Summer Holiday 2015: Cornwall

I've been visiting Cornwall now for over 5 years with my other half, Joe. He has been holidaying in Cornwall for pretty much his whole life as his parents have a caravan based in North Cornwall that they used regularly. I fell in love with the county when I started to join Joe on his holidays and I always look forward to returning every year.

 We travelled down from Wiltshire on the 8^th of August and I feel incredibly proud of myself as I drove half the journey for the first time. I have been driving for almost 4 years but my anxiety has caused me to have a serious lack of confidence when it comes to motorway driving. With thanks to Joe, his support and numerous trips to Bristol to help me practice, I have finally found that confidence to replace the anxiety. I really pleased that I can finally share the driving with Joe as it can be a very long journey.

 This year we decided to take our push bikes with us. As we have been visiting Cornwall for so long, we have seen and done almost all the attractions so felt it would be good to explore the Cornish sights whilst getting some exercise!

When in Cornwall, we stay close to Porthcothan Bay. When I first visited the beach at Porthcothan, I fell in love and it has been my favourite ever since - I've even debated getting married there! 

I was going to write about every day but I don't want this post to go on forever, so here are a few of the things we got up too…

Holly dogs! She is a lurcher :)

Tuesday 11^th:

Today we took our bikes to Padstow to ride the Camel Trail. We rode 5 miles, all the way to Wadebridge. Amazingly, I rode the whole way and didn't feel the need to stop once(my stamina is rubbish usually), go me! . We stopped for a pasty and had a look around the local shops. I instantly headed for the shop that stocked jewellery and crystals and ended up treating myself to this beautiful silver moonstone ring (after spending ages choosing between all the other beautiful pieces). I've not taken it off since! We had to ride another 5 miles back to Padstow and this time I did stop but only to get these pictures... It was a really good bike ride and it felt really good to get all that exercise.

We’d left Holly back in the caravan so it was only fair that we took her for a walk on the beach when we got back. After a quick paddle we headed back to get ready for dinner. 

 

OOTD:

Shorts: h&m. Top: Primark. Cardigan: Internatiocal. Sunglasses: Polaroid/TK Maxx.

Wednesday 12^th:

We decided to make the most of the weather today and all went back to Padstow; but this time we caught the ferry over to Rock. There isn't much at Rock but the beach was quiet enough to let Holly off the lead for a good run and play. The sea was calm so I went for a paddle. I wish I'd been wearing my swimming costume as it was calm enough to swim. I love these pictures that Joe captured of Holly running through the sea.

We headed back on the ferry to Padstow where we stopped for lunch from the chip shop. After we had a look around the local shops and had an ice cream. These ice creams were far from 99p like they used to be!

 Later on, we took Holly for a walk over the cliffs and stopped off at the pub for a drink. The views from the Tredrea Inn of Porthcothan Bay  are amazing! I was counting down the minutes until sunset as I really wanted to go to the beach to watch it. Unfortunately the clouds were not helpful and ruined my plans. However, from the caravan we witnessed the sky turn a beautiful shade of pink and purple whilst the sun went down. It was amazing!

Thursday 13^th:

Heavy rain fell all night and all day today. We took this as an opportunity to go for a train ride at the Bodmin & Wenford railway. This is an annual ritual for us as Joe volunteers for the Swindon & Cricklade Railway so steam engines feature heavily in our lives. I don't mind joining him for a train ride as we have a deal, I go to the railway, he joins me shopping. Good balance I think. Unfortunately, because of the weather, everyone else seemed to have the same idea as us and the railway was incredibly busy! After the journey we headed for Newquay. Another annual ritual when we go to Cornwall, is to visit the cinema and have a meal at Frankie & Benny’s – especially if the weather is bad. We were both looking forward to watching Inside Out but it was sold out so we booked tickets for PIXELS instead. After a three course meal and a very wet walk through Newquay, we were not disappointed by the film! It was brill!! It was a typical ‘save the world and get the girl’ story line but it was so different to other films. Adam Sandler did good!

Friday 14^th:

The rain had gone but it was still overcast so we all decided to go on another walk with the dog. We went on the Camel Trail again, but this time from Bodmin. 

We walked 3.8 miles this time and stopped halfway for a cream tea. It was yummy!

 When heading back to the car, Joe got another chance to see the steam engine from Bodmin & Wenford as it had arrived at the station.

Again, I was hoping to catch the sunset at the beach. We did catch it this time but again, the clouds were in the way! It was also incredibly windy so we didn't stay for long!

Saturday 15^th:

Today we headed over to St Austell to visit the Cornish Market World. I wanted to go as last year I bought lots of gemstone beads from a little craft stall; this year however, wasn't as great. As we’d gone a fair distance we decided to make the most of South East Cornwall and visited Mevagissey. Walking round the harbour, I enjoyed browsing the quirky little gifts shops. When visiting Mevagissey previously, the sea seems so different, so dark and I assumed this was because the weather was quite miserable. Today the weather was lovely, the sun was shining but the sea still looked so dark and eery, which was strange yet beautiful. It was also  incredibly calm!

The rest of the holiday involved more dog walks over the cliffs and time to chill out and recharge our batteries. I so needed to get away but I can't help but miss my furry babies still at home being looked after by my amazing nan!

This post has been vey long but I hope you enjoyed reading it!?

Have you visited Cornwall? Do you recommend anything to do or see whilst there?

Emma

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