of Normandy.
We followed the coast again to the town of Penzance, a nice old brick fishing town, which is said to be rather authentic and not polished... we agreed so only stayed here a short while and decided to travel a few more miles to a smaller fishing village with more charm for some well earned lunch. This lucky little village was Mousehole (pronounced mow-zel), it is a charming village of winding cobbled lanes... so charming and compact that we struggled for parking and Kylie was forced to jump out of the car whilst I put on my hazards and she attempted to get us a couple of famous Cornish Pasties for lunch. Very disappointingly they only had cheese and vegetable left, which we struggled down whilst dreaming of NZ pies! Disappointingly full from our pasties we continued along the way to the famous ‘Minack Theatre’ which is an amphitheatre carved into the cliffs overlooking the sea, a place which would have been great to see a show, if only the UK had some sunshine.
With grey skies above and daylight fading, we started to wonder where we would sleep... we had accommodation booked for the next two nights but thought we would just wing it and sleep in the car somewhere (I know right, we are so rock’n’roll). We followed the coast again knowing we would find something, and came upon a campground in Lands End (England’s most westerly point), we paid the measly sum and went to work setting up Camp Passat with the back seats down and the cargo cover covering the boot, we put a piece of material around the windows and our fort was complete! For dinner we wandered into the local pub and shared far too much delicious food and washed it down with Cornish ale and red wine respectively, before retiring to Camp Passat where I wasted Kylie at hangman and we slept soundly in the storm of a night that ensued.
With slightly wet pillows from the rain seeping into to our clearly flawed curtain system we showered and hit the road for St Ives. For breakfast we stopped at an amazing ‘Escape to the Country’ style house which was serving Cornish cream teas. It was a delicious way to start a day, for those who haven’t tried Cornish cream it is so thick you spread it on like peanut butter and cover it with lashings of jam. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Content, we hit the road again until we reached our Castle overlooking St Ives... yes I said castle... yes from car to castle... I know. After all the driving we simply relaxed in our room and ate dinner at the in-house restaurant, perfect.
We set out to explore St Ives on foot after a gorging at the buffet breakfast. Again we were faced with another picturesque fishing village with cliffs, golden beaches and cobbled streets. We took our time and soaked it all in, enjoying what would likely be the last sunshine for the year. We watched a local sea lion chilling out and strolled through the quaint stores and the harbour before retiring for another relaxing afternoon at the castle including a swim, a spa and a sauna... lush.
We meandered our way home on the Tuesday, stopping by Glastonbury Tor and an outlet fashion village (Kylie getting another handbag) and made it home safe and sound.
Talk soon with our next entry to be our English safari, before we hit the south of France for 9 days.
Xx
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