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.