Cornwall calling....

Easter holidays and a long awaited holiday to Cornwall, to the beach, to the fishing villages, but more importantly to see many of Josie's extended family who live in the area (See the Josie family visit blog for more info on that). We broke the 6-hour journey down to Cornwall on Sunday with an overnight visit to see our friends the Clinton's in Chippenham, where we enjoyed a sunny afternoon in the spa town of Bath.

An early start Monday morning as we had tickets booked to visit Stonehenge, so after a quick stop in Devizes to watch the canal boats start the first of a daunting 29 consecutive canal locks on Caen Hill, we spent the morning walking around Stonehenge marvelling at the famous stones, before continuing down to Cornwall to our base for the week in St Austell and an early evening visit to Charlestown to take in the ocean air and have a go at catching crabs in the harbour and enjoy an ice cream surrounded by the tall ships.

Tuesday was a nice sunny day and we enjoyed a flying visit to Pentewan Beach, before spending the morning at the Lost Gardens of Heligan (with Rosie, Heather and Tyler) exploring the gardens and adventure playground before having our first Cornish Pasty and then heading to the beach in Perranporth for the late afternoon and ending the day with fish and chips on the beach (with Julie, Joe, Rosie and Tamsin).

Wednesday was the first rainy day and we spent most of it up in Tintagel visiting the Tintagel Castle, braving the clifftop footbridge across to the island, and finding Merlin's Cave, before enjoying the best Cornish Pasties in Cornwall!, followed by a visit to Falmouth for an Ice Cream before heading back to Par for dinner (with Frank and Helen).

Thursday was the longest trip of the holiday with a journey down to the very south of Cornwall to St Michael's Mount, to walk across the ocean at low tide on the Cobble stones to the island village of St Michael's Mount. We then headed to the famous Land's End for the obligatory photo opportunity (and to visit the Aardman animation experience) before heading to the beach in St Ives for more ice cream and fun on the beach.

Last full day in Cornwall and we started it off with a steam train ride on the vintage Bodmin Steam railway line. A quick pasty in Bodmin and then off for a coastal walk from Polridmouth Cove to Polkerris beach via Gribbin Head (with Pat, George, Alice, Zac, Scarlet & Isaac). Another ice cream on the beach (although this one was thoroughly deserved after that 2hr coastal path hike!!!).

The journey home included another detour to see the Clinton's, although this time firstly to Devon to meet-up on the beach in Shaldon near Teignmouth in Devon before heading back to Chippenham for a BBQ (with Mick, Lynn, Ben, Anne, Rebecca, Chris, William, Eleanor) and an overnight with the Clintons.