We awoke to glorious sunshine on the first full day at the cottage. Sitting in the garden with a cup of coffee we sat enjoying the calm and tranquillity. Other than the squirrels through the trees and the various birdsong, it was silent and so peaceful. The sun was shining over the river, with just a couple of boats sitting in the water, making it look like a true picture postcard.

We sat for a while before having breakfast and then set off to go to the local garden centre, as one of the locals had told us that they did fishing tackle, which you just have to have when you’re so near the water.

Carnon Downs Garden Centre was a really enjoyable place to look round. We purchased fishing gear and a very exciting windy crabbing line (a step up from winding string with a hook round a piece of wood). We had lovely sandwiches in the cafe which had a gorgeous view out of the large windows.

We then set off into Truro in search of wet suits as we were planning to swim and hopefully paddle board. Unfortunately Truro was completely devoid of wetsuits and we came back empty handed.

Back at the cottage, we sat outside for a while, as the tide was completely out and we couldn’t fish or swim until it came back in. Later fishing rods and crabbing lines in hand we went down to the quay (literally a 30 second walk from the cottage). It took about 5 seconds to catch a crab with a cheap piece of bacon on the crabbing line and a bucket full within about half an hour. The fish however, were not for catching.

I managed to get into the river and swim (I had bought a wet suit before I went). I have had open water swimming on my bucket list for some time, and I was not disappointed. After the initial entry into the water, which takes your breath away, it is really invigorating and you truly do feel alive. The only thing was, I felt quite constricted in the wet suit, so next time I will give it a go in just my swimming costume.

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St Michaels Mount

The following day we made the journey to the lovely area Marazion, in order to walk across the causeway to St Michael’s Mount. Unfortunately we could only get tickets to the island and gardens and not to the castle itself. This was to limit the number of people on the island at any one time, which is understandable at the moment. You can only go to the island if you have a ticket for the castle or gardens.

It was another sunny, warm day. We parked near to the beach and the then walked over the stone causeway to St Michaels Mount. The view of the castle from the shore is breath taking. The causeway is a nice walk and the tide was still going out, leaving the rock pools at the side of the path which are always full of interesting wildlife.

Once of the island, there was a one way system in place and we walked round to the lawned area where we bought sandwiches and coffee (and cakes of course) then sat on the grass enjoying the sunshine and the spectacular views looking back towards the mainland.

We then went to the gardens at our allotted time and walked through the terraces. There were some stunning flowers and plants and some huge succulents. We really enjoyed walking around in the sunshine.

After this we had a quick stop in the gift shop before walking back across the causeway and to the car.

Still in search of wetsuits, we decided to have a drive to Penzance to see if we could find any there. We parked at the harbour and walked into the Town Centre, but again no wetsuits to be found ( unless you want to spend £500). I’m not sure what else there is in Penzance itself, but I have to say I was a little disappointed (Sorry Penzance) I think I expected something a bit more quaint and piratey and maybe a police man on the corner bemoaning his lot.