Doing the laundry
Padstow Harbour, with water
Only one week until summer arrives
Outside the harbour - no water
Looking in the other direction
Another view of the harbour
A village across the inlet
Launceston Castle entrance
Town wall and gate
It was a very chilly start to the day this morning, made even more so by the fact that the heating boiler had gone kaput yesterday and was still not working. With the wind whistling around the building, an extra layer of clothing was added, as well as the woollen long johns, before heading downstairs for breakfast. Fortunately, breakfast today wasn’t no where near as exciting as yesterday, when Himself undertook a quality control of the glassware – which failed the test miserably when dropped on the oak floor!
Having decided to have a quiet day today, after the many miles travelled the last few days, we were in no hurry to leave – not that the weather had any influence on our decision to hang close to the small portable heater now in our room. It was a relatively short journey through similar lanes to Padstow, and old fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall. Again, this proved to be a popular spot for tourists, with queues quickly forming for car parking spaces. After feeding the obligatory pound coins into the forever hungry meter, we set out for a wander around the harbour. Surprise, surprise, this harbour actually had water in it, even though the tide was obviously dead low. The sight of a lock quickly solved this riddle, but left us with another; why have a harbour full of water when the boats can’t leave because there is no water outside the lock? It didn’t take long to “do” the town and the freezing wind did nothing to encourage us to linger.
The only other town we really wanted to visit today was Launceston, simply to say we had been there! However, we did opt for the scenic route and instructed Doris to take us to the Eden Project – not that we intended to visit the place, as we have seen plenty of rain forest in Queensland. However, we did stop in one of the car parks (I have never seen so many car parks for one attraction!) while we decided on our next way point, but there was no way we could see the distinctive domes without paying the necessary currency.
We continued towards Launceston, passing a massive mine now under rehabilitation – it was well over 5 kms across (the road went right through the area) and possibly even wider. Doris again took to the lanes and we travelled across Bodmin Moor, emerging from a lane at Jamaica Inn (of Daphne du Maurier fame) and turning towards Launceston. Launceston proved to be the “old” capital of Cornwall and boasted a very old church and even older castle and town wall, as well as a rather pleasant market square. Again, parking was a little difficult, so it was just a drive through visit.
Our time in Cornwall is drawing rapidly to a close and tomorrow we move to Wiltshire, ever closer to Heathrow.
Cheer, cheer, the red and the white – how sweet a victory over Collingwood!
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