Week 7: Heading back East...
- Oct 17, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 18, 2021
Now we've been to Lands End the most westerly point in the country... we are inevitably getting closer to home with each move...
Our stops this week:
1 night at Godrevy Campsite (near Hayle)
3 nights at Haven Perran Sands (near Perranporth)
3 nights a Tregurrian Camping and Caravan Campsite (near Newquay)
Some numbers about our trip so far
48 nights away
20 different campsites
More than 1.4 million steps between us (excluding Bears’ steps!)
150+ miles cycled (I forgot to record some)
1 zip wire
2 boat rides
4 places we've spotted wild seals
2 new swear words
1 wing mirror glass replacement
Too many ice-creams and a few cream teas!
Just before leaving Godrevy campsite we bumped into an old friend of Bears... it was the lady who camped next to us in Dawlish (and gave us some runner beans) it was over month since we last saw her and her dog Bertie (we couldn't remember her name but we remembered the dog's name!)
Bear had to wait for the tide to go out and the beach to re-appear before a walk in St Ives Bay, so we left him to have a nap in the van and headed out on the bikes for a ride along the coast to Portreath… the sun was shining and the hills were steep but the little town (once the busiest port in Cornwall) felt a little abandoned! Maybe it was just the end of the season but it seemed to lack something.
We cycled back through Camborne, which had once been a prominent mining town but now sadly feels a bit tired and run down with lots of boarded-up shops and empty houses. It’s a real change from the buzzing and lively nearby towns like St Ives and Padstow. Whilst every part of the Cornish coastline we have visited has been stunning a few of the towns feel quite gloomy and a little neglected.
When doing some research for our trip a few months ago I found out that Haven holiday parks have campsite pitches, open all year round (when most campsites close for the winter), often located by the sea and out of season they're very reasonably priced (£7 a night for a basic pitch and £1 for Bear).
After a final pasty in Hayle and a quick trip to Asda to replenish our food supplies, it was time to move along to our next stop about half an hour up the coast… this was our first trip to Haven and we had mixed expectations… our fears of organised fun and red coats trying to make us join a conga line and dance around the park quickly eased. There was an entertainment venue and we had a quick peek in the door but the sight of a singer on stage encouraging audience members to join in with some karaoke and dancing was enough to make us run and hide! Audience participation definitely isn’t for us. That said we did make the most of being close to some civilisation... we had a pizza delivered to the van (a first for us) and a couple of drinks sat outside the bar enjoying the evening sunshine and making the most of the free wifi, to download some films to watch later. On the way back we did see a chap playing pool, who seemed to be having a fairly serious argument with himself, I suppose he can't lose!
The location of the park was stunning (all the photos above are taken at Perran Sands or nearby), set amongst the sand dunes with miles and miles of sandy beach to explore… the campsite itself was huge, probably space for 200 to 300 pitches, luckily mid-October it wasn’t busy and we had plenty of space around us but it was still quite noisy in the evenings. We had some great walks along the beach to Perranporth and around the sand dunes, the weather still being unusually warm and sunny for this time of year. Would we stay at a Haven again?... yeah but we'll try to avoid the school holidays.
On the drive from Hayle we spotted a dairy farm that made and sold its own ice cream, so we cycled over one afternoon to try it out… we pushed the boat out and went for a Chocolate Brownie Sundae (the best yet) but I think we needed to cycle a few more miles to make up for all the calories!
Our final stop this week was at Tregurrian Camping site… it is literally at the end of the runway of Newquay airport but only a short walk down to the coast path. The great thing about the South West Coast path is that you're guaranteed two great walks... either turn left or turn right and follow the coast around all the little coves and up and down the cliffs and hills. From Treguarrian we walked the coast path between Watergate and Mawgan Porth to find even more great views. Some of the coves are deserted and only accessible by boat, others are crammed with surfers waiting for that elusive perfect wave to come along.
Newquay itself was a little disappointing, we only cycled in for a quick look around but I guess it's more exciting in the summer months, at the moment it feels dormant.
We're still avoiding busy and crowded places as much as we can... but when we do need to go into a town or supermarket we always wear a mask. It seems in Newquay it's fine to walk around coughing and spluttering without wearing a mask... I actually saw a guy take his mask off so he could have good cough before carefully replacing his mask!
We’ve only got a week left in Cornwall and despite places starting to shut down for the winter (and a distinct lack of masks), I already feel like I’m going to miss the place... being able to hear and see the sea pretty much all the time is something really special.
A montage of Bear's week... out on walks, watching surfers, napping on the sofa (which he isn't allowed on) and looking very guilty after shredding an empty tube of pringles!
Amazing!!!!