‘As I was going to St Ives…’
Today we were on the road for a bit, navigating our way around Cornish roads in a 7m motorhome requires a little bit of planning. We parked above St Ives and then walked into the town. We walked around the town and the harbour. The tide was out, so we could walk amongst the boats.
We were lucky enough to get a table at Source Kitchen, which featured in Rick Stein’s Cornwall. Really lovely lunch, similar to tapas, menu was all sharing plates. We chose, Padron peppers, Cornish Crab, Duck Rillettes with crab apple chutney, confit tomatoes, and charcuterie with olive tapenade & pickles.
To Surf or Not to Surf…
Our campsite was east of St Ives and not long after we arrived, the rain started and didn’t stop until 10 the next morning, so we snuggled down in the motorhome and watched the coverage of the events surrounding the death of Her Majesty. I feel torn, if I were home in Tunbridge Wells, I would have queued to pay my respects but we are in Cornwall, so we have caught up on the early evening news, but it feels like it is happening a million miles away.
The next morning we had a long lie in, waiting for the weather to clear. We were a 20 min walk from the Gwithian Beach, so as the clouds cleared and the sun came out, we packed a bag and made our way down for a swim.
The beach was relatively busy with all kinds of surfers, kite surfers, body board surfers and just plain surfers. We were the only people not in wetsuits, but we plunged into the sea and although the sea was not conducive to swimming, we surfed the waves with everyone else.
After drying and getting dressed, we walked along the beach before stopping for a hot drink and cake!
We then walked the long way back to campsite so we could book a table at a local Tapas restaurant, Los Establos for the evening. We returned later, crossing fields of cabbage and turnip for a feast of tapas. Patatas bravas, gambas, squash with pomegranate and almonds, chicken thighs, hake with chorizo and meatballs – all mouth-wateringly delicious. We rolled back across the same fields in the darkness. The wind was now coming from the North and the evenings are getting distinctly chillier.
First, Last Underground and Overground
During the night, although it was dry, it was really windy which gently rocked the van. It started cloudy with a cool breeze. Our plan was to make for Land’s End. We encountered a little bit of traffic on the way…
After negotiating the livestock, we made a stop at the Geevor Tin Mine. Geevor Tin Mine was the last mine to work the famous St Just Mining District, the site of the largest number of undersea tin and copper mines in the world and was only decommissioned in 1990. You can explore all the topside mine buildings, take a short tour of some of the old mine workings underground. These were, for obvious reasons not the later, deep shafts but the older, hand hewn tunnels. Whilst on site you had to wear a hard hat. The mine workings cover a huge area both on the coast and under the sea. The Cornish landscape is dotted with remains of its mining heritage.
We made a perfunctory stop at Land’s End, £10.50 for the car park….!!!, avoided the naff commercial food and shopping area, walked along the coast in both directions and took the obligatory sign photo, before heading to Treen.
Our campsite was a field in Treen, with views out to sea. We packed up our rucksack and made the 20 minute walk or should I say, scramble down to Pedn Vounder Beach. The path first follows the coast path and then literally it is a scramble down a steep path then a climb down the rocks to the most beautiful beach.
The beach was practically deserted, our only companions about half a dozen naturists (why are they almost always old men?). The sea was bracing, the tide was coming in and again we encountered large waves which subsided as the sea deepened over a sand shelf.
After an afternoon of climbing and swimming, dinner at The Logan Rock Inn rounded off a beautiful day. On our walk back to the field the sky sparkled with a million stars and the Milky Way glittered. We don’t see skies like that in light polluted Kent.
RoundandAbout 