Five Go To Kernow (Part Three)

Hello, thank you for calling in.  As always, I am pleased to see you, and firstly, I should warn you that there are twenty-three photos in this post, so you might want to make yourself comfortable before you read any further.  And while I am on the subject of photos, I should give the credit where it's due as several of you have commented on them: the Best Beloved took most of them, I took some and in this post, Flashman and The Mathematician each took some.  There.  Honour should be satisfied. 

This is the third post about my holiday in Cornwall, except that this post isn't really about Cornwall.  You see, the Best Beloved and I organised a surprise outing for the (grown-up) children and ourselves.  We asked them to keep the day free, to wear comfortable clothes and shoes and to be up and ready to leave the campsite by 6am.  We had laid a good trail of red herrings and they were quite sure that we were all going quad biking, but they were wrong, we were actually going...to the Isles of Scilly!

 

Even when we arrived at Land's End Airport and parked the car, The Teacher thought we were going quad biking.  We actually had to spell it out for them!  Mind you, it's so unlike us to do anything this extravagant that I can quite understand why it didn't cross their minds.  So off we flew at 8am on the first flight of the day, a 20-minute flight westwards in a 17-seater Twin Otter aircraft.  We were all so excited.

 

 

 

 

After landing at the airport on St Mary's we took a taxi into Hugh Town.  The sky was overcast but the air was warm and anyway, our girls' happiness and excitement was radiating as brightly as any sun.  After an enormous, delicious breakfast in the Kavorna Café and Bistro we set off to explore the island...in an 8-seater electric golf buggy!  I am sure we must have drawn many passing stares, and the two of us who sat on the rear seats, facing backwards, tried very hard to avoid eye contact with the drivers of vehicles behind us!

 

 

 

 

 

So we spent the day bimbling around St Mary's, stopping wherever the fancy took us to get out and explore.   

 

 





This is Bant's Carn Burial Chamber, dating from the Bronze Age

Halangy Down is an Iron Age village

 

 

This is Porthloo Beach, looking across to Hugh Town and its harbour.  We had a long pause here as the (grown-up) children explored the beach and Newford Island.  The Teacher declared that the white sand was "as soft as talc".   Our next stop was Old Town, where the sand was golden and the water was crystal clear.  I liked its sleepy atmosphere very much.  By this time, the cloud was thinning and the sun was trying very hard to break through.

 

 

Former Prime Minister Sir Harold Wilson is buried here in the churchyard.

 

 

 

Flashman went off to explore the headland while The Mathematician played in the water and the rest of us lay on the beach.  I could have lingered there for much longer, it was a very soothing place.  Next stop: Porth Hellick Down Burial Chamber, another Bronze Age site - I'm afraid I can't show you any pictures of the chamber itself, but I can show you the views.  By this time, the sun was winning its battle with the clouds -

 

 

 

 

It was after 2pm when we left Porth Hellick and we were feeling a bit peckish so when the Carn Vean Tea Garden came into view, we pulled in.  This was a delightful place, made more so by the very tame sparrows which ate the crumbs off our hands!  If you ever go to St Mary's, it's worth a visit.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Suitably refreshed and revived, we set off back to Hugh Town and our final stop, Porthcressa Beach.  Oh My Goodness.  I think this might be my favourite beach in the whole wide world.  The sand here actually sparkles, as if there are flecks of glitter in it.  We had well over an hour to spend here and frankly, we could have done with another two.  Would you like to see why? -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All too soon we had to leave that idyllic spot and make our way back to the airport for the flight back to Cornwall.  However, there was another treat in store: the views as we flew over the Scillies, now bathed in sunshine, their golden sands and clear, turquoise waters -

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- and back to Cornwall.

 

 

 

We had had another wonderful day, one to remember always. 

 

I'll be back soon with the final instalment of our Cornish adventure.

 

Love, Mrs Tiggywinkle x