Boats & Trains

It was a truly Cornish summer sort of day today; windy, mild and the ocean was tossing like a bucking sea serpent much to the delight of the surfers! I crept out of my quiet secret cubby hole in South Cornwall and braved a day in the fray of wild ice cream crazed emmets (holiday makers to you!) and hostile seagulls to venture around St Ives with my lovely Jess-thing :)
I decided to take the Park and Ride because I really love the branch line to St.Ives and had the best view at Lelant Saltings across the Salt Marsh, watching Sea Birds skimming the water. I really think it's the loveliest little halt in Cornwall.

We stumbled across an extremely hip coffee shop, it was hidden away in a loft on the seafront and was decked out in tasteful 70's decor. By some miracle we bagged the table at the window where they even provided some binoculars to spy on the passing boats and pier jumpers!

I was extremely chuffed with my delicious home made lemonade (Only £1.80) and it came in a massive glass :)

Quaint grocery shops down the old cobbled streets next to nautical gift shops and boutiques are a regular sight in St.Ives. There is a beautiful selection of little restaurants, all three of my favourite shops (SeaSalt, Fatface & Cath Kinston) as well as some great ice cream parlours (Moomaid of Zennor being the favourite among me and my friends). 

Since one of my best friends Jack runs a Jam night in a pub here and Jess lives near by, St.Ives has become the go-to meeting place for me and my friends. Partly because it has so much to offer and partly because it's just so darn beautiful. 

                                                            One of my favourite eats in St.Ives!

I absolutely LOVE tomb stoning, but before trying it, make sure you've spoken to someone who has a lot of experience with that area, the rocks, tide height and depths before going ahead with it. I often go jumping off Porthoustock and Coverack Pier but I've had assurances from people who've been using those parts for over twenty years so I know when to use it and not use it. I've read one too many articles in the West Briton about holiday makers who are previously injured from Tomb Stoning and worse so please please be careful. But don't miss out on some serious adventure, have a chat to the locals and others in that spot who know it well, be safe and careful and have a whale of a time!

Please oh please don't feed these buggers. My dad always told me that they're the souls of sailors lost at sea and we should respect them (and he feeds them too) but I've (to date) lost two ice creams, a pasty, a tray of chips and a sausage roll to these devils and St.Ives is pretty much a no-go picnic zone now. I love the sound of Gulls because it reminds me of home, but I think they're terribly lazy and should go earn their food like proper sea gulls and not steal ours. (Having said that, we are responsible for over fishing the seas and are most likely to blame for their new foraging tactics)

Quaint old Fishermans cottages now holiday lets. Bittersweet. I have strong feelings about holiday cottages (like most of the Cornish folk) but that's a debate for another time. 

We decided to go to the beach in the evening as we had it almost to ourselves and the sea was warm from the long sunny day :) for an hour, I was the happiest person in the world. Evening swims are my favourite, even if a particularly large wave did steal my bikini bottoms away for a few moments :P

We decided to give the balcony bar a try for tea! loved the array of surfboards on the ceiling. I had the best invention ever... spicy cheesy chips! with a cajun wrap. nom

Thinking I would be able to swim better if I had webbed toes... I know quite a few people who do have them! My only advantage is that I've learned over time how to pick up objects off the floor and use my toes as sort of weird fingers :P I am not even sorry if I am disgusting you right now with my odd habits.

It was a long and lovely day :) It was very relaxing despite the buzz of tourists, the tide was out by the time we were ready to catch our train back and we were very amused by the beach tractor! I picked up a few momento's and a lovely nautical dress. George is back from France tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to writing out my summer to-do list and crossing things off! Most of my friends have finished Uni now but are sporadically placed all over England so it's been a peculiar summer without them... :( the first one in four years! Back to work this weekend with Kerra's wedding catering which I love, but for now... Nighty night and