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.