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.