Sunday further mount stories and St Ives

After another hearty English breakfast we caught a boat to St Michaels as this time it was isolated by the tide. Caramello enjoyed steering the boat to the amusement of the other passengers and he managed to keep us on course. Our first surprise was that we were allowed in free – thanks to our friends Heather and John who gave us a membership to the NZ Historic Places trust as a goodbye gift (so if you are stuck for ideas for a friend going overseas that is a great bon voyage gift). We wandered up the steep steps and path to the top and it was as fascinating as it promised to be. From the top we could see the pathway we walked across the day before (I thought it would be only a inches deep but infact it was quite a lot of deeper). The original castle had been destroyed in the 1200’s by an earthquake and then rebuilt not long after that. Inside the castle had been decorated in 1800 style (I was expecting stone walls like the Tower of London or Edinburgh castle but it wasn’t like that at all) – more like a museum really. There was a little church and a lovely hillside garden (which you weren’t allowed into so could only admire from the top of the castle). It rained (poured actually) on the way down and we sheltered in a shop that sold stuffed toys including ‘Mr and Mrs Cornish Pasty’. Saw a video which gave us a brief history of the monastery and then found Queen Victoria’s footprint – her first step onto the Mount when she came with her husband to be – Edward. I could just imagine her little foot in a dainty shoe and had to compare it with my not so dainty feet and walking shoes!!
On to St Ives – does that sound something like a nursery rhyme? We drove down a narrow street into the town and met swarms (yes I mean swarms) of people coming towards us. We couldn’t believe that cars were allowed down there with so many people but we weren’t the only one caught in the pedestrian jam so we crawled our way through, breathed a sigh of relief and went over the hill to the beach. Had a picnic and wandered up the hill to see a little chapel (each week of the month it had a different denominational service eg 1st week Anglican, 2nd Presbyterian etc). Had our first paddle in the Atlantic and possibly our last as it was like sticking our feet in ice cold water which didn’t get any warmer as we walked along. No wonder everyone was in wet suits. It was lovely to see people enjoying the beach. It is quite different here as people come really prepared with wind breaks and chairs and little tents – we thought probably because they aren’t lucky enough to live close enough to the beaches all the time and so come for the day or a holiday.
Monday was another work day – the highlight was us in the supermarket when I took a melon off the top shelf, dropped it on a tray laden with mangoes and watched as they rolled to all corners (well almost) of the shop.