We left Lamorna Pottery for Falmouth after a very filling 'Full English -Vegetarian' breakfast; now they are hearty but it did make getting up the hill straight out of Lamorna rather hard work! Just can't digest such a breakfast quickly enough to make my thigh muscles pump the bike upward!
Anyway, the day was unprepossesing as it was misty & damp with a bit of a tail wind, which initially was good. By the time we arrived into Penzance the mist had lifted a bit but it didn't improve the look of the town any, I'm afraid. We bought some sandwiches for the journey at the food caravan outside the station and gained very helpful advice from the woman running it about getting onto the coastal, car free trail. The trail started off paved to Marazion but we had to pay attention as we had to avoid the many runners competing in the Lizard to Penzance Challenge. They, and we, were getting tossed around by the now side wind whistling in from the sea. We could just make out St Michael's Mount through the mist, and marvelled at the hardiness of the kite surfers out in the choppy sea.
Once through Marazion we turned inland following the Sustrans LE-JOG route but at St Erth we turned eastward to take an alternative cycling route across to Falmouth via Helston. The roads were fairly quiet through Godolphin Cross and Sithney but the trail wasn't alwways well marked so we ended up taking a wrong turn, which meant we ended up on the A394. We quickly turned down another narrow lane trying to re-find the route - down we went, up we went, down we went, round a corner to find a signpost but none of the names resembled anything on our map! Peeping over a hedgerow we could see the town below so we took a punt on one of the one that said Newman Lane (or something). It did take us to Helston where we pushed our bikes up the steep incline into this busy market town (used to be a key Cornish cattle market centre) where we found a delightful cafe (Helly's) - I had an asparagus soup (delicious) whilst Caroline had a very filling cheese toastie washed down by a couple of cups of tea.
As usual we couldn't work out which turning to take to get out of Helston toward Gweek despite good instructions from a couple of locals - we saw a sign post for Gweek & The Lizard & alongside the road ran a bike path. Ah ha, we thought this will be a safer route! Not to be - the bike path ran out just past the RNAS Culdrose base so we had to be on the A3083 for a bit until we could turn off onto the Gweek road. Not a pleasant experience!
We wove our way down to Gweek through lovely woodland until we reached the upper reaches of the Helford River. Gweek is where the Cornish Seal Sanctuary is located but we really didn't have time to cycle out to visit it. I took a few photos of the boats moored in these tidal reaches while I waited for Caroline to join me, then up hill out of the valley toward Constantine.
The day turned nasty about 4pm, pretty much when we had reached Constantine, where we halted under the shelter of a bus stop to eat some energy bars. We could have ordered a fresh woodfired pizza from the van across the road from the bus stop - the chap selling them looked like he wanted the business! BUT NO! Onwward we must cycle. From there into Falmouth it rained the type of rain which isn't driving but is totally drenching. On the edge of Falmouth we followed the cycle route up a hill then down through the narrow, cobbled streets of the town, along past the waterfront toward the hostel we had booked to stay in - Falmouth Backpackers. Mings Garden - at which we got a passable meal ... reminiscent of 1960s NZ Chinese restaurant meals , but with very friendly staff. The weather had improved so we also spent some time exploring the Falmouth dockland area & the main shopping street before heading back to bed. The town had some character and obviously had some nigh-life hot spots.
Sunday
The next morning was brighter weather-wise so the St Mawes Ferry was running, much to our joy as we didn't fancy the extra mileage to get round to the Roseland Peninsula. We needed to buy a few groceries before catching the ferry so had to wait until 10am for stores to open. At the ferry we found that although they do take bikes regularly they are not readily accessible for bikes with any load on them. We had to take off all our bags, then carry our bikes down the steps onto the boat. Not an easy task on slippery steps. The 20 minutes journey was not exactly smooth sailing either as the wind was blowing right up the harbour casuing it to be quite choppy - my bike was thrown to the floor & our bags tossed around. I imagined them being jetisonned overboard any moment. We also got a soaking of sea water as we were sitting out on the front deck! Not a pleasant experience!
We had hoped to get a cuppa in St Mawes but the cafes looked a little uninviting; this was possibly partly to do with the clouds gathering darkly & the wind continuing to gather strength. Out & upwards we climbed, passed the St Mawes Castle through St Just in Roseland turning up Mill Hill through very pretty countryside to Trewithian. The hills were getting tougher as we were both hungry - what did we see at the bottom of one glade but the Melinsey Mill Cafe & craft centre. We ate a very pleasant lunch there, rather too much which meant I had to push my bike up the hill before beginning cycling again! OUr next brief stop was at Caerhays Beach where Caroline had an icecream & we both admired the beautiful beach & looked at the castle from a distance. We climbed up through Veryan, winding along narrow country lanes even having to stop for a whole string of cars doing the Coast to Coast Rally as we couldn't fit on the road! Finally we found signs to Boswinger YHA where we had booked to stay for two nights. A lovely hostel overlooking a wonderful beach, Hemmick Beach, which we walked down to before dinner.
Monday gave us a sunny day for which to visit The Lost Gardens of Heligan just 4.4 miles down the road from the hostel. We had a superb day walking round all the tracks, sniffing the flowers, reading the information signs, looking carefully at the kitchen gardens and eating icecream. Lots of people were there but because it is a massive place it didn't feel busy, and everyone there seemed keen to 'experience' Heligan. We picked up some fresh food from Lobbs Farm Shop right next to Heligan - would have loved to have bought so many goodies from there! One of the downsides of cycling ..... or upsides, if practicing the 'less is more' philosophy.
That evening whilst we were eating dinner two large, fit male cyclists appeared, having cycled from Land's End between 4-7.30pm! They were from the Midlands doing LE-JOG in 7 days with a father-in-law as support person. We had a very interesting conversation about the state of society and politics in NZ & UK. The next morning we wished them well on their challenge - they disappeared into the distance before we even got round the first corner.
We continued on to St Austell, partly along an off-road route called the Pentewan Trail, which was lovely in places but rather too mtn-bikey muddy in others. In St Austell we took a while to find the sole bike shop - Pave Velo - but it was vital that we did as Caroline needed new brake pads & I needed new bike gloves. The lovely owner of the shop told us of the off-road trail to the Eden Project. This we duly took. There was a bit of climbing and it was much rougher than expected but the views were magnificent. The signs pointing the way on the NCN 3 or the Clay Trail were great in some places but at some large dusty interesections they were non-existent unless one looked for rocks (hidden in the undergrowth) on which arrows had been carved!
Arriving at Eden around 11.45 we ate our picnic lunch, deposited our bags in a locker, secured our bikes to one of the numerous bike racks and made our way in to the ticket office. What an efficient system they have for ticketing hundreds of people each day - like a supermarket checkout but with 'greeters' welcoming people & directing them to appropriate lanes. We bought a year pass for same price as one full day entry as we knew we couldn't see the whole place in a half day.
We walked in via the Slopes of Earthly Treasures, which highlighted the importance of plants to our lives with a particular focus on plants that grow wild in Cornwall. We also took in the vegetable garden area before entering the domes. We spent quite a bit of time inside the Rainforest dome, which is divided into different zones - SE Asia (Malaysia mainly), West Africa, tropical islands (great to see the clear promotion of ethically & sustainably grown bananas from the Caribbean as opposed to Dole), and South America. Loved the hut where one could look out & imagine watching a tropical downpour & the bridge which illustrated the steaminess of a tropical jungle.
We definitely needed a drink after visiting that biome as the temperature was in the high 30s. I tried a drink from the Baobab bar before we exited into the link dining area where we both had an icecream made using panela (undrefined sugar product) & a cold drink. We felt refreshed enough to enter the Mediterraean biome, which was much cooler anyway ...... it felt just ike Greece or Spain in the dining part but as we ventured further in we found the West Australian, South African & Californian gardens in all their colourful glory. The Australian garden was a highlight for me as it illustrated just how resilient the plant life is in a harsh environment and how aboriginal people adapted to living there.
It was 5pm by the time we finished looking around, time to head up the road (literally 10 mins cycling from Eden) to Roger & Sue Paine's place where we were to stay the night. Roger is my colleague Corinne's Dad and she had connected us through email. We enjoyed a delightful evening in Sue & Roger's company, eating a delicous vege meal & talking about a great range of things. They are creating a marvellous garden around their lovely stone cottage (aptly called Garden Cottage) with lots of colour as well as a wild woodland in which Roger has parked an old caravan to be used as his 'man cave'! They have a dog called Beth, a nervous wee thing who spent some time barking at us until she accepted our presence & after that was very loving. Sue & Roger very generously offered us the use of their laundry so we could wash our clothes; gratefully accepted as handwashing & trying to dry in one day doesn't always get the clothes smelling fresh!
Wednesday
After a lovely healthy breakfast the next morning we stored our bags in their shed & cycled off to Eden to complete the visit we had started. We took in the outdoor gardens laid out down the Zig-Zag path then into the Core where we took some time looking at the scientific communication images, played with the nut cracker machine & read all about plastic litter in our oceans (as if I didn't know enough already!) My favourite place was the room hosing The Seed (Peter Randall artist) as the acoustics were spot on: spent some time just singing sounds & enjoying the beauty of the space. The educative side of Eden is most impressive. There were several school groups in during our time there & none were instrusive to the general public, and all were absorbed in the activities the Eden educators presented. [Boswinger YHA to South Penquite only 42.84 miles]
Visit complete and our energy levels waning, we made our way back to Garden Cottage to load up our gear, bid our hosts farewell and make our way up through Bodmin to South Penquite Farm where were planned to camp for the night. Our journey was gradually climbing mainly on quiet country roads through the village of Luxulyan, just past which we stopped to admire the Treffry Viaduct & bridge. We were pretty much following The Saints Way pathway as well as the Cornish Way cycle route until we neared Bodmin when we slipped over the A30 onto a bike trail into the town. There we stopped for refreshments at a lovely cafe (Folly Tearooms) owned by a chap, Dave, who "once fell in love with a girl from New Plymouth but lucky for her I didn't jump ship as I'm now gay!" Caroline had a lovely vege burger & salad whilst I had a Cornish Cream tea whilst we chatted with the owner & the woman serving.
Suitably energised we found our way out of Bodmin on to the Camel Trail off-road cycling route which follows the Camel River up onto the moorland at Blisland. This was probably one of the nicest route taken yet as it was beautifully wooded with lovely views down to the Camel River. Parts were a bit rocky & more suitable for a mtn bike but generally my Surly Long-haul Trucker coped! At Blisland we turned off to join the Moorland Cycleway as the South Penquite Farm campground was along that route. It was a lovely evening as we set up our tent, showered & ate our miso soup with crackers. As we are not carrying cooking equipment & most British campgrounds do not have a cookhouse, the evening meal was rather spartan. Luckily our various snacks & cafe visits along the way had provided enough sustenance. As the evening cooled we sat in the wee reception lounge writing diaries until time to head to bed. My new sleeping mat & pillow proved to be as comfortable as advertised so I slept soundly until woken by the sound of military aircraft undertaking night trials!! Reminiscent of post-quake Chch!
Thursday
The next morning it rained for about an hour but stopped by the time we crawled out of the tent. We left it up to dry a bit whilst we ate our usual muesli breakfast & packed up the rest of our gear. We then went on the 2 hour Sth Penquite walk around the edge of the moor & along the De Lank River to see the stone circles and standing stone. This was a really delightful walk with the weather improving as we went. Fascinated by the fact that people have farmed this area for over 2000 years & certainly also quarried its slate for at least 200 years.
Back at the farm we ate the rest of our rice crackers with nut butter & chocolate paste before cycling off toward St Breward where we stopped at The Old Inn for a more substantial meal. Getting out from there proved somewhat more complex as the NCN 3 signs were confusing; after circling the village common twice we chose the sign that directed us toward Camelford as we knew we needed to go through there on our way to Tintagel. Unfortunately we ended up on the B3266 leading to the A39 on the edge of Camelford, there we took the route signposted to Tintagel, again a busy tourist route but at least the drivers were cautious and we arrived safely. [Saw a few rabbits along the way, too - they risk their lives crossing that road as can be seen by the roadkill]. The wind was growing stronger too so we were pleased to stop at The Tintagel Kitchen for a cuppa - the chap running the place had a bubble machine going to attract people & to make them smile. He also wore a big smiley face t-shirt & was very hearty, telling us that he & his wife had moved down from the Midlands to Cornwall for a lifestyle change & to bring a smile to people's faces. Such fun!
Bought some groceries for dinner then head off to the YHA hostel; thankfully we had booked ahead as it was full with tourists from the US & Germany. We settled ourselves in, fiddled with our bikes, then set off for a walk along the cliffs to Trebarwith sands then back toward the Tintagel Church where a sign warned of walking in the long grass due to adders. The wind blew any cobwebs we may have had away so we retreated inside to cook our meal & to share travel stories with Mavis from Manchester & other tourists, the last of which arrived at 10pm having lost their way.
South Penquite to Tintagel YHA only 16.82 miles]
Friday 16th June
After a great night's sleep we awoke to find a sea mist obscuring the cliffs but that soon cleared and we set off to visit Tintagel Castle. I last visited the site in 1987 but only remember the bridge that then served as the crossing pint to the actual ruins ... nothing else! I just can't imagine living there with all the wind & the waves - seems so desolate yet the archeologists & historians tell of a vibrant trading town during the 'Dark'and Middle Ages, with oil etc coming in from Greece, France and Spain, and visits by their Earl, Richard of Cornwall. We stayed wandering around the site for some time or just sitting watching the seagulls swoop & dive (very Jonathon Livingston Seagull) before heading down to the English Heritage Cafe for a cuppa & piece of cake to go with the sandwiches we had made.
We went back up to the town to buy some local honey & to mooch around the shops. Bought some lovely fresh bread from The Cornish Bakery as well as The Guardian (epressing reading about the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London) and a few bits & pieces for our dinner before heading back to the hostel for a quiet afternoon writing diaries etc while staring at the waves crashing on the headland below. We also went for a shortish walk to the local Primary School to catch the end of their annual fete so Caroline could buy some cake ... happily there was some left! Back to the hostel to make tea before the mad rush after 6.30pm!
Tintagel hostel really is in a perfect location - I could stay here for ages but we must pedal on! Saturday we should cross into North Devon.
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