So it begins

Gale force winds

Published Date : October 10, 2004

Eden Project Biodomes

We were expecting a night in the car to be a bit uncomfortable, but entirely manageable.  We weren’t expecting to wake up every hour or two to turn on the heater and stop ourselves from going hypothermic.  Add to that the gale force winds and driving rain with outside temperatures about 8-9 degrees Celsius and we weren’t in for a good night of sleep.  The last straw was at about 3am when someone came poking around the car.  They didn’t try to talk to us at all, but it was slightly disconcerting.  Since we weren’t sleeping anyway, we figured it was a good time to move on.

So off we went, bypassing Exeter and heading towards Plymouth.  Not long after we passed Exeter we started looking for gas stations.  We passed over a dozen closed service stations on our side of the motorway, and several open stations on the other side of the motorway that we couldn’t get to. We rolled into Plymouth on fumes at about 5am and found ourselves stopped in our tracks with a flat tire, within metres of a service station.  No problem we thought.  A quick tire change, around the roundabout and back into the gas station.  No such luck.  The tire iron in the boot didn’t fit the bolts on the tire.  Great.  We tried the gas station, but they didn’t have any tire irons around.  Our next option was calling the EasyCar breakdown number, but that got us through to Mercedes-Benz, “We don’t deal with EasyCar breakdowns, so sorry”  Right.  Our next call was to EasyCar customer service, but they weren’t open until 7am.  So about an hour later, a cabbie who had overheard our plight at the service station, decided to swing by after he dropped off his fare to see if we were still there.  Thank you!  Our saviour.  He had a universal tire iron, we changed the tire, thanked him profusely, then rolled into the station and finally got some more petrol.  Whew!

Pendennis Castle, Falmouth

Our next stop was the Eden Project near St Austell.  Eden is a biome project that is developing the science of controlled atmosphere plantations and environmentally sound alternatives for everyday products.  It was extremely interesting and a lot of fun to walk around all the indoor and outdoor exhibits.  Well worth the £6 each.  My favourite exhibit was the rainforest (apparently the largest indoor rainforest in the world).  In addition to the wonderful plants, its top selling feature was the warmth!  We were just glad for the opportunity to thaw out!

Another couple of hours on the road and we rocked into Falmouth.  We found ourselves a room at theOasis Guesthouse for £25 each.  A very nice, homey, friendly place.  It was recently redecorated and in a good location.  We spent the afternoon wandering around the bay, buffeted by freezing cold gale force winds and horizontal rain.  A spot of lunch at the waterfront cafe, more money spent on presents and souvenirs, and then back to the guesthouse.  We spent the rest of the night watching some TV with a bottle of wine and some cheese and biscuits, then early to bed to recover from lack of sleep.

Castles and more castles

Published Date : October 11, 2004

Up and at ’em at about 9:30 this morning.  Breakfast at the guesthouse was excellent.  There were several options besides the standard full English breakfast (also known as the “instant heart attack”), so I settled on some poached eggs and toast.  Our first stop was Pendennis Castle, a five-minute drive away.  We got there a bit early, so we took a stroll around the outside of the castle until it opened.  Another cold and windy day, but at least it wasn’t raining.  The best part was definitely the sea air – that’s a great smell first thing in the morning.  Our exploration of the castle cost £3.40 each and probably took about an hour and half, and we both really enjoyed it.  There were loads of interactive exhibits, and it took you through the entire history of the castle from the time of Henry VIII right through both World Wars and up to its decommissioning in 1954.  It was quite a contrast seeing Tudor cannons sitting next to WWII artillery and bunkers, but definitely an interesting one.  I’d say the best part was the motion sensor audio though.  When you walk into a room a commentary or audio reenactment would start up.  It really made it feel like you were there and gave an excellent feel for what it would have been like.

St Michael’s Mount, Marazion

Saying good-bye to Falmouth, our next port of call was about a half hour away at the sea-side resort of Marazion – St Michael’s Mount. The mount is a castle built on an island just off the coast.  At low tide you can walk across, but at high tide you have to be ferried across for £1 each way.  It’s a privately owned residence now, but it has been gifted to the National Trust, so a big percentage of it is open for the public to wander through.  The gardens are also nationally renowned and you could tell that they would be spectacular when they’re in full bloom in spring.  They were impressive enough in autumn!  It cost £5.20 each to get in.

Back on the mainland, we made a quick pit-stop at a bakery for a good old Cornish Pasty – mince, onions and turnips in a pastry shell – yummy!  On the road again, we made a quick jaunt down to Land’s End for a “been there, done that” photo.  Land’s End is the most westerly point of mainland Britain.  We had been told that it’s like Disneyland, so we weren’t expecting much.  Not exactly Disneyland, but American-owned and equally tacky.  You have to pay £2 to park, then you walk through a bunch of really tacky, expensive tourist shops/games/rides before heading down to the cliff’s edge where you can spend a lot of money on a photo at a sign that says Land’s End.  Instead we took our own photo and then just wandered around the cliff side trails.  It’s definitely worth a visit, but don’t plan on spending more than an hour there.

Our final resting place for the night was the Wymering Guesthouse in Penzance for £22 each.  Another excellent establishment.  It was very homey, well-decorated, friendly.  We definitely enjoyed our stay there.  We spent the evening wandering around town looking for a place to eat.  The few restaurants we found were too pricey, and none of the pubs were serving food.  We ended up going to a cinema that offered a “dinner and a movie” deal for £26.  It turned out to be quite good.  A 14″ pizza, bottle of wine, and tickets to see Layer Cake.