Star Gazing at an Observatory

Today we decided to take a short trip to the Branscombe mill, old bakery and forge where we watched a blacksmith making stuff. I thought that was very interesting.

The most thrilling part was getting there. Yes, you guessed it more narrow roads where the hedge rows on either side of the road brush against Hermans sides but this time we also had the steep gradients. At one point Herman couldn't continue because the wheels just span on the wet road. It was touch and go.

Getting back on proper roads and unclenching teeth and buttocks we headed for Lyme Regis where we found the parking fees very civilized (£1.70 for all day). Being the fossil capital of the UK we had to do some fossil hunting. We found loads but they were all too large to pick up.

When we got back to the campsite the sun had come out. After a fab meal of chorizo and bean stew and locally baked bread I cycled to the Norman Lockyer Observatory which is about a mile away.

The observatory has 5 fixed large telescopes including an 11 inch reflector (opened this year by Queen guitarist and astronomer Brian May) and a 150 year old 6 inch refractor. The observatory also has a planetarium which was amazing to see.

Many people had brought their own kit, most of it very expensive. They'd setup their telescopes with cameras and laptops connected and then sat in the auditorium and controlled the telescopes from there using WiFi and a big screen. I'd like to be able to do that from inside Herman when we're out camping, in the warm with a mug of tea. Having said that sitting inside, in the warm, staring at a large screen with 4 different telescope views didn't beat being outside, in the cold, viewing Saturn, or Hercules Globular Cluster, or the Ring Nebula with your own eye aided by mirrors and lenses. You would see more detail and colour with the cameras and computers but the sense of magic and wonder had gone. For example, the other day when we were in Looe I spent an evening taking photos of Saturn. It was only when I shut the telescope and laptop down that I got the wow factor having looked up at sky and seeing the amazing stars of the summer months with the Milky Way stretching to the horizon.

It was a great place to meet people and talk about astronomy and telescopes.

Sidmouth, Devon

We've moved on again. This is our last campsite. Our holiday is drawing to a close. This time we are in Sidmouth, Devon. I chose this place because there is an Observatory less than a mile from the campsite.
It's been raining all day and the chances of seeing anything at night is looking slim.

The Pirates of Polperro

Today we went to Polperro. It's another pretty fishing town with a harbour and narrow streets. To be honest there's not much there really. There are lots of places to eat; pasty shops, ice cream palours and cafes.  But there are probably too many art and craft shops. You know, those shops selling stuff to hang on your wall or to sit on your mantle piece. Oh, and there's a cave.

I think the real problem with Polperro and the reason for my negativity is the car parking. We've spent a small fortune in Cornwall on car parking but the parking in Polperro is just highway robbery. To park your car costs £4 for 3 hours. That's more expensive than parking in London. However, to park a camper costs £7.50 for 3 hours. Pirates are alive and well in Polperro! A lot of campers, including Herman, will fit into a car parking space and there were a couple of very large cars there too. So why the difference in price? Not only that, but you get to feel like a segregated second class citizen because you have to park right at the back of this massive car park miles from the pay booth and the entrance. It just made me feel that we were being ripped off and just didn't want to spend any money. We'd also liked to have had a meal in Polperro but didn't have the time either.

Today was also Zoe's birthday and I got her those Croc's shoes. She's been wanting a pair for a while and we found a shop in Looe selling them the other day. I also got a pair for myself. Well, I didn't want to miss out.

Coastal Walk to Looe

Whenever we have nice weather Zoe always says, "oh, it's like being in a different country". Today was definitely like being in a different country. First of all the sun has been blazing all day long with not a cloud in the sky. Second, walking along the coast into Looe felt like a hike along the Cinque Terre in Tuscany, Italy with its steep climbs, cliff side houses and spectacular views.

Looe is a beautiful harbour town with a beach, narrow streets and lots of places to eat and drink. We had a light lunch in "The Coffee Shop" which was really delicious.

Just found out that Herman is live on the campsite webcam

Looe

New campsite today. This time we are in Looe, on the south coast of Cornwall. We've got a great view of Looe Bay with Looe Island and the sun has been out for most of the day.

Getting here was somewhat entertaining. First, we stopped off at Lanhydrock which is a very impressive Victorian stately house and gardens. And second, the campsite is situated down some very narrow roads with a sign that says "Road Ends Ahead"! Luckily, we didn't meet much traffic but we still had to change our underwear when we arrived.

St. Michael's Mount

The weather has been so much better today. The sun was out for most of the day and no wind. In other words a great day to visit St. Michael's Mount which is right on our doorstep.

The tide was out so we were able to walk to the island via the causeway. The island has a small community of cottages, a chapel, gardens, a harbour, restaurants and a castle. A family still live in the castle but you can still visit it and go inside.

By the time we wanted to leave the tide had come back in and we had to take a short ride on one of the ferries to take us back to shore.

This is when we spotted a seal just bobbing along not 20 metres from where we were standing.

Returning back to the campsite we had another BBQ and Zoe volunteered to wash Herman. And a pretty good job she did too even though it took her 14 buckets of water!

Herman's Coastal Tour

St. Ives was todays destination which is another pretty coastal town. It's full of pasty shops, art galleries, bakeries & sea gulls.

Afterwards, we took Herman on a tour of the north coastal road to St. Just. Amazing, twisty, narrow roads which I think I did on my motorbike many years ago. I was driving so there was no wetting of knickers at the sight of the 556 bus coming the other way. This road had some really nice views. You couldn't see much of the coast but the surrounding countryside was amazing.

We didn't stop in St. Just because we missed the car park but instead we went to Mousehole which is on the south coast near Penzance. This coastal town must have the narrowest streets in the world but it also has a bus service which has to do a 3-point turn when it arrives at the harbour.

The weather has been getting better. The wind isn't so strong, the sun has kindly appeared and we managed to have a BBQ.

Lands End

Today was a chore day. We had to do shopping and laundry and we did both in Penzance.

Lunch in Penzance was a bit of a disaster. We ordered and 45 mins later we still hadn't been served so we walked out and went and had a delicious (proper) Cornish pasty instead.

In the afternoon we ended up at Lands End. It was so windy there you could almost lean against it. At least it wasn't raining. We saw a few people who had just arrived or were just setting off for John O'Groats (874 miles away in Scotland).

Our campsite is a 5 minute walk from the coast and St. Michael's Mount which is an island that you can walk to when the tide is out. It's also a great place to watch the kite surfers riding the waves and getting some air.

Pendennis Castle

We moved on again today. This time we headed for Penzance but before that we took a detour to Pendennis Castle in Falmouth.

The castle was built in 1540 by King Henry 8 to defend against a French or Spanish invasion. We got in for free with our English Heritage membership that ran out in March. Interesting place with guns & cannons but we thought that the smaller Mawes Castle (also by Henry 8) on the opposite side of the Falmouth estuary was better with more detail and an audio tour.

There was also a exhibition of cartoons drawn by George Butterworth who was on the Nazi hit list for taking the piss out of Hitler during World War 2.

The weather has been the worst so far. Windy, cold and heavy rain at times but that didn't put some guy off eating his Mr Whippy ice cream.

Fastest Bus in the Galaxy

Today we decided to walk the coastal path to the Bedruthan Steps which is a famous beauty spot of a small group of islands along the coast. The weather was very different from the last few days and we got wet a few times.

We managed to catch the 556 bus back to the campsite and what a ride it was. The Millennium Falcon had nothing on this bus. Single track, narrow, twist roads at what seemed like light speed. Cars and Land Rovers jumping out of the way. And the driver? Well, he was learning the route. He'd only just started the job a few days ago. He was previously a rally car driver.

It was a great way of seeing the Cornish coast.

Padstow in Shorts

Wow, it was hot today. Forecast was clear and thunder in the afternoon. So wrong. Today I've been in shorts (with my lillie white legs) and factor 25 sun block. We spent the morning just being lethargic and relaxing while in the afternoon we went to Padstow which is a fishing town famous for the celebrity chef Rick Stein.

This beautiful town is full of places to eat with more pasty shops (including three in a row down one small narrow street) than you'll ever need and only out numbered by ice cream parlours.

We needed to buy bread and the only place selling proper bread (it was late in the day for fresh bread) was Rick Stein's bakers. In fact, he has a number of shops and restaurants in Padstow. In one shop you can buy his beer, his wine, his ice cream, his pasties, his fish, his veg, his salt and his BBQ charcoal!

We are now back at the campsite and it has gone a little cloudy. Maybe that thunder is coming after all.

Port Isaac

Moving on today we head towards Tregurrian, north Cornwall.

The weather was sunny and warm. Perfect for sight seeing. We stop off at Port Isaac which is a beautiful historic fishing village with small, narrow streets.

Lunch was fantastic. We ate in Cup Cakes, a small tea room and we both had the locally caught crab tarts.

Zoe did all the driving and not being used to the narrow, twisty roads she almost ended up wetting herself but we made it to the campsite in one piece.

Saved by a Smart Phone

We are now on another holiday in Herman our motorhome. We are going to be touring Cornwall but for a couple of nights we are staying in the Dartmoor National Park in Devon.

Today was our first full day and it hasn't stopped raining since we woke up. So we decided to head out into the Park and see it from the driver's seat, as it were.

We ended up in Postbridge, had a great lunch at the East Dart Hotel when the weather started to clear a bit. After buying a guided walk we set off on 4 mile hike up a Tor (hill with jagged rocks).

The route  was simple but somehow we still managed to go the wrong way and get lost! Looking at the map in the guide didn't help because we'd gone on too far before we had realised we'd gone the wrong way. So, we didn't know where we were.

We could walk back the way we came but that seemed a long way. I took out my smart phone hoping to use its GPS and the map application but it needs a phone signal to work and I didn't have that. Instead I fired up the compass application and using that and the guide map I managed to figure out where we were and get us back on the right track. We had walked over a kilometre in the wrong direction.

Herman in Dartmoor

Zoe in the rain on Bellever Tor

On the Day of the Transit of Venus

The Diamond Jubilee was a bit of a wash out with regards to the weather and the chances of seeing the Venus transit grew slim over weekend.

I woke up at 4am on Wednesday 6 June expecting it to be still raining followed by my head laying back down on the pillow. Instead, I was greeted by a bright full moon and clear sky all around.

With that burst of blurry eyed enthusiasm I was dressed and out the door in 10 minutes. This was when I noticed that the moon had disappeared and the sky was covered by cloud.

Still, I'm up and ready now.

Arriving at my usual spot I set up the telescope and waited and hoped for the cloud to disappear.

It never did. It broke up a little but this was the only shot I could take. It was so cloudy I didn't see the sun at all.