The plan for today was a bit of a driving tour. We wanted to visit Land's End, where our favourite neighbours began their epic bike ride to John O Groats a few years ago. We took a wrong turn along the way and ended up driving down a road so narrow that the side mirrors were brushing the wildflowers on both sides. I don't know what you do if you have a larger car. In the end we turned back and found the correct route. We stopped along the way at the Minack Theatre. It had been mentioned to us by the lovely lady we chatted to yesterday. The views were amazing but we decided against paying the £9 it would have cost for both of us to look at the theatre. It's carved out of rock on a cliff edge. Would have been nice to see but we can't do everything and the entry fees and car parking fees quickly add up.
Reaching Land's End, the most Westerly point of mainland England, we forked out the £5 fee for the carpark there. There was a rather tacky tourist area which rather spoils the lovely spot. We walked straight past it to admire the view. Some Japanese tourists asked if we'd take their photo and then insisted on returning the favour.
From there we went to check out a salvage yard we'd heard of called Shiver Me Timbers. It was interesting to wander around and look at all the things we can't buy. We were just out of Penzance so went to Sainsbury's to buy sandwiches and sushi for lunch, then filled the car with petrol and drove to St Michael's Mount to eat our lunch watching the tide ever so slowly receding.
You can go in a little boat over to the island when the tide is in but as the causeway slowly appeared, so did the tourists. Those on the island began to gather at their end of the causeway to walk back and on our side a little crowd grew too. Some stood at the waters edge, walking a few steps forward every now and then as the water level lowered. We went and sat on the rocky outcrop where the boat trip leaves from to watch the progress of the causeway appearing. A few brave souls removed their shoes and walked through the water once it was just lower than knee level. Once it was getting close to dry we walked down there ourselves. We pushed our luck and darted across while there was still the odd rush of water over a couple of sections of the causeway. Twice I jumped onto a rock along the way to avoid wet feet. The snake of visitors continued the entire time we were there. Busloads.
We walked up the very steep and uneven stairs, if you can call them that, leading up to the castle. It was well worth the effort as the views were stunning and the building itself was amazing. Looking down on the gardens below showed how high we'd climbed.
We were back in the cottage in time for me to do an hours work. I'm still not quite caught up but with so much to see in the area we want to make the most of it. Looks like I'll be using the rest of my annual leave.
The mystery of the pink flower has been solved by Debby and Dave on nb Chuffed. It's red campion. I took a photo of it today.
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