Thursday, June 5
Today we were heading south again to explore the other half of the "foot" of Cornwall. Before we left Bodmin we had to refuel the car for the first time, even though it still had a quarter of a tank left. Having a Diesel engine we knew it would be economical but got a big shock when 45 litres cost GBP60 or about A$120!
Our trip to Land's End took us past St.Michael's Mount and Penzance, which was about an hour away. We'd been told how commercial Land's End had become with movies and other attractions built near the famous signposts plus the addition of plenty of eating options and shops. No doubt these are needed to attract families when the weather is bad but we didn't need them as we had a lovely sunny day there.
Al at Land's End
Land's End coastline
After another delicious pasty for lunch we headed off to St.Ives, a typical Cornish town on the west coast. It's a very popular tourist town but, like a lot of these towns, the streets are small and it's very hilly and consequently parking is limited. We found a car park and walked down to the old part of town which is mainly for pedestrians only. Unfortunately the tide was out so the harbour was devoid of water but it was still very pretty and at least they have sandy beaches.
A waterless harbour in St.Ives (& sunshine!)
There were hordes of people in town so in the smaller streets it was quite tight walking along and trying to look in the shops. A lot of artists have based themselves in St Ives so there are numerous galleries including the Tate Modern, but this was closed for renovations. Another major attraction is the Barbara Hepworth museum which contains a lot of her sculptures in a garden setting. We didn't get to go in as it was near closing time by the time we found it!
We managed to fit in another Cornish Cream tea before we left but still haven't tried the other famous Cornish delicacy - their fudge. There are so many varieties but we've been told to try their clotted cream fudge, which we'll have to do before we leave Cornwall.
Cornish fudge on display, but we resisted
We set the the Sat Nav for our B&B in Bodmin, which has been a very central location to base ourselves as most places have been only an hours drive away. Unfortunately the Sat Nav got lost and directed us onto a tiny lane which took us through the back blocks of St.Ives. There was no place to turn around so we had to keep going, very slowly, as in some places all the sensors on the car were beeping at the same time! You could see the stone walls peeping through the vegetation and flowers along the lane way, so you had to watch both sides of the car. We came across a man out walking and asked him where the lane way would take us and he said we would eventually come to a bigger road. After about 30 minutes of lane way driving we did turn onto a road wide enough for 2 cars where we could go more than 10 mph and it was a relief to finally get on to the A30 and head for home.
Today we were heading south again to explore the other half of the "foot" of Cornwall. Before we left Bodmin we had to refuel the car for the first time, even though it still had a quarter of a tank left. Having a Diesel engine we knew it would be economical but got a big shock when 45 litres cost GBP60 or about A$120!
Our trip to Land's End took us past St.Michael's Mount and Penzance, which was about an hour away. We'd been told how commercial Land's End had become with movies and other attractions built near the famous signposts plus the addition of plenty of eating options and shops. No doubt these are needed to attract families when the weather is bad but we didn't need them as we had a lovely sunny day there.
Al at Land's End
The coastline is very rugged and beautiful and we know many ships have been wrecked along this coast over the years, but it was very calm today and looking great with all the wild flowers in bloom.
Land's End coastline
A waterless harbour in St.Ives (& sunshine!)There were hordes of people in town so in the smaller streets it was quite tight walking along and trying to look in the shops. A lot of artists have based themselves in St Ives so there are numerous galleries including the Tate Modern, but this was closed for renovations. Another major attraction is the Barbara Hepworth museum which contains a lot of her sculptures in a garden setting. We didn't get to go in as it was near closing time by the time we found it!
We managed to fit in another Cornish Cream tea before we left but still haven't tried the other famous Cornish delicacy - their fudge. There are so many varieties but we've been told to try their clotted cream fudge, which we'll have to do before we leave Cornwall.
Cornish fudge on display, but we resistedWe set the the Sat Nav for our B&B in Bodmin, which has been a very central location to base ourselves as most places have been only an hours drive away. Unfortunately the Sat Nav got lost and directed us onto a tiny lane which took us through the back blocks of St.Ives. There was no place to turn around so we had to keep going, very slowly, as in some places all the sensors on the car were beeping at the same time! You could see the stone walls peeping through the vegetation and flowers along the lane way, so you had to watch both sides of the car. We came across a man out walking and asked him where the lane way would take us and he said we would eventually come to a bigger road. After about 30 minutes of lane way driving we did turn onto a road wide enough for 2 cars where we could go more than 10 mph and it was a relief to finally get on to the A30 and head for home.
Examples of the lanes we negotiated
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