Landgirls Short Cornish Road Trip
originally published on www.thegledaproject.com on 14th Sept 2014
Neil and I left Weir Quay this morning and are heading for Falmouth. We have taken different forms of transport though. Neil is sailing Gleda around (yet to arrive as I type this) and I am driving my car round.
As we don’t know when Neil will be arriving or where exactly (St Mawes, Carrick Roads, River Fal …) I am staying in a Travelodge tonight and we will hook up tomorrow when we know where Gleda will be.
I took the opportunity to have my own little road trip and after Neil took me ashore this morning (we were greeted by Mike from Tempus Fugit who had come to wish us bon voyage, fair winds etc; cheers Mike) I set off in a very dirty car. It was still dirty after being parked at Weir Quay for 2 weeks under trees. Dirty berry eating birds, or maybe flying elephants judging by size of deposits!
First port of call, Looe. As it was still early I was able to park on the harbour car park and i had a wonder around for a couple of hours. There was quite a swell which was going up the estuary. The water was a beautiful aquamarine colour, a little like Fowey.
I then set off for Polperro and, for the first time in years, had to park on the big visitors car park. If it wasn’t for the fact that I really wanted to go in to the village I would not of stayed. The minimum price to park was £4 for a 3 hour stay. I only wanted an hour but the parking attendent confirmed that this was not possible for less than £4. It was interesting that one of the business owners in Polperro commented that the car park fees are keeping visitors away.
While in Polperro I called into Polperro News, who sorted out our turkey and supplies at Christmas and also The Old Millhouse pub/restaurant which has recently been taken over and refurbished. Both of which I follow on Twitter. The Old Millhouse was refurbed really well, bright and airy. If I hadn’t of been driving, I would of enjoyed a cocktail or a glass of prosecco (very resonably priced).
After an hour and half (I had paid for the parking!) I headed for St Austell and the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Not having passed an attended car wash, I stopped in St Blazey and spent 15 minutes power washing the poo off the car. I’m now not so ashamed to drive it.
Heligan was lovely. I have been a few times and it was warm and sunny so I spent 2.5 hours wondering around the flower, veg, Italian, gardens etc and did part of the woodland walk, I left there at 6.30 and headed to the hotel which is just down the road. Now having checked in, done this post I need to decide if I want to eat in the cafe/bar or head to McDonalds or Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Hopefully Neil won’t be too long. I have spoken to him a couple of times and there is quite a swell which has lead to tiring steering,
Looking forward to the next stage – hopefully Falmouth is just a step to heading south.
