Cornwall Camping

Tim had a stretch of five days off work between shifts so we decided to make the most of it and hire a car, heading south to explore Cornwall, crossing our fingers for some sunny beach-going weather.  The day we left Tim had come off night shifts at 7am, so spent most of the day sleeping while I got everything packed and ready to go.  After waking Tim up later in the afternoon he went and picked up the car from King's Cross, returned to our flat to collect all the gear, and were on the road at last.  Unfortunately due to crazy traffic the journey down to Salisbury took double the time it should have, meaning we didn't get to our first camp-site till late, but at least we had made it out of London.  We now have two tents to choose from, a large six man and a smaller two man.  Due to time constraints that night we put up the little one, which is pictured, along with our zippy VW Golf.

The next morning after breakfast we packed up and were on the road again, stopping enroute to pick up some supplies from the giant Tesco.  After stoppping for lunch at a pub along the way we eventually arrived in Padstow, North Cornwall in the early afternoon.  Here we booked into a campsite for the next three nights as we planned to use it as a base for exploring some of the surrounding beaches.  After setting up the big tent this time on our spacious site we decided to take the walkway from the camping ground down into Padstow town.  The walk itself was lovely, meandering through tall cornfields and pretty golden wheatfieds and farmland, with amazing views out over the harbour.

Padstow, once an industrious fishing village, is now a pretty town with a cluster of cafes and fishermen's cottages nestled around its old harbour.  Being the high season the town centre was packed with holiday makers, mostly families and people keen to experience a taste of the Rick Stein dynasty.  Rick Stein is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and TV presenter.  His business operates four restaurants, a bistro, a cafe, a seafood deli, patisserie, a gift shop and a cookery school. His impact on the local economy of Padstow is such that it has been nicknamed "Padstein"!

After a pint in a local pub we walked back to the camping ground for a yummy home cooked dinner.  The next day unfortunately dawned grey and drizzly, so our plans for a day on the beach had to be abandoned.  Instead, after a slow start to the morning we headed back into Padstow, where we took our chances with a getting a table for lunch at the legendery Sea Food Resturant, the place that kick-started the Stein empire, where usually you would need friends in high places to get a last minute booking.  Luckily for us, although the restaurant was fully booked, the lovely maître d’ offered us a place sitting at the bar, where we could still order from the same menu but enjoy the buzz of the drinks waiters and sushi/oyster chef at work in front of us.  We had the most amazing meal, choosing our food from a brilliant three couse set lunch menu.  Tim began with a seafood soup followed by a fillet of brill, while I opted for the stuffed mackerel and afterwards a main of hake.  The food was incredible, beuautifully presented and tasted amazing.  So along with a bottle of Rick Stein's own Australian wine, and later desserts and limoncello to finish, it was a perfect long, lazy, indulgent lunch.

Later that afernoon the weather had cleared a bit so we decided to walk down to the local beach at Padstow.  As it was so blustery Tim decided it was perfect kite flying weather after an interesting multi coloured contraption caught his eye.  So we spent the rest of the afternoon down on the beach, having a bit of fun getting it up into the air.

The next day's weather was slightly better so we decided to make the most of it and give some of the other beaches a go.  We set the GPS on a course towards Newquay, programmed to stop at several beaches along the way.  Stuning as most of the beaches were, we were a little frustrated with having to pay several pounds just to park the car at each one.  And as the weather was not ideal it was a bit blustery and cold, meaning that if you didn't have a wetsuit, swimming was pretty well out of the question.  So most of our time was spent sitting on the sand trying to catch a few rays of sun as the clouds worked against us.  Newquay was interesting, if a little seedy with loads of clubs and bars, but we enjoyed the traditional fish, chips and mushy peas for lunch overlooking the beach.  It was a good day, but we have to say that English beaches just don't compare to what we have in New Zealand, and we can't wait to make the most of the Mount in December.

After our day of exploring the beaches we headed back to our camp-site where we tried out our supermarket disposable charcoal barbecue.  Although it says on the packet it should take only 20 minutes to get going, after an hour of fluffing about with it, Tim gave up and opted to cook our dinner on the gas instead!






























The next day after a bacon and egg breakfast it was time to pack up and head north again.  We had decided to just drive part of the way towards London, where we would stop the night before continuing on the following day as Tim had to work that evening.  We set out towards Bournemouth which has a really long, sandy beach, but unfortunately we couldn't find a camping ground nearby.  After driving around in search of one for quite some time we ended up in the New Forest at a site near Ringwood where we set up camp for our final night.  It was a brilliant trip and all over way too quickly unfortunatley, we could have easily extended it for another week or so of exploring, but who knows, we may return some other time.