Our drive to Penzance took longer than expected (have you heard that before?). We decided to take the scenic route, but will reconsider doing this again, as we seem to get caught up in all the Saturday shopping in every little town. We passed lots of lovely little towns, pubs and enjoyed ourselves despite the traffic. Saw a ramshackle old thatched cottage which looked a bit sad – there aren’t many of them around and it was a novel one because it was large and roundish. At one stage we met a car coming towards us down a narrow country lane. We had no chance of passing so we reversed and so did they – until we found a suitable passing space and then discovered we couldn’t see each other. We waited and waited and then went forward and met in exactly the same spot – ‘shall we dance’ comes to mind. We laughed but he wasn't amused and so when he reversed back we followed him like an errant schoolboy until we came to a place where we could pass.
We arrived in Marazion where St Michaels Mount looks protectively over the bay. At low tide you can walk on a cobbled path across to the island and at high tide you can go by boat. We timed our arrival for low tide, enjoying the novelty of the sea parting to let the travellers through. We didn’t realise that the castle was closed on Saturdays and you could only go around the outsides of the buildings near the harbour. So, we took lots of photos and then walked back. The castle has been gifted to the National Trust by the St Aubyn family that has owned it for a couple of centuries (after it stopped being a monastery and fortress). It looked to me as though they tolerated visitors rather than encouraged them as there were no signs to the ferry, little information about the castle like its opening hours and history etc. There were however some gift shops and cafes and an ice cream shop (but closed on Saturdays). Anyway, us kiwis are fairly stubborn and we decided to persevere and come back on Sunday.
While we waited the 18 hours for the castle to open we went to Land’s End. After being told ‘there wasn’t much there’ we were delighted with the rocks, cliffs, sea breeze and sunshine. We wandered around for ages and part of me regretted that we didn’t have all day to explore the area. The ruggedness was emphasised by a old wreck stuck below us on the rocks. Some of the hills were covered in grass, others in bright purple and orange heather, and others in dwarf gorse (yes it is rather a pretty little ground cover). The area reminded me a little of Castle Point and a little of Punakaiki with its drop down to the sea. At the tip of Lands End is a commercial building with some shops and amusements (eg Dr Who exhibition, sea rescue), which didn’t quite seem appropriate in a wonderful geographical area.
On the way back we chose the coastal route – narrow windy roads without a view of the coast because of the high hedges flanking each side. Anyway, we did wander down some dead end streets and found some other little gems. Harry stopped the car without any prompting from me to take a photo of the row of hydrangeas (aren’t they the most fabulous flower). We found the Minack Theatre – a modern outdoor theatre built into the rocks – I could imagine watching a play there with the sea as a backdrop. We drove on to Penzance and had fish and chips (yes I know I said no more but just one more try to have some reasonable ones - they weren’t too bad) sitting on the wharf looking at the boats. It was so like Wellington on a calm day with the boats bobbing up and down, seagulls squawking and people wandering around enjoying the summers evening and I realised how much I miss everyone.
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