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trello

A route drawn on a map

Planning a year long camping trip through Europe

by Karen 27th May 2018

written by Karen

We’ve never planned a trip like this, certainly nothing on this scale anyway. About the most we’d done previously was what to see while we were on holiday, trying to fill up one or two weeks; how could we expand that to an entire year or more?

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27th May 2018 0 comment

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Padstow Sealife Safaris. A rib boat trip out to se

Padstow Sealife Safaris. A rib boat trip out to see seals and other sea life that was not to be missed. We heeded the warnings and drove up to Padstow early, getting lucky with a space in a car park.
Speed restrictions meant that we were introduced to the world of ribs gently, almost puttering our way along the river and taking in the sights. Each time we passed a buoy our pace increased until we were flying across the water from wave crest to wave crest, our voices almost drowned out by the roaring wind, engines and wake.
We raced out of the river and turned up the coast, reaching Tintagel before we speared further out to where other boats had sighted Dolphins. As we arrived the twin engines fell quiet, and all eyes started scanning the choppy waves. Many sightings were simply an odd wave but once a real dolphin was spotted, there was huge excitement among the passengers. More and more dolphins appeared, porpoising out of the water and waves as they moved around and under the boat.
It was soon apparent that at least one set of dolphins was a mother and a calf, swimming along together and creating a chorus of oohs and aahs.
Eventually, it was time for us to leave the dolphins and we powered off towards seal island. Olivia took the time to rest her eyes until we reached the large rocky island set apart from the mainland. Eyes once again strained against the choppy waters until a tiny head was spied, nestled at the base of a foreboding cliff.
As we bobbed around the island, looking into various caves, our guide let us know that low tide was the best time to see the seals; a fact that's most definitely not on the pamphlet!
With seal island complete, and a possible Peregrine Falcon sighting under our belts, we cruised back into Padstow harbour tired, jubilant, and satisfied. The dolphin sightings were almost all that anyone could talk about, especially how wonderful it felt to see them playing in their natural habitat. The other subject being how sad we'd have felt if we'd opted for the one hour seal island trip, only to see a couple of distant heads looking back at us! #cornwall @padstowsealifesafaris #padstow #dolpins

King Arthur was conceived here. Not born here, co

King Arthur was conceived here. Not born here, conceived here. By Merlin disguising Arthur’s father Uther as the someone else’s husband. A true Hollywood story.
Half way down the track, you now spear off towards the remains of the outer courtyard. This section of castle is on the mainland, and acted as an outer guard post for a castle that was not actually well used by its owner.

The remaining walls show that, unlike some castles, the mighty stone works did not have to travel far. With each wall being made of slate from the surrounding hills. The views from high up giving impressive vigilance over the surrounding lands.

From there we ventured to the island courtyard. In medieval times there was a land bridge, but as the name implies, at one point it collapsed and the main castle became an island. Until 2019, the island was only accessible by descending and ascending long, steep, rock cut stairs, but now a modern two part cantilever bridge is in place, reaching out from either side.

The island castle is initially a confusing mess. With small rooms described as ‘the great hall’, but as we ventured further, we found that the constant cliff erosion over a couple of centuries had led to that section being regularly downsized and repurposed, to prevent it falling to join the remains of the land bridge below.

On the island there are also the remains of a hundred or so dark ages settlements. Though most of this is low stone walls with few clues to their purpose. This truly was a remote location, rarely visited by nobility, despite being the seat of power for a long time in the area.

The island is crowned by a huge statue, Gallos, a ghostly figure of King Arthur in a hooded clock, stood menacingly atop the cliffs. An excellent piece of artwork.
You leave by descending the 140 stone steps.
The route handily takes you past the stairs to the beach, with another steep descent and then a rock scramble to reach the sand. We first headed into Merlins cave, which was magically cool compared to everything outside in the sun, and accompanied by lilting music played by a local musician.
#cornwall #tintagelcastle #sightseeing #travelling #homeeducation

Olivia and I had an adventure at the Lost Gardens

Olivia and I had an adventure at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. A garden lost after the First World War, when nine of Heligan’s staff tragically lost their lives and the owner, Jack Tremayne, rented the house out saying he “could no longer live with the ghosts’.
Then in 1990, John Willis re-discovered this amazing garden and started re-awakening it.

We decided to take the woodland walk to the jungle where we enjoyed spotting the giant, playing in the giants playground, the mud maid and the grey lady. We then carried on down to see the black honey bees, which are more hairy than common bees and have adapted to the colder weather that Cornwall experiences, including how to fly in mist and mizzle.

From there we headed to the jungle, where we found some amazing ferns, fabulous trees and ponds. We enjoyed walking around the dense part of the gardens, ducking under gunners, walking the boardwalk and bouncing along the longest Burmese rope bridge in Britain.

From there we headed up to the East Lawn and the second play area. This area was a huge surprise with some awesome play equipment, den building and a games tent. Olivia found some kids to play with both in the park and in the game tent.

As it was so hot an ice cream was in order. Olivia went for a vanilla tub but I thought I would try salt caramel and rhubarb. It was a little strange and proved too much after a while.

We then headed towards the animals and exit as it was getting very hot. We were delighted to get a look at some horses, pigs, cute piglets, very curly sheep, goats and turkeys.

We then found a lovely shady path back to the exit.

We had a lovely day, it’s a great place for kids with lots of play areas with fun things to find and do. #cornwall #heligan #gardens

Went for an evening walk at Towan Headland near Ne

Went for an evening walk at Towan Headland near Newquay on Saturday. Such beautiful rocky landscapes and turquoise sea.
It was amazing to see the slate like rock of the island, that had been folded almost vertical by the shear stresses of ancient earthquakes.
We walked passed the old RNLI house and steep launch point that lots of people were enjoying jumping off. The first lifeboat house in this location was impractical, particularly when the tide was out, as the rescue craft had to be dragged over the sand and into deep water before a rescue could made; so, in 1895, a new slip was built. This slip, one of the steepest in England, having a gradient of 1 in 2 1/4, enters the Atlantic Ocean in what is locally known as the Gazzel (meaning Armpit). The Lifeboat House (now an artist’s studio) was built in 1899. Imagine hurtling down this slope into a raging sea below. After the rescue the boat could not be dragged back up the slip, so would return to Towan Beach where it was mounted on a trailer and pulled by a team of horses back to the lifeboat house. #cornwall #towanheadland #thesea

Olivia and I took an epic adventure to Woodland Va

Olivia and I took an epic adventure to Woodland Valley Farm for a tour of the Cornwall Beaver Project.
Felicity welcomed us, introduced us to Trevor the taxidermied beaver. She explained to us all about the Eurasian beaver, how they are vegetarian and don’t eat fish like people think. They actually store fat in their tails and communicate using them by slapping the water. They use the secretions from their anal gland to keep their fur waterproof.
We discussed how the beavers in the right environment can really help with flood prevention, and help the rivers to be cleaner as the dams and ponds help filter toxins out of the water and how it has brought more fish and wildlife to the area.
We talked about how they were hunted to extinction for their fur and because their anal secretions made perfume and medicine.
Unfortunately we also found out although beavers are now native again to Scotland, the government has started issuing shooting licences for them so once again they are being hunted. But this time it’s because farmers see them as pests and there is no management of the beavers or education for the farmers on how to deal with them. So places like the Cornwall beaver trust are trying to rescue them and bring them back into England.
We also found out that when beavers chew on trees, they do it in a way that they coppice the trees so they will regrow.

We then set off on a walk to see the dams, lodges and ponds and hopefully a beaver sighting.

We were extremely lucky to get over 8 sightings, one of which was an adult beaver feeding on brambles 10 feet from us on the bank. He was so close you could see him the claws on his front paws to shred the leaves off the brambles before eating them.
We also saw a kit (3 month old baby) climb out and have a clean. As well as several swimming around with their cute noses sticking out the water.

It’s was an amazing evening, we learnt so much about these beautiful creatures and how they could help our rivers, prevent villages from flooding, and bring more life back to our countryside.

Due to poor light I did not get the best pictures but it was more about being in a great moment. #cornwall #beavertrust

The Eden Project was high on our to do list. First

The Eden Project was high on our to do list. First Wild Cornwall, which seemed odd as it looked like everything outside. Then we started seeing some art and some plants and flowers from around the world, with some beautiful colours and shapes. The myths section was very interesting, showing flowers that were said to ward off everything from illness to lightning strikes!
We admired the giant bee and the pollinators section, and then headed for the rainforest biome.
Walking in there the temperature and humidity started ratcheting up quickly. It was fascinating to see such different plants and trees, just how different things could be. Some of the examples we’d seen on nature documentaries in the past, and it was great to make those connections in real life.
As we wound through the biome higher and higher, seeing more and more we got hotter when we reached the top of the waterfall, where the blasting water created a cooling mist and a strong wind which made everyone who passed it feel better. We had some fun on the rope bridge at the top and were delighted to see cacao, mango and bananas in the flesh. As we neared the entrance we saw two families of Roul Roul, with tiny chicks following their parents and being shown the wonders of the park.
Then the Mediterranean biome. We weren’t sure what to expect but the first corner revealed the same Spain we spent all of last year in - so we felt right at home!
Once again there were some fascinating plants as we visited California, South Africa and Western Australia. It was still surprising to see how disturbing and aggressive looking the Aloe plants were, given their generally soothing properties once harvested.
On our way out we stopped at Infinity Blue, a huge sculpture made of local clay and vortex cannons that fired donuts of scented air into the room. As with many things at Eden at the moment, a lot of things weren’t open, including the lower cannons on the sculpture, so our masked faces couldn’t pick up the peaty smells of a primordial Earth.
On reflection we all enjoyed it, loved the rainforest dome but felt that some areas were rundown and quite over grown. #cornwall #edenprojectcornwall #sightseeing

We moved to our next campsite today. Had to be off

We moved to our next campsite today. Had to be off our pitch at Monkey Tree by 10am, so we got up early and got cracking! We were ready on time but had to wait for our neighbour to move as we needed to drive across their pitch, so we took Pepper for a walk.
Once off the pitch we had an hour to kill before we could check in at Truro, so we parked the RV and X5 in the car park at Monkey Tree and went to the arcade for a bit, where Olivia actually beat George at Air Hockey!
We arrived at Truro Camping and Caravanning Park just after 12, a lady came out and welcomed us.
The campsite is very pretty and seems really nice so far. We have a great pitch with a large gravel section and two grass areas (Olivia says it’s like our own garden), water, electric and waste all on pitch so we won’t need to move at all. There’s also a clean toilet and washing block not that far from the van.
The site is quite empty which seems a little strange for the time of year, the price and how nice it is. Olivia said it’s because the site has nothing to do (no onsite park). We will have to see but so far we are very impressed. #campsite #rvlife #cornwall

We took a drive to Charlestown today to have a wal

We took a drive to Charlestown today to have a walk and explore the Shipwreck Museum.
Due to the booked arrival time, we first had a walk around the local shops and restaurants and saw part of the harbour where some of Poldark was filmed.
We saw an old chute that was built for the loading of clay onto ships for export.
We decided to have some expensive BBQ food, the portions were extremely large and the food nice but all the crazy extras on top like mustard cheese sauce, challots, garlic, bbq sauce and chilli on the fries made it all a bit to over powering. It also left us feeling very thirsty for the rest of the day.

Then it was time to head into the museum. First you enter an exhibition about six pioneer treasure hunters. It tells of their stories, adventures and some of their impressive finds from around Cornwall.

Next was an exhibit on the history of diving. Showing the same area and three different diving outfits and how they are different. How technology and advancements have helped them be able to find more treasure.

Then into the main museum full of over 8000 finds from over a hundred wrecks. Including the only intact barrel of coins ever recovered from a wreck. From gold bullion bars, to ingots of copper, to the manillas used to sell people stolen from their homes and forced into slavery and even information and items from Victory, Mary Rose and even the Titanic.

It was a great little museum filled with history but almost too much to see and take in from just one visit.

We then headed out for a walk down to the harbour and of course an ice cream.
#pirates #charlestown #shipwreckmuseum #cornwall

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