Camping In Cornwall
For the early May bank holiday I decided to head to Cornwall with a small group of friends from my hiking group. Fiona, Nicole, Roy and myself would stay in the motorhome whilst May and her little dog would be camping in her tent.
Our accommodation was SeaView International who claim to be the only campsite in the UK to have won the AA Campsite of the Year award 4 times. I was therefore surprised to see how empty it was when we arrived Friday evening, especially considering it was a bank holiday.
On the Saturday we decided to do a coastal walk, heading towards Mevagissy. The campsite is only a short walk from the coast and so we headed for Hemmick beach and then followed the South West Coastal Path, keeping the sea on our right.
Despite some weather forecasts predicting rain the weather was kind to us. Before long we reached Dodman Point where we stopped for a quick group photo at the large stone cross.
The next place we passed where there were some shops was Gorran Haven. May decided to have a Cornish Pasty. Finding the coastal path again was harder than expected, many of the paths led down to the beach but finally we managed to get back on route and headed on to Portmellon. The original plan was to walk to Mevagissy and then return on different inland paths back to the campsite. When we reached Portmellon we decided not to continue to Mevagissy, opting instead to head back for showers before heading out to St. Austell for a meal.
On Sunday Nicole, Roy and myself visited The Eden Project. Fiona and May had visited it before so they decided to visit a local National Trust property followed by some relaxation time on the beach. The Eden Project is probably Cornwall’s top tourist destination. The distinctive biomes are temperature controlled and with careful selection of plants they can re-create what different world regions are like. We started in the humid tropics biome which became increasingly humid the higher up you walked. I was glad I had my camera lens cleaning cloth with me as the conditions caused the lens to fog almost instantly. After we left this biome we decided it was time for a Sunday roast in the restaurant before we moved on to the Mediterranean Biome. As well as flowers you also come across a few interesting sculptures including a violent looking one of two women pulling a dog!
I’m not really one for museums and tourist attractions like this, I much prefer natural landscapes. When we left the Eden Project we all agreed that whilst it was quite interesting, it’s the sort of place you are only likely to visit once.
When we returned to the campsite we had some time to relax in the bright sunshine. I decided to check my email using the free site Wifi. I was advised to look for a connection called SeaView Free and to base myself in the games room as the signal would not reach to my motorhome. There were various BT connections that were password protected and a Seaview office connection that I could not connect to. The games rooms had no tables and chairs either so I returned to the motorhome where my 3 dongle thankfully had a signal. Personally I think SeaView should remove the fact that they have free wifi from their advertising literature.
In the evening we decided to head to Mevagissy for our evening meal. Mevagissy is a small fishing village and as you would expect fish dishes feature prominently on the restaurant menus.
On Monday it was time to pack up and return to London. Before leaving I took the opportunity to take on more fresh water and also gave the motorhome a much needed wash with the help of Fiona who climbed the ladder to wash the roof. It had been good to get away from London for a long weekend. The month of May has 2 bank holidays and I’m already looking forward to getting away again at the end of the month, this time to the North Pennines.