Back home again

Thursday evening

Took a stroll after our dinner to the closest cache to Hunters Moon site.  It was a 'Treetop Travel Bug Hotel' - the sort of cache where you drop off and pick up travel bugs.  We had a 'bug' that we had picked up in Cornwall to trade.  We had been a little concerned that we would have to climb the said tree, but what we found was a camoflage bag at the base of the huge oak tree - inside that was the end of a coil of rope which was hooked onto a branch at eye level - that needed to be unhooked and slowly let out so that a very large amo box in another camo bag could be lowered to the ground!  Unfortunately for us, the box got stuck on a branch on its way down and we had to reach up with a stick to help it on its way.  We left it as we'd found it - dangling way up high in the branches!

Friday

Rain had been threatened for today, so we had another short walk this morning in Wareham Forest on the Sika Trail while the sun was still shining.  Then we drove the short journey to the New Forest.  We seemed to avoid the showers, though.  We enjoyed a lovely lunch at one of our favourite restaurants - the Station House at Holmsley - then checked in at another Caravan Club site (Black Knowl) that we have been to before, near Brockenhurst. Some sunshine to bask in for a while, but the showers came in the evening.

Saturday

Soaked up some last rays of sun before the last bit of journey home.  Called in at Premier Motorhomes near Chichester to drop off a faulty LED light from our van bathroom - although we had let them know a couple of weeks ago and they were ordering a replacement, it hadn't arrived yet.  We were able to order a new camping table though, to replace the one we lost last week.  Will have to return there when things have arrived.

Lovely to be home - a big pile of post lots of our lettuces ready to eat.

Thanks to our 'followers' for keeping in touch.  Our next trip is only a month away .........................

Goodrington, Devon

Tuesday

We left Whitsand Bay behind us and drove to Torpoint Ferry to take us over to Plymouth - quite a small 'chain ferry' - fun watching the SatNav going over the water. Took a while to get through Plymouth road works but then on our way to Goodrington (Paignton) to meet up with our very old friends (well, we've known them a long time!) Wendy and Lionel. They had arranged for us to park the van at their Methodist Church car park - a bit more space than in ours at home - and Lionel would meet us there. He did, and then took us and our stuff in his car to their home as we were staying until today (Thursday). After lunch we went to Cockington and after looking at the pretty thatched cottages in the village, had a look round the craft centre and country park at Cockington Court.

Wednesday

Sunny again this morning, so out for a walk to look for 3 local geocaches. Wendy and Lionel live high up on a hillside overlooking the Clennon Valley, so we could virtually pin-point the start of the trail from their living room window! Once down there, we had to give up on the first one because a tree had fallen down beside the path and made it too difficult for us to search. After a short sharp shower the sun came out again and we headed towards the cliff and a cache called 'Optometrist'. This was great fun because in the cache were several pairs of comic glasses for you to try on and take a photo. We had to climb up a bank and onto fallen branches for this, but at least we were sheltering from another one of those showers. We watched the Dart Valley train go by, with a burst of steam for our photos then carried on downhill to 'A walk on the wild side' through a fairly new conservation area. Back home, we hopped into the car to drive to a local National Trust house and garden, Coleton Fishacre, which was the holiday home of the D'Oyly Carte family from the mid-1920s to 1982. We began with lunch in the delightful cafe, looked around the beautifully furnished Art Deco style house and then joined a guided walk in the garden at 2.30. The young gardener was really enthusiastic and so she should be - the flower gardens, borders, ponds, river running through the combe down to a rocky cove - all so lovely, especially on this sunny day. Another visit to the cafe for afternoon tea - cakes and ice cream very scrummy.
What a lot of Devon fresh air! A brilliant day.

Thursday

Wendy and Lionel had to be up rather early today as they were looking after their little grandson, Daniel (2 last Sunday) for the day - from 7.30. What a dear little lad he is - this was the first time we had met him. We played for a while and had a walk around the garden where he picked up his bucket and spade because we were going to go to the beach. Goodrington has a a lovely sandy beach for paddling and splashing in - great fun for us all. Back home, we had to say our goodbyes and then go back to the church to pick up our van.

Thank you so much Wendy and Lionel for a memorable couple of days with you. It was good to have plenty of time to chat and catch up with so much news. Look forward to the next time!

Camping tonight at Hunter's Moon Caravan Club Site near Wareham.

Sunday

A long lie-in and a hearty breakfast are not normal for us on a Sunday, but today was different! It was overcast with occasional little bit of drizzle in the air, so not a day to hurry. We did wander over to reception at 11.00 because there was a board out saying that there would be a guided tour of this Monument (not quite sure what more there is to see than the remains of the gun battlements that are around us, except perhaps inside the locked chapel/library, but the history would be interesting) but this campsite is a little too laid back perhaps - no-one turned up to lead it!! But John used the time very usefully by creating his 'portable waste feeder'!! The drizzle didn't come to anything, so we just did a gentle stroll in the afternoon away from the coast and up on the hills with great views towards Plymouth, but all looking rather grey.

Monday

Yet another blue sky day again. We had studied the bus time table at the roadside and also talked to someone in the cafe yesterday, so we set off with the knowledge that there would be an 81C coming at 11.24 ... it did! right on the dot. We just wanted to take the first mile and a half off the coastal walk, so showed the driver on the map where we wanted to get off - he was a bit of a joker and said he was a driver, not a navigator, but he would just follow the cliff-top. From where we started walking, we could see around all the jutting out bits to the Whitsand Bay Hotel with its grey stone tower. We wound our way round and up onto the headland of Rame Head and sat by the ancient chapel (the one we could see from the hotel) to eat our picnic . From here we could see for miles in all directions and out to sea was fascinating - all kinds of craft from little white sailing boats to the Brittany Ferry and huge Naval vessels.
Although the weather was just as sunny as last Friday, it wasn't so hot and the gentle breeze made it just perfect for a coastal walk. We continued on to Penlee Point at the entrance to Plymouth Sound and through the woods to Cawsand - what a pretty little village and beach (except it should be called Cawpebble!).





A paddle, ice creams and a relax against the rocks was a perfect ending. While watching the boats here, another naval ship headed out to sea and a submarine came in.






The bus, dead on time again, whisked us back over the hill to our western side of the peninsular in 8 minutes - it had taken us over 4 hours to walk round the edge.

Sunday evening

Sunday

Just a quickie to add this evening. This morning, my very resourceful husband found a way to show those rotters who stole our waste tank that he is not beaten. With a rubber glove, a few elastic bands and a bit of spare pipe he solved the problem - at least while we are at this site. (See photos.)

Friday

A beautiful sunny morning so we took things very slowly before deciding to go for a walk on the coast path after lunch. It was the hottest day yet and the sun burned down on us as we negotiated the little path between the gorse and perched holiday cottages, up and down on the hillside of the cliff and ducking occasionally to get in the shade of the higher hedges. At last we reached the geocache we were aiming for, but by now we were almost down to sea level. So we continued down and onto the huge sandy beach. John kindly carried my boots as I paddled in the sparkly clear sea all the way back. We knew it was going to be a very long way up the steep steps and path to the top of the cliff - phew, what an effort in the heat - but we also knew there was a cafe almost at the top. Thank goodness they hadn't run out of ice cream!







Later we drove to Saltash as we had been invited to join the family of the bride for a buffet for all the guests who had come from afar. We spent a great evening getting to know Demelza's parents, her family and lots of Craig and Demelza's friends, mainly from uni. It was also really good to see Carolyn and Fred, Al and Andy and extended King family, all the Littles and George (best man), who had been in my Beavers at the same time as Craig many years ago.

A lovely evening was well and truly spoiled for us when we arrived back at the campsite - items of camping equipment that we'd left on our pitch had disappeared! Our camping table, electric hook-up cable (that was plugged in at the pod) and (would you believe it) our half-full waste water tank and pipe. Items not taken were our rotary washing line with a towel on it and our two plants bought at Heligan. Of course, we were quite upset that this could happen on a site and so were the campsite people when we told them in the morning. This is such an out-of-the-way spot with only people going to the beach passing and they said it had never happened before. It's true our pitch is slightly separate from the others, but easily accessible from all angles because there are tunnels that were part of the fort to the lower levels + there is a footpath from the road on the lower level leading to the cafe on site which is open to the public. Maintenance man Steve took John round the site on his golf buggy just in case our stuff could be spotted, but that was most unlikely. Fortunately we have another cable and a bucket - but oh, we shall really miss our lovely table.

Saturday

After the above-mentioned tour on the buggy, we put that all nasty taste aside - we were off to Craig and Demelza's wedding (nothing left outside the van and all alarms set). Demelza's Mum, Joy, had made arrangements for everyone - for us, a taxi arrived on the dot of 10 to take us to Wesley Methodist Church, Saltash. We sat in Church with Katharine and Malcolm (who were staying with family nearby) and chatted to members of the equivalent of New Life sitting in front of us. The bride was looking radiant and we all enjoyed a very memorable service with 3 ministers - the 'home' one, a family friend and the former Chaplain at Roehampton. A chartered bus took lots of us the half hour trip down to Whitsand Bay Hotel, which is about 3 miles west of our site on the coast. What a beautiful setting! We were able to spill out onto the terrace and lawns with the sea as a backdrop. C & D had photos taken all over the place and after the lovely meal, they went all the way down to the beach for more pictures beside the rocks etc. Wow, what an album they will have. There was about 3 hours to while away before the evening disco, so there was lots of time to chat to our friends and many of the other guests as well as have a stroll. The morning sunshine had gone by this time, but it was actually a far more comfortable temperature to enjoy being out in the
garden - there wouldn't have been any shade. We all joined in the dancing during the evening, but Bev was our star! Oh, and Fred's Mum, Brenda, too - we think we might have worn her out, sorry Fred! Our arranged taxi whisked us back 'home' at the end of a most delightful day.

Thank you so much Fred and Carolyn, Joy and Nigel for inviting us to share in Craig and Demelza's wonderful wedding.

Whitsand Bay

Wednesday

Took the van out for a drive today - first to Camborne Tescos for fuel and some supplies, then to St. Erth, a village just south of Hayle. We had hurtled through St. Erth on the bus and had noted that there were two parking areas either side of the river bridge, so that is where we were to start our walk. We arrived at about 12.30 and strangely so did lots of others. Fortunately we had bagged our space before more and more cars kept on coming - some parking beside the road too. Then the bells started ringing .... yes, we had stumbled on a wedding about to begin! We started putting our picnic lunch together and another car came and squeezed in beside us - the photographer had arrived. The bride followed at 1.10 - and we set off on our geo-walk. The River Hayle is very pretty, with remarkably clear water and bordered by lots of different plants and trees. The sun got hotter and hotter as the afternoon wore on, so we took it all fairly leisurely, finding 9 caches out of a longer walk of 15. Some were traditional small boxes, but some very clever and even Aqua Caches(!) The first of these watery ones was attached to a fine length of fishing line and tied to a bridge - so you hauled it up out of the water. The next one we accepted a DNF (did not find), because you had no choice but to wade in and get it - we weren't that desperate! When we got back to the car park, the wedding party had long since gone, so we finished off the afternoon with a final cache called 'Tombstones' finding various dates in the churchyard to lead us to the final.





Thursday

We said goodbye to Gwithian Farm this morning and set off towards our next campsite. But to arrive there would come later - first, we drove to The Lost Gardens of Heligan, near St. Austell.

What a wonderful place - here's a bit of history from the leaflet: Heligan, seat of the Tremayne family for over 400 years, is one of the most mysterious estates in England. Between 1770 and 1914, four generations created an almost self sufficient community - at work or at leisure - in its thousand acres. Gradual decline set in following the departure of the last resident squire in the 1920s. By 1990 the old working buildings and glasshouses had become totally derelict and dense overgrowth smothered the whole garden. The Great Storm of that year utterly devastaged the site, as though finally to consign The Lost Gardens of Heligan to history. Then events conspired to unite new pioneers with an unstoppable energy and passion to re-awaken this "Sleeping Beauty".

We found it quite amazing to see how the gardens have been restored, growing similar plants to those that were lost and re-building the glasshouse frames just as they used to be. We walked all through the Jungle down the steep valley, up to Hide Park Corner to visit the Wildlife project, through the New Zealand garden, in the walled Flower Garden with apricots, lemons and vines growing in the glasshouses, through the vegetable garden and around the Ravine. It was quite busy today but there is also so much open space with beautiful views to the sea - and numerous benches to rest-a-while. We bought a couple of plants to bring home and then set off on the
rest of our journey.





At 5ish we arrived at Whitsand Bay Holiday Park. Quite an 'interesting' road for the last couple of miles along the winding cliff top! We were soon settled on our pitch among the remains of gun batteries of an old fort. Spectacular views down to the sea, along the coast to Rame Head and back right across to Plymouth and the Sound. Phoned Carolyn to let her know we had arrived - looking forward to seeing all the Kings when they get to Saltash tomorrow. Lets hope this lovely weather continues till Saturday .....

Having fun at Gwithian

Monday
Day started with some rain and a grey cloud hung over when it stopped. Undeterred, we got ourselves ready to catch the bus at 11.05 to Marazion, via Hayle. The timetable didn't specify any special times or arrangements for bank holidays and the site owners thought buses were running today, but we waited for quite a long time ... no bus. So the 2 minute walk back to the van and the rain started again. So we stayed in our cosy van for another hour or so ... then the sky cleared and the sun came out! So we decided to do a bit of the coast path from here that takes you round Godrevy Point, overlooking the lighthouse on one of the rocks in the sea. Despite the wind (that never seems to go away) the sun was very warm and the sea a sparkly blue. There are seals in one of the coves that people can't get down to and we watched them flopping about on the beach - there were about 13 of them including 3 young. Found 3 geocaches on this stretch and met an enthusiastic geo-family at one of them.







Tuesday
It rained a little bit at bedtime last night, but this morning, beautiful blue sky again. Used the site washing machine - it ate up the coins quickly enough, but seemed to take an age to get agitating! It's finished wet and spun, so we suppose it has done its job. Today the breeze is welcome for getting it dry. Need to get ready now to try again for the bus to Marazion ....

No internet connection this morning, so hope to post this later


.....so long one is patient, one can go far on Cornish buses! Only about 15 mins. late, along came the 515. It sped us along the lane to Hayle and in a few minutes dropped us off outside Lidl. Not all the 515s come out to Gwithian, so we now had to wait for the connecting service to Penzance. Once on board this 515 (which looked remarkably like the one we got off half an hour before + the other driver's twin brother) we were given a scenic tour of Hayle, along the estuary to a couple of Holiday Parks (no takers) and up and down the hills through countless housing estates (dropping off some ladies with their shopping) and eventually on the road south towards Marazion. But it was only a few yards on a road - we turned sharply left onto a track - the sort of lane that has high bushes on both sides and grass growing down the centre. Fortunately we only met one car on this section ... We hurtled along and eventually could see the southern cornish waters and St. Michael's Mount. Owning a free bus pass makes for big adventures!
It was now nearly 1 o'clock and we'd been dropped right outside the recommended Godolphin Hotel. Over lunch we watched hoards of people walking back up the beach having crossed the causeway from the Mount. Plenty of time for us to walk over before the tide comes in. Er, no ... As we walked down the beach we could see people wading along the causeway - but out of nowhere there appeared a fleet of ferry boats and we were quickly whisked away and reached the island before the waders! Quite a climb up cobbled paths to the castle with splendid views from the top. Looking down on the gardens was a treat too - the whole island kept beautifully by the NT. Joined the queue on the harbour wall for the ferry back and John enjoyed using his new Camcorder to capture the slickness of the ferry boat-men as they swooped in and out of the harbour. The journey took just long enough for them to collect in the £1.50 from each of their 10 passengers!!
The bus home was quite normal really - only 5 mins. late and did all the above in reverse (no takers though, except one lady who got off at Lidl) and brought us right back to Gwithian Farm - to my lovely dry washing and tea.

Local Explore

Saturday Contd.
Out for a walk in the afternoon from the site. It was quite windy with the occasional sprinkle in the air. But it was fine for a multi-cache walk in the dunes and Nature Reserve - looking for number of water-safety flags on a sign and how many miles to Hayle? among the clues - stopping off at the Jampot for a bit of cream tea (haven't had real Cornish cream for years, so we had to try it!). Having solved the Gwithian puzzle, after dinner we felt the urge to look for a similar one on the towans. This is the area of sand dunes where the National Explosive Works used to be - there are still signs of the foundation blocks for the cable-way towers, and some of the geocache clues were hidden in them. We were successful in finding all the clues, but finding the final cache eluded us - well at least for the time being. We plan to go back and try again if we can - it's just that we are not sure if it's at the top of the cliff or down at the foot of the hundreds of steps! We went down, but all our stone turning was to no avail! Oh well, the walk was great with tremendous sea views. We just made it back to the van before nightfall.

Sunday
Right opposite the entrance to the campsite is a small white stone building with a thatched roof. We went to investigate it yesterday - the sign outside said it was Gwithian Methodist Chapel. We went inside to see the familiar old wooden pulpit and pew style, aparently refurbished in 1959, but sadly today just a museum. So the Parish Church next door was where we went to worship this morning. All the visiting Methodists were welcomed(!), but that wasn't aimed at us - there was a whole crowd who were camping at the other campsite, on a Church weekend away (we think from Plymouth) together with 2 dogs that 'sang' along in the hymns! Also right opposite the campsite is the Red River Inn, advertising it's magnificent Sunday Roast - so our salad was shelved till tea-time.
Later drove to Camborne to the East Pool Mine and found out about the tin mining industry and saw one the largest surviving beam engines in the world. Afterwards drove to St. Ives but even at 4 pm the main car park was heaving, so we just glimpsed the town and beaches from the van and came back home.

Gwithian Farm

Friday
Beautiful sunny morning so decided to go for a walk and leave Gwel an Nams after lunch (Gerald and Sheila very laid back hosts, so no rules about leaving before 12). We didn't have an OS map, so went and asked Sheila if we could borrow one - she obliged and during our chat discovered that Gerald is a Lion! (What a character to have in your Lions Club!) They help organise a big charity run on Bodmin Moor every year and raise in the region of £25,000!) Eventually got out for our walk to Cardinham Woods, which entailed several very steep downs and ups, but very scenic. The pretty cottage is the cafe down in the valley.
Later, left the campsite and drove west to Gwithian, near Hayle, via Tescos in Redruth.We have come to Gwithian because John came here as a young lad with his family and stayed in a tiny cottage on the dunes, not far from a little shop-cum-cafe called the Jampot.

He wanted to see if it is really as wonderful as he remembers. Brenda has been here in recent times and told us the cottage had gone - but the Jampot is still in business after nearly 60 years! We spent the evening exploring the dunes and walking on the huge sandy beach and among the rocks. This is another excellent campsite, just a short walk to the dunes and the sea. We have a very large pitch with hard stand and lots of grass, bordered by trellis, shrubs and a flower bed.

Saturday
After all that exercise yesterday we enjoyed a lie-in and brunch - one of the big joys of camping. We will go off and see the village and hopefully find 2 close-by geocaches later. No sunshine here today, but no rain yet. Still very windy, but probably to be expected on this north-Cornish coast.

Cardinham, Nr Bodmin

Off on our travels again - this time on home ground, bound for the Cornish coast. Left home yesterday and drove as far as a Caravan Club site called Hillside, somewhere between Andover and Salisbury. Beautifully landscaped site with small clearings in woods on the hillside, but each camping area level. Went for a short walk after dinner further down the hill, watched the rabbits and found our first geocache of the holiday.
Today started off well, driving west on the A303 and stopping for lunch around midday at a picnic area just into Somerset. We had run through some very heavy rain for a while, but the sun came out just as we parked up. Straight away we noticed something very odd - the rain running off the roof of the van was coming down on the inside of the dinette window! Our van is only 11 months old and this has not happened before and shouldn't be happening now. So John got on the phone to our dealer Premier Motorhomes in Birdham, Chichester (where we'd been only last week for it's first year's service) and they told us to go to the only Autotrail dealer in the
West Country - in Wellington. We found it on the map and realised we were actually pretty well placed for getting there fairly quickly. So a call to Alex at Chelston Motorhomes, a quick sandwich and we set off towards the M5. Arrived there at 1.30, it was taken into the workshop and we were told they would look at it when they could fit it in. We sat in their reception lounge for 3 hours - but then it was sorted. Window taken out, packing put in at the bottom of the cutout, window replaced and re-sealed. All under warranty. Off we set again, now on the M5 and A30, heading even further west. And so at 7 pm we arrived at Cardinham, near Bodmin - Camping & Caravanning Club listed site called Gwel am Nams on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Very windy up here, but with some sunshine and a beautiful sunset. Small, very well-kept
field with all mod cons. and 2 donkeys the other side of the fence, called Harry and Dino. Rather eccentric farmer, but a great welcome. I'm taking photos of all the signs he's put up around the site - some quite funny. Hoping for a fine morning as we'd like to explore a bit around here before moving on westwards.