The journey was uneventful, it took about six hours, including two short breaks or about 30 minutes each. Esmond House seems OK, we are on the first floor and have our own balcony, something we haven't had before. In the evening, after unpacking, we walked along the waters edge up to the Princess Pavilion. We decided to eat in the bar, I should learn that when a place is empty it is not a good sign. We ordered Chicken and chips. After a short time it arrived, when I cut into my chicken it bled onto the plate. Jo's was not quite so bad but still clearly uncooked in the middle. They readily replaced the meals and gave gave us the sweet course as compensation. Otherwise it was very quiet. Fortunately we did not suffer any long term effects. After we had eaten we took a tour of Falmouth churches to decide which one we would go to the following morning. They all seem to start at 10:30, so we would have to choose and stick with it. I have to say they all looked rather dead. The Anglican church, in the town, even had its gates locked so we couldn't get to the porch to see what the church was really like. The last one had a graffiti board with Jesus written in large letters (see below). That was the one for me, it was also the one closest to the guest house.
Sunday - "Fish fortnight begins"
Sunday started as each day during the holiday would. Up about 7:30, in the shower. The shower was rather small and the curtain did not have weights, so tended to move in at the bottom and wrap around you as you turned. Still there was plenty of hot water. Then down to breakfast for 8:30. A full English breakfast was served if you wanted it. I had cereal followed by beans on toast with tomatoes and mushrooms most days.
We met Delwyn and enjoyed his light hearted chatter. After breakfast we went back to our room and sat on the balcony, enjoying the good weather and reading bible note and a book. Jo did some of her cross stitch. After 20-30 minutes it was on with the sun cream, collect up the supplies for the day and make our way to the first event.
After church we walked down a long hill to Swanpool, a nature reserve next to the beach. We had lunch at the beach cafe (rolls and a drink), then walked back along the coastal path to Esmond House. We watched the F1 Grand Prix, and in the evening returned to Swanpool, this time by car, to eat at Indaba on the beach. Indaba is a seriously nice restaurant, although it looks nothing special on the outside. I started my 'fish fortnight' here.
Monday - "Doctor!, Doctor! When will it get better?"
It's Monday and we need supplies, so our first event is to go shopping at Sainsbury's. We bought sandwiches for lunch, lots of water and various other 'goodies' to help us through the week. Then it was off to Lands End. What a strange place! Partly and exhibition centre partly a nature reserve (of sorts) and partly the End of the Land. We wandered round and visited the RSPB hide, we watched the birds on the cliff for a while. There was a strong wind, despite that visibility was poor!. We went to visit the Air-Sea rescue 'ride'. It was OK, but it could have been so much better, and we visited the Dr Who exhibition. This was largely based on the first of the new series and features Christopher Ecclestone and Billy Piper. As exhibitions go it was OK, but by now a little out of date. There are some animated Daleks, the video of one of them is here. In the full display you are surrounded by Daleks, but I didn't find that out until I'd persuaded a small frightened girl that she really couldn't miss hearing them say "EXTERMINATE!"
After lunch and a wander round the rest of the site we decided to visit Sennen Cove. There is a lovely beach, which we walked along until the sea would not let us go further, and then we stopped in the tea rooms on the way back.
We decided to drive to Lizard point. When we go there we walked down to the Light House but by then it was getting late and the lighthouse was closed, so we returned to the town. We stopped at 'The Witch Ball' for tea, and ate in the Garden. Fish (Fillet of Brill), chips and a local ale, in the company of your wife – what more could you want? It was a very pleasant evening when we started but got cold towards the time to leave.
Tuesday - "Creamless Tea"
The piece of water between Falmouth and St Maws at the sea, and up to Truro is known as the Carrick Roads. There is an excellent picture on wiki. We took a ferry from Falmouth to St Maws. The water was calm, and the ferry was much larger than I expected. The journey was pleasant with the crew giving the odd pieces of commentary on the crossing. On arriving at St Mawes, we walked up the road to the castle. Even from the entrance there is a lovely view – it is immediately obvious how important the castle is for defence. We walked around the castle following the English Heritage Audio Guide as it took us all around and explained what they knew, and in some cases what they didn't. The problem at St Maws is that the castle is not at the top of the hill. That makes ground defence difficult. We had our lunch, which we had brought with us, in a seat overlooking the Carrick Roads. The sun was warm and there was almost no-one about. Just occasionally the sound of a boat's motor on the water in the distance. It was very peaceful. After lunch we returned to St. Mawes and caught the ferry back to Falmouth. We returned to Customs Quay, which was a different point from our departure, but we knew Falmouth sea front well enough by now.
We went into a very small tea rooms, on google street view its called “Citrus Cafe”, but the name doesn't ring a bell. It's on Arwenack St near the Church Street End. Jo ordered a cream tea, I ordered a cream-less tea. Either way the food and the tea was very nice. WE like the place and their commitment to local supplies. After that we did the Falmouth Town Trail, which we had picked up in the Tourist Information. Then we had our evening meal at Harbour lights. It is a huge Fish restaurant, at the rear it overlooks part of the harbour. It was quite full, but we were lucky enough to get a seat at the back. They have a webcam on their website, follow the link. The food was brilliant and the environment was good.
Wednesday - "A cold night on a Cornish cliff"
As we approached St Michaels Mount we came across Car Park signs far earlier than I expected. We parked the car and paid out fee (£2 for the day, if I remember correctly). It was quite a long walk to the mount. As the tide was in we would have to take a boat to get to the 'island'. Don't buy a return though as the causeway will be open later and we can walk back. Some of the literature seemed to suggest that visiting this place was going to be very expensive. That turned out not to be the case, although it was not cheap. St Michaels Mount is just what it says, and very steep in places. We started by walking around the gardens. In places they are spectacular but in other places the paths are barred, probably because they are crumbling. The map we were given did not seem to match the gardens, and we missed some of it. We had some lunch in the National Trust Cafe. A long building, with rows of long tables, which seat about 16 people, so you have to share at some point. The food was very good and the portions quite generous. We both enjoyed the meal.
Then there was the long climb up the hill to see the castle. Up and up and up some more. There is the legend of the giant, at least with his long legs he would have got there quicker. People still live in the castle but most of it is open. It would have been nice to have an audio guide here too. The castle and the associated church are stunning, as are the views from the top of the mount. The picture shows the causeway, back to the mainland.
We had tea at a little tea rooms and beach shop. It was only a snack, but they didn't have anything that was on the diet list. In the end I had a toasted ham ciabatta. They did not seem to want to cater for anything non-standard, then they wanted payment up-front – which I dis-like intensely. It was close to closing time – that can be their only excuse.
In the evening we had decided to see James and the Giant Peach at the Minack Theatre, so we made our way to Porthcurno. We visited the theatre box office and purchased our tickets. Then we parked the car and and walked down to the beach. It is very sandy, although rather small. There is another beach around to the left but the tide was too far in to get round to it. Walking near the waters edge my feet (and sandals) got wet for the first time this holiday, the water was very cold.. Finally it was time to return to the Minack. In the car we changed from our summer clothes into something more suitable for a clod night on a Cornish Cliff, and joined the queue for the theatre. Imagine our surprise when we were told that our tickets were for tomorrow! - and they were, we hadn't even checked them. Fortunately it was soon sorted out and we were allowed in. We walked down the steps to our seats, and placed the 'seats' we had hired on the rock/grass where we were directed to sit. Some very loud Americans soon began causing trouble, but we realised quickly that they were the cast and then enjoyed the fun. It was a superb production of a very simple story. “There really is a giant peach” we had heard said, and there was. An excellent 'summer pantomime' ideal for children and the young at heart. The cast of the Illyria company did an excellent job with almost no scenery and very few quite inventive props. It did get quite cold and we were glad to be back in the car and driving back to Falmouth as the last rays of sun disappeared from the sky.
Thursday - "Smuggling Days"
Pendennis castle complements St Mawes. Between them they cover the entrance to the Carrick roads. To get a ship past you must first disable one of the castles. We took the scenic route up to Pendennis castle past the Falmouth dock yards where they build and maintain large expensive yachts. They also do work for the military, and we looked on as the workers did things to an anonymous grey ship. There were one or two lonely looking men taking photographs – I wonder if they were spies? Pendennis is larger than St. Mawes and easily defended from land, but perhaps more vulnerable from the sea. English Heritage have done a good job of making the castle 'come to life'- the gun room is impressive, even down to the rat!
Back in Falmouth later we had lunch at Rick Steins Fish and Chips. This along with the Tesco where we bought much of our food is in a recent development similar to Cardiff Bay – but a lot smaller. This is another place where excellent food is served but again somewhere where I have to choose carefully. Traditional beer batter is not on my menu, sadly. After all the walking in the morning we decided something more relaxing was in order – a boat trip to smugglers cottage. From Falmouth, up the Carrick Roads towards Truro. A very pleasant trip. Smugglers cottage is now a public house, so a pint was most welcome as we relaxed waiting for the return trip. Around Falmouth the water is very deep. All the way up here ships that no longer have a use are stored. It makes for an ugly backdrop for the cottage, but no-one seemed to mind. We sat on a terraced bank and consumed our refreshments discussing how the 'ship situation' might be resolved, not that it was anything to do with us!
On our return we visited Tesco and purchased some sandwiches and fruit for tea, which we later ate on the 'beach' near the guest house. While we were eating the tide was coming in. Both Jo and I kept a careful watch on different parts of the beach, and when the water reach a certain point decided that it was time to move. Eating on the beach was nice, but we were accompanied by a very determined sea gull. I tried to dissuade him by throwing an occasional stone in his general direction, but it was really a pointless exercise.
Friday - "Flight of Fancy"
A very early start today. We are booked on the 7:30 flight from Penzance to St Mary's one of the Scilly Isles. Our hosts had provided some breakfast for us the night before, and we ate it in our rooms before we left. We arrived at Penzance just in time. It was the first time either of us has been on a helicopter. The fare was not cheap and we may not have done it if we had not received a gift some time ago. This definite counts as one of the '25 things' plan which has been so disrupted by my accident. One of the first things you notice about a helicopter is the noise. It is something you notice all flight. We walked from the gate to the helicopter, past the hot, unbreathable exhaust gasses, under the still spinning rotors and up the steps. It is a relief to get inside, but the noise doesn't stop. I've been describing a helicopter ride as a slow motion theme park ride. You can never tell what it will do next. At the start of the flight it went straight up, stopped , turned 90 degrees right, stopped, the front tilted down, and then back to level, the turn continued to full circle, or thereabouts, the nose went up and the helicopter move away from the airport, gaining height. The outward journey was at about 3000 feet, the return at about 1500 feet. No point in going higher than you need to. St Mary's was soon on the horizon, the flight only lasts 20 minutes, and we are back on the ground. The helicopter company have a very efficient taxi service to town and back. They dropped us outside Lloyds bank, and picked us up again in time to be back at the airport for check-in.
We decided to go to St Ives for tea. Here's where Cornwall starts to get a little mad. We were directed to the park & ride. There were no other useful sign posts. Arriving there and talking to the bus driver we found that the buses stopped soon, well before we would be back. Other passengers told us that they get a taxi back for about £3. The park and ride itself was £3.50 and the bus would have been a further 75p each. We drove around a bit and found another car park, quite close to town for £2.50. No bus required.
The parking story will get worse.
It is the night of England vs Algeria in the Football World Cup. England are expected to win easily. The town and the pubs are full – very full - overflowing - there are people in the streets. We found a pub – it looked a little dismal from the outside, but there appeared to be some room inside. We went in, and were informed that there would be about an hour's wait for food. We decided to stay put. We couldn't see the T.V. So had no idea on the progress of the match – only that there were no loud cheers or groans. The food arrived, a little inside the hour. The grilled mackerel was the best of the holiday, better than Harbour lights (which was very nice).
England drew nil-nil, a disastrous result. We walked around St. Ives and watched the 'killer' gulls. Well they didn't kill anyone, but there were so many warnings not to feed them I felt I was in a Hitchcock film. Fortunately I had brought the Sat nav with me, because we were lost, and couldn't remember where the car park was. Our guess though was good, we were just one road away and soon back at the car.
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