We awoke to rain on Friday morning so had a decision to make. We had booked that night at Globe Vale but couldn't do much in the rain (ie no biking and walking is too much for Paddy now sadly) so we decided to pack up and leave early and head towards home. The 'pull' to Porth, just outside Newquay, is very strong for us and that's where we ended up for our last night. Porth Beach Touring Park is one of our top 5 sites to stay on so we turned up hoping for a pitch for the night. We found the site packed! There was a Motorcaravanners Club rally on and they'd taken up pretty much half the site, it was buzzing. However, we managed to get an all singing fully serviced pitch - exactly the same pitch we'd had back in May during our last stay here!
By the time we'd booked in, pitched up and had some lunch the rain had stopped and the sun was coming through so we went for a walk on the beach and up onto Porth Island where we sat and watched the waves crashing in.
That evening we visited the pub on the beach (The Mermaid Inn) and had a lovely meal, a few drinks and bumped into and old friend. A lovely way to end our last long holiday of 2012.
We are hoping to get away for a long weekend in October, depending on work, weather and other commitments. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up back in Porth.
On the way back to the campsite we took a short detour off the trail to Wheal Peevor to have a wander around the disused tin mines and engine houses that pepper the landscape in this part of Cornwall.
Later that evening we enjoyed a nice meal in the on-site bar/restaurant and a chat with some fellow campers.
Our next site was Globe Vale at Radnor, near Redruth - an industrial/mining area of mid Cornwall. Again, we arrived slightly early but our pitch was ready so we pitched up and while I made a bite to eat Michael sorted out our bikes and Paddy's trailer for an afternoon of bike riding on the Coast to Coast Trail, which runs from Portreath to Devoran. We picked the trail up at Wheal Peevor just outside the site and took the route down to Portreath, where we sat overlooking the beach and people watched!!
We hadn't realised how downhill it was on the way to Portreath but certainly knew about it on the way back to the site!
On Thursday morning it was time to move on from Gwithin Farm (but we'll be back!). We asked if we could stay a little later than the usual 10am kick-off time as our next site was only 8 - 10 miles away, this wasn't a problem. After a leisurely breakfast, a short walk with Paddy in the village and packing up we decided to head along the coastal road to Portreath (it was a bit tight in places for a 25' camper but we survived). We parked up a couple of times along the route to enjoy the views in the sunshine.
That evening it looked like there was potential for a lovely sunset so we walked up through the campsite to the dunes overlooking Gwithian Sands where we walked towards Godrevy before heading back to sit and watch the sunset over St Ives Bay. I took many, many photos that evening so will apologise now for the amount I have posted!!!!
