Pencarrow ~ 17 July 2002

Unfortunately the managing job at Wilmington job didn't come through for us. The owners wanted a long term manager to run his pub and we are only planning to stay in the country for six months. We will probably stick it out in Padstow, it's long hours but it's central to many places we want to visit.

Today we went into Wadebridge to catch up with emails from home. Wadebridge is a nice little town, laid back with interesting shops and friendly people.

Afterwards we visited Pencarrow House and gardens. This is a Georgian house belonging to the Molesworth - St Aubyn family. It is a grand museum dedicated to the family's history. The family has strong connections to Wellington in New Zealand, ie - Pencarrow Head and Molesworth Street in New Zealand. We recognised instantly an old map of Wellington Harbor displayed on the wall, all very fascinating.

Clovelly ~ 9 July 2002

After Tintagel we drove up to Clovelly, a small fishing village in Devon which has also given into the tourist trade. We paid three pounds each and we entered into a village lost in time. Small and narrow cobbled roads, white washed cottages, sweet little harbour with a very old stone quay.

We met two lovely donkeys named "Noah" and "Kiwi". Being such a lovely place it was spoilt by the tourist industry. It had a slight feeling of a theme park which was a little sad, but I suppose without it places like Tintagel and Clovelly could not exist.

We then carried on to Crediton. It was lovely to see Bett and Arthur again. We stayed the night and drove on to Wilmington to see about a job. I'm happy to be back in Devon again.

Tintagel ~ 9 July 2002

This week we decided to go back to Devon to visit Aunt Bett and Arthur in Crediton and also look at a job in Wilmington at an old pub.

We took the long way round and stopped at Tintagel Castle and the old Tintagel Post Office. We were able to use our New Zealand Historic Places Trust card at the old post office [a thoughtful farewell gift from Ian's parents]

The old post office was a fourteenth century manor house and was used as a post office in the Victorian times. The wood reeked of history complimented by beautiful gardens.

We then walked down to Tintagel Castle. I wasn't totally sure what to expect. Not a lot of the castle was left and unfortunately it's a losing battle. The sea and weather is slowly chewing away at the castle bit by bit. There was enough castle left to get some idea of this fortress on this magnificent site. This part of the coast is so breath taking.

We stood on the banks which are covered in beautiful wild flowers watching the wild sea crashing against the cliffs. It reminded us a little of the West Coast in New Zealand, except you were against a back drop of an ancient castle.

The village of Tintagel have surrendered itself to tourism and has turned itself into the famed birthplace of King Arthur. The beauty of the coastline was more special to me than this connection.

Newquay ~ 5 July 2002

Our job is so mundane, we seem to just live for our two days off. Today we travelled down to a surfing town called Newquay. It is about a half hour drive from St Merryn. What was once a small fishing town is now a colourful fair ground for surfers, swimmers and tourists.

It's a good feeling having a day off and with hard earned cash in your pocket to spend on what you wish. We found an Internet cafe, it's a good relief to hear from home and write back. Kasey had written a wonderful poem and I wasn't too surprised to hear of Buster's adoption to the "donkey lady" down the road. [Buster was an unruly Terrier dog of my parents - my mother found it hard to cope with his energy]

Newquay has golden sand and interesting little coves. We wandered along the beach to see the "Island" There was a house converted into a cafe on the Island with a wonderful bridge crossing over from the mainland. It was a great little spot.

Padstow ~ 3 July 2002

Ian and I have been in Padstow for a week now. Padstow is a beautiful Cornish fishing village, filled will the British touris. Rick Stein has four restaurants here and also has his cooking school based here.

We are flatting in a smaller village down the road called St Merryn. The house is very nice and quiet with all we need. Our flat mates - Ed, a dope smoking chef, part time DJ who doesn't have a lot to say and John, who has too much to say and has an over sized chip on his shoulder and gets very excitable about the smallest things. He is a type of person who when you meet him you would say "A real nice guy, a lot of fun, but I wouldn't want to live with him." Well we are and he is going to be hard work.

Our job is at a restaurant called "Walkers" where we will be working with both Ed and John. The work is very mundane, I'm not sure if I can see myself doing this job until October.

We haven't had a chance to have a good look around Cornwall yet. The Cornish coast is very wild and moody - very beautiful. It's very different from Devon, not many trees and the houses are made from stone and slate, very charming.

Between us we have made enough money this week to buy a small car off a person at work. This means we will hopefully save money on public transport and be much more independent to do some sight seeing on our days off.

It's our day off today and I wanted to do something a bit touristy. We visited Prideaux Place, a historic home of the Prideaux family. A lovely home with interesting paintings and stunning pieces of furniture. A few films have been made here. The gardens were quaint with a pleasant view across to Padstow, it is a lovely place.