Nicky comes to Seaford

Yesterday we spent the day with Phil's grandaughter, Nicky who is spending 3 months in Europe at the end of her Architecture degree and before starting full-time work in Sydney. It was such a lovely day - beautiful weather, a lovely companion for the day and lots to show her. We started off with a drink at Bill's in Brighton - that IS quite a choc milkshake.



We were tempted to have a slice of one of their amazing cakes but it was a little early in the day - we hadn't yet worked up an appetite. My sister thinks Bill's has the best cakes on the planet and she may be right. I haven't tasted them yet but watch this space for the results of my research.
We showed her Royal Pavillion where royalty used to take their summer holidays http://www.royalpavilion.org.uk/













We strolled through The Lanes and looked at the Pier - most attractive from a distance - VERY tacky at close quarters.
Then back to Seaford for Nicky to catch up with Christy and then a stroll along Seaford beach to see the Kittywakes who nest in the chalk cliff face every summer. The RSPB has set up high magnification telescopes trained on different nests so you can look at the birds - just great.
After a pub lunch at the Golden Galleon it was a walk along the Vanguard Way to see the Seven Sisters

And a quick trip to Alfriston to see the village and church where a pianist was practicing for his upcoming concert.

Such a lovely day. Thanks for making the time in your very crowded itinerary, Nicky, to spend the day with us.

http://nickyineurope2008.blogspot.com/

Seaford is basking in sunshine

The view from our bedroom window - the ferry going to France.
Lots of great walks especially along the cliff tops of the Seven Sisters

Christy and Andy town - Seaford. They live on the seafront about the middle of this bay. We've all just been in for a swim - bracing but enjoyable.

What better at the end of a long walk - a nice cup of tea.

Even better than last week

We are now at Christy's in Seaford where we will stay for the next month until we fly home - apart from 4 days in Cardiff for the Eisteddford in mid August.

Our second week in Cornwall was fabulous. We are fans of the TV series Doc Martin - not sure if it's the scenery at Port Isaac or the quirky character that attract us but we chose a cottage at Port Quin, about 1 km as the crow flies from Port Isaac for our stay.

We had an apartmnet in the house in the centre of this picture.

Port Isaac - note Louisa's school - we had a coffee there one day.



Phil called in to see if he could get an appointment with Doc Martin but no-one was in - it seems to be let as a holiday cottage.


Doc Martin's house is the smaller stone one

Our house had a great location righ on the cliffs beside the coast path - it runs along the sea edge of the fence We had one of the apartments in the house but you can also rent 'The Castle' a little folly even closer to the cliffs http://www.nationaltrustcottages.co.uk/nt.asp?p=63&c=13

View from our living room

Our nearest village was Port Quin - some years ago 32 fishermen from the village drowned when their boats were caught in a gale leaving most of the women of the village widows. It became a ghost town until the National Trust acquired it and restored a number of the houses for long term and holiday rental.

Port Quin
I could write loads about a week but time is running out so just a few photos and highlights.

Padstow - very classy little town - Maggie Thatcher used to holiday here when she was PM - one of the few things she failed to ruin!!

Lunch at Rick Stein's St Petroc Restaurant at Padstow - just delicious food. We also had fish and chips from his harbour shop, cheese from his deli, bread from his patisserie etc - maybe they will change the name to Padstein before too long.

Long walks along the cliff paths and a day at Clovelly.


And probably best of all, lunch at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant at Watergate Bay in Cornwall. We had seen the TV program in Australia last year about setting up Fifteen in Melbourne. We were impressed to watch him take fifteen VERYdisadvantaged young people and train them up to become chefs/waiters for the restaurant. JO was a multi millionaire in his 20s and could have put his feet up or gone shopping for the rest of his life like many footballers here but he's chosen to take on some really tough challenges to help others. I wonder what motivates him? Anyway it was a great experience at all levels - beautiful location, really good food, good ambience and first rate service. You know all the staff come from really tough backgrounds - often criminals, homeless, drug users etc but they were all very polished, professional but friendly - very impressive. I plan to write to Richard Branson to see why he doesn't do something similar in some of the companies he owns - not everyone wants to work in food service.

This is Fifteen on the top level.

Something to think about from Canbap last Sunday

“The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our attitudes.” Charles Swindoll


Do you agree?

Now we know why Cornwall is so green

We have had more than our share of wet weather in the last week - there has been more than Canberra's annual rainfall in fact. We are just so glad that there are only the 2 of us and we don't have a family of young children to keep dry and entertained. And Wimbledon has been on TV so we can't complain.

Today we are near St Ives and there is driving rain and gales so we are catching up on all sorts of activities - emails, postcards, mending, laundry, shoe cleaning and of course blogging. In spite of the weather we have managed to do all the things we had planned and mostly kept fairly dry. These photos will give you an idea of the past week.


One rainy day last week we went to the Eden Project - http://www.edenproject.com/. Less than 10 years ago this charity acquired a disused china clay pit and has turned it into a wonderful garden which is used for education and research. It is amazing.

These domes cover 13 hectares - the size of over 30 football pitches and house a range of different climate zones. It is just faabuous and has inspired me to do a whole lot more on the eco front when I get home - both at home and at church. I worked with a little group at church a year ago and we had all the light bulbs changed, bought GreenPower etc but I now have a lot of new ideas.



Part of the vege gardens - a lot of the restaurant food comes from here and from other local growers.





There are heaps of little examples of good eco practice as you visit the gardens. I've taken heaps of photos to remind me when I get home and will check out their websites to see which ones might be useful.

In the tropical rainforest dome is this house from Malaysia







And a Mediterranean dome
Another day we went to Glendurgan gardens - spot the lady with the brollie in the maze and you know it's raining






Just nearby is the lovely National Trust house, Boscoe, where Phil and Peggy had a great holiday with Tim and Lyndall back in the early 90s.

After church on Sunday at Portscatho, our nearest village, we did a 4 hour walk along the Coastal Path. As you can see, even when the sun was shining, the rain clouds weren't far away.

Portscatho

At Falmouth we found a lovely restaurant for lunch at the harbour - Phil decided to try the beer-of-the-month, a white beer from Germany -the glass wasn't quite as big as it looks!!

Yesterday was fine and sunny so we made the most of it - St Michael's Mount in the morning -

(We went over on the ferry at high tide when the causeway was under water then walked back after lunch.)

Lands End in the afternoon

Then St Ives for dinner

When we arrived at St Ives about 7pm there was a lovely golden beach -

but 2 hours later when the tide came in it had all but disappeared

We watched the fishing boats bringing in their catch and were fascinated by the 4 seals which followed them in.

From Phil:

Cornwall on a wet day – Wednesday 9 July.

I’m sure we shouldn’t complain about the weather as we are only here for two weeks and so far this is the only day completely dominated by rain. On the other frequent occasions when we have had some rain we have always managed to get out for some of the day – but not this time. Now we know why the fields are so lush and green. Enough about the weather.

Cornwall really is a place of contrasts. There are deserted beaches where the only access is by foot after a long walk and a sharp descent down a cliff-side. There are small villages where access is so difficult that they remain untouched by change. There are many sections of the South-West Coast Path (which runs in total for 630 miles) where it is rare to meet another person .Other beaches, villages/towns, sections of the Path are crowded with people who are taking their holidays but seem mostly to do so in a few popular places. The county has lost much of its ancient means of employment and production: the tin mines operate no more and the remnant buildings/ chimneys are tourist sites only. The fishing industry which employed so many families in the past is now becoming dominated by large firms with boats that can travel further but employ fewer people. Smuggling was a flourishing industry in the past as luxury goods were brought into deserted coves by small boats but mass travel overseas takes up that market. In spite of the changes, Cornwall for us remains a delightful place, where the rain which is so frequent is also the source of so much beauty and the crowds who throng particular places are content to leave in isolation miles of pathways, innumerable beaches and quiet villages. So today while we can’t get out actively we can look forward to places still to see and reminisce about the many lovely places already in our memories.