John went to the station at 7.30 this morning, although we can see the trains from the front room and bedroom of the house, he wanted to take some photo’s on the station platform. So Dad and I had a slow start, made the picnic and picked him up at 11.00am. We headed off and through St Austell then turning right across what we call the downs, stopping briefly at Quintrell Downs station for a photo….

……before carrying on to Newquay. Newquay is a town on the north coast of Cornwall. The town is known for Sandy beaches at both Fistral and Watergate Bay. The waves from the Atlantic Ocean create strong surf. The town is bordered by several miles of Sandy beaches which make it one of the UK’s favourite holiday destinations.

The Fistral Bay is perhaps the best known surfing beach in the UK. As a consequence of this, in the summer it’s probably the most crowded! In fact at the height of the holiday season you might have to share a wave with another 300 people, but it’s worth it because Fistral can provide some class waves and holds swells up to 8ft. We didn’t stop at Fistral Bay today because we couldn’t find a car park where we could sit in the car and enjoy watching the surfers. It was very windy again today and there were some quite heavy downpours.

We eventually found a nice car park overlooking Watergate Bay…we counted 25 surfers along the bay. A leisurely picnic lunch was taken in the warm car, whilst watching the surfers ride the peaks, drop off, snake and carve, twist and turn. I always love watching them, knowing the excitement and adrenaline rush they will be having….it’s a long time since I had that feeling during my windsurfing years, but it’s one you never forget and you feel it in your gut every-time you watch others succeeding….I could watch surfers all day.

After lunch we drove further up the coast in the direction of Padstow. We went through some lovely seaside villages/towns.

We stopped for a view of the Bedruthan Steps. It is a National Trust car park with a Cafe, shop and toilets. We had decided not to do the walk to see the steps as Dad had previously done it with my sister, but it is a nice view point and we did need to use the toilet. We were told we would still have to pay for parking…John headed off to get a ticket..£2.50 for 1 hour, £5 for 2 hours and £9 for the day…..Johns reaction was ‘How Much!!’. The Lady said “IT IS National Trust’ !!!! ….No wonder there was plenty of room in the car park. To appease John I bought him a tub of rum & raisin ice cream……When the lady told me the price I just managed to refrain from saying I only wanted a couple of scoops not the whole container….and they were certainly quite small scoops…..talk about rip-off Britain…75p for a wee!!!! End of Rant !!

We continued up the coast a little further before heading back across the Cornish peninsula. After zigzagging through the Cornish lanes, with John saying the mirror at his side was brushing the bank of wildflowers, then he looked and saw it was the same on my side!!!….

……we made it back to Par. A quick stop at the St Blazey CO-OP to replenish the milk and fresh fruit supplies was required before we shut the rainy grey sky out for the night….. would you credit it no sooner had we got back the sun came out…Sod’s law !!!
We are eating in tonight, Fish pie, asparagus, spinach and ginger cake with custard….

Tomorrow we hope for a better day weather wise so that we can go to Looe on the train…we love the quaint fishing village and the fish market will provide us with a nice supper…..but it’s all dependant on the weather because it’s quite a long walk from the station to the main town centre.