Terrafirma Travels

29 Nov: Two days with no fixtures at home or online, and unseasonably warm forecast, albeit rainy. We'd thought about Truro when we drove past it last time, so Truro it is. Not much choice of campsites in winter. Looked at BritStops but didn't look inviting, not pubs. So booked Carnon Downs, 10 mins West of Truro; seemed to fail online. Oh well, won't be busy. 90 minute drive, then took 30 mins to park - all car parks full! What on earth is it like in summer?! Tesco for 2 hrs was our only option, given we don't do multistorey. Elevenses in Charlotte's Teahouse, a lovely old fashioned place cheek by jowl with v posh antiques in the Coinage Hall. Then the Cathedral. Splendid. Esp. the matchstick model. It rained. Went to campsite to find pitch in light. My booking was on the system. Strange. Young man gave us 'the best pitch' but there was someone on it. Sigh. We set up next door, had our lunch we'd brought. It rained more. Back into Truro, having left our...

Helston and Porthleven both deserve repeat visits. Ideally when Richard has an exhibition. Had another comfy night with no condensation, we do love this high pressure  - so rare in Nov. Drove past Truro, which looks large, posh & interesting; next trip. Lost Gardens of Heligan was down a long single lane road - that's the way Googlemaps took us. Lesley really enjoyed that! Got away with no reversing. L hit the Gardens for free as RHS member while N hunkered down in cafe to attend a Zoom mtg on the EuroHeart project. Gardens defo worth ano visit ... and the coffee and toast was excellent.  Along the coast road to Par East car park. Roof up and lunch. A sortie onto the beach, then half a mile of SW Coast Path east giving us a view of the bay and sightings of reed buntings in the hedge near us. This beach way too shallow for swimming but v safe for kids. Tea in the van then home.

Nice slow start at Henry's. It didnt quite rain. Definitely come here again, although no wifi at the van is frustrating, the showers are not heated and it takes half an hour to drive down the Lizard from Helston, past RNAS Culdrose. So, maybe not. We had a walk round Helston in the morning, it's a fine looking old town in the centre, lots of granite block buildings, water running down gulleys in the streets.  Checked out Elysian Fields campsite as we'll probably come in the dark. It is a field, and empty. Fine. Went to Sue & Richard's house in Trew. It's lovely, modernised 1850s with solar and airpump, facing a green. Single track road up there, of course. After a lovely chinwag we drove in convoy to Kota Kai in Porthleven. Wonderful meal, overlooking the harbour, and great conversation. A really good meeting of minds. We all strolled to the fisherman's Mission and the breakwater which always feature in TV reports on storms.  After much hugs and promises to ...

We left Plymouth at 0930, slightly less loaded than last time, as we didn't bring any swimming gear. Easy drive to the Lizard, swapped drivers halfway. Parked in the village, walked down to the southernmost point via a v muddy path, then had coffee at a cafe with a splendid view of the fearsome rocks and the seas which stretch landless, all the way to the Caribbean.  We saw the old disused RNLI station below the lighthouse, and a mysterious white building labelled Lloyd's Signal station, presumably used to check homecoming ships in the days before satellites and AIS. Back at the van, we drove the short distance to Henry's campsite, a rather eccentric place with guinea pig cages, ducks, chickens, Halloween spiders and endless palm trees. Henry himself is an affable aged hippy. The campsite looks chaotic at first glance, yet is v well organised with spotless facilities. The WiFi is limited to an outdoor bar area with a wild variety of huge settees and armchairs. The easterl...

Up a bit earlier, away by 10am. The campsite was v good esp facilities block. 30 mins to St Ives. And what a good day we had. The place was heaving despite the time of year and not half term for state schools. Electronic sign on entry said our target Barnoon Long Stay was full already. Just squeezed into Porthmeor Beach, max 3 hrs. L went Tate v nearby, N went walkabout on SW Coast Path round edge of town. Beautiful beaches and interesting fishing harbour complete with seal. L went to Barbara Hepworth, excellent apparently. N eschewed the town museum as still not raining despite threatening clouds, and walked around the town, visited church, even went to see Alfred Wallis grave though not a fan of his naive style.  Met up back at Tate and lunched in the 4th floor restaurant. Small but surprisingly not busy. Lovely view, lovely soup, lovely decaf leaf tea. Moved van to The Island car park which required a hair-raising drive through the centre of town including one wheel on pavement ...

Woke up v late, breakfast at 10am. Much less hazy, clear blue sky, much better view of Longships lighthouse. Drove 15 mins to Cape Cornwall NT car park. The Cape is wonderful, just as we'd hoped - scenic, fairly empty, and dry. Did the 45 minute walk around the headland, that's another few hundred metres of the SW Coast Path done. Lunch made in van with splendid views.  Saw a buzzard on the wing, tried & failed to get a photo, then he landed on a post across the valley - this is 30x mag. and cropped. Drove 30 mins to Penzance, parked by harbour. L is feeling the effect of the jabs more than N, she has aches & fatigue. L soldiered through some charity shops while N spent rather longer over his tea and mince pie flavoured flapjack. Then it was N who purchased charity jeans, shirt and book. Most unusual.  30 min drive to CAMC site Godevry Park which is like all other CAMC sites - very tightly organised with excellent facilities. As usual we chose a pitch and orientation s...