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.