Firstly this isn’t one of our usual motorhome photographic adventures. We are now down in the Newquay area with our son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. But we did manage to venture out for a few days before they joined us.
We travelled down on Wednesday arriving late afternoon at the holiday camp. This one has some all inclusive on-site activities which will help keep the grandchildren amused.
On Thursday we headed off to the beach at Holywell Bay which was a few miles west of Newquay. Starting from the National Trust car park which, lucky for us was free to members, we headed off up the cliff path to the west of the beach.
The view of the beach was spectacular….
We quite liked the face in the shadow on the beach. Heading back we thought it might be worth a trek over the cliffs on the opposite end of the beach.
On route we tried a bit of bird spotting as Vanessa had her long lens ready, but this was the best I could manage with my little Sony DSC-HX99.
Unfortunately, due to a missing footpath sign I took a wrong turn which led us into the dunes. About 20 minutes later we managed to get back onto the path.
Photo opportunities weren’t as good from this side, so we headed over the peninsula to the next beach – not really the right conditions here either.
We headed back to the car (the short way) – unfortunately the conditions weren’t ideal for hiking with overgrown paths with either brambles or long grass.
After 2 hours we finally made it back to the bar near the car park. We stopped for a pint and shared some loaded nachos.
The plan for the rest of the day was to end up at the Bedruthan Steps for a sunset photo. That was still 5 hours away, so we headed north-east past this location to Boscastle. The idea was good, but the sun was reflecting off the sea and we couldn’t find a good vantage point. There weren’t enough clouds to give us any shade either. Never mind, we’ll try it again in the future. I’ll miss out the wasted trip to Tintagel Castle (as it was closed), so we headed back to the Bedruthan Steps for the 1930 sunset!
Unfortunately this was the only reasonable photo with the direct light on the subject. Some idiot got the sunset time wrong – by at least 30 minutes! So when we moved down for the next shot of the rock – the light had virtually gone. I won’t make that mistake again.
Friday, the family were arriving after lunch, so we headed off to Port Isaac, or Port Winn (as it’s known in the Doc Martin series). We arrived around 10 am in a near empty car park and walked around the headland into the town.
This is a very interesting little town (even if you haven’t seen the TV program). However, it is very hilly, so be warned. We wandered around many little alleys and narrow lanes taking several photos. The following photo I quite liked, but maybe it’s better in black & white…
We will return another day and take in the local tour of the Doc Martin filming locations.
After buying some cornish pasties, crab, cockles and fudge we headed back to the car via a cafe. Note; at 12 O’clock when we returned to the car park it was nearly full. So arrive earlier if you visit this little port.
Then back to the motorhome to meet up with the rest of the family.
Bateson's Travel log 