Cornish Capers

We had one day to see as much of Cornwall as we could. We hit our first snag early in the morning. Breakfast was not served until 8am, and Albanys do enjoy made to order breakfasts. Especially if they're included! Our planned 7am departure to duck into Kynance Cove and Falmouth dissipated much like the warm weather had.

Elliot was brave and tried the kippers with toast, after the self service of fruit, yoghurt and cereal.

Our very filling and very delicious breakfast put us in good stead to withstand the buffeting winds at
St Michael’s Mount. The entry fee was covered byt the National Trust Touring Pass. If you are planning to walk across the causeway, do check the tide times to make sure that it is NOT underwater otherwise you will have to catch a ferry. Unfortunately when we were there, the gardens had not yet opened for the summer. The castle perched atop the hill though, was fascinating and a lot of fun.

The castle was dedicated to St Michael, the archangel patron of mariners, police, paramedics and the military, fighter of dragons and devils and general all round good guy. Various lead glass windows and statues paid appropriate homage with the usual splendour of castles and churches denied the Lutheran touch. None of these details quite captured the imagination of the children as much as the numerous myths that surrounded the structure. One myth involved a giant love triangle, that is a love triangle between three giants. Myth it may be but during works in the 19th century a skeleton was found of a man 7ft 8inches! Various other murderers and jilted lovers are said to haunt the grounds, but we didn't encounter them during our brief stay.

St Michael's Mount

Made it to the castle on top!

We did not expect it to be furnished inside

One of the many beautiful stain glassed windows

Larpunzel, Larpunzel let down your hair

With so many fishing/coastal villages to see, we had to selective. Unfortunately Penzance earned only a drive through as we made a beeline for the Minack Theatre and the stunningly beautiful Porthcurno Beach next to it. For a beach to be called stunningly beautiful by an Australian is a huge accolade! Photos don't do it justice. Unfortunately, the timing of our visit didn't quite work out with the performances at the Minack theatre. It would have been nice to watch a play there. We settled for a lunch with a view at the cafe. The food was reasonably priced and was simple but tasty. There was a cliffside path from the theatre down to Porthcurno Beach.

Minack Theatre perched upon the cliffs

The section with stone seats. Comfortable the family said

Lunch with a view

Porthcurno Beach

We reached Land's End, the most westernly point of the English mainland, and were stung with expensive parking! There was a small collection of buildings to cater for tourists but otherwise there was not much on offer. We took our requisite photo and moved on. For the more adventurous and agile walkers, you could walk from Land's End to Porthcurno. This would have been nice to do if we could afford the time but alas tis not the case! Poor Zennor didn't make the cut either today...

Land's End. I refused to pay to take a photo with pole with the words "Land's End" and today's date

St Ives was dedicated a "must stop". We had something important to do...try Nana's childhood treat of Cornish pastie. If one had to try a Cornish pasty, one should try the best. St Ives Bakery had the honours of being voted to have the best Cornish Pasty in Cornwall in 2019. Just to be sure, we bought one from Bakehouse, the 2017 winner, for comparision. The verdict was divided...but all the pasties disappeared quickly so they must have both been good (as long as you don't compare them to curry puffs!) The serious business of eating continued with purchases of fudge. Cornish ice-cream was also considered but common sense prevailed as we had to leave room for dinner.

St Ives. No, not the suburb next to Pymble...

Pasty hunting

2017 winner for best pasty

What to choose...

The 2019 winner

Fighting for pasties

Fudge so many flavours to choose from

Our extended stop in St Ives meant that we had to forgo Gwithian Beach and Crantock Beach, both recommended by a work colleague from Cornwall. We kept driving to our final stop of the day, Fistral Beach, next to Newquay. The clouds had cleared and the blue skies , long stretch of sand and surf with a half decent break looked a bit like somewhere on the northern beaches. We knew it wasn't because there were no flies, it was still cold and when we turned around the grass on the cliffs was bright green. Because we were there after 6:30pm parking was plentiful and it was free!  2 out of 3 children along with grandpa braved the cold for a quick frolic in the ocean. No one seriously expected to swim...so we had 1 hand towel between three to dry off. Rick Stein's Fistral was another reason we chose to visit Fistral Beach. It was a casual restaurant perched right there on Fistral beach with spectacular water views. Their fish and chips were good! We couldn't be more content as we munched on our dinner.

Soft sand! Fistral Beach

Yes they swam. Yes it was freezing

Food was good!

Thought we'd try this as it looked interesting. Not so good was the verdict from the children