Tuesday 7 June 2011

A week of family fun...

As hoped last week was great!  We decided to weather-watch and go camping when the weather promised to be fine.. Late Monday afternoon we made the decision to go; spent a few manic hours collecting camping gear from various nooks & crannies, packing and preparing - Tuesday morning we were on the road bright and early.

We took a bit of a gamble and set out with no campsite booked, only to find that everyman and his dog had decided to go camping in Cornwall that week lol. We still had no real trouble finding a good place to stay, it just meant we were not as close to a beach as we like. Regardless of this we had a really fun break... We were based just outside St.Agnes, on the coastal path right by an old tin mine..

Along the coastal path heading back to our campsite (which was behind the tin mine)
 This is Wheel Coates tin mine, partially restored and very beautiful, perched on the slope heading down toward cliffs.

Just look at how TALL it is!  This doorway was already about 20feet up.

Lots of hidey holes and tiny gaps to squeeze through exploring

It was worth the squeeze and climb for this view though!
Thought this was quite interesting.  We saw lots of the medieval workings - you certainly wouldnt walk across the heather where you cant see whats beneath it!
We had 3 wildlife encounters - 2 of which were quite unexpected! 

We came across a beautiful little adder (snake) basking in the sun on the coastal path just about 300 yards past the tin mine.  Didnt have my camera to hand unfortunately, he was so pretty; about 18" long, shiny and with a clearly marked black zig-zag/diamond pattern down his back.  He gently wove his way into the undergrowth when we got to within a couple of feet from him, didnt seem all that bothered about us - it was lovely.  A lizard ran across a few minutes later but only Matt saw him (he was leading the way)... shows how quiet that stretch of coast is for them to be out in the open, they are usually pretty shy.
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While brushing my teeth ready for bed on the first night I had a bit of a fright (nearly swallowed my toothbrush!!) when a bat crash landed in the sink I was using!  He must of chased a moth in through an open skylight.  Fortunately he found his way back out very quickly.
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Our biggest wildlife treat however was planned.  We took a boat trip out of St.Ives to seal island and saw the seals lazing on the rocks there.. there were snowy white babies too :)

This is the boat we went on.. the Dolly Pentreath.  Shes a replica of a traditional St.Ives fishing boat. 
We had such fun see-sawing over the waves on the way out - it made my heart soar I LOVE it!  Rachael was less enthusiastic ("why is it moving so much?!" followed by lots of girly squeels) and turns out Amber is no sea-dog!  She would not settle till she was on Garys lap.  Though in fairness she was getting bounced around pretty well.. Jess had the good sense to lay down & go to sleep behind my feet.
Big baby!

It was funny watching them lift their heads & tails everytime a wave came along to keep them out of the water

Lying there like a sausage :)
We had a couple of lovely days on the beaches..

Thats my little man in the sand dunes - he didnt stay still long enough to get a closer picture! 
We visited Gwithian beach, Hayle for the first time - and what a beautiful beach it is!  You walk over lovely big sand dunes to get on the beach, which is 3 miles of soft golden sand, crashing Atlantic surf and dogs are allowed on all year round.  Its lovely and clean too - we will definately be going back there.  Infact we spotted a campsite nestled right at the foot of the dunes that we shall investigate further.
Favourite days!
I think they were pulling faces at me, but Im not really sure :)
And now life is back to normal.. kids at school, husband at work.  Yesterday was spent weighing fibre & dyeing, with a little bit of felting to finish off.  Today I was at Oak House (doing living history) taking on a role I rarely do; Mistress Jane - the la-di-daa lady of the house - a role I find rather tiring if Im honest.  Livened it up though with 1/4 of an hour of dancing to finish off.

Lots of felty plans for the rest of the week.

xx

8 comments:

Kelly said...

Just reading your post relaxed me! :) It looks like a fabulous vacation, just the kind I like, not too much fussing and planning. Just a lot of family time and REAL fun!

Steph said...

You were just down the road from us! Love the pics - we've walked around the tin mine and bbqed on Gwithian beach too - fab!

Heather Woollove said...

Oh, how lovely! You always seem to have the most wonderful family holidays! Thanks for sharing the adorable photos of your cuties and the seals. XXO-

FeltersJourney said...

Oh Kelly, Heather, we DID have a lovely time - it goes so very quickly though doesnt it?! Never mind we are booked up for August, so not long and we shall be back down there!

Steph, you lucky girl! Our dream is to move to Cornwall one day, to have all that breathtaking coast on your doorstep - how wonderful! Its such a hive of creativity too. We both have family down there, though admittedly less as the older generations have passed, we never want to come away.

Nice to hear from you all xxx

Cathy at PotterJotter said...

Lucky lucky you - not been to Cornwall for years, but have happy memories of it. The whole of Blogdom seems to either live there or have been there recently!

Ginny Huber said...

Lovely to see your family vacation and these views of Cornwall, which I visited many, many years ago..many..but still have the sense memory of it!

FeltersJourney said...

Thanks Cathy & Ginny :)
Lovely to hear from you
xx

Ruthie Redden said...

It looks as though you all had a magical holiday, those photos bring back lovley memories for me, we spent much time in Cornwall as children. You have got me excitedly looking forward to our own up-coming camping trip too, i love it. I shall be watching the weather forcasts avidly and hoping we can hop out beetween showers ;-)