I have seen some delightful variations in the conditions in the last 24 hours, I can tell you. Was thoroughly soggified on arrival at the rather imposing Trewithian Farm B and B last night (which scores major brownie points for having a parrot in the hallway – and yes it did manage to con me it was a person – waited til I was out of sight and then said “hello”. You can guess what happened next…). Clothes and shoes promptly dispatched to dry out over the Aga, I decided a hot shower and an indulgent dinner at The Rosevine were in order.

And I can report on an excellent dinner, with The Rosevine putting in a very strong contender for the chocolate-mousse-of-the-year award (these things are important) – a wonderful blob of mousse with salted caramel and a stick of shortbread. Quite something (so good it deserves a paragraph of its own).

Anyway, the walking! Despite the best attempts of the weather the journey from Falmouth was wonderful – a highly entertaining (in a good way) couple of ferry trips from Falmouth to St Mawes and from St Mawes to Place and a very pretty walk onwards. It was enchanting in near-constant rain; must be staggeringly lovely in sunshine (see pic and imagine in technicolour…). Definitely one to revisit.

Other recent discoveries are the seriously chocolate-boxy Church Cove on the Lizard, how photogenic cow parsley can be (at least, I think so…), the rather lovely Trebah Garden with a cove all of its own, the seriously homely and comfy Gold Martin B and B in Mawnan Smith, and Pendennis castle – where in fact one of the most exciting sights was a bird of prey (no, I don’t know which one) hovering for a long time over the sea and then right by the castle, only to be chased off by a protective crow. It sounds less thrilling than it was to watch but it was a seriously impressive creature. Not sure it’s a display the castle can provide on demand, admittedly, but great to see nonetheless.

In other musings, what is it with Cornish ferrymen and cups of tea / bare feet? Seventy-five percent (I’ve been working at the EIU too long, clearly) of those I have encountered so far have had one or the other, if not both. Ok so the total number is only four, but still. The tea I can understand – the feet, less so…

On that note, I shall start preparing myself for my walk ahead to Portloe. I have been woken early by the cows (mooing, not turning up to wake me!), who make a rather good alarm clock. I think I shall have some blustery wind to contend with, but no doubt will weigh myself down with plenty of unnecessary stuff in my backpack! Fingers crossed the sun comes out again later…

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