It is summer holidays here in the UK for some schools, including the one I was working at, so I decided I had to explore. Obviously!
Cornwall is a place Londoner’s like to go for a summer break. It is full of beaches, warm sunny weather and choc-a-bloc with visitors over summer. In fact, so many city folk visit that the Cornwall locals HATE them. Fortunately I can just claim my Aussie status to avoid that!
Thursday I collected a car from London Gatwick and began my trip. It is a long 6-8hr drive, depending on traffic, so I decided to break the trip up, given I wasn’t leaving until after 2pm. My first stop was a tiny town called Ottery Saint Mary. I chose the accommodation, not the town, as options are limited. Most people booked months ago but I booked less than 2wks ago.
The next morning I started early with a drive to Cotohele House & Gardens. It is an old manor with some beautiful gardens . Unfortunately, this weekend is a wet one. Only the gardens were open so I had a walk around and then left.
Next I continued to the village of Boscastle. This is a very cute little village and my stop here was the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. It is an interesting place, full of items collected by local witches and families over the years. They even have a whole mummified human head. Here I also took the opportunity to have an authentic Cornish pasty, since I am in Cornwall! I had the traditional steak pasty and it was good. Not sure about putting potato in it though.
My last stop for the day was another small village called Tintagel. This is my accommodation stop and also the Tintagel Castle stop. The castle is on a big rock island, now connected to the land by a bridge, as the original rock bridge collapsed. It is a whole stack of ruins with a great view.
Saturday I woke early and began the drive to the Eden Project. It is a large environmental project built into a clay quarry. Over time, they have planted a whole stack of plants, and have 2 large biodomes. There is a huge rainforest one, and a smaller Mediterranean one. Each one has different sections, featuring plants from those sections. Both have a food plant section too. In the Mediterranean one, they even have a Western Australia section! It has lots of kangaroo paws!
Next was the Lost Gardens of Heligan. These are a large landscaped and wild site full of lovely gardens. They even have a swaying rope bridge. Mum you would HATE it. Yes, it was still raining, misty and constant. They also have these monster leaves. Makes you feel like you have been shrunk!
Lastly was Pendennis Castle in Falmouth. This is a large castle and gun tower at the top of a hill, an empty moat (because they are on top of a hill) and a gun battery at the bottom of the hill. The gun tower is cool and the main feature of the site. After a walk around and a short tour, I made my way into town to my hotel.
Sunday after breakfast, I continued my journey south. Yes, it is still raining. So much rain. First stop was St Michael’s Mount. A castle on a rock offshore, that is accessible by a causeway at low tide and a boat at high tide. It is a pretty impressive sight from the shore. As it was high tide when I arrived, I had to take the boat to the island. The boat ride is short and upon arrival you have to follow the one way path up. The castle is high up and the pathway is an extremely uneven, rocky cobblestone type pathway. I struggled in my Allbirds (white runner/boat shoe type of shoes) so high heels would definitely be impossible! Eventually you reach the top and can go inside the castle to escape the rain. Inside it is a wooden interior with large wooden beams across the ceilings. It is an interesting place. There is a newly renovated room, the Blue Drawing Room, that is especially nice. The Queen and late Prince Philip visited a few years ago too.
By now the rain was really quite heavy so I made my way back down the hill to sea level and to the warm and dry café. At 10.40am the causeway was due to open so everyone could walk between the mainland and island. The staff were giving out free ponchos by now so I got one for the walk back. I am very glad I took one as it was too windy for the umbrella and as I continued walking across the causeway. It also became progressively heavier and a small section of the causeway was still underwater so I had to take my shoes off. By the time I got back to the car, my shoes and bottom half of my jeans were drenched. Yuk!
Next stop for the day was Land’s End. This is the bottom of England. I have been to the very top at John O’Groats, and now I am going to the very bottom! There are a few attractions at the venue, including the signpost, which is the main attraction. There was a brief break in the rain so I headed straight to the sign for a rain-free photo. Unlike John O’Groats, this signpost is owned and operated by a local photography company. They also do personalized photos, but you have to pay for a photo of the sign. For £10.95 they personalized the sign (I chose Melbourne 10,809) and will post the photo to my London address. After this I checked out the 2 shops and then the rain returned in full force so I headed back to my car.
My last stop for the day was St Ives. On Google Images, this town looks like a tropical seaside town with sandy beaches and blue water. Today however, it is grey and VERY wet. It is also a VERY hilly town. After checking in, I went for a walk around the streets. It is low tide so they harbour is empty. It is a very cute town, when it isn’t raining, it would be lovely to walk around.
Tonight is the Euros 2021 Grand Final between England and Italy so it is going to be insane later. If England win, it will be the first time since 1966, and many businesses will open late tomorrow because there are going to be a LOT of sore heads in the morning. It is going to be interesting!
So, after last night’s loss, the cafes were surprisingly busy at 9am this morning when I went walking the streets. It was lovely to wake up and see sunshine! It was only forecast to last until lunch so I left my hotel after breakfast to walk and explore. By this time there were already lots of people out in the streets and a fair few in the water in the harbour. St Ives has 3 beaches so naturally I went and checked out all 3 of them. As the morning wore on, the tide went out and you have to walk through the harbour to get to the water. It is a bit surreal when you walk across a sand harbout amongst stranded boats!
The sunshine was glorious after several days of rain and I took full advantage of it. I video called my mum and took her for a walk through the streets of St Ives and we saw on the end of the pier and chatted. Video calling is great because I can take my mum on my travels with me! Providing there is phone reception of course!
In the afternoon I went to the Rum & Crab Shack. They weren’t serving food but they were doing happy hour cocktails. They have their own brand of flavoured rums and they are upstairs so you get views of the harbour which was nice.
After a few drinks I went in search of food. I found a Belgium beer house that serves chicken schnitzel. I haven’t had one since I left home (Aussie home) so that was where I headed. Unfortunately they didn’t serve mains until a bit later so I opted for a locally caught crab sandwich to tie my over. The crab is caught in the waters off Cornwall and I have only had crab once before. I can honestly say, it is not a favourite. Very strong flavoured and not to my liking.
The schnitzel however was perfect. Absolutely delicious and hit the spot. Served with a mushroom sauce, it was hot, fresh and I highly recommend if you need an Aussie fav in St Ives.
Today was my last day in Cornwall. I got up early, packed and had breakfast at my hotel before beginning the long drive to Brighton. It took me 6hrs to travel the 450km. My first impressions of Brighton are that it is HUGE. Far bigger than I imagined. From the time I passed the "Welcome to Brighton" sign to the time I arrived at the hotel, it took me 20mins! For what I imagined as a small seaside town is not very small! My hotel is just near the famous Brighton Pier and I have an ocean view, which is awesome.
After checking in, I started walking the streets. It is another nice day today, 23 degrees, humid and sunny/cloudy. Brighton is a place Brits go to for the beach. The beach is exceptionally wide, and it is a pebble beach. My guesstimate would be 50m+ from the footpath to the water. It is very busy. The layout is interesting. There is a road with all the hotels, and a pathway on the beach side of the road, then you go down a level and there is another wide footpath. This section has a large number of restaurants and shops built into the wall under the road and they have big terrace/outdoor dining areas for people to sit and eat/drink.
First stop was to find the fancy building I saw on my drive into town. Turns out it is called the Royal Pavillion. It looks like an Indian or Middle Eastern building.
Further along the beach I found the attractions I was aiming for: Upside Down House and the British Airways i360. The Upside Down house is funny, but I didn't go in as the queue was quite long. I did, however, buy a ticket for the i360. It is a large round pod that travels up a tower and provides 360 degree views over Brighton. The tower is 162m tall and the pod reaches a height of 138m. Today, the views were very good. You could even see the Isle of Wight, 47 miles away! There is also another large wind farm off the coast, clearly visible. It has 116 turbines, located 13-20km offshore and currently produces enough electricity to power 350,000 homes in Sussex.
I began working my way back to my hotel to sit and chill. I spent the next few hours sitting in my bay window overlooking the ocean.
I hope you have enjoyed my whirlwind trip to Cornwall as much as I have enjoyed taking it. Tomorrow if I test negative, I will be off to Malta for a week, which I am very much looking forward to. Fingers crossed!!