On Monday morning, as the rest of the country was preparing for “the worst storm since 1987”, we were setting off on holiday with my parents. To break up the journey, we stopped at the Milky Way Adventure Park on the way down to Cornwall. There was loads to do, both indoors and outdoors. The children gained archery certificates and the adults enjoyed a falconry display in the indoor arena. Tabitha went down the bumpy slide in the play area over and over again, getting a little slower with tiredness each time she climbed the huge flight of stairs dragging her mat behind her!
We arrived at the lodge in the evening. Once we had unpacked, the children snuggled up on the sofa watching DVDs with Grandpa while we waited for DDS’s delicious sausage casserole to cook.
After breakfast on Tuesday morning, we enjoyed a lovely walk in the sunshine down into the valley below the campsite.
When we arrived back at the lodge, we sat outside on the decking and played a game of “Shopping List” before going to explore the site’s play area.
Then it was time to set off for Padstow. The children went in mum and dad’s car, so Colin and I followed behind. We all missed the turning for the shortcut through the lanes and ended up driving a longer way round on the main road instead, which turned out to be rather providential. Just before we got there, a terrible noise started coming from the back of the car. I managed to limp along a little way until we could pull in safely and we discovered that the rear offside tyre was completely flat. The others spotted us in trouble as they went round the roundabout and came back to help. Colin and Dad changed the tyre and discovered a huge nail in the flat one!
When I was young, we often used to holiday near Padstow, so the town is very familiar to me. However, that was before Rick Stein set up shop there, so this was the first time I’ve sampled his fish and chips. I had battered sea bream and it was by far the best fish and chips I’ve ever eaten! Afterwards we wandered around the harbour and caught the ferry across to Rock. It began to hail, so we took cover in a cafe and caught the next ferry back. The children threw stones into the water while we waited.
The children had some pocket money to spend on holiday, so we browsed through some shops in Padstow. Tabitha chose to buy an umbrella and a pretty wooden bracelet. It was harder to find things suitable for Aaron, but he eventually chose a tank and a pack of soldier figures. Back at the lodge, we drank hot chocolate with cream, marshmallows and flake while the children played with their new things.
In the evening we drove into Tintagel to eat dinner at an Indian restaurant. The stars were amazing and, with the help of a Google Sky Map app, Aaron and I managed to identify a few constellations.
On Wednesday we went to Tintagel castle. At the visitors centre we watched a short film on the history of the Arthur legend and its connection to Tintagel. We climbed up the steep steps to explore the castle ruins and then walked up to the top of the headland, where it was very windy! Afterwards I bought a couple of interesting children’s history books at the gift shop.
In the evening, Colin and I went out for dinner on our own while Aaron and Tabitha stayed in with Grandpa and DDS.
On the way home on Thursday morning, we stopped at Widemouth Sands. Children and adults alike had fun building sandcastles, paddling, digging moats and chasing waves!
Next we headed into Bude for a delicious lunch at the Olive Tree. The food was absolutely amazing! Afterwards we wandered along the canal and found a wonderful yarn shop. I couldn’t resist buying these colourful wooden buttons! We watched a heron catching fish in the river, and saw some huge salmon swimming upstream.
We managed to pack a lot into our little four day holiday. It was tiring and we went to bed early every night, but we also enjoyed some relaxed breakfasts and lovely family evenings snuggled up together in the lodge. I think we will all remember this holiday for a long time to come.