Cornwall; dolphins, castles, magical gardens and engagements..!

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Cornwall, the most southern and tropical part of the UK and also one of the most remote parts.





Day 1. So our journey begins... at 2:30am to travel the predicted 6 hours to Marazion, Cornwall’s oldest Town. I've got the car packed, its down on its wheel arches and a super strength coffee to go! The drive from Shoreham By Sea was pretty uneventful with not a soul on the roads until we got past Bodmin which goes on forever, to our surprise there is a dual carriageway that goes all the way into Cornwall that opened last Friday. This motorway knocked two hours off our predicted time and we got to Cornwall in under 4 and a 1/2 hours, good going! We took the time to have a drive around Marazion and Penzance to hunt some breakfast where we found a the Cornish Greggs, Warrens and got a well-deserved bacon sandwich! Arriving at St Michaels Mount in Marazion we locate our boutique hotel, Mount Haven which has stunning views over the bay and of the castle. We get our complimentary drinks in the bar, again with amazing views across the bay, we take it in before we check-in and get showered for the day ahead.



We manage to work up some energy and head over to St Michaels Mount gardens across the tidal causeway where they have some spectacular tropical flowers and woodland along with some very steep stairs! I think it's time for some wine across from the mount at the Gadolphin restaurant where we watch the tide come in across the causeway and get to see the "smart" people getting stranded by trying to get across as the tide comes in.



The suns settings and we take a leisurely pub crawl up the hill to find somewhere to grab some dinner.





Day 2. We wake up in our beautiful room and draw the curtains open to take in the morning sun on our private balcony, tea to kick start the day off before we head down to breakfast.

I've booked out today with a few things to do, hopefully Helen approves...



After breakfast I've booked us in for a deep tissue massage at the hotel for an hour which was pretty amazing and we got some good tips from the locals on where to go in Cornwall.



So, we are now full from brekkie, relaxed from our massages and it's now time to head to Portcurno beach which I've heard is one of the nicest in the country. We go armed with a full smorgasbord (most cheese board for Helen!) of treats to enjoy a picnic on the beach, we're lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny afternoon chilling out and get to watch a family of dolphins feeding just off the coast in the crystal clear blue waters. I forgot to mention that the walk to the beach is down a steep and pretty scary cliff walk, it's fair to say with all the gear we were schlepping down that this was a tough slog but well and truly worth it.



After a good few hours and a nearly empty beach we are booked in to take in a show at the famous alfresco Minock Theatre, quick drive home to get changed and we are back at Minock to take in the show: Nell Gwynn.



The seats are great and the views are out of this world, I couldn't recommended taking In a show over the bay any more, it's truly an experience. One tip, take a cushion and you are sitting on naked granite which can get a bit numb on the old bum!



Onto the show, Nell Gwynn is a cheek story about a rags to riches girl who falls in love the king of England in Tudor times. It's got some blue songs in it which didn't fail to get a laugh from me, to quote one "cock cock... cockaspanuel" was a line from one of them!

After an amazing evening we just have the trip back to our hotel and one final thing for me to do today...



A room with a view, a bottle of procesco at the ready, Helen distracted taking night time SLR photos of St Michaels Mount from our balcony... I make a dash for the ring and head out to our balcony over looking the bay and ask the age old question:

"Will you marry me..?"

... after a shocked few seconds and a few giggles Helen said...

"YES!"

Time to crack open the Prosecco which I'm sure the loud pop of the cork woke up the neighbours!



After a nerve racking day and 10 years in the making, me and Helen are engaged and I get to call her my fiancé after declaring that I do like it and I did indeed put a ring on it!





Day 3. Walking up next to my fiancé!



Smashed avacodo foodie bbreakfast Check out and off to st Ives camping, super-fast tent pitching skills with all the gear and no idea! Lidl quick shop for treats before a deserved snoooooooze.... Epic beach walk down Hayle beach on st Ives bay whilst we let the family know the big news! Sunset dinner over the bay and a super long walk back through the dunes. Rabbit attack, Faustino on our tent porch and the many rabbits descend from the dunes.





Day 4. Campsite all setup thanks to Jen & Al's camping gear we are set for the week ahead. Bacon and egg sandwiches with the dunes and sea as out kitchen we ease ourselves into the day before checking out St Ives across the estuary.

We'll do it directly, which translates to "it'll get done, when it gets done", this seems to be the Cornish way and I'm loving it! It's certainly a fine cry from the go go coast of Brighton that's for sure!





Day 5. A stormy, windy terror night makes us head inland early in the morning to the Eden Project, as the locals would say, "we headed up country"!

The eden project was a really good day out, a massive bio dome complex with a few nice restaurants on site as well. So, the storms continue and in the late afternoon we decide to check out Newquay and the renowned Fistral beach. The weather eases and we get to enjoy a bit of sun on the outside terrace at Rick Steins fish and chip shop, noice!

Getting back to base and we arrive to a half collapsed tent with a few rips and tears in it, the site had had 35/40 mile per hour winds whilst we were out and we weren't the only ones who's tents were showing signs of an epic battle with the elements. As we assessed the damage we see that on both sides of us we have lightning storms going on but thankfully the wind had died down a bit so we could use the tent again.





Day 6-9. It's time to move on up the coast to the small coastal town of Bude in North Cornwall, a small town with a large outdoor, sea-fed swimming pool. With the storms we opted for the safety of a hotel, Tommy Jacks Beach Hotel. On arrival we got the tour, a random hotel with fish tanks everywhere and a cool bar and restaurant area overlooking the green and beach. A huge room with good views and they served Sharps Atlantic on tap which was a nice bonus!

Romantic meals, playing cards in the rain and windy walks down the coast, can't beat staycations in the UK.

A few days roll by, we spend it relaxing in Bude, eating out, walks down the river and drinking in the many bars and restaurants before heading on the journey across the width of the UK back to our home in Shoreham By Sea.

The Journey home with a pit stop to recharge in Gosport for Helen's brother's (James) birthday BBQ. After a few burgers and more sweets than I care to recall eating we make the last hour drive through the Downs back home.





An amazing journey and one spent with the love of my life, roll on part II!

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