Meanderings -a Cornish adventure part 3

I'd started this yesterday and then somehow blogger lost it. Oh well start again then.

So part 3 is being written in a post holiday daze , a want and a wish not to be back in Wales but still on holiday. I hadn't written a third part so I thought instead I'd share with you my thoughts on the places we visited, alongside some photos and a parsnip... nope carrot rating.

Penzance

Our cottage was situated right in the town cente and an easy walk to both the independent and high street shops of the town. Penzance is the most westerly town in Cornwall and we had swapped one west coast on the blustery Irish sea to another on the English Channel. The weather was not always ideal but even with misty days the mist seemed to disappear by afternoon  and walking along the only promenade in Cornwall of an evening was lovely. We spent one morning meandering round its streets treating ourselves to some fantastic cakes and pasties. Carrot rating 5 🥕

 St Michael's mount

This is not to be confused by its French counterpart (Mont St Michel)  and I still cant work out what the difference is. We drove along the coast to this and joined the queue of people walking along the causeway to the island. You have to pay on the causeway to even get onto the island and after balking at the prices we decided to do the garden only. I think to truly see the beauty of the castle and the garden you need to have a National Trust membership as there wasn't a cheap price for both and you had to pay individually and not together.  The gardens were ok,the queuing was not and I would suggest if you visited to go off season. 2 🥕

Cornish seal sanctuary

Exactly what you think it is. Plus penguins. This was my idea as I love penguins and the site is set next to the river Helford near Gweek. They not only rescue seals from the wild and rehabilitate them they also have seals from other centres there. Not a cheap visit but the money goes into looking after the animals in their care.  As the sanctuary is spread out and although the car park was full it didn't seem over busy. 5🥕

 

Ancient stones and villages -Halliggye fogou, Carn Euny ancient village and The Merry Maidens stone circle

I am a sucker for standing stones of any kind and the kids both remember being dragged round these as youngsters. We went underground to several fogous.. yep their not sure what they are either  and learnt that the stone circle was based on the meta lunar circle. Both the fogou and the villages were owned by  English heritage and the fogou took a while to find. 5🥕

 Senna Cove / Lands End 

I was warned pre arriving at Cornwall that Lands End would be like a fair ground full of tourist trash and after walking from the beautiful and quiet Senna Cove and spotting people queuing for the sign I decided not to venture further into it.  The walk to Lands End was gorgeous, we even spotted dolphins jumping in the sea. Walk and scenery 5🥕

Mousehole

I had seen pre arrival that you could walk from Penzance to Mousehole ( apparently pronounced Mouzel) so one of our days out, the kids and I did just that. The weather unfortunately decided not to let us see the coast in all its glory and we just got the misty version. The village itself is little but wasn't hugely over run with tourists.  I enjoyed the walk and its mostly flat although a bit confusing in Newlyn. 5🥕 

Treemenheer sculpture gardens

Now this was not my choice but Afon's  as they are into modern art and sculpture.

Most of it confused me to be honest especially when the names bore no resemblance to the scupltures.

But the saving point of the gardens were the gardens themselves, at time jurassic and jungle feeling I was more than happy taking in the lush surroundings and if i lived closer I would sit in one of its many little nooks and just relax.

So for me the gardens get 5🥕 with the sculptures themselves getting 2🥕. 

Newquay 

Not to be mistaken by the version that we have in West Wales. We took a visit to The north Cornwall town as the yearly surfing festival was on. It was very busy but everyone needs to see some proper surfers on Fistral beach dont they. We also managed to secure the largest cream tea known to man after a failed attempt earlier that day. Surfing and cream tea 5 🥕

And that's it. That's our week away . It's been a week now since we left and actually it would have been nice to go for longer but work for all beckoned. If you need any hints on Cornwall,I hope my ratings above have helped (although am very annoyed there is no parsnip emoji)