The Magic Coast of England.

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I have lots of places that I have been to which I always want to return to and the Cornish Coast is one of them. We first went there way back in 1991and I always enjoy revisiting it. So we drove across to the beautiful Clovelly fishing village first. {Not Cornish}but beautiful. Stayed right on the waters edge at The Red Lion Hotel. The village has a lot of history and it is beautiful to stroll from the top down to the harbour. Could quite easily spend a few days there. Down the coast to Boscastle, the first of the Cornish coasts magic fishing villages with a great history, even recently when it suffered a huge flood that washed most of it out to sea in 2004. It has been lovingly rebuilt and still retains its charm. On down to Tintagel, considered to be the birth place of King Arthur, on to Port Isaac, an extreme driving experiance through the narrow streets with tourists everywhere, then inland to Bodmin to stay the night at a hotel on a golf course. Perhaps one day I will return to play golf on this wonderful course set in a beautiful setting. Next day, of to Newquay were Rennie our friend in NZ grew up. It is one of my favorite Cornish places with the Harbour, cliffs and the surf beaches. The trouble with traveling through this area during this time of year, holiday time in UK, is that there are thousands of people around and very little accommodation available. But onto St Ives and across to Penzance. Didn't see any pirates but lots of references to them. One of the sights to see is a must. The Minack Theatre, built in 1932, which is an outdoor theatre set into the cliffs in the most fantastic setting were they hold concerts, operas, musicals, plays and all sorts of drama. It really is a magic setting with the sea crashing into the head lands and the sight of the cliffs and beaches all around you. We were lucky enough to be there when there was a rehearsal for a musical going on so we sat and took in the atmosphere. We did cover a lot of ground quickly so when doing this you do miss a lot of interesting things that it would be nice to see. Can't do it all unfortunately. But perhaps next time, we hope. Pam and Warwick got a pretty good insight to the area anyway. A night in Plymouth before heading up country again to the New Forest. Plymouth of course is were the fist settlers to NZ set off from and also where the founding fathers of the USA left from. A city filled with history. Right, will carry on in a few days. Oh by the way. I was slack and didn't check my lens on the camera so a lot of the shots I took are great apart from the foggy bit in the middle, so I haven't used them. Silly me. Pip/Rod.

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Photos

Scones, Clotted Cream and Jam.
The inevitable morning tea were ever you go.

Clovelly.
A magic setting and a great walk down the hill. No cars allowed. Everything comes in on sledges.

Dinner Time.
Sitting out side the Hotel with the harbour in the back ground.

The Harbour.
Unfortunately the tide was out. It rises and falls by a huge amount.

Hotel Red Lion.
Neat setting.

Drink time.
Having a laugh with an Irish couple we meet. One of the great things about travel. Meeting people.

Just sitting Around.
Note the smudge in the centre. Bugger!!!!

Boscastle.
Really neat walk down to small harbor.

Tintagel
The head land is covered in old ruins and it has a peaceful feeling about it.

Extreme Driving.
Port Isaac. Narrow streets and people all over the place.

Hotel in Bodmin.
The 18th hole with the hotel in the background.

Newquay Harbour.
Once again the tide is out.

Di Takes It In.
The harbour entrance with one of the many beaches in the back ground.

Surf Beach.
The beach and changing stalls below the town ship of Newquay.

St Ives.
Another beautiful harbor.

The Pirates of Penzance.
I feel a song coming on.

Minack Theartre.
Rehearsal time. Magic setting. Oh Yes. I feel another song coming on. They were singing Rock Around the Clock. Di watches on.

Watching.
Pam and Warwick watching.

History.
This plaque is beside the Mayflower Steps entrance. These are the steps that the Mayflower left from to take people to the USA, and later to NZ.

I Wonder.
All the brave people heading off to the great unknown. What were they thinking as they stood at the top of the steps looking at a small sailing ship that would take them around the world. Very brave people.

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Love scones
They are underrated! Great photo