Saturday night we took a trip to the local beaches of Portreath and Portowan. The sunset was amazing.
Sunday we tried to visit Newquay - but it was full. Not a parking space anywhere - so we cheered ourselves up with a visit to Callestick farm. These people make the best ice cream ever.
Monday started out a bit grey and overcast, so we visited the National Seal Sanctuary at Gweek. Although by lunch time we were searching out the shade. We saw the rescued baby seals in the hospital and videos on how the sanctuary works and we learnt what to do if we find a seal on the beach.
Tuesday and Wednesday we went to the beach at Gwithian, and spent both of the entire days there. If the tide is wrong at Gwithian, there's no chance of leaving the beach as the steps get cut off by the tide. No worries - move up the beach and wait it out. Rich, Emily and I all had fun body-boarding, although Kate was a bit restricted by her now rapidly growing bump. We used to take James and Kate to this beach when they were little, so it was amazing to be able to go back and do it again with Emily.
Thursday we finally made it to Newquay for a trip to the Blue Reef Aquarium and a browse around the shops. We watched the staff feed the Giant Turtle and heard about how he was rescued and how he manages to find his food as he is blind. Then we watched the Caimen Crocodiles being feed, they are trained to bite a big red ball on a stick and when they do so they are rewarded with food, this is so they can be coaxed into a box fro transportation as they will leave the water to touch the ball. They live in a large aquarium with turtles and fish, and we were interested to learn that they do not eat the other occupants as they are regularly fed, this is how the centre manages to keep sharks in the same tank as other fish too. The staff member compared these predators to humans, who could easily go and kill there own food - but we don't bother as it's easier to go to the supermarket!
They have only been at the centre a few months and already have a nest full of eggs, so we'll be watching the website in a few weeks time to see if they have hatched.
By Friday some of us were a bit sun-scorched (not me), so we opted to avoid the beach. Instead we went for a boat trip in Falmouth up the river Fal. It was amazing scenery and a very interesting trip, although the gigantic tankers that are "parked" up the river waiting for work made it all a little surreal. Emily and Rich went crabbing from the pier and then later in the day from the rocks by the castle.
Time to come home on Saturday, but still time to "pop" into Boscastle and admire the beauty of the place. We saw how high the flood in 2004 had reached up the still standing buildings, and learned about their new flood defences. Emily wanted to visit the Witchcraft museum, and found it fascinating.
We are all well rested, and feeling a bit glum to be home. Well, all apart from Emily who is looking forward to Badger Camp next week!
