Friday
The alarm clock sounds off at 2:45. Exhausted and bleary eyed we begrudgingly get out of bed, turn the coffee percolator on, get dressed, pack remaining items and collect items we’re taking with into one pile, and what a big pile it is! That’s the great thing about travelling by car, you can bring along anything you think you might use (with emphasis on “might”). No justification and rationalizing required thank you very much. When travelling by air, everything needs to fit into the little carry on bag (avoid checking in luggage at all costs!).
By 3:15 we’re out the door for the 15 minute walk over to the parking lot by the M&S to pick up our Streetcar car. Streetcar is quite a nifty service with which we are heartily impressed. So much so that I will dedicate a whole blog entry to espouse it’s virtues. With a flash of the membership card, entry of PIN, extracting of keys, adjustment of seats and mirrors we’re off. Back to the flat we drive to load up.
By 3:45 we are officially on the road – navigating our way through the quiet early morning streets of London. With some minor street navigation issues (a.k.a Aileen not paying attention to street signs), we navigate our way onto the M4. As long at we make it to Bristol by 7 we should be fine.
An hour and 45 minutes later we pass through Bristol. Woohoo! We’re on a roll. iPod music is a-blaring, grumbling tummies were appeased with mortadella sandwiches made and eaten somewhere between Reading and Bath, the caffeine is kicking in. We trundle down the M5 then take the long winding A30.
By 8ish we arrive in Penzance and decide to kill some time. We attempt to park the car and realize we don’t have any change for the parking meter. To get change we purchase what turns out to be the nastiest bacon sandwich ever - 2 flavourless rashers cooked under a grill, encased in 2 sad limp pieces of white (no doubt loaded with cancer/obesity inducing hydrogenated substances), prepared by a young lady who looks absolutely miserable to be doing what she’s doing. Yet we eat it (how does one pass up bacon exactly?) and manage to get a tidy supply of change for parking.
Penzance is pretty enough but nothing spectacular. Our opinions would no doubt have been better disposed if the sun were out but alas it was a typical English Summer 2007 day – cold, grey and dreary. Of some interest were the old lido (tide fed pool – which unfortunately did not make up for the lack of beach), strolling through the old streets such as Chapel street (with it’s 300 year old pubs), the views of Mount St Michael (small sibling to Normandy’s Mont St Michel), and peering through shop windows at the Cornish pasties.
Mount Saint Michael, Cornish Pasties
With no specific planned itinerary, we decide to drive around the area before checking into our B&B. From Penzance we head to Sennen Cove – a lovely beached cove with a cute little harbour. We stroll up the hill by the harbour for some amazing views of Land’s End and the cove. From Sennen it was a short drive to Porthcurno to check out the beach. We have an early dinner at a pub in Porthcurno before heading to our B&B to check in.
Ed admiring views of Land’s End, Porthcurno Beach
The Ardensawah B&B is working farm B&B, run by Janet and her husband (the farmer). In the middle of their several hectares of vegetable crop farmland lies the B&B (also their home). In some of the farm sheds by the B&B are a flock of chickens, ducks and geese, and some pigs. Janet sells the free-range eggs from a little basket hanging on a fence out front, by a small change jar. To purchase a half a dozen eggs, you simply drop 65c in the change jar and take your eggs. The pigs are sold to the local butcher. The farm is “guarded” by 3 farm dogs (I say “guarded” loosely as they’re sweetie pies). It’s a lovely B&B. Janet was a very gracious host, and our room had marvellous views of Cornwall countryside and the ocean.
Ardensawah dogs and pigs
When we arrive, Janet’s left a note on the door. She’s stepped out for a short bit, but the door’s open and we’re welcome to enter and head to our room. It’s about 4 pm and we’re starting to feel the pain of having woken up at 2:30 am. We decide to take a “nap” (always a risky proposition). We have tickets for the 8 pm show at the outdoor Minack Theatre nearby, but it’s quite cold and dreary out, and the Big Brother Finale’s on so we’re torn about going and defer decision making until after our nap. The alarm clock goes off at 17:00. I open one eye. I’m feeling comfortable in the bed. Outside still looks cold and dreary. I mumble something to the effect of “We’re tired. It’s cold. We’ll get sick.”. We continue to nap. Around 7 we finally wake up, have a picnic on the bed, and settle in to watch the Big Brother finale. Sorry Minack Theatre.
Saturday
The alarm goes off at 7. Breakfast at the B&B is served from 8-9 (Janet has a farm to run in addition to feeding us!). We request for the full English breakfast which turns out to be quite the plateful – eggs, bacon, sausage, white pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes, hash browns, toast and tea. Perfect if you’ve got a busy day of strenuous farming ahead of you but we’ve only got lazing on the beach planned. Breakfast is served on one long dining table so we get to meet some of the other guests – a couple from Denmark (we visited Denmark just 2 weeks prior, one of the places we visited was the town in which they live) and a family from Wiltshire. We have a leisurely breakfast, chatting with our fellow guests. This is highly unusual for the Smalls as we’re usually quite sleepily antisocial first thing in the morning.
By 11:00 we’ve packed our picnic bag, blankies and towels and head out for our walk to Porthcurno beach. It was quite strange randomly wondering along the public footpath through other people’s paddocks and fields. We cross through several. At one point we lose sight of the footpath and get momentarily lost. We can see the tower of St Levan church (our point of reference) but can’t seem to find the final section of the footpath to get there. The path turns out to continue through someone’s back yard. Their back door is open and we can hear them at the breakfast table, so we try to slink by as quietly as possible. From St Levan church we head up the narrow road, and I mean narrow. Some of the streets in this area of Cornwall are barely the width of a small car. Drivers need to practice a high degree of courtesy. We’re finding country life a little strange. Open doors, friendly farmer families , courteous drivers. All quite stress-free, and this genial mood along with the fresh air (just the occasional whiff of cow poop) begin to impact the Smalls. It’s really quite relaxing.
View of Ardensawah B&B from across paddock, Cornwall roads
We get onto the South West coast path heading to Porthcurno. The views are amazing. Rocky cliffs. Vast blue ocean. Colourful flora. Little coves with white sandy beaches. We pass by the beach at Porthgawarra (accessible only by footpath), and are tempted to stop and settle in but decide to continue on to Porthcurno. Just before reaching Porthcurno beach we run into the Minack Theatre. The theatre is quite the peculiar venue. It was built mostly through the purpose and determination of one woman (Rowena Cade) over a period of many years. It is essentially carved into the cliff. Views from the theatre are absolutely spectacular. Dare I say I had a small twinge of regret for choosing Big Brother over Minack? There’s always next year I suppose.
Pothgawarra Beach and Minack Theatre
From Minack we head down the tiny steep path to Porthcurno beach (beware those who are afraid of heights!). We lay out our blanket, open a bottle of wine, and commence the chilling – making and eating of ham sandwich, drinking of wine, taking of long nap. Hmmm. The one downside it’s that it’s a little chilly and overcast, but we enjoy the soft sand, gentle breeze, and the clean seaside smell nevertheless. After our nap we sit around for a bit before slowly packing up to begin the trudge back to the B&B. When we arrive at the B&B we’re greeted by the Ardensawah dogs and geese. We stop to chat a little with Janet who’s just come from feeding the pigs. We’re starting to feel at home. And conversely starting to regret we leave the next day, and sorry we didn’t plan on staying longer.
Ed on narrow trail down to Portchurno,On Porthcurno Beach
For dinner we take a taxi to Sennen Cove. We dine at the Old Success Inn (founded 1691), and enjoy the tunes of a sawgrass band (in Cornwall!) before hopping back into a taxi back to the B&B. It’s been a good day.
Sunday
Again an early morning start. If anything earlier this morning, as this morning we need to pack and check out. We’re torn. Should we leave directly after breakfast and maybe stop by some towns along the way? Or take one more walk along the SW Coast path near the hotel? Outside looks the same cold and dreary. We haven’t been hungry since the breakfast the day before, so we opt for a lighter breakfast. Just toast for Ed, Just eggs, bacon and toast for me thank you (oink). We pack the car up. We settle our bill. We make a last minute decision to take the walk. Janet highly recommends it, and it’s only an hour circular walk. We have some time before we need to head out, and have no specific towns/sights to see anyway.
The walk begins down a lane towards the coast. We walk by a paddock with black and white spotted cows. I’m reminded of the Gary Larsen cartoons. For it’s as if we walked in when they were in the middle of intense intellectual conversation. They all look our way, and I swear they looked almost annoyed at being interrupted.
Cornwall Cows and Farmland
We continue along the path and enjoy the views of the countryside. As we near the coast, the hedges fall back and we’re suddenly out in the open, facing a vast field of colourful wild flowers, against the backdrop of the rugged coastline and clear blue ocean. It’s a stunning sight. As an additional treat, the sun begins to make an appearance. We continue along the path, stopping frequently to take in the views and take deep breaths of the clean crisp air, enjoying our solitude in this amazing place. We walk past one cove, over a ridge into another cove. As we trudge along, seemingly out of nowhere, a small secluded sandy white beach comes into view. It feels like a special chance discovery, almost like a surprise gift. A treat. The cherry on top of the cake. We savour the view, content that our short trip met and exceeded all our expectations, but a little sorry we can’t continue along the path. We’ll have to come back down at some point in the future for at least a week, and leave our footprints on several more paths along the southwest coast.
Wildflowers, Secluded beach
To view our complete set of pics from Cornwall, please visit the Smallzone Travel Page.
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