When is Port Isaac Not Port Isaac?

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Ross

Port Isaac CornwallWay back at the start of our England adventures we were travelling around Cornwall. When planning the trip we’d realised that we’d be travelling near to Port Isaac, a fishing village on the west coast. It’s a typical Cornwall fishing village, but it’s also the location for the Doc Martin TV programme. Continue reading →

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Lanhydrock House – Better Late Than Never

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Ross

Lanhydrock CornwallWe’d vaguely thought about visiting Lanhydrock on our drive to Penzance in Cornwall, but ended up at the Truro Cathedral instead. Lanhydrock is said to be Cornwall’s most complete country home. The woman running the AirBnB we stayed at suggested we should rectify our omission. So as we were heading north up the coast Continue reading →

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As We Were Going to St Ives – We Met ….

Posted on July 3, 2018 by Ross

St Ives CornwallWhile we were in Penzance, we wanted to visit St Ives. It’s an interesting town not far north of Penzance. It used to be a fishing port but is now more of an art community and seaside town. But we’d had a big morning getting around St Michael’s Mount, and were running out of steam. We were also running out of time; this was our last day and opportunity Continue reading →

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Saint Michael’s Mount – Penzance

Posted on June 30, 2018 by Ross

St Michael's Mount PenzanceOnce we’d decided on Cornwall as our first destination in England, Wyn was checking out what we might visit, and at the top of her list was St Michael’s Mount, near Penzance. St Michael’s Mount is a castle on the top of a small island just offshore. In fact it’s not always offshore Continue reading →

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Minack Theatre Cornwall – Build It and They Will Come

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Ross

Jesus Christ Superstar at Minack TheatreOnce we’d settled on visiting Penzance, Wyn read about the Minack Theatre near Land’s End. It’s an open-air cliff-top theatre, carved out of the landscape, with the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s an outrageous concept, completely mad, and absolutely brilliant. It has a kaleidoscope of productions from April to September and the show while we were going to be there was ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. Continue reading →

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The Tin Coast – Poldark Territory – Cornwall

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Ross

Crown Mine Engine HouseI’d said that while we were in Penzance I wanted to check out the tin mines. Wyn said “What!” I said it was where the TV series Poldark is filmed. She said “How soon can we go!” True or false? OK, it’s not true; I made it up hoping for a more interesting introduction 🙂 There’s a dramatic coastline on the west side of the tip of Cornwall, just up from Land’s End, called the Tin Coast. Continue reading →

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The Awesome Truro Cathedral in Cornwall

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Ross

Truro Cathedral CornwallAfter our stay at Mevagissey, we headed further west towards Penzance. It wasn’t a long drive and we had time to visit Truro and their cathedral. I’ve been looking forward to seeing some of the cathedrals on our travels. I love the architecture and the artistry of them, and the stories. Continue reading →

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Off to the Gardens – Trelissick House

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Ross

Trelissick HouseWe had a day for exploring at Mevagissey, and were spoiled for choice for gardens to visit. Nearby is the Eden Project, a big and interesting garden. It also has a big price and would have had big crowds on Bank Holiday weekend. Even nearer to Mevagissey is the Lost Gardens of Heligan, another likely to be busy. And it turned out that the Lost Gardens featured New Zealand plants so it was close to home in several ways. Continue reading →

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A Cornwall Fishing Village – Mevagissey

Posted on June 17, 2018 by Ross

Mevagissey CornwallFrom lovely Lyme Regis we headed West. We were on a mission to get to Cornwall, so we kept to the major roads and zoomed along with the traffic. In any case we still weren’t even two days off the plane and my cold was still running well. Although we did start off along the A3052 which was marked as a more scenic route. Scenic routes are not the same over here. Continue reading →

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Off to the Seaside – Lyme Regis

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Ross

Lyme Regis DorsetAfter arriving in London, we immediately headed as far away as we could from the big city. So was everybody else it seemed. We’d arrived at the beginning of a Bank Holiday weekend, which we’d sort-of known about without really thinking through. What we didn’t know about was Half Term which started immediately after the Bank Holiday Monday. This is a regular thing where the entire school population of the UK is disgorged into the wild for a week Continue reading →

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From the Beginning – Our Grand Tour Starts

Posted on June 13, 2018 by Ross

Wyn at Incheon Airport, SeoulWe came from New Zealand. I’d always wanted to. I’d sort-of headed off round the world forty-something years ago, but only got half way. Wyn was planning her first trip 12 years ago when I met her. I was allowed to stalk her around Europe via webcams and Google, and I made her promise to take me back to Paris. And she wanted to show me London. Continue reading →

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Leaving the West Coast – Up the River

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Ross

Mt Hooker WestlandThis blog has been stuck up a creek down the Coast for a few weeks now. It’s time to get us out of there. We’d had a great week exploring and enjoying the West Coast, and were on our way south. After a walk at Ship Creek, we continued south to Haast and across the longest one-way bridge. We’ve never had to figure out how the passing bays work with an 8m truck Continue reading →

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Up Ship Creek – Heading South Out West

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Ross

Ship Creek walkOnce back to the main highway from Okarito we headed south, towards the Glaciers. But first, we came to Lake Mapourika. This is another gorgeous West Coast lake in the bush, carved by a long-gone glacier. We were just in time to catch the lake calm. While we were stopped there the breeze came up, and changed it Continue reading →

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Weird Wood at Okarito

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Ross

Okarito LagoonOver the previous couple of evenings wandering on the beach at Okarito I was impressed by the strange shapes of the driftwood. Before we left after our second night at the camp, I went back one last time to gather some round stones to replenish my collection; and also to gather some images of driftwood. It was a misty sort of morning Continue reading →

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Chasing the Okarito Sunset – Act II

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Ross

Okarito BeachAfter our kayaking adventures, and a bit of a rest, and our evening meal, we repaired to the Okarito Beach to watch the setting sun. It wasn’t going to be another sinking-into-the-sea sort of sunset, but that wasn’t going to stop us. It’s a lovely wild beach anyway, any time. I did get distracted for a start by some of the interesting driftwood. Continue reading →

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