From Cornwall to Cambodia

Due to my ongoing stay in Cambodia in hospital with Libby this blog is on hold. I hope normal service will be resumed but at this stage I have no idea if or when. My only concern now is Libby's return to full health and fitness.

Love from The Lizard Girl

Signs of Cornwall

Nearly home...

Hmmm, I live about half a mile to the left of this sign, I know I'm at the most southerly point but I'm sure I still live in Cornwall.

The road to Lizard Lighthouse is pretty narrow so there are places for cars to pull in, or as we call them in these parts..

Talking of signs, I've followed them and I couldn't find Captain Ross anywhere.

And another sign you're in Cornwall; pasty crumbs in the car.

And a rare annoying sign of Cornwall. These are for my rubbish/recycling. You're not allowed to put bins out, only bags. But the seagulls destroy the bags so then you have to buy a seagull proof bag from the council (far right of photo). All the other bags are for the recycling. Heaven forbid a glass bottle should touch a plastic one or a piece of cardboard touch a newspaper!

But some signs are missing altogether. Generally the ones that say 'beautiful scenery this way' 'amazing beach down there' 'glorious sea views that-a-way'. Thank goodness for my trusty guidebook and map and a car that nudges its way down the narrowest lanes.

And I'm signing out.

Love from The Lizard Girl.

When Cam and Lucy came to stay

I can't believe a whole week has passed since Cam and Lucy were here. Having been homesick the week before it was extra lovely to see them. We had a slight panic the night before as Lucy managed to lose her passport that very day and had already lost her driving licence and the only photo ID she had for the flight was her college pass which, for some inexplicable reason, had her eyes scratched out. Anyway, they made it.

First stop was Ann's pasties and then home to eat same out of the paper bags with hot chocolate. A quick tour of the cottage and it was straight down to Lizard Point where we saw a record number of seals. Result!

Then we headed to Poltesco and Carleon Cove which is where they used to mine the serpentine rock and prior to that pilchards were processed. We learned the word "hevva" was used when the pilchard shoals were spotted and blow me down if they didn't utter the very same cry on Poldark that very episode!

And from there it was on to Cadgwith Cove where, quite by chance, I met the artist who paints the local scenes I admire so much and will no doubt bring one home with me later in the year. 

The next day dawned blowy but bright so we seized the day and set off for Kynance Cove. Luckily the wind was blowing inland not out to sea else we would not be here to tell the tale. At one point the wind was exhausting us and roaring through our ears so we took shelter behind a wall for a few minutes. Lucy snapped this pic of me looking every inch a twitcher/rambler type. Luckily you can't see the plastic bag I was clutching with my wild flower specimens in!!

We made it to Kyance Cove and then it was down to the cafe for a breezy alfresco lunch.

We were doing a circular walk so we headed inland amongst the gorse and mud. And came across tadpoles in a puddle. Then towards the end of our walk another lovely waterfall. Once Lucy got over the fact that she had met Cam in a club and was now clambering around the wilds of Cornwall in wellies and no make-up (well not much), she developed a great fondness for waterfalls.

The day was still young so we jumped into the car and headed to Marazion where we had cream tea in the warmth of The Godolphin Arms looking out at St Michael's Mount in the late afternoon sun. We stopped off at Praa Sands and watched some surfer dudes, where I did the worst piece of videoing ever, ever, ever...

On their last day we turned left along the coast path and headed to Housel Bay. I'd timed it so we could be on the beach at low tide. The steps at the bottom are starting to erode and then it's a scramble over the rocks and stones so you've got to be quite determined to get on to this beach. But it was worth it. In fact Cam and Lucy rated this top of their "what we did on our holiday" list.

You can see the Lighthouse in this photo although it's about a fifteen minute walk away.

I'm looking forward to coming back to this beach when the weather warms up although I'll need walking boots to get to it and flip-flops once I'm there! And yes we are all wearing grey hoodies, we didn't realise until we took our jackets off :)

Our final destination was St Ives about a 40 minute drive across The Lizard and across the county to the north coast of south Cornwall.

And one of my very favourite places. The photos never reflect it properly but the light really is something special. I looked at places here to rent but 1) they weren't very nice and 2) I wasn't at all sure I wanted to live right in the middle of one of the most popular tourist attractions in Cornwall. I know I've ended up living in a tourist attraction but there are degrees of: I have space, I have somewhere to park, I can walk out my front door without bumping into anyone. However, St Ives is such a lovely place to walk around. Which is just as well because we parked, as I put it, bloody f***ing miles away from the town centre, although it ended up being just a lot of steps to walk down. (And a lot of steps for Cam to walk back up carrying a little table I found that was perfect for the kitchen.) But then I couldn't quite remember how to get to Porthmeor Cafe. I figured because it was on the sea front we'd just keep walking but we could have cut straight through the middle of town and come out the other side. Oh well, we worked up an appetite.

Even for a late lunch the Cafe was still pretty full so we sat in an outside pod which was fine because it had its own heater although it probably wasn't as snug as inside would have been. We had a delicious lunch complete with smoothies and shakes...

Then it was time for a wander round the shops, some pressie buying for Lucy, some gallery viewing for me, before meeting up for Lucy's last ice-cream. Off we strolled along the sea-front back towards the car-park when disaster struck. I happened to look up and saw an enormous seagull and was just thinking "maybe looking up when a seagull is directly over your head isn't such a good idea" when there was a scream and a general flapping behind me. The bugger had landed on Lucy's head and made off with her entire mint choc chip ice-cream. The St Ives seagulls are large and aggressive and she had such a fright. 

We headed for home via a very quick detour to Gwithian Towans to look at the massive stretch of beach and ocean and eventually found a replacement ice-cream in Lizard general stores.  We rounded the day off with a meal at The Top House before retiring to The Lighthouse and the fog horn.

Next day it was a quick stop for a pasty for Cam to take home for lunch and then full-steam ahead to Newquay Airport where they had to check-in as Lucy's boarding pass wouldn't print at home. At which point they presumably noticed my boy's freakishly lanky length and gave them an upgrade. An upgrade on Flybe doesn't mean an awful lot but it does mean all important extra leg-room. Then it was just a matter of paying a fiver each to leave Cornwall and they were up and away and along and back down again. They were home before me as I stopped off in Truro seeing as I was upcountry.

Love from The Lizard Girl.

Busy busy day at work but this was my reward

The season has definitely begun.Yesterday was a dead loss; horrid, mizzly weather with a chill in the air and the visitors stayed away. But although today dawned with dull skies it was dry with no wind (hurrah, I arrived at work not looking like I'd been dragged through a head backwards; a first). The crew of nine were kept busy all day but it wasn't really until I drove back into Lizard that I appreciated what a lovely day it had become.

So I stopped at Smugglers (the most Southerly fish and chip shop) for a bag of chips. As I headed down Lighthouse Road I had to pull up to take a pic. This is when I remind myself how incredibly lucky I am to be living here.

Once home I grabbed a bottle of wine and my kindle and headed out to the picnic tables to enjoy a spot of alfresco dining.

I was reading my Kindle when I heard a loud tapping sound somewhere behind me. I ignored it and carried on reading, I do like a bit of Lucy Diamond and was getting to the bit when everyone has nearly come out the other side. The tapping continued. I was convinced it was children knocking on their window, but I eventually turned around and there was Jeremy (Chris, fairly confident it was Jeremy and not Jonathan Livingston), my word he is a persuasive bird with some excellent beak tapping strength but he got no joy.

As I headed indoors he flew off to what I presume he views as his position of Lighthouse Keeper.

Love from The Lizard Girl.

While the weather was nice...

... nearly two weeks ago I made the most of it. 

Sunday morning dawned sunny but definitely colder. After a lovely Saturday afternoon at Loe Bar and Loe Pool I headed out as far as you can possibly go in the opposite direction. Loe Bar/Pool, Lizard Point and Helford make a triangle really.

The drive to Helford River was lovely. I had no great plans to walk very far, just enjoy being alongside the river. I hadn't quite appreciated how tidal rivers can be and the tide was very much out. To be honest most of Helford seemed to be out. And them who weren't out weren't particularly inviting. The only shop was shut, there appeared to be absolutely nowhere to go for a cup of tea and although there were happy noises coming from The Shipwrights Arms I simply cannot venture into a pub on my own. In addition there was a proliferation of notices saying what you couldn't do and none saying what you could!

It was picture-postcard pretty as you can see but no soul on this particular afternoon. However, I shall look forward to returning avec walking boots and discovering Frenchman's Creek and maybe taking the ferry over to Helford Passage and spending some time at Trebah Gardens.

The next day was dull and chilly but as I was working for the rest of the week I decided to wrap up and get out. My destination was Polurrian but I couldn't seem to find it. I knew it was near Mullion but, in the end, had to settle for Poldhu Cove which was very pretty, sandy and had a car-park next to the beach for once.

Meanwhile, I headed up the South Coast path in the direction of Mullion. Despite the weather being overcast it was good to be out and about enjoying the views and sea air. I realised, as I took a breather, that there is a whole lot of sea out there:

Not to mention some very pretty, totally inaccessible, tiny coves.

I am also becoming rather drawn to the flora and fauna. There are more than 600 species of flowering plants on The Lizard. Man, what is happening to me?! Look at this photo; just how many varieties of wild flowers are there in this one small shot taken in front of a drystone wall?

Trying not to get sidetracked not only by pretty things but also the fact I had just passed a rather important place where the very first radio signal to cross the Atlantic was sent, I spied a beach. A beach with steps and one solitary figure on it. I asked the very nice lady with a dog whether this could be Polurrian? Indeed it was. And how might I visit this beach when the hot, sunny, weather cometh? Ah, well not very easily really. It would appear that unlike Poldhu this beach is only accessible via a bit of a hike whichever way you approach it which is presumably why it's so beautiful and unspoilt and hard to find.

So after a bit of peering in rock pools and getting the measure of the beach I returned from whence I had come, had a tuna melt back at Poldhu cafe as the rain set in and returned home to the sound of the fog horn.

Love from The Lizard Girl.