Summer of 23 - UK Tour - The unexpected happens, visiting the kids from afar, moving on to Cornwall & Carnewas at Bedruthun Steps

 Sunday May 14th, 2023   

Saturday night Bryan began to feel ill. We had some covid tests as a precaution for when we were on the cruise but hadn't needed them. Now he used them and tested positive. I tested but was negative. 

We were supposed to leave today and go to stay with Ian & Kris but it was obvious that was now out of the question. We arranged to stay an extra night here in Andover while I worked out an alternative and to give Bryan some time to rest. 

We also managed to catch up on the last of our laundry as unfortunately the owners had gone out yesterday and left the shed locked. 

We decided to still go to Bridgend in the hopes that Bryan would test negative before we had to leave and we could visit with the kids. I found an Air BNB near them and booked it for a week. We delayed our arrival at our next stop in Cornwall by three days.

Monday May 15th, 2023 - Sunday May 21st, 2023

Bryan managed to drive us to Bridgend and we got settled into the ground floor apartment we had. I started to feel bad as well, and sure enough I tested positive as well. We both went straight to bed when we arrived after the drive. 

We went to a local pharmacy and got more tests and some cold medication and to the supermarket to get some food we hoped we would be able to eat. I survived on banana and custard. Bryan had chocolate custard.

There was nothing we could do but rest, medicate, sleep and try to eat and keep hydrated. 

Thank goodness we had Ian & Kris nearby, as Ian went to get us a few things during the week. It became obvious that we weren't going to be clear before we left, and the day before we were due to leave they all came and visited by standing by their car at the kerb and we were at the front door. They also bought us more goodies. It was so good to see them but it broke my heart that we couldn't cuddle or hug. 

We also missed a Lads & Dads rugby game, the Dads won!! We did consider going, and standing on the sidelines away from everyone but in the end just didn't feel up to it. Sigh!!!!

Needless to say we don't have any pictures from our week of the apartment, or family. 

Monday May 22nd, 2023

We were both feeling better but still testing positive. We headed out to our next stop in Cornwall. We stopped on the way for groceries.

We arrived at Wildflower Cottage, Porth, Newquay, Cornwall. We are here for 18 nights and have some places to explore. The farm has an interesting history and you can read a little about it in the link above. 

The family were very friendly and father and son came to fix one of our recliners for us. We had a long chat about the history of the farm and they gave us suggestions of places to visit. 

Sue in the living area with the dining table and kitchen in the background

Even a 4 poster bed!!

Bathroom with Jacuzzi tub. We had to supply our own towels.

View from the back garden

So peaceful & relaxing

Nice seating area outside

We saw the cows most days

Our own back garden

Stained glass windows above dining area

Wednesday May 24th, 2023

We had planned a few places to try and visit while we were here but we decided to try a place the owner had recommended for our first trip out. We were taking things slowly but had got clear covid tests when we got here, so that was a relief.

Carnewas & Bedruthan Steps was an interesting stop. It's a National Trust property and we took the opportunity to get an annual membership.  This enables us to go to any National Trust property and get free entrance and parking. We plan on visiting quite a few of these sites so the membership will have paid for itself pretty quickly.

We started the walk down a concrete path with an ocean view not too far away.

It was getting interesting and there were several benches where you could stop and rest and take in the views.

This was a picture postcard view.

The ragged coastline was beautiful and lifted our spirits as we finally got to enjoy our vacation in England. We still weren't 100% and so conserved our energy.

The picture below shows a lighthouse in the distance.  I'm sure we would probably have driven to it on a normal day but we were pacing ourselves on our first day of a return to normalcy.

Most of the people we encountered at the beginning had walked further on. We slowly walked and then sat and enjoyed the views which were beautiful and it was so peaceful. 

The picture below is a close up of the one above.  It looks to me as though the rock is shaped like a seal sitting on a rock. Can anyone else see that?

It was a wonderful start to our explorations of Cornwall. We visited Cornwall in 1988 to celebrate our 1 year anniversary of meeting, although that was a quick weekend visit.

UK Trip 2019 - #9 - Neath Canal, Melincourt Waterfalls, Saying Goodbye

Monday July 29th, 2019 - 2 of 2
Map of today's travels

We left the ironworks and made our way to Melincourt Falls.  On the way we passed the Neath Canal and decided to stop and have a look.  There was a car park across the road where we parked.  This school/library bus was parked here.

We walked across the bridge and took a picture of the river below.

This was the sign we saw that made us decide to stop.

Neath Canal & Lock

There's Sue standing at the lock gates

and a close up!!

There was an excellent information board that showed a footpath along the canal.  We decided not to walk along any further as we still wanted to see the waterfall.

Lock

The river running next to the canal was pretty.

That was worth the short stop.  There was a wind turbine across the road.

Back in the car we made our way to Melincourt Waterfall.  I had read that you could see it from a narrow road and was hoping that would save us doing the trail as it had been a long day already.  We drove up a narrow road and came to a bridge where we stopped to look.  We could hear the waterfall but we really couldn't see it.

Sue peeping over the bridge

Bryan trying to get a picture of the top of the waterfall.

Peek-a-boo view

Top of the waterfall

I didn't see any of the waterfall so we decided to find the trail and walk to it.

The path seemed to go on forever but it was pretty.  The stream ran alongside it all the way.

There was an information board showing the birds that frequent the trail.  Unfortunately we didn't see any wildlife.

There weren't many people on the trail which was nice.  We met two ladies coming back from the waterfall and we got chatting.  They were traveling in a small camper and talking about going bigger and traveling on the road permanently.  They were excited to talk to us about our travels and living in the motorhome.  It was nice to talk to like minded people and answer their questions.

After leaving the ladies the waterfall was just around the next bend.

It was well worth the walk and we had it all to ourselves.

We sat and rested and just listened to the falls crashing on the rocks. It was amazing.

All too soon it was time to head back.  It didn't take as long to walk back along the trail as we had already taken our pictures.

There was a cottage at the end of the trail that had a pretty garden.

Ian, Kris, Bailey & Kai were due back today, so we headed to the hotel we had booked into near to their house.  We picked up something to eat and settled in.

We got a call from Ian that they were going out to eat and did we want to join them.  We did meet them there, and had dessert. It was a great way to hear about their trip to Disney Paris and talk about the wedding.  We were heading back to London the next day so wouldn't see them again.  It was sad saying our goodbyes but we had such a good visit, well apart from me being ill when I first arrived but that was all forgotten. Of course the highlight was the wedding, although we enjoyed our day trips as well.  Thanks again Ian & Kris for letting us stay at your home.