You done well Cornwall!

Ask me my favourite place in England now and my answer will definitely be Cornwall. I have just arrived back from an amazing long weekend adventure and wish I was back there already! I went away with my buddy from work, Annalisa, her husband, James, his best friend, Tristan, and Annalisa and James' lovable beagle, Manny. The three of them studied in Plymouth so know the area well and were able to take me to top spots. We also managed to visit a few places they hadn't been before too. James and Tristan headed down a bit earlier on Friday while Annalisa and I were counting down the hours until 4pm when we could leave school and get on the road. We were out of school by 4.01 and after a quick stop at my house to pick up my pre-packed bag we were on the road and heading south.

I think everyone had the same idea because the roads were very busy and it took us over 5 hours to get to our destination but the trip was broken up by a stop at a service station. I was quite blown away by this service station because it wasn't like the old BP or Shell ones you would stop at in NZ but instead was a whole complex of shops, e.g., Starbucks, KFC, Burger King, Waitrose (equivalent to New World Metro) plus way more. The bathroom complex was huge too. I was in awe of this place and apparently they're all over the UK which makes sense and now I have a way better understanding of the name 'service station'.

Our stop at the service station was quite early on (just before Bristol) so we were quite hungry by the time we reached Crackington but James was very good and had dinner nearly on the table when we arrived. Before we ate though we explored the 17th century farmhouse we were staying in. It was HUGE! I was thoroughly impressed because I had my own double bedroom with an ensuite bathroom with a view over the garden. After dinner we had a relatively early night so we could be up early to go exploring the next day.

I woke up to rain and when I drew my curtain it looked grey and miserable. My heart sank so I went back to bed for a little bit. The weather gods must have seen my face because an hour later when I actually got up the rain had stopped and there were patches of blue sky coming through the clouds. I'll admit that I did a small fist pump when I saw this.

Our 17th century farmhouse, 'apple cottage'

The clouds parting

Our first stop was the small settlement at Crackinton Haven which was about a 10 minute drive from where our house was. It was the first time I'd been close to the sea since I first got here so for me it was quite a magical moment. I just looked out and took it all in, the view, the sounds, the smell, it was beautiful. We stayed here for about an hour and went for a small walk along one of the coastal tracks.

Crackington Haven

Posing on the wall

On the coastal track

The waves weren't good enough to entice us into the water here (and to be fair the wind was quite cold) so we decided to get on the road and head to Tintagel, where the ruins of King Arthur's castle supposedly are. On the way we stopped at a cute little village called Boscastle to have a wander. You could tell you were close to King Arthur's spot because lots of the shops had witch and wizard things for Merlin's association with the King and we even saw a lady walking around with a cape and a staff (I'm not kidding).It was here that I also found the Wellington Hotel.

Main street in Boscastle

Shop on the hill

Told you!

Would you look at that!

The Wellington Hotel!

The sky was even bluer when we arrived in Tintagel so the walk to the ruins was very enjoyable. They were up high on the cliffs and the views were absolutely stunning. We even managed to spot a seal when we were looking out to sea. The tide was in so we couldn't walk to see Merlin's cave (his supposed cave) but we all had a blast roaming around the cliffs.

This way to the castle

King Arthur!

Beautiful sea!

Taking a rest

Room with a view

Balancing in the arch

Stunning!

Spot the seal

Jump for Tintagel

Me, James, Annalisa and Manny :)

It's fair to say that we were all pretty knackered after our trek so we headed back into town on search of a Cornish pasty. They all assured me that the ones we got weren't normal size but they were sure tasty.

My oversized pasty

I enjoyed our next stop, Bude Beach, because we got to walk barefoot on the sand and have a play around in the water. I also treated them to my fantastic gymnastics abilities (of which I have none) trying to copy Annalisa's cartwheels. There were many laughs had on that beach :)

Jump for Bude Beach

Yoga in the sand

Annalisa jumping over Tristan

Man, I wish I could cartwheel like this...

As you can tell, I was very impressed by my first impressions of Cornwall and my second day was just as good. We had breakfast in the garden and then jumped in the cars and headed to Polzeath to check out the surf. While the three of them were studying in Plymouth they spent their summers working in Polzeath so it was like a homecoming for them. One if their friends works at a surf hire booth so we hung out with him for a bit and then it was agreed that he and Manny would man the booth while the four of us went in the water. James gave me some very helpful advice and by the end of my time in the water I was very close to standing on my board. I managed to catch heaps of waves and now cannot wait to get to Spain and try it again there! 

Busty Moo's Magic - Cool name!

Horses on the beach!

Manny keeping watch

Chicks!

Polzeath Beach

On the way home we stumbled upon a county cricket match in the middle of the countryside. When we arrived it looked like Cornwall were going to lose but they managed an amazing comeback and we were treated to a fantastic game. The 10th batsman in got a very fast 50 and when this happened all the cars started beeping their horns, it was quite magical and very quintessentially English. The only thing missing was a cream tea!

The cream tea was yet to come though but not until the next day.

I was sad to say goodbye to the cottage this morning as I could quite easily see myself living in a place like that. I'd love to go back there one day!

Last view of the cottage

Our front door. Oh, I love apple cottage!!!

Tavistock was our first stop and our mission for the day was to find a good cream tea (scones, clotted cream, jam and tea) and we stumbled across the best place alongside a small river. I was very impressed with my first ever cream tea. Clotted cream in Devon! Yum yum yum!

OMG!

Mmm...

For those of you who don't know I'm also on a mission to find the BEST carrot cake in the world so naturally when I saw the lone carrot cake in the cabinet I also had to order that. It also was impressive (my friends all tried it and agreed) and I'm going to have to place it in my top 5. High marks for Tavistock.

Award winning carrot cake with a view

We were all a bit stuffed when we got back to the cars so it was lucky that our next stop was Dartmoor where we went for a trek out in the moors. I really enjoyed this and seeing the stones that have been there since the ice-age. We had a load of fun climbing over the stones and taking in all the open space before our journey back to the big city.

Posing

We made it to the top!

No one around me!

The five of us :)

I honestly did not want my trip to end! Check out some of the views driving home;

So green!

I think I enjoyed Cornwall so much because it reminded me a lot of home, all the space and the green. It also helped that my company was top notch. I've been so lucky with the great people I've been meeting on my journey :)

Well I better get to sleep because it'll be an early start for me tomorrow after my mad dash leaving school early on Friday.

Until next time!

Love you all!

P.S. Cornwall rocks!