Cornwall July 06

The last of our big camping trips,having done the Peak District and Norfolk the two previous years. A lot to be said for travelling the world, but you still have to see all that your own country has to offer.

Quite a drive for us,about 12 hours, so we stopped off on the way down in Weston Super Mare for the night, didn't want to be arriving late and having to pitch a tent. As a holiday town itself, it's one to give a wide berth, the beach was filthy and when the tide went out the sea was about a mile away. Still it was only a stop over and we kicked on the next morning to the Roseland Peninsula,btween St Austell and Truro, where we were going to be based near the small village of Gerrans.

Got ourselves sorted and went to suss out the local area for shops and pubs that did meals. We are only pretend campers, don't mind cooking breakfast, but need to go out and get a proper meal and a few beers at night. 

Having spent the best part of two days travelling and putting the tent up, we headed for the beach next day to allow the kids to run wild a bit. Nice walk along the coastal path to get to the beach at Portscatho, the next village along. Spent the day chilling and soaking up the sun.

Time to start exploring and next day we headed for Goonhilly, the largest satellite earth station in the world. About 60 large sattelite dishes and there is one of them you can climb up. Great Visitor Centre with the history of communications as it's theme, and loads of interactive stuff .

After there we headed down to Lizard Point the most southerly part of the UK mainland, and dramatic rock formations that have no doubt done for many ships over the years. Drove back up and into Truro and had a look about the town before setting off back to camp.  

Another day out on the beach, then we paid our first visit to the Eden Project. Truely amazing place, built on the site of an old quarry, it looks at the bio diversity around the world, and our place in it. Lot of development work and preservation projects, and  experiments that can then be used to help out 3rd world cultivation Walked about and headed for the biodomes  .There are two massive domes, one with a tropical rainforest in it and the other a mediterranean landscape. Spent ages in them and the heat and humidity in the tropical one was immense.

Went to the other exhibits, but one day was just not enough and on the way out we bought half price tickets to come back for a second day that we would try and fit in, as we had hardly seen any of the outside part of it. Stopped off in St Austell on the way back to go to the supermarket and bought a disposable barbecue and did our one cooked meal on the camp site.

Followed the pattern and had another day on the beach to rest and relax.

Decided it was time to go to Lands End as the drive was about the furtherst we would do here. Not that impressive, butone of these places you need to go to. Then went to the Geevor Tin Mine which was fairly close by, which was the last to close in Cornwall and sits right on the coast with the old mine shafts going out under the Atlantic.

Did the tour and went down into the old workings where I kept hitting my head off the roof as it was so low. From here we then went round the northern coast road to St Ives. Walked along the front and bought some ice cream noting the warning signs in the shops about the seagulls. Warned the kids to cover there isce cream when they were eating it and then was attacked myself when one came from behind and landed on my shoulder and tried to grab the cone. Didn't get it as it landed on the ground as I dropped it,but all its mates made short work of it. Had dinner here before going back to Gerrans. 

Next day we decided to go back to the Eden Project, spending a lot more time looking around the outdoor exhibits,but still the temptation was to go into the domes.  Really colourful and interesting and managed to fill another whole day here.

Having been inspired by what we had seen visited the shop on the way out and bought myself a Chinese Banana Plant and an Olive Tree. Ever the optimist thinking that they would thrive in Scotland, but the Banana Plant didn't survive the first winter up here ,though I still have the Olive Tree,though I think it must be a bonsai on as it has hardly grown :-).

Yet another day on the beach,though this time we drove further down the peninsula to a different one, before going the following day on the trip I had really wanted to do since we had started looking at Cornwall, the Isles Of Scilly, that lie 28 miles southwest of Lands End. 

Originally had wanted to do it by helicopter, but to get the cheap seats you can only book it the day before and they didn't have four seats left for when we wanted to travel.

So it was plan B and an early start to drive down to Penzance and get the boat across. Kids having been up early took advantage of the bunks down in the belly of the ship and slept most of the crossing.

It was a scorching hot day and arriving  there with the sandy beaches and palm trees it looked more like the Carribean. Docking in Hughtown on St Marys the place looked really quaint. Found a bus tour on an old London bus and did that first. Guy that ran it was hilarious,and moaned about the fact that he had to pay the same road tax as they did in London,depite the fact that he only had 6 miles of road to drive it on.

Had a look round Hughtown and went for lunch in a pub overlooking the harbour before we did the walk up round the fort. Was soon time to go and get the boat back. 3 hours sail back to Penzance and another hour back to Gerrans, it had been a long day and we just made it to the pub in time for them still to be serving meals . 

Spent our last two days on the beach and then it was time to pack up and head for home. Drove it straight through for 12 hours this time and arrived home just after midnight.

Really enjoyed Cornwall and would encourage anyone visiting England to take a look and try and fit in some time here.