Day out – Page 15 – Neil Baldwin's blog : Warning contains walking, technology, photography, holidays.

Yoyogi park, and the Meiji shrine

Entrance to Meiji Shrine, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

After the marathon time spent awake yesterday we slept pretty well, and did not finally wake up till 09:30. We have decided that we will skip breakfast at the hotel as it is 2,300 yen each. We stopped of at the lobby of the seven eleven next door for Helen’s first fag of the day,then headed down to the nearest station to try out our Tokyo Oyster cards. The station was confusing until we spotted the English signs. From Suodobashi station we caught a train to Shinjuku where we found a nearby Starbucks some breakfast, then we got back on the trains to go to Harajuku station. Shinjuku station is the one famous for employing people to squash commuters onto the trains during rush hours, it was quite crowded and it was only a Sunday, I wonder what it is like on a week day?

The train was an over ground so we had the opportunity to see the world go by. We passed lots of water one area seemed to have boats for hire, we passed a fishing place where there were lots of fishermen on methods jetties with fishing rods, apparently quite popular I remember seeing it on a documentary about cap once on TV. We guessed correctly which station to get off at, and soon found the park entrance, there were lots of people walking down the wide tree lined avenues we followed the crowds and eventually came to the main shrine area. People come to the shrine to get married so there are as lot of people in traditional dress especially ladies and children. There seemed to be a harvest festival gong on as there were many displays of produce some on the form of large boats worth sails made off leeks. I didn’t know where to point my camera there was too many things to photograph.

We did a leisurely loop around the rest of the park, we were on the look out for the rockers that the park is also famous for. We spotted for a coffee then headed out to find them. We had a stroke of luck my Kindle is a 3G version and can access data worldwide, so we found a picture of the rockers and showed it to an official, who pointed us in the right direction. The rockers were strutting those stuff at the entrance to the park, which is separate to the shrine park. We walked round the park and did some people watching. It seems the Tokyians know how to make use of the green spaces, there was not just lounging around, the rule was that you had to be doing something either cultural or physical. We saw people with Frisbees, hula hoops, shuttle cocks, basketballs, soccer balls, tambourines, then there was the was the cultural ones singing, dancing, reciting, playing etc. There were also some street performers, one on a cylinder and board was very good as he flicked bowls on tithe head of the girl balancing on his head. There was an fenced off area that seemed to be full of dogs and their owners I thing the area was where you are allowed to let your dog off its lead.

Dancers in Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Next stop was to be a the oriental bazaar near by which Helen had spotted in the guide book. Lots of Japanese ware in a nice shop that was well spaced out, unlike the western shops which are squeeze in as much as you can. Helen bought some gifts. Then we headed back to the hotel because we needed a east before going out for something to eat. The trims were quite busy people were on the move, the Japanese queue on the platform nears marks then was politely for the disembark before getting on themselves.

After a rest and freshen up, we ventured out again to find something to eat. We could not make our minds up where to eat. Many restaurants have photo’s or plastic models of the food they sell but neither are very appetising, add to that neither of us eat meat and Helen does not eat fish either it makes the whole thing a bit of a challenge. We ended up at the Tokyo dome we we found a Spanish restaurant, I managed to stay slightly Japanese with the Japanese crab pasta, and Helen got another tick on the list of countries where she has eaten a Margarita pizza. Before going back to the hotel we had a look round the attractions at the dome, and stumbled across another unusual Japanese tradition, there was an area with posts of fairy lights including a long tunnel, and all around were late teenagers, mainly girls all dressed up in Anime style clothing, photo graphing each other. Some of the camera and kit was very serious I saw a 50mm f1.2 canon lens they retail at £1,200 many of them had flashes and reflectors.

Back toward the hotel we tried to go to a Belgium beer establishment we had spotted yesterday, but alas the place was shut, so we went back and had a beer at the hotel. We managed to stay up until 21:00 the jet lag is wearing off.

Busy weekend

Helen was away at the weekend and I am off to Belfast this morning so you will be treated to a blog post of my busy weekend. I dropped Helen off at the train station of Friday evening then settled in for an evening in front of the TV, followed by going to bed early, as I had plans.

I was up at a reasonable time grabbed some breakfast and a strong coffee and headed out to the woods at Ashridge, the rut had started so I might be able to get some pictures. The weather was perfect for photography a clear atmosphere and a few whit fluffy clouds against a deep blue sky. I parked up in a car park which is close to a large open field where the stags tend to congregate and do their strutting about.

Walking through the woods I spotted the odd deer and a couple of stags, but they are hard to get pictures of in the shaded woods. 100th of a second at ISO 800 is about all you can hope for, still the new 40D I’d slightly better at high ISO’s than the old 20D. I did a circuit of the field and took a few landscape shots of the trees which were just starting to turn autumnal. The deer were gathering but there was not a lot of action, and I had other things planned.

On the way back through Tring I called in at R’s but I got know answer, so I went home and had some lunch then headed over to Wendover for a haircut, which was more eventful than usual when the guy having his haircut in the chair next to me had his ear snipped with the scissors. He got a free haircut and I thanked my luck stars I was not their 5minutes earlier is I might have been in that seat. I grabbed a paper and went home.

I gave R another call and got hold of him, and popped round for a coffee, it was good to catch up. Then I was back to the woods to have another crack at the rut. I was not disappointed. Two stags were on the rise in the field and occasionally challenges came from the edge of the field, which drew the stags down closer to where I had positioned myself and within lens shot. At one point I saw charging and crashes as their antlers clashed. I left at about 17:30 clearly sunset is the best time of day.

I grabbed an M&S curry on the way through Tring then went home to watch Hard Candy on Netflix, which although got good reviews was rubbish, I lasted 30 minutes in. Again I had a fairly early night as I was going to give the deers another chance in the morning. There was not much action in the morning at 08:30, but it was nice to be out in the woods when it is quiet, on such a nice morning. Next it was back to the house to make Tumbet for a quick Sunday evening meal, you can make it ready to put in the oven for later. This time I used new potatoes which I boiled and skinned red peppers for a jar, which made it easier to prepare and tasted great.

I was due to pick Helen up at 1600 from Didcot so as the weather was again great I headed out early to Little Wittenham to get some pictures around the river Thames. I grabbed my 10-22mm lens and polarising filter, it was to be one of those days. Over and around Little Wittenham there is some thing called Earth Trust, which I must find out some more about, it looks like they have been planting trees and putting up walks and generally doing stuff for nature conservation.

Helen’s train was on time and the Tumbet was great we watched the film Tyranosaur, which although very hard hitting was very well made, a great story and well acted. That’s what I call making the most of a weekend.

An Improbable Sunday

My plans for Sunday were pretty simple, get up have some breakfast, take it easy, perhaps a walk somewhere. Things then got a bit more complicated, I checked out twitter and I noticed a tweet from “Ian visits” suggesting that Mark Abrahams was doing a talk in London and there were tickets available. Helen was insistent on the original Sunday plans so I was on my own. Ticket was booked and an additional event was found : the Pearly Kings and Queens Harvest Festival. I had a plan.

Who is Mar Abrhams you ask? You may remember Helen and I went to the Ig Nobels a few months back (see blog post) but if you can’t here is a summary I nicked from the internet : Marc Abrahams is the editor of the parody magazine Annals of Improbable Researchand the founder of the Ig Nobel Prizes, which honour bizarre, questionable, and downright funny scientific research and are presented at an annual ceremony at Harvard University. Abrahams and the Ig Nobel have been widely covered, including by the Guardian, the New York Times, New Scientist, Scientific American, and newspapers and TV programmes internationally. The author of The Ig Nobel Prizes, published in 2002, Abrahams writes a weekly column for the Guardian. He lives in Massachusetts.

I got the 10:54 from Berkhamsted, which was surprisingly busy, but I managed to get a seat, next to the loo. Better spot than those who had to stand just outside the loo door! I used the journey to finally catch up with the Archers, after holidays, using the podcast app on my phone.

I got the tube to Bank then Google maps guided me to Guildhall. Guildhall has been the City powerhouse since the twelfth century. In an era when the Lord Mayor of London rivalled the monarch for influence and prestige, this was where he and the ruling merchant class held court, fine-tuned the laws and trading regulations that helped create London’s wealth. Today, 800 years on, Guildhall is still home of the City of London Corporation, and acts as a grand setting for glittering banquets in honour of visiting Heads of State and other dignitaries, royal occasions, and receptions for major historical anniversaries.

There were not many people there, as the main event did not start till 14:00, but that mean the Pearlies were easy to photograph and photograph I did. My understanding of the event is that it is a celebration of harvest time and all the Pearly Kings and Queens get together with the mayors of all the boroughs and have a celebration and march in thanks for the harvest. Apart form people in cloths covered in buttons, and people in cloaks with heavy chains around their necks, I saw Morris dancers, Chelsea pensioners, and some donkeys pulling carts. I had to leave just as it was starting, so what really went on who knows.

I jumped on the tube at St Paul’s and walked after alighting at Holborn then walked round the corner to find Conway Hall, to watch “The worlds most improbable event?” by Mark Abrahams. Once I had located the hall I popped round the corner to find something to eat, luck would have it there was a traditional Fish & Chips shop close by so got a bag full, and ate on the run.

Conway Hall is an ethical place according to the sign you see as you enter. According to the website of Conway Hall : Conway Hall is owned by South Place Ethical Society and was first opened in 1929. The name was chosen in honour of Moncure Daniel Conway (1832 – 1907), anti-slavery advocate, out-spoken supporter of free thought and biographer of Thomas Paine. The Hall now hosts a wide variety of lectures, classes, performances, community and social events. It is renowned as a hub for free speech and independent thought. Our Library holds the Ethical Society’s collection, which is the largest and most comprehensive Humanist Research resource of its kind in the United Kingdom.

The talks had a different format to the Ig Nobel one, rather than the authors of wining papers presenting their research, guest speakers were invited to chose from a selection of Ig Nobel and other improbable papers, then present it in two minutes then answer one question from the audience on the subject of the paper.

Amongst the papers presented was : A bra that converted into a gas mask, The colour preferences of people with various mental conditions, and a patent application for a birthing aid based on centrifugal forces. At the end of the presentation was the obligatory recital of a poem by McGonagall about the Tay bridge disaster which can be found here. I bought a copy of the Mark Abrahams book as I left and headed back to Euston to catch the train home; Holborn – Piccadilly – Euston.

For dinner I cooked Tumbet using a recipe of my own making. Tumbet is a Spanish/Moroccan dish made with sliced and fried potatoes, aubergine, and red peppers layered with tomato sauce and topped with some hard cheese, then cooked in the oven. I first had it the other week as a Marks and Spencer ready meal and thought I could do that. My version involves roasting rather than frying and it makes it a lot less fiddly. Basically slice the potato and roast in the oven, when done put aside and replace with the peppers and aubergine slices. Whilst all that is happening make the tomato sauce by frying garlic briefly then adding tinned tomatoes (one tin per 2 people) and rosemary and thyme, then let it cook down whilst the roasting happens. Take a baking dish oil it a bit layer the ingredients and intersperse with tomato sauce top with some grated cheese (parmesan works well), cover with tin foil then cook for 30 minutes then uncover and cook for then 10-15. Serve with salad.

The journey home from Port Gaverne

We were all up in good time and managed to leave the hut by 10:15 only 15 minutes later than we should have been, there was no cleaner waiting to get in so it did not matter. We headed off and filled up at the Delabole petrol station, one of the many independent service stations you see in Cornwall.

We made good progress and were soon at Stourhead NT and ideal stopping point for a stretch and some lunch. It was 3 hours from Cornwall and left us a 2 hour journey to home. The place wasa busy and the overflow car park was filling up, not surprising as the weather was gorgeous and bad weather was on the way for Sunday.

Stourhead NT is one of the more popular National Trust properties it has a house and extensive grounds with some follys and a large lake. It was (is?) owned by the family that founded the Hoare Banking company I believe similar to Coutts in terms of it’s customers. We had lunch first in the modern building which houses the cafe and obligatory shop, the queue was long because it was lunch time and there was only one till manned.

After lunch of sandwiches all round we went to look at the house, which was the type of NT house I prefer with a bit of old and a bit of new in it. After we took a walk around the gardens and lake followed by the walled gardens where I admired their artichokes which put mine to shame. We popped into the farm shop to get some essential supplies for dinner and then headed back to the car to continue you journey home.

There were signs suggesting the M3 was shut at a junction we needed to pass so we ended up diverting from our planned route onto the A34 via Oxford. It made no difference to our travel time and we arrived at home on schedule.

That evening we watched the ITV series called Bletchley something about a murder case solved by ex-wartime code breaker women, which we enjoyed.

Surf’s up in Polzeath Bay

We thought as it was the last day we thought we would make the most of the time left. We would body board in the morning and go for a walk in the after noon. There were 4 volunteers, T&C, Helen and I, the plan was to go down to Polzeath see what the waves were like then decide.

BBC weather predicted calm seas so we were not expecting much, but when we got there the waves seemed big enough for beginners so we went to one of the trailers to get some gear, we all needed boards (£3 per hour) and two of us wetsuits (£3 per hour) so £12 and hour for two hours entertainment seemed good value. We were soon suited and booted and ready to take on the Atlantic waves.

Getting in was the first hurdle, but we were at the end of the summer, so the sea was warmed, and we had wet suits on, so the thermal shock did not live up to our fears. In fact it was not cold at all, I would not describe it as cosy but not unpleasant. We worked our way out to where the waves were breaking and a couple of other boarders were hanging out and waited for our first wave. It turns out that there is a knack to catching a wave, for the best results, pick a big one and then try to catch it just as it breaks, that way you have a steep edge to get moving on. Next make sure the nose of the board stays above the water otherwise expect to become a submarine!

We were glad to get out of our wetsuits and into dry clothes, over time it does make you cold and it is very tiring fighting the waves and walking back out into the surf. I would definitely do it again perhaps even try a surf board. We headed back to the hut for some well earned lunch.

Some of us dragged ourselves off the sofas to go for a walk from a book called “Shortish walks in Cornwall”. We picked on a stretch of coast we had yet to see. We parked up as the book described in a small layby near Treligga, but not after visiting the village whilst looking for th layby from the book description.

The walk started by heading towards the sea in both directions, lower in altitude and in a northerly direction. There was an option to visit a mall beach down some wooden steps then some cut into the rocks, I was the only one to take up that option, I was after some snaps of the lovely beach with large rocks from the cliffs scattered around. There were also a couple of deep caves.

From the beach it was back up the steep steps up to the coastal path, which once we had found it followed the top of the cliff for a couple of miles, then the path descended into a valley, at which point there was a sign suggesting a permissive path heading in land, we came to regret not taking the easier route. At the bottom of the valley the path headed in land up the valley, we saw some interesting plants including lots of wild mint.

After a few hundred yards of slow ascent the path veered right and we then had a very long slog up a hill to get out of the valley if it had been any steeper it would had steps in it. At the top of the valley we walked through a dairy farm where the cows were all waiting to be milked. We walked through the farm and up their drive to the road then it was a short walk back to the layby. It had been quite a tough walk especially after a morning in the sea.

That evening we went down to the pub in Port Gaverne I had the Mussels starter which was tasty and well cooked but a bit short on mussels, followed by the grilled sole which was excellent. A couple of pints of Sharps Doombar washed it all down nicely.

Padstow rib trip

Thursday we had organised a trip on a rib powerboat from Padstow harbour up out of the estuary and along to coast to look for wildlife. It meant and even earlier start as they like to do everything in Cornwall at high tide. We left the house at 08:15 and the trip was booked for 08:45. We parked up at the harbour car park which even at that time of day was fairly full, I guess from people staying in hotels and holidays lets. The public loos were all locked up at that time which caused a slight panic amongst the women but the three sisters manged to persuade a pub to let them use their facilities.

We were all well rugged up with plenty of layers and we had all experience of boat trips, it can be very cold out over the ocean at any time of the year. We all got on board apart from our party of seven their were a couple and another guy who would share the experience with us. We cast off and slowly headed out of the harbour and onto the estuary where the skipper opened the throttle and we powered out towards the sea. We stopped on occasions so that the skipper could explain the history of Padstow and the local wildlife that was visible. It is not really a good time of the year t see wildlife and the breeding birds had all moved on and although it is possible to see dolphins and basking sharps the summer months stand a better chance.

Once out of the estuary the sea was significantly rougher, as we powered over the waves towards Padstow lifeboat station, the rib seemed to leave the water and slap down hard, Helen let rip with a few expletives at that point, and questioned what we were doing out in such a high sea, even if we had an RLNI volunteer as skipper. That turned out to be the worst leg of the tour, as it was the only one where we were going against the tide and the wind. From the lifeboat station we headed out to a rock island that the RAF had once used for target practice. We saw a seal and some divers just off the rocks, then we headed at full speed in a big arc back to the mouth of the estuary and then back to Padstow Harbour.

We stopped of at Rick Steins deli and then Tesco to grab some stuff to eat in the evening, then went back to the holiday hut from some lunch. After lunch we headed over to Daymer Bay for a walk on the beach and a spot of rock polling where I found a medium sized crab, under a rock. On the way back we checked out Polzeath Bay with a view to possible surfing in the morning, on our last day n Cornwall.

Sea kayaking off Port Gaverne

It turns out that Port Gaverne should be pronounced Port Gay Verne, according to Ben our Kayaking guide, aparently if you pronounce it Port Gav Urn in front of a local fisherman you should expect a wet fish in the face. I digress! Wednesday morning we had arranged a Sea Kayaking trip. We had to be up early to start out at high tide, we went down to Polzeath beach our rendez-vous point at 08:15. They were not quite ready for us so we went for a welcome coffee for 10 minutes. Down on the beach there are quite a few surfing/coasteering/kayaking businesses selling their wares. The weather was grey and winding with the threat of rain, but out ovewr the sea it looked like the clouds were clearing. We finished our coffee and went back down onto the beach to be kitted out. Each of us got a wet-suit boots, buoyancy aid and a helmet. Then we all got in our cars and followed their van up the coast to Post Gaverne where the waves were not breaking on the beach to launch the Kayaks.

We parked up at the derelict Headland Hotel, and got into our wetsuits, which is not easy. I managed to out it half on twice before on the third attempt got it right. First time I got it back to front and the second it was the right way round but inside out, other people were having similar problems. As it was cold some of us put on raincoats under our buoyancy aids, to help protect us from the wind. Once we were all ready we headed down the steep hill past the pub and down to the boat store just over the road from the beach. We ported the kayaks down to the beach and Ben gave us a quick lesson in kayak and a safety briefing on what we should do when out on the ocean.

Next we got on with the main show actually getting on the water. The kayaks were pretty stable at no point did I feel that the boat was going to tip over. Each boat takes two people and I was paired up with Jim, who had done some kayaking before. First we did some basic maneuvers around the shallow end going round two buoys and turning on the spot to ensure that we all knew what we were doing, then we headed out a bit further. The more distance we put between us and the shelter of the cover, the bigger the waves got. Helen and C decided they did not fancy going out on to the ocean and round to Port Isaac so Helen’s dad swapped boats and went with T, which left three boats. When we got to the edge of the cave Ben announced that it was too rough to go round the coast so we would have to make do with paddling round the sheltered area of water. It was disappointing but you have to respect the sea and the people who have a better knowledge of it, we certainly experienced what to me looked like big waves, particularly when you are low down on the surface they were big enough to on occasions lose sight of other kayaks, but they were not breaking so it was mainly a case of bobbing up and down and keeping the kayak square to the direction of the wave. One couple also had had enough due to feeling a bit seasick and headed back to the beach while we bobbed about for the rest of the session.

We beached the boats and carried them back up the beach which was now much longer as the tide had been going out while we were at sea. Ben came across a broken bottle probably lobbed from the road onto the beach he cleared up the glass. The we slogged our way back up the hill to the car park and were able to get out of our wet-suits and into some warm dry clothes, which was very welcome. Then we drove back the 500 yards or so back to the holiday hut, for a shower and some lunch.

Helen’s dad and I decided to go for a short circular walk from the hut, in land the fields then down into Port Gaverne. The path stared from the road at a farm near the hut, but it was not sign posted at all. I popped back to get the map to show us the way. We walked through the farm yard past the chained up dog, then into a field with a warning about the bull on the gate. We crossed the field following the map and when we got to the field edge we had to fight our way through gorse and brambles. A couple of men chopping down a tree clearly knew that there was a pat there but claimed that it was the postman’s path and that us Englishmen are all the same walking on their land. We continued on our way and into Post Gaverne.

The route back back was via the coastal path the weather had improved and the sun was shining, I striped down to just my T shirt it was so warm. After a couple of descents and ascents we found the pah inland back to the road that the hut was on. We met a couple who explained that they had walked from Boscastle but wanted to get to Port Isaac the quickest way because they had almost run out of water. We gave them all the water we had as we were only a few hundred yards from home. It turns out that the guy was doing the southern leg of a mission to walk the coast of Britain, he had already done Gravesend to and round Scotland, then Wales now he was doing the final stretch round from Bristol along the south coast back to Gravesend.

We ate at the local pub which was followed by a quiz we came second!

Cycle ride from Wadebridge to Padstow

Eventually we were all up and ready to collect the bikes from Wadebridge at 10:15, the plan was to cycle from there to Padstow and back again, a round trip of about 12 miles. The weather was sunny with fluffy clouds being blown along by a stiff wind, it seemed cooler than the past couple of days.

Once we were all fitted out with bikes we headed off down the Camel Trail, the dog strapped tightly in a trailer and Helen’s mum being towed on a two wheel tandem conversion by T. It was a gentle flat ride to Padstow with several stops to adjust the dog, then for a coffee stop where a guy tows his coffee making equipment to the half way point, including all the water needed for a day making hot drinks.

We parked up the bikes at a secure bike park (50p per bike/trailer) then headed into Padstow town. It was Sergio Ramos, the car parks all had “car park full signs up”, god knows what it is like at the height of the holiday season? We headed through the town, and out to the war memorial just up the estuary. We passed the flat helen and I stayed at (next to the public loo’s above an art gallery) some years ago.

We sat for a while on the benches over looking the Camel estuary, while the dog was worn out by throwing a ball down the hill. On the other side of the estuary is Rock where all hooray henri’s spend there summer holidays, and money in the shops and rental prices for the lovely looking riverside properties. Next stop was the pastie shop.

We purchased our pasties from the Cough Bakery www.thecoughbakery.co.uk which had featured on one of those TV programs where they take a troubled business and turn it around. You can’t fault the location, it bang on over looking the harbour an a junction which affords it longer than usual frontage. If I remember correctly it was a family run business but they could not all agree who should do what, and the mother would not let the kids do anything different from they way it had always been run. They certainly have customers now we had to queue to buy our lunch.

Suitably refreshed we went to recover the bikes from the secure storage shed and were soon back on the road. The wind was behind us and we made really good headway, so decided to pass though and and past Wadebridge to add another hour to the days activities. However it involved passing through Wadebridge center and it busy public roads. We got through with only one minor mishap when one wheel of the the wide dog cart hit the curb and almost ejected the dog. Just when some of us had cycled far enough we came across a vineyard that sold wine by the glass on a terrace over looking the valley, unfortunately dogs were not allowed. The girls decided to cycle back to Wadebridge while T and I took the olds up the hill to the terrace where we enjoyed the Camel Valley Baccus and Atlantic Dry. The wine was good you can buy it here http://www.camelvalley.com

Next was a sprint back to Wadebridge to catch up with the other who were waiting for us at a bar near the cycle hire shop. We joined them for a swift half then headed back via Tesco for something to eat. They explained that at at around the vinyard point a couple of young guys had cycled past Helen’s dad then as they passed the girls one said to the other “That’s the coolest thing I have ever seen an old fella smoking a pipe on a bike!” . Later C cooked her famous Tomato risotto with veggie meatballs. We are up early tomorrow for a Sea Kayaking session at Polzeath Beach.

Trebarwith Strand

First day of the holiday and we took our time getting up and ready to go. We took two cars and headed to Trebarwith Strand. The road in was interesting very narrow with steep rocky sides at times luckily we only met one car on the way down. We parked at the long stay car park (£5.80 for 4 hours) in the belief that the short stay would be cheaper than any short stay. Turns out that the smaller short stay was charging £2.50 for the day!

Trebarwith Strand is an interesting place there is a wide beach which is pretty much covered over when the tide comes in. Access to the beach is over some smoothish rock on one side was a stream cutting a gorge into the to the rock, on the other was what looked like a cutting into the rock.

We took a stroll on the beach looking for life in the rock pools. C won the prize for the most interesting find a big fat star fish with only four points. There were some caves on the west end of the beach, one of them went at least 50 metres into the cliff.

We had lunch at The Port William pub at a table in the conservatory, over looking the bay. The St Austell Trelawney Bitter went down well with the cheese sandwich. We drove back to the hut to get sorted for a rib boat trip that T had organised, but when we phoned to check the weather was too rough, and the owner said he would take us out but that we would probably not enjoy it, so we cancelled. It is a shame because it was the last trip of the season. Still we have the sea kayaking to look forward to which has been postponed till Wednesday due to high winds.

The girls decided that they would go on a shopping trip, and T and I took the bikes down to Pooley Bridge and did a cycle ride to Bodmin and back on the Camel trail, which I must say is an excellent little trail for walking and cycling. We went at a fair pace on the way back which gave me a good work out.

Day one at Port Gaverne

Mr T was dropped off early at Wadebridge, as part of his marathon training he was going to run to Padstow, which is about 18 miles. The st of us got upfairly early and had a leisureley breakfast, toast for me. The plan was to drive to Rock and pick up T from the ferry from Padstow.

We parked up at the far end of Rock (£1.50 for two hours) and had a wander along the beach front. It was not long before Mr T texted me to say he was on the ferry. The tide was out and the ferry was having to do a big loop round to get to the quai, in fact T had got the last ferry before the drop off was changed to the alternative quai further out of of town towards the sea. T had taken 2:35 to do 17 miles.

Back at the hut I set up the GoPro to da a time lapse looking out to sea from the house while we had lunch, then we planned to do a local circular walk taking in Port Gaverne and Port Quin.

The walk took us from the hut via the steep road down into Port Gaverne, then up the hill out again. You can probably see a pattern emerging here, we are in Cornwall and there is no such ting as a flat walk.

At the top of the hill, you guessed it, we went down again, into Port Isaac where Dr Martin is filmed. We watch a bit of road rage as someone going down the hill got frustrated by the drivers coming up and not giving way. The walk continued on round the headland eventually getting to Port Quin after much up and down of steep stepped hills. In one cove we saw in the distance a baby seal calling for its mother, the calling seemed as if the seal was suffering but it seemed quite active and we all agreed it was most likely just calling for it’s mother who was in the want just in the bay.

At port Quin there was a very welcome coffee establishment in an old Citroen corrugated van. We stopped for a double cappuccino and a piece of cake before heading back to Port Gaverne this time in land, and more directly. It was surprising how quickly it took to get back compared to the up and down walk round the headland.

Once back at the hut we Cajun stew cooked by Helen’s dad.