Written 20th
July 2012
The following morning
(Thursday) Steve and I said a sleepy fair well to Sarah and packed up
and shipped out of London. We drove down to Bath which was having a
terrible traffic jam. Steve got fed up with the traffic so we didn't
stop there.
We decided to head for the coast.
The weather decided to piss down with rain like shower time gone wild. When we were near the coast we found a rest stop with WiFi so we could book a hostel in Newquay (due to the torrential rain). Then we drove the rest of the day to get there. We had a dorm room with a nice view of the sea and some snoring room mates. The next morning dawned bright and freezing.
Steve was desperate for a surf so headed out at Fistral Beach. The surf was terrible and the wind was like icy fingers tickling you cold through all your layers of clothes.
I sat in the beach bar and drank warm hat chocolate with marshmallows in it and did some writing and some photo uploading. Steve came back frozen and frustrated as the surf was not an easy one in any way.
I bought him a coffee so he
could warm back up. Next we checked some other surf spots and enjoyed
being out in the sunshine in the invigorating wind and breathing the
fresh sea air.
We found ourselves a campsite for the night and then mucked about. The next day we headed down the coast towards Lands End. It was a lovely drive.
The landscape in Great Britain is very much like many parts of New Zealand. The fields are all set out in a similar manner and the trees look alike. However many of the roads are narrow and bordered by hedges or ancient stone walls. It is a very scenic place and we felt quite at home there. We were still excited about being able to understand everything and read things and ask people questions. It was like being 5 again and then suddenly learning to read and that if you ask questions you can get answers. It's so frustrating sometimes when you can't find the information you need because you can't read or speak a language.
Anyway... back to the drive.
It was lovely winding along the hills by the coast and admiring the lush green view. I took some photos of some lovely foxgloves.
I always imagine the little foxes wearing them when I see them. :) At one point we saw an old building by the roadside so stopped to investigate.
I'm so glad we did and that Steve suggested walking down to the coast via the track there. The building belonged to an old mine. (Carn Galver Mine.)
When we got closer to the coast we discovered the ruins of an even older looking structure and an old stone road.
There way a sweet wee arched bridge as well crossing the
stream.
Some of the stone walls patterning the hillsides are more than 4000 years old! I wonder how old he building was and what is was used for? I wonder if there was a whole village there once. We admired the ruins and the scenery and then waled back to the car.
We drove through Saint Ives and along the coast to Sennon and Lands End. (The most Southerly point of England – right in the South Western corner.)
We found a campsite and set up in wild camping section and played some soccer. We went into the town that night and looked at the rescue boat.
Steve loves those big boats that can bash though atrocious weather. That night when we went to bed the weather was rather bad. The tent was flapping like some big demented bird and trying to turn in on itself. I thought it would be had to sleep with all the racket the blustering wind and tappy rain was causing so out I went into the wippy downpour in my jacket and knickers and secured the tent with it's guy ropes (at that stage unused) and that did seem to stop the tent being battered about quite so much.
We decided to head for the coast.
The weather decided to piss down with rain like shower time gone wild. When we were near the coast we found a rest stop with WiFi so we could book a hostel in Newquay (due to the torrential rain). Then we drove the rest of the day to get there. We had a dorm room with a nice view of the sea and some snoring room mates. The next morning dawned bright and freezing.
Steve was desperate for a surf so headed out at Fistral Beach. The surf was terrible and the wind was like icy fingers tickling you cold through all your layers of clothes.
We payed for the expensive car parking.
I sat in the beach bar and drank warm hat chocolate with marshmallows in it and did some writing and some photo uploading. Steve came back frozen and frustrated as the surf was not an easy one in any way.
We found ourselves a campsite for the night and then mucked about. The next day we headed down the coast towards Lands End. It was a lovely drive.
The landscape in Great Britain is very much like many parts of New Zealand. The fields are all set out in a similar manner and the trees look alike. However many of the roads are narrow and bordered by hedges or ancient stone walls. It is a very scenic place and we felt quite at home there. We were still excited about being able to understand everything and read things and ask people questions. It was like being 5 again and then suddenly learning to read and that if you ask questions you can get answers. It's so frustrating sometimes when you can't find the information you need because you can't read or speak a language.
Anyway... back to the drive.
It was lovely winding along the hills by the coast and admiring the lush green view. I took some photos of some lovely foxgloves.
I always imagine the little foxes wearing them when I see them. :) At one point we saw an old building by the roadside so stopped to investigate.
I'm so glad we did and that Steve suggested walking down to the coast via the track there. The building belonged to an old mine. (Carn Galver Mine.)
When we got closer to the coast we discovered the ruins of an even older looking structure and an old stone road.
Some of the stone walls patterning the hillsides are more than 4000 years old! I wonder how old he building was and what is was used for? I wonder if there was a whole village there once. We admired the ruins and the scenery and then waled back to the car.
We drove through Saint Ives and along the coast to Sennon and Lands End. (The most Southerly point of England – right in the South Western corner.)
We found a campsite and set up in wild camping section and played some soccer. We went into the town that night and looked at the rescue boat.
Steve loves those big boats that can bash though atrocious weather. That night when we went to bed the weather was rather bad. The tent was flapping like some big demented bird and trying to turn in on itself. I thought it would be had to sleep with all the racket the blustering wind and tappy rain was causing so out I went into the wippy downpour in my jacket and knickers and secured the tent with it's guy ropes (at that stage unused) and that did seem to stop the tent being battered about quite so much.
The next morning the
weather decided to come right and we walked down the lovely country
road from the campsite to Lands End and wandered the cliffs in the
fresh sunny day.
I took lots of lovely photographs and we had a very nice walk.
The rock formations are very interesting to view and the scenery is beautiful. The colours are so lush and fresh, everything feels alive around you. We met a nice old man when we came back from our walk and had a yarn to him for quite a bit. His daughter had gone to take a picture of the blue sky so she could remember it had been blue! After that we walked along past the first and last house in England and then found some models of little English houses. Next - back to the campsite for lunch.
I took lots of lovely photographs and we had a very nice walk.
The rock formations are very interesting to view and the scenery is beautiful. The colours are so lush and fresh, everything feels alive around you. We met a nice old man when we came back from our walk and had a yarn to him for quite a bit. His daughter had gone to take a picture of the blue sky so she could remember it had been blue! After that we walked along past the first and last house in England and then found some models of little English houses. Next - back to the campsite for lunch.
After lunch we played
soccer together. Just as we were about to stop Steve accidentally
kicked the ball over the grassy mound. When we went up to find it we
realised it was not actually a grassy mound at all but more a weedy
overgrown tangly mound.
We searched and searched and searched some more but couldn't find it anywhere. It was not easy to search either as there were lots of stinking nettles about in the weeds but we didn't know which ones they were. You would think a yellow ball would stick out but heaps of the foliage was yellow too! We were nearly about to give up. I thought I would try one more thing. So I closed my eyes and imagined myself finding the yellow ball. I imagined how excited I would feel if I found it. I opened my eyes. I crouched down in the weeds until I was lower than the top leaves and flowers. Then I poked about with my stick. And there it was!!! I had found it!
Steve came over with his longer stick and I prized it out.
YAY! After that Steve had a surf and I had a read.
We searched and searched and searched some more but couldn't find it anywhere. It was not easy to search either as there were lots of stinking nettles about in the weeds but we didn't know which ones they were. You would think a yellow ball would stick out but heaps of the foliage was yellow too! We were nearly about to give up. I thought I would try one more thing. So I closed my eyes and imagined myself finding the yellow ball. I imagined how excited I would feel if I found it. I opened my eyes. I crouched down in the weeds until I was lower than the top leaves and flowers. Then I poked about with my stick. And there it was!!! I had found it!
Steve came over with his longer stick and I prized it out.
YAY! After that Steve had a surf and I had a read.
Steve read The Help in a little over a day. I did the last catch up of the blog. We went surfing in the foggiest fog in little waves and freezing water. It was very refreshing though. On the last night we had a yummy pub meal at the First and Land Inn in England.
