Sunny Cornwall

During my 9 years living in the UK, I saw a LOT of Norfolk and Suffolk but only a fraction of the rest, as Ricardo and I were always working or in France (working too). This time seeing as I was on holiday, I was determined to see a bit more, and managed to talk my niece, the lovely Louisa into coming on a road trip. We decided on Cornwall and I'm so glad we did. The weather had been pretty dismal except for the 2 bank holidays (see previous post) but finally the sun shone. When the sun does shine, there's nowhere else on earth you'd rather be. 

This is the romantic B and B called Hill Farm we stayed at in a tiny hamlet called Hittisleigh on the northern edge of Dartmoor in Devon. The only reason we chose it was because it was half way to Cornwall but we couldn't have found a more beautiful place to wake up. 

The night was warm enough to leave the window open and the fragrance of wisteria floated in. 

I stood by the open window for ages with eyes closed thanking my lucky stars and wondering what was out there in the night.

 In the morning an exploration was in order but it took us a while on account of the pet factor!

But there was more to see further afield

 

 ... and so our next stop was Boscastle (after driving past incredibly close to Stone Henge.)

Look at the curve on this roof! There WAS no fish eye lens, the whole house was bowed.

Boscastle experienced a terrible flood in 2004, here is a photo from the CBBC website 

 but there was no sign of trauma on this perfect day.

 

It had to be done, the definitive Cornish Pastie was absolutely delicious.

Our walk began on this beautiful section of the Cornish coastal path; we were walking from Boscastle to Tintagel. A mere 6 mile stretch but it felt a lot further as I'm used to the East Anglian flat lands.

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful and the weather perfect, with a slight breeze to cool you.

The "Early purple" orchid was out and the wildflowers were incredible.

Mile after glorious mile stretched out ahead and the air smelled of coconut from the gorse.

As we stopped on this herringboned wall and ate the cakes we'd bought in Boscastle, I looked back the way we had come and saw a man walking towards us with boots, backpack and hat and very little else. As he stepped over the style you can see in the photo below, I unfortunately turned again and copped an eyeful of his red g-string and all it contained. Pity I didn't manage to get a photo.

An indicator here that the weather may not always be so benign.

I've only really walked like this at Wilson's promontory National Park and it felt strange not to have to look out for snakes along the way.

Finally Tintagel came into sight.

and Merlin's cave.

and one of the best days of my life came to an end. Next time, I'd love to walk a LOT more of this spectacular pathway.