We just so happen to be near one of the places in the UK I’ve wanted to visit for a while, without even realising it.
It emerged in the distance as it loomed out of my memories driving back from the theatre yesterday. A castle atop a pyramid of rock in the sea. Its only connected to the mainland twice a day at low tide with a stone causeway that’s otherwise covered with sea. St Michael’s Mount.
We arrived a bit early for low tide so found a stylish bar overlooking the ocean for a cheeky pint. It was a bit early for a drink but the sun was beating down and there was a beautiful view and I just felt like I was on holiday. It certainly didn’t feel like grey old England leaving winter!
Once the tide was low enough, we joined other lurkers in bars and tea rooms along that stretch of coast thronging to the island. Cobbles usually get worn flat by the passage of traffic but these were wavy and rough. Some stuck up as strange angles as the cement between them had been washed away.
Unfortunately for us, the groundsmen didn’t allow dogs into the gardens or anywhere near the house/castle. But that’s ok, there were plenty of interesting things to see in the village at the bottom. We spent a couple hours wandering around and reading the info plaques around the place. It’s still lived in as a family home! AND they have an underground hill train for karting supplies up the mountain. It must have been so cool growing up there!
We then set off back to the van and thought we would walk to penzance. But soon gave up that idea… Its a frickin long way or turns out!
Instead we drove there, turned around and immediately left. Maybe it was the bit we stopped in, but it was a proper dive. Miserable looking port town with no life on the coast. So Aimi suggested we headed to Newquay.
I’ve been to A Newquay before while I was exploring the coast of Wales on the motorbike. I had heard all the hype about it so decided to stop in, but was thoroughly underwhelmed. It was a very nice little fishing village with quaint shops and bars but turns out it wasn’t THE Newquay.
This time we arrived at the right one and I could see the difference immediately. This was a much more substantial town and the beach was just VAST! It stretched up the coast for miles! It looked great fun if you were here for a party, but on a March weekday at 3pm it was a bit dead. Aimi was a bit disheartened because she remembered it very fondly from a girls holiday. Still, we found a cool bar with a view that did food and had a nice time. I also tried something called Jackfruit which sort of had the texture of loose chicken and had been pulled apart and mixed with bbq sauce. It was tasty interesting.
After a bit of googling at found somewhere that looked interesting to stay the night. It was a pub car park just beside the sea cliffs and Merlins Cave. Tomorrow sounds good already!
