Author: terracedale

Following my negative comments about Penzance, it delivered a beautiful blue sky day. It’s amazing how weather can change a feeling. After breakfast we had a wee wander around the surrounding area and enjoyed the early sunshine before setting off.

A shortish travel day allowed us time to pay St. Michael’s Mount a proper visit. From Penzance we rode a flattish ride around Mounts Bay with views over to St. Michael’s Mount with its tidal causeway. Due to the tide we caught a boat over.

Historically, St Michael’s Mount was an English counterpart of Mont-St-Michel in Normandy, France, which we visited last year. It is amazing though, that the St Aubyn family still live in this one after 700 years and use much of it as a home.

The gardens were just lovely, full of many familiar plants and especially those suited to seaside climates.

A really lovely visit, especially enhanced by the weather and our French visit memory.

Back to our bikes with the road heading inland before reaching Porthleven, another charming fishing village, whose harbour is closed by wooden baulks during storms.

We enjoyed a coffee here before continuing to our hotel at Helston, 6kms further along, due to no vacancy – despite booking last October! It is the most southerly town on the island of Great Britain.  Population approximately 11,000.

Along the way we encountered an amusing scene of a silage machine trying to fit down a very narrow lane. The men had chain saws cutting the trees above and beside the lane. Plus a tractor and silage wagons were trying to fit through. Crazy but funny.

These guys were off to cut grass, but we saw a lot of potatoes, pumpkin, maize, barley and cauliflower. Obviously a horticultural area due to this little honesty stall.

A joyful day. Some pretty steep climbs but a short ride. No rain or ponchos. Even managed t- shirts. Apparently Cornwall turns on all the weather. Rather like Canterbury.

It was a pretty fierce climb out of St. Ives, in less than desirable weather. Low misty cloud with a bit of drizzle.

The roads took us along classic Cornish scenery of small farms with ancient stone walls overgrown with weeds. We could have stopped for a coffee in the small village of Zennor, but was a bit early.

We carried on through several small villages with more tin mining ruins. The village of Saint Just looked rather lovely with its signage in the middle of the town but we decided to roll with the weather and continue to Land’s End.

En route to Land’s End is Sennen Cove, known for seeing Dolphins – not today – also popular for surfing and is known as one of Englands most beautiful beaches.

Unfortunately Land’s End was cold and misty. A quick picnic lunch and look around saw us on our way. But now we’ve been, so all good. We visited the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent in 2012- closest point of UK to France, and now this side. A bit of fun to do.

The ‘First and The Last House’ , now a store sits near the end of the cliff. This is England’s most westerly point, it is possible to see the Isles of Scilly on a clear day. Not today!

Also saw my friend Paddington who I last saw in Edinburgh last year.

We rode on a diversion road to the tiny beach at Porthcurno which is home to the Minack Theatre, which would have looked like this if open. It is cut into the rock face. Amazing.

Drizzle hung around and we broke out our Temu galoshes and ponchos!! They passed the test!

We continued along the coast, and through the semi tropical valley at Lamorna. At the end is a beach with a tall sea wall. Many walkers come here for the surrounding hilltop walks.

By the time we left here the sun was glowing. Back tracking, the route runs down the coast to Mousehole (pronounced Mowzl’), another picture postcard village, with a history of pilchard fishing and now has a small artists community.

We finally arrived in Penzance still in sunshine. Not sure what I expected as I’ve always associated the name with the musical Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan in 1879.

Roughly 20,000 population. Was once overrun with pirates. Now a serviceable town with fishing and usual market town supplies. Not that exciting. Our hotel was also a surprise. A characterful pub and clientele. Very busy. Basic room but clean. We did have to take a couple of compromises to get our dates so this maybe one. Great meal here and super service.

Big day! 63.37 kms.

Well, the weather Gods looked after us today. A little spot of moisture fell on to my lips a couple of times but came to nothing!! What a difference a day makes. Phew!!

The ride today passed many old tin mine workings, riding to the village of St. Agnes, with a couple of steep descents and ascents into the bays at Porthtreath and Porthtowan, before rolling along the coast road towards Godvrey Head – a national park area,

then Hayle where we tried ‘Philps famous Pasties in Cornwall’. Not as nice as Rick’s.

Many a narrow lane, but way better than the busy roads, which we still encountered. Drivers are fairly forgiving. Just a way of life here I think.

It was fascinating to come across this house being re thatched with possibly triticale – a cross between wheat and rye corn.

St Ives dates back to AD460, when the missionary St. Ia, daughter of an Irish chieftain, landed here and gave her name to the settlement. Protected from Atlantic storms, St Ives was once the most important fishing port in Cornwall, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the fish stocks became depleted and the fishing fleet largely disappeared. However as early as 1811 Turner visited to paint the seascapes and by the late 1880s there were several artists installed and the town became famous for its vibrant artists. Bought my next decoration for the Christmas tree.

Our hotel is tucked into Porthminster Beach, within easy walking distance which is just as well, as our luggage was delivered to a hotel with a similar name. Grrrr!

Delightful little streets with many independent shops. A few cheap and cheerful pubs and bars. As we walked, a seagull swooped and stole a brand new ice cream from someone’s hand and scraped my arm on its getaway. Now I know they have small claws. Ouch.

After a wander around the local establishments we decided our restaurant had the nicest dining options.

So happy to have stayed warm and dry today albeit windy on the cliffs, and ending in sunshine. 49.1kms.

Well that wasn’t the day I had imagined for the past few months, and especially after the heat wave we’ve experienced. The day began with a bit of drizzle, was fine when we left, but then it really turned to custard and then cleared more than enough times.

The route was on quite busy stretches of roads and very narrow lanes. A little stressful at times, when we had to ‘hug’ the hedges to let the traffic past. We saw some beautiful scenery through the weather and a lot of camping grounds. Some just in farm paddocks and others more traditional. Also a lot of nice holiday cottages upon farmland.

We sheltered under trees at times. Never a bus shelter to hide in when you need one.

GPS didn’t always play ball so our distance was further than we needed. 49.93kms. The weather was so shite we kept going.

Finally with only 6kms to go the sun came out and we joined a dedicated cycle/walking track.

It was so good to have a warm shower and get feeling back into our hands. Fingers crossed for sunnier skies tomorrow. Our bed and breakfast hotel is up a steep road above the town so we walked down via a public walking trail and had an early pub meal. I think we might have sore bodies tomorrow.

Perranporth is a quintessential seaside resort town famous for its expansive 3-mile golden beach and surfing. Many were still in the water despite the silly drizzly weather.

We are now in uncharted territory. We had an easy drive south, passing through small patches of rain and cooler temperatures. Hopefully the last we see of that. We left our trusty Mini in a fairly nondescript town called Bodmin and caught a bus at a cost of £3 each, as opposed to £52 Uber (ie $122 NZ). An hour on the bus with elevated views was quite good. We chatted to a guy at the bus stop who had been to NZ 4 times in the late 1950’s – he was in the Merchant Marines. Told us he’d been to many Ports including Timaru, Lyttelton, Napier and Auckland – they always got in touch with Nurses’ homes and set up dates for the 6 of them. Graeme suggested he might have a few spare kids in NZ. He shrugged his shoulder and said ‘maybe’! His wife smiled.

Padstow is very much a holiday town going by the number of people wandering around and many with dogs. Famous for Cornish pasties and Cornish Cream ice cream – needless to say we tried them both. Delicious.

Whilst eating our pastie a local warned us that the seagulls swoop and steal food from your hands. Seconds later it almost happened! The sound of its wings flapping in my ear were very close.

Padstow is named after St. Petroc who came here circa A.D 500. The old harbour has a variety of fishing and sail boats.

The day here sat at 19 degrees. Onwards and upwards we hope. ☀️ 🚲.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and perhaps one night would have been enough here due to our early arrival yesterday, and the fact we’ve been before, but who’s to know months ago when you are planning for the future. Although it is still a beautiful city. It is decidedly colder today, especially if in the wind. Only 21.

Our 5.30am walk was interesting for two reasons. One being no crowds, naturally, and the other was seeing all the young people heading home after their night out, and even those still continuing. Are we getting old?!

The Bathampton Toll Bridge (historically Batheaston Bridge) is a historic Grade II listed privately owned arch bridge crossing the River Avon. Built in 1872 from local Bath stone, it remains operational today, offering a convenient route that connects Bathampton and Batheaston while allowing commuters to bypass congested Bath routes like the London Road. (Thanks google). Still owned by the same family, it was built to connect farmland. Roughly 5000 vehicles per day. Prices start at £1.20.

Lazy afternoon repacking and sorting for the start of our cycle trip around Cornwall. It’s been nice having a chill time.

The heat wave is certainly with us but we are happy to have the warmth.

Another 5 cruise ships arrived overnight/ early morning. Our jet lag cup of tea was at 4 and our walk from 6am. Surprised to be feeling this as we can’t remember it happening last year. But you do get a look around the area. Hopefully it won’t last much longer. This Voco hotel has been lovely. It was previously a Holiday Inn but is completely refurbished with very large rooms. Not common for Britain.

This little fella was a take two. My first sighting turned out to be a rat!!!!!! I also saw one yesterday crawling over a large pile of rubbish in a messy disused building. Eeeekkkk. Hard to erase from my mind.

Our drive to Bath took us past Salisbury so we thought a quick revisit would be in order. The traffic was so intense that a snapshot of the cathedral spire is all we did. Our last visit here was in 2012 when the Queen and Prince Philip happened to be there. Prior to this I was lucky to visit in 2004 when we bought the grain dryer and G went to a motorbike racing track with the salesman Brian, and his wife Di took me to Salisbury. The evensong at the Cathedral was beautiful. Ahhh reminiscing…..

The diversion allowed us to travel via Stonehenge, also a revisit, and a drive by sufficed. How spoilt we are.

The colour is a bit off but a great view via slow traffic. Such hot weather has brought everyone out of their homes. The crops are gradually turning.

Bath is as beautiful as ever, but very crowded. However, history stays the same and the same landmarks are still worth remembering.

This masterpiece of Georgian architecture, built between 1767and 1774 consists of 30 terraced houses arranged in a sweeping, arc overlooking Royal Victoria Park.

The city is of the same creamy sandstone with some beautiful architecture.

Walking to a pub for dinner around the corner we spotted a very old cemetery, which is now being taken care of by volunteers. St Mary’s Churchyard dates from 1709. One grave was for a woman whose son became the founder of Brisbane Australia.

Locals enjoying a drink street side.

Pub grub ended another hot and interesting day. Only 27 today. Warm enough.

And just like that we are in England, arriving to a very dense 34 degrees. We stayed near the airport so as to collect our rental car in the morning for an easy getaway. It seems weird to have London within arms length and not visit, especially with the weather being so good compared to last year. But time to explore somewhere else.

A jet lag wake up saw us out walking at 5am in 24 degrees. Our first dedicated walk since leaving home. We saw our first squirrel of the trip.

Enterprise rental car company hires 600 cars per day and 16 staff are based outdoors with iPads to check you in. Not enough space inside apparently. Lucky it was fine! We decided to take the less travelled roads to Southampton and stopped at Windsor where Thomas played cricket in 2012. It wasn’t as busy as we expected. Some shops had signs of early closure, or weren’t open at all due to the ‘red heat warning’. Temp got to 35 at one point but cooled now we are by the sea.

Thomas played cricket here. It was an amazing day. If memory serves me correctly Thomas took a classic catch – “best I’ve ever caught” – quote from 2012 and was gifted the ball.

Our drive to Southampton was via the B roads and smaller lanes with crops starting to ripen along the way.

Southampton is a university town and of course is famous for the Titanic, which departed from here in 1912.

God’s House Tower is a late 13th century gatehouse into the old town. Currently being restored, the timber framed ceiling is from the 15th century, held together with wooden pegs.

The Tower protected the medieval town from attack. In the 1780s, the building was used as the town’s prison and now it is a visitor attraction. Much of the wall still exists.

We had a wander through the fairly extensive High Street. A bit scruffy with a number of homeless people, and a very modern shopping mall and cinema complex. An easy 90 minute commute to London.

Five cruise ships left the harbour at dinner time, including the Queen Mary 2. Plus car and passenger ferries sail frequently to the Isle of Wight. A lot of Americans are in the hotel so we suspect they sailed here.

Delicious meal in the hotel.

This is a bonus day for us, as the day after we arrived I realised I’d cut us short by a nights accommodation. Six days here does not equate to 6 nights! Lucky us to enjoy another dinner together. Definitely a blonde/grey moment despite thinking about it so many times.

We’ve had a lazy day with a bit of a wander in Kowloon.

Back to the hotel to pack up before busing an hour through a more open and green spaced area to Queens Hill where Jonathon’s school is. Quite a new area with very high apartment blocks. Many of the kindergarten schools are like this.

We noticed the fuel prices along the way. Diesel about $7.98 Petrol $7. Not cheap.

Last views from the rooftop and yummy mango sticky rice made by Grace for dessert. Eat your heart out Small family. It was WOW!

A wonderful week over too soon. So proud of the new life Jonathon has made here. Very far removed from the countryside he loves. More exploring for us to do next time.

Today we trained into the Kowloon area of Hong Kong for a wander of some familiar haunts from the past.

But our main aim was to spend time with cousin Bill who lives in Kennedy Town at the other end of Hong Kong Island from where Jonny and Grace were living before they got married. It was good to see him and see where he lives. He has a great view out onto Victoria Harbour and he made a very good coffee – always a challenge when travelling.

Bamboo Scaffolding is quite incredulous. Although after some plastic chutes tragically caught fire last year, more caution is needed.

Also nearby is a cafe, which after being posted on Instagram, suddenly became famous and people are constantly visiting and photographing it – many from China. No one quite knows why. Unfortunately they don’t go inside so business hasn’t increased. In fact the neighbouring cafes have closed.

A hot wander through the area had us hop on a tram – I liken them to Harry Potter – They are open air and the breeze was nice, offering good view along the way, which we did for few blocks before arriving at the end which was more familiar to us.

There have been a few buildings pop up in the last three years.

After farewelling Bill, we met Jonny after work in his village of Yeung Long. It was hard to find a place just to have a wine. Not a common habit in that area perhaps. Everyone was bustling to the side stalls for tonight’s meal supplies. Small houses and fridges don’t allow for much storage.

Also in the vicinity was a windscreen shop, along with a tyre stall and mechanic. All right on the footpath. It saddens us to see the elderly pushing heavy trolleys around the streets collecting cardboard and delivering to large trucks. There is no real pension here, so saving is paramount. If destitute, there is a small amount available called a fruit fund, aptly named, as this is all it could potentially buy.

This stunning piano resides in the complex where J and G live. Available for use apparently.

Another scorcher. We’ve been so lucky with the weather as it had been very wet prior to our arrival.