Leevi & Sarahs Travel Blog

For the beginning of the trip to Penzance read this post: the previous post

What:

Penzance Backpackers

Where:

Penzance, Corwall, South East Coast of England

Cost:

£35 per double

Rating:

Leevi: 8/10
Sarah: 8/10

After our long trek down the coast via Tintagel Castle and with a few other stops along the way we ended up at Saint Michaels Mount, Mousehole just out of Penzance.

It was one of the most amazing sights in the world to come cruising down the road to be confronted with Saint Micheals Mount.

All I remember was saying “Leevi Leevi look, quick pull over!” so there and then we pulled up at the beach and as luck was on our side we took advantage of the low tide to walk the cause way. The cause way links the small island to the main land. It truly looked like something out of a fairytale. After a thousand photo’s we headed towards Lands End, Mousehole and eventually to our stop for night pirate territory Penzance.

After checking into Penzance Backpackers otherwise know as the Blue Dolphin we ventured out the see what debauchery and skull duggery could be had in Penzance. Our first stop was the famous (although a litle touristy) pirate drinking spot Admiral Benbo’s.

The night ended back at Penzance Backpackers at a reasonable hour allowing us to be suitably refreshed for our next days travel.

What:

Tintagel Castle and surrounding historical ruins

Where:

Tintagel, Corwall, South East Coast of England

Cost:

£4.50 per adult

Rating:

Leevi: 8/10
Sarah: 8.5/10

Day one of our four day holiday experiencing the South East of England saw Sarah and I departing our West Midlands base in Solihull in the early hours of Saturday morning and heading to Penzance/Lands End via Tintagel Castle. This would prove to be one of our longest period on the road covering over 300 miles (482.8032kms).

Our trip to Penzance/Lands End was broken up a) by short bathroom stops and b) by the extended exploration of Tintagel Castle and its surrounding historical grounds. As you may or may not know Tintagel Castle is the alleged home of the legendary King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

Of course there could not be a mention of King Arthur and Tintagel Castle without an associated myth about Merlin the Magician. In Tintagels local folklore Merlin also occupied a cave which is protected by the crashing azure waves of the Atlantic Ocean. It is said that the result of his spells and magic potions extended beyond the caves mouth in the form of white mist which can still be seen today.

Historically faithful or not Tintagel Castle deserves the associated ‘hype’ it receives. The castle is split into two main sections each precariously perched on a piece of beautiful and treacherous cliff face overlooking the ocean. Such is the hazardous position of the castle that soon after the completion of one section a piece of cliff face gave way plunging part of the wall into the sea.

For a small fee ( £4.50 ) we freely explored the ruins of the castle, cliff face and small pebble beaches. The views from on top of the cliff looking back to the modern Tintagel where amazing. After a couple of hours we headed back down to Tintagels high street and enjoyed a well deserved vegetable Cornish pastie and some curry lunch left overs.

With the majority of our first days leg complete it was a short trip to Penzance, Lands End and Mousehole.

26 January 1788 was the date on which the First Fleet, under Captain Arthur Phillip arrived at Sydney Cove and set up the Colony of New South Wales. Formal possession, including the reading of Phillip’s Commission, took place on 7 February.By 1808 the day that the Rum Corps arrested Governor Bligh, it was being celebrated as ‘First Landing’ or ‘Foundation Day’. In 1818 (the 30th anniversary) Governor Macquarie had a 30-gun salute at Dawes Point and gave government workers a holiday - a tradition that was soon followed by banks and other public offices.In 1888 all colonial capitals (with the exception of Adelaide) celebrated ‘Anniversary Day’ and by 1935 all states of Australia were celebrating January 26 as Australia Day (although it was still known as Anniversary Day in NSW).The 1938 sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of British settlement in New South Wales in 1788 was widely celebrated. Preparations began in 1936 with the formation of a Celebrations Council. In that year, NSW was the only state to abandon the traditional long weekend and the annual Anniversary Day public holiday was held on the actual anniversary day - Wednesday 26 January.

In 1946 the Commonwealth and State governments agreed to unify the celebrations on 26 January as ‘Australia Day’, although the public holiday was instead taken on the Monday closest to 26 January.

Since 1994 all states and territories have taken the Australia Day public holiday on 26 January.

For many Aboriginal Australians and sympathisers, the celebrations arouse hostility; there has been some comment on how the arrival of the British adversely affected the indigenous people of the country. They call the day “Invasion Day” as they regard it as celebrating the decimation of their people, the confiscation of their lands and the destruction of their culture. In recent years, some indigenous Australians have also celebrated the day as “Survival Day,” thankful that their ancestors were not completely wiped out by the newly arrived settlers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Day

So to all aussies living at home or abroad raise a pint, pot schooner or middy of Cooper, VB or Carlton in honour of the great nation that is Australia.

Happy Birthday Emma!

Today we visited Europe’s largest butterfly farm in Stratford Upon Avon aptly named ‘the Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm’. For an admission price of £5 the butterfly farm attraction was great value.

There was a large variety of butterfies in the main flight room and many other spiders and scorpians in Arachnoland.

Enjoy the photos

Nothing better than coming home after finishing work for the day and enjoying a smooth Lesvos distilled Ouzo over a couple of cubes of ice.

A couple more of these and one of these and ill feel like this guy.

Thanks again for the bottle Helen, hopefully I won’t drink it all and end up in hospital.