Hello again!Well the two of us are just back from a beautiful week in Boscastle in North Cornwall, where the weather was absolutely amazing! This is the beautiful scenic village that was devastated by a flash flood on the 16th August 2004, but has now been rebuilt and is as quaint as ever. Boscastle is a small harbour village that orginally thrived on the fishing trade, and the slip is still home to many lobster boats.
This is a great location to explore the beautiful Cornish coast and the week was indeed varied. First we ventured on the Boscastle trail - a 6 mile circular route that takes you through the beautiful Vallency Valley and Minsters wood. Lots of wildlife around this part, and as we sat among the sheep eating our lunch, i got my best shot yet of a Buzzard launching itself from a farm fence.
Only three miles down the road is the awesome castle at Tintagel, standing on a huge rocky outcrop overlooking some beautiful cornish coves, which i had to have a dip in. This time of year is the warmest the water gets, but it was still bloody nobbling! However not as cold as bathing under in the waterfall plunge pool at St Nectans about a mile away, which was freezing but an awesome experience.
If you're outdoorsy there is loads to get up to in this part of the world, and for sea kayaking its a dream, however there were strong offshore winds all week so we just paddled around the gorgeous little harbour at Port Gaverne, where we diced with death as a lobster boat hurled pots at us from out of nowhere!
As for the rest of the week well its was about good food (although im cornish pastied-out), a couple of beers in the sun and exploring the coastal paths of cornwall. We did venture down to Padstow but it was VERY touristy, which is appealing to neither of us, but a lovely village nonetheless. Rick Stein has totally taken over the village though with bakeries, hotels, gift shops; and i do wonder how the locals feel. £185 per night for B&B at one of his gaffs - er, no thanks!
My first time in Cornwall and loved it. Ive just seen the forecast and its rain all week, just right for heading back to the joys of work!!
Later all....... Stu.
