Advertisement
Published: April 13th 2017
Edit Blog Post
Day 4 Continued: Penzance
His side – So after our fantastic hike through a gorge, and looking at ruins in Okehampton we we’re off to the next part in our journey. Moving from Devon to Cornwall. This is something I had been looking forward to immensely; I had many idealised notions in my head, driving around the countryside, having cider in little pubs and eating Cornish pasties. On the way to our next stop, we had decided to go to this place called the Eden Project (Georgia has the link below). This is an amazing place we’re they converted an old clay pit and converted it to an eco-domed garden wonderland. What I will say is, don’t do a 3-hour hike, and then drive two hours, and then do the Eden Project. Seriously, you need at least half a day at this place. I arrived in a daze, and it was my job to buy the tickets, as Georgia was getting some money out of the ATM. The lady at the counter advised me that it would be more economical to purchase an annual pass, as it is the same price as an admission. She needed to
repeat this three times before Rhys achieved comprende. Look, man, I was tired - it was a long morning. They then proceeded to collect every detail known to man about my life before I was able to purchase said tickets. As Georgia and I strolled through the garden, and read some of their signs on environmentalism, and their origin stories – I thought about home (I come from a mining town/valley). And how much we would benefit from something similar. You should Google the open cut mines in an area called Singleton. That’s what the effect of coal mining does and it was magnificent to see how an old mine could turn into something so special. We strolled through the rainforest eco-dome, and after nearly dying from the heat (English cold to a temperature regulated dome), we decided to head onto Penzance. I had begun to control my histrionics a bit better in the car about driving down the winding country roads.
Her side:
That afternoon we visited The Eden project- a truly amazing idea - an old china clay pit mine that has been transformed into an amazing garden (check it
out here-
http://www.edenproject.com/visit). After a day hiking and walking I was looking forward to a hot shower and a relax - too bad the caravan park we stayed at was actually the worst. We reassessed the situation - we were thinking of staying two nights in Penzance but we decided to cut it down to one and explore the town and surrounding area the next morning.
Day 5: Penzance > Tintagel
His side – Georgia and I decided to cut down one night in Penzance. Originally we wanted to stay two, but cut down to one after reviewing the state of the caravan park. Based on my ‘living in the moment’ philosophy, I was creating little rules in my head about how to learn from our ‘happy little accidents’ (such as driving to Wales when you don’t mean to). Rule #1 is utilising Google Maps as much as possible when driving to destinations, and rule #2 is checking caravan park amenities before paying, if possible. Anyways, enough of my tangential thinking style, we went into Penzance. Penzance was a lovely little coastal town, and we used the opportunity to do some much-needed clothes
drying, and ate some breakfast at a pub down the road while we waited for it to finish. It was 10.30am and the locals were already drifting in for a beer! I subsequently broke a toilet (not in the way you are thinking), so Georgia and I had to make a quick escape to pick up our laundry. We strolled around the town and went to a place in Penzance called Market Jew Street. I couldn’t stop laughing about the absurdity of the name. We stopped in a bakery for a Cornish Pastie, and purchased two for the novelty of it. I asked the shop assistant about why it is called Market Jew Street (as the bakery had pictures on the wall about when they first opened on the street). I received a confused look, at a sharp stamp on my feet from Georgia, so I hurriedly collected our pasties and left. We then drove to see some sights, namely Lizard Point and Porthcurno. This was again, very beautiful. However, I preferred just driving about through the countryside. We arrived in Tintagel late at night, and Georgia and I had a delicious meal at the pub, while she mournfully watched
me consume several pints in quick succession.
Her side: We woke early and went into beautiful Penzance for breakfast and a wander around. After we drove to Lizard Point - the most southerly point on mainland Britain - the cliffs were breathtaking, but I found myself saying to Rhys that whilst the view was beautiful, it actually has nothing on the beaches back home (but I guess the UK has, you know, Europe at its doorstep, so maybe that trumps great beaches for someone who hates sand). That night we headed into Tintagel to stay at a bed and breakfast - we slept in an actual bed and had a proper shower that wasn't on a timer - I washed my hair. It was bliss.
Day 6: Tintagel > Bristol
His side – We arrived in Tintagel! Tintagel is a small village that lays claim to the origins of the mythical King Arthur story. I love King Arthur, and as all great myths/sagas, I love how the seeds of truth intersperse with the legend. Look was there a historical King Arthur? I don’t know, I’m not a historian, silly…
I’m just a strange Australian. It seems to me that there were several possible historical Arthurs (considering the name meant bear) throughout time, in Wales and Cornwall, as well as other parts of England & Scotland. The idea that Geoffrey of Monmouth purported that King Arthur was born in Tintagel was one worth exploring at least. We left our B&B and drifted through the village. Man, what a place! Quite small but so idyllic. As they say in the movie the Castle, - “how’s the serenity?” It was a bitterly cold day, and we went to a medieval post office, and the King Arthur's Great Halls (which was a really kitsch story about King Arthur, filled with 80’s dramatic synths and Merlin whispering sweet nothings). The hall was nice, with amazing stained glass windows built early last century. Unfortunately, Tintagel Castle was closed due to the strong winds, so we left early to drive to Bristol. I’d definitely recommend Tintagel, and I’d say with good weather you would want one to two days exploring here.
Her side: After a full English breakfast at the B&B we were off into Tintagel to explore the legend of King Arthur.
I’m not really into knights and castles, but it was a really quaint little village. We left after a quick tea and scone stop and headed to Bristol. We wandered through the city that afternoon, but that night we stayed just outside of Bristol, having given ourselves the luxury of an actual bed and proper bathroom the night before we decided to completely ‘rough it’ stay in the car park of this small pub. We found this really handy website which provides a list of pubs that let you stay in their car park -
http://smartcamper.campervantours.com We had an amazing meal and enjoyed the hospitality of a free place to park our van.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.129s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 12; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0397s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb