The Eden Project, Fowey, and Trelissick

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Today we woke up to sun! Our plan for the day was to go to the Eden Project this morning, then to Trelissick house and gardens in the afternoon. Reading up on the Eden Project, we found it was recommended to arrive well before 10am when it opened as you need to park the car and walk in to the actual area. So we got going fairly early. The Eden project took over a clay pit and rehabilitated it with the intention of creating a space where people could research and educate the natural world, and the best way to look after it. There are two huge Biomes - one a rainforest environment, the other a Mediterranean environment. The biomes allow the weather of the areas of the world that have rainforests, and then in he mediter one, a warm dryer climate. Outside the biomes, there are gardens and plantings that enhance the environment local to Eden. We began in the rainforest biome. It was very warm and steamy. The focus was how the rainforests affected the whole world, with the way they store carbon and also influence the world weather because rainforests create rain. We were also able to climb right to the top of the dome and look down on the rainforest environment. The temperature was about 30, and the humidity about 85%. The view was fantastic. Then we moved on to the Mediterranean biome. This is smaller than the rainforest one, but has plants form a variety of parts of the world, including South Africa, the Mediterranean area, and Western Australia. There were quite a few vegetables, as well as flowers and shrubs. The Australia section had a wonderful display of kangaroo paw. When we went outside, we found it felt a bit cool, and the clouds were beginning to come in. The gardens are arranged beautifully, with plants chosen for the contribution that can make to the environment, their ability to attract bees to ensure pollination and also their ability to help soil health and stability. It was a very interesting morning. We had lunch at the Eden Project- a Cornish pasty - before moving on. Fowey had been suggested as a typical Cornish coastal village with a lovely view. It was on our way to Trelissick, so we stopped to have a look. It is a small village on a steep sight- like Port Wenn of Doc Martin. We parked the car at the top of the hill and walked down. The streets are narrow and steep, and you needed to move close to the walls if a car came down. We went down into the harbour area. A pity that the sun had disappeared. It would be a very pretty town on a sunny day. The walk back up the hill was much harder than the walk down. Then on to Trelissick. This is a property that the National Trust were given only a few years ago. It was originally a much smaller house, but the last few owners extended it and made it quite large. It has a beautiful view, and lovely gardens. At present only the ground floor of the house is open to the public, but the rooms are presented well, and there are volunteers who can answer questions. We looked at the house first, then walked in the gardens enioying the views. As we returned to the car, it started to rain ( and has continued ever since) so we timed it well! On our way back to the cottage, we stopped at Tesco and picked up some crab ravioli for dinner. after our busy day, it was nice to sit down and enjoy dinner.

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