Porthlevan

5th August 2020

18th July 2020

Porthlevan

It's misty this morning, so we won't be rushing off anywhere too soon. Time to catch up with journal and Peter gets his guitar out.

The wind whirled a symphony through the awning during the night, keeping me awake , so I'm happy with the slow start.

And, I'm really miffed that there seem to be no churches open in this part of the world, but we do get Mass online. We miss our usual routine of making visits to churches and getting Holy Mass as often as possible. It's all a little surreal and a bit disturbing that we can't go into churches. We manage our time of prayer every morning , though. 

Soon the sun shines and the sea in Falmouth Bay glints like a mirror. The campers who obstructed our view have now left and we get to enjoy it without moving while eating breakfast.

 

Today we join Jo, Paul and some of his family at  Porthlevan Harbour, calling at a big Tesco's first as we need some supplies. Going to any supermarket just now is not easy, with the queuing and everything. We wait at least ten minutes to actually get into the store, after which the shopping  takes only five minutes, but then we have to queue again, another fifteen minutes to get to the till.

Porthlevan is a typical Cornish fishing village, with boats in the small harbour, very pretty. 

Paul takes Molly for a boat ride, no not in the harbour, but in a lake, on a large swanboat 

While they're gone we take a stroll around the village, following the small cottages up the cliff path. Looking out to sea from here I am overcome with gratitude for my life, my family and especially my husband. I slip my hand into his and squeeze gently. Without even breaking the flow of his story he reciprocates.

Back at the harbour we sit on the wall we sit and chat. Over the next hour or so there are little purchases at the quaint shops lining the 

round the rest of us sit on the wall and chat, eat Cornish pasties, cake fudge and  ice cream..

In the evening we find a small cove Pordhu, with a beach , so Molly can go for a swim. She loves the water that girl. Raphie finds a stream that runs into the sea . He and George, the dog, run in and out of this shallow water , both delighted to be allowed to scamper freely. 

The day comes to and end. It's been a good one , and before setting off for the campsite,  because the camper is nestled in a lovely area in the dunes we stay and eat dinner here, left over chilli, I think. 

Perranporth

28th July 2020

Perranporth

It only takes us an hour to get from Fingle Bridge to Perranporth, so as we're here we go straight to Tollgate Farm, where we've booked five nights, hoping that we can get in early ( ie. tonight).
"No chance, I'm afraid," I couldn't tell whether his accent was a country farm lilt or just Cornish. We will hear the same drawl  many times over the coming ten days. "we're fully booked tonight."
OK, what to do now.
We drive to town, have a walk by the sea. We only have an hour on the car park, but we find another one that looks as if we might be able to wild camp for the night.
We ask the attendant,
"Don't tell anybody," he whispers, "but yes, you can stay. But I didn't tell you that," he winks, "as there's a no sleeping in the vehicle policy."
We decide to chance it, pay the man £3 and find an inconspicuous place where we can "hide".
After going out again for a more relaxing walk by the sea we come back to the camper, have dinner of sardines and salad, with a bottle of red wine and Peter gets his guitar out to do some practice.




As we're wild camping we leave the top down so as not to be obvious.
We have to be ultra organised when wild camping. There's not much space. The guitar sits on the cooker and the awning fits behind the front seat along with the bag of books and our laptops. We have to position the porta potti exactly between the bed and the drivers seat. It's a tight squeeze but we make it work.

There's another van parked Illegally in the field, looks  like a works van but the young chap has made it a very comfortable home, with drawers that pull out and are accessed from under the bed at the back when the door is open - clever.

We wake early next morning to be ready to move off. Just as we pack the bed away Jo and Paul, my daughter and her husband turn up. They've wild camped a little way down the road. They bought an old school bus and converted it. They've taken it on many trips, including on the continent, and continue to improve their design. We'll be on the same campsite as them for the next five nights. So exciting.

I'd told them about the field we're in but they couldn't  get in because of the 2 mt barrier. Being no bother for us I never gave it a second thought.

I make tea while Paul pops into the Co-Op, which is next door, for croissants and we have a leisurely breakfast.

We are away well before the 10.00 am deadline and we pull up beside Jo and Paul before heading back to the beach with them all, children and dog included.




Paul's parents and his sister join us and it's not long before the children want to go in the sea. I'm a coward, too cold for me. And those waves, I'd be drenched too soon. I like to get in slowly. Raphy is a bit grizzly, apparently he'd not had a good night, so I take him for a stroll in his buggy.
Backwards and forwards I walk along the wet sand for thirty minutes, then he finally falls asleep.
Five minutes later I take him back to the family,  in another ten he's awake again. Oh well, at least he's in a better mood.

Paul treats us all to Pasties, except that Peter has to have a baked potato with beans , poor thing. Being gluten free is so resrticive.
The pasty is yummy - only in Cornwall!

Paul's parents invite us for a BBQ at theirs in the evening , so we leave them  around 2.0 pm and head to the campsite to get settled.

We're in  a different field to Jo and Paul but it's ok.

Our new awning is getting it's first proper try out.
It doesn't take us long to get it up and then we're on the road again.

I'm a bit apprehensive about the visit and want to get something to take with me, flowers or something. I pray all the way there that we'll find a supermarket.
Only two roads down from their house we find a Londis. No flowers. I buy chocolates and red wine . Who wouldn't like that?
I'd also have some gluten free sausages for hubby.

It's warm and a brilliant evening for a BBQ, with their garden brimming with beauty- trees, including cherry tree, roses and much more- so relaxing.
And the food - salmon on skewers chicken, salads of different kinds, burgers - lovely.

The Awning

1st July

The Awning.

Today, we had a delivery. An awning. I'd not planned to have an awning for our small camper, especially as we've only done wild camping in the past and had intended to continue to do so for the foreseeable  future. In my mind we didn't have any use for one.

But that, like many things, was before Covid 19, before borders were shut, before we were unable to travel any distance at all.
We would have been away in Cornwall  for the whole of May and most of June, camping in hidden places, finding off the beaten track spots where few people would come.
That was the plan.
Campsites will  open on 4th July

Now, being  reluctant to go wild camping with policing being more vigilant,  we've booked some time away in Cornwall at a campsite. At a campsite!
Hence the awning.
It looks like this:

We've spent ten weeks travelling through France and Spain, another ten touring Ireland and I could probably count on my fingers the number of
 times, due to wanting a shower and clean clothes, we had a night in a campsite. We rarely spent two together.

Funnily enough , I am positively warming to the idea of the awning, seeing  that it could bring many worthwhile  benefits.

It's a drive away tent, which means we can still take off and explore the countryside and have a base to come back to . So convenient. When we're wild camping we often spend quite a bit of time searching for somewhere to park for the night. 

Another bonus is the extra space it'll give us making  our daily living arrangements so much more comfortable.

To be fair, rather than going for comfort in the past, we've gone for the open road and touring. It's been great finding unusual places to park up for the night, not putting the top up so that we look like a big car. Incognito.

So, this will be a very different trip for us, a   more relaxing experience. Staying in one place has its advantages. We won't have to pack up every day. We can still explore our surroundings by walking which means we'll get to know the area well.

Hopefully, I'll get  to write about our adventures on my  blog in a travel writerly sort of way. Well, it'll be my version of Travel Writing anyway. And I'll have time for more reading which I have difficulty fitting in when we're on the road and I have to navigate.
Yes, it'll be more leisurely all round.

We also treated ourselves to some new camping chairs, similar to the previous two, which, after three years,  had become  rather tatty. And although we went for the cheapest again,  the new ones are so much kinder to the body.

Of course, we had to try the awning out straight away. Can't turn up at the campsite and look like idiots. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room in the back garden, so we put it together on the front drive, after parking the camper in the road. Having had years of experience putting up tents of all shapes and sizes,we had it sussed in no time. Actually, about ten minutes, which we thought was pretty good. Packing it away was the most difficult part, getting it small enough to go back in the carry bag took two attempts. But we know this for next time.

 

I'm so looking forward to heading off. Let's just hope the weather is good to us. But even if it isn't we've got a new "holiday home" to get used to and will enjoy the extra space.

Have you an experience to share about camping??