Cornwall Holiday

It's September and our eighth successive visit to the National Trust property at Doyden outside Port Quin. And as usual we arrived on Friday to be greeted by beautiful sunshine. Not a bad journey down, 4 hours 45 minutes plus a stop at Taunton Deane for lunch. After unpacking. there was still time for a walk down to Port Quin and back.

Saturday was also sunny, so we went for our usual coast walk to Rumps. But this time we went further to Pentire Point. This was well worth it for the views to Padstow and the Camel Estuary, and particularly to Polzeath as the photo below. This is where we go bodyboarding.

Sunday was sunny again, so we did what we normally do. Alison runs from the house to Rock from where she gets the ferry to Padstow. I drive there and go for a bike ride down the Camel Trail to Wadebridge before meeting back at the car. We then have a wander around the resort and I have fish and chips at the Quayside cafe. We then walk up to the monument to sit on one of the many benches overlooking the harbour and across to Rock.

Monday started a little cloudy, so it was off to Polzeath for bodyboarding. We were at it for an hour and a half which was probably too long. Back to the apartment for a shower and rushed to Wadebridge to catch a late lunch at our favourite cafe called The Granary. My all day breakfast is always superb, as was Alison's bacon and sausage roll. Still cloudy, so we decided to take the car explore and explore the beaches to the south of Padstow. Harlyn Bay was £3.50 to park, so we went on to Constantine Bay. A walk along the almost deserted beach thinking how nice it would be if it had been sunny.

Tuesday was equally cloudy, so for a rest day after the exertions of yesterday, combined with the day we look for new places to see, we plumped for the National Trust property at Trerice. It was very quiet there, to the extent that we were the only ones in the cafe when we stopped for coffee and cake. We didn't go in the house, but the gardens were quite pretty.

The clouds refused to shift so we decided to see what Truro was like. We had forgotten it was a city, and so headed for the cathedral that is prominent from all around. As a relatively new building, it was quite impressive. We found a Costa Coffee in Waterstones, Alison visited Lush and it was time to head back. Calling in at the Porteath Bee Centre for some honey, as it is only a couple of miles from Doyden.

Wednesday was brighter and we took the car to Port Isaac. We had a lovely morning wandering around, especially a climb up the hill for the views.

The tide was out when we arrived so we were able to walk along the path to the sea wall (see above) where we climbed a ladder and walked along the top. We even had a baguette and coffee sitting on a bench just above the slipway. We needed to be back at the apartment in reasonable time to get out to dinner at Watergate bay, but we still had time to stop in Polzeath for a walk along the beach. We could have gone bodyboarding again, but we probably stayed too long the first time. We had a couple of hours to have a rest before we went out, but Alison decided on a run while I finished the latest John Le Carre novel.

We had booked a table at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant at Watergate Bay for 6.45pm. It was a set tasting menu, something that was new to us. We were the first diners to arrive, so we actually had a choice of tables next to the full height windows overlooking the bay. It was the most perfect view, particularly as it was a sunny evening and we able to watch a glorious sunset.

The menu looked fabulous and the food was excellent. After the bread and two tasters, there were two choices of the Insalata and Primi courses. These were so good, we had each selected a different choice so that was four that we each could try. We both had sea bass for the main course and a heavenly chocolate tart for desert. Even the coffee and Amedie chocolates were perfect. Some reviews had said that people left hungry, that was definitely not the case for us. It was a memorable experience, one we hope to repeat sometime.

Thursday. We always do the same thing on the last day. Park in Rock, a walk down the beach of Daymer Bay, the ferry to Padstow, a walk up to the church through the pretty lanes, then back up the other side of Padstow and along the coast path, before returning for some shopping. Goan curry paste from Rick's, a jute bag from seasalt, some cards from Whistlefish and some pasties to take home. An energetic conclusion to a fairly action packed holiday. Glad to get home for a rest.