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I was up early again but was feeling good. We had breakfast soon after 8AM and were checked out by 9:10AM after packing the luggage into the car. Then I plotted us a route to Lizard Point via some pretty back roads to Gweek. It started off foggy but we cleared the fog as we approached Gweek, and visibility improved further as we headed down the main A3083 road on the Lizard Peninsula after exiting the back roads near Culdrose Airfield.
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Driving some delightful country roads in the Gweek area. |
We arrived at Lizard point at 10AM and stayed for 15 minutes looking around and enjoying the views in the warm sunshine. In the warm humid air it certainly felt like somewhere a long way South. The views were rather nice despite thick haze with the lighthouse above us and cliffs and rocks around.
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The path up the hill above the cloff leads to the light house. | Looking at Lizard Point from the car park. | Looking down at the rocks below. | Yep we are at Lizard Point! The most southerly point on the UK mainland. | Renée at Lizard Point. |
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ArcSoft Photostitch really struggled with this Lizard Point panorama. | Lage rock field off the coast. | Round the corner is an old launching ramp. | The cliffs under the lighthouse. |
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A closer look at the lighthouse and it's light lens (which wasn't visible at the car park). | A curious succulent plant covering a wall and producing pretty little flowers. | Looking back at Lizard Point from just up the path to the light house. |
Then a 10 minute drive got us to nearby Kynance Cove at 10:25AM. After parking up we started walking down the steeper path which took us rapidly down to the cove. The views were as spectacular as had been promised. This place's reputation is well deserved. We were fortunate to arrive close to low tide so had plenty of beach to wander around amongst the large rocks. Then as the tide started to come in (the sand is totally covered at high tide) we climbed up to the cafe. Renée sat at a picnic table while I crossed the valley and up some steps on the coast path onto the hill above the cove on the North side. The views of the cove were just as nice up here and there was more of a breeze compared with the still and humid air below. Another sand bar was visible round the corner below Asparagus Island and then cliffs and rocks further up the coast towards Mullion Cove to the North. I saw a Wall Brown butterfly too which is quite a rarity these days. Then after returning to Renée we started to walk back along the longer gentler path. Among the heather I saw several Peacock Butterflies and there seemed to be many migrating Red admirals coming in off the sea. I was hoping to see the legendary Clouded Yellow but alas luck was not on my side today. After a good look around we were back at the car at 11:30AM.
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The path to Kynance Cove. | Views of Kynance Cove from the Southern side as we descend down the steps on the path to the sand. |
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Good job it's low tide. The path is underwater at high tide. | 360 panorama taken on a large rock on the beach. | Renée posing by one of the smaller rocks. | The sea lapping against a gap in the rocks. |
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Rocks litter the main part of the beach. | Looking back up at the path by which we arrived. | Bathers going for a swim as waves crash against the rocks. | Looking Northwards towards asparagus Island. | Another view of wave on rock action. |
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More shots of wave on rock action. | The café from the North side up the hill. | Panorama of Kynance Cove from the North side hill. | Round the corner is Asparagus Island and another stretch of beach (we could only have reached this section by wading). |
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Looking Northwards up the coast towards Mullion Cove. | Another view of the entry path from the North side hill. | Looking down at the café and using the zoom to reveal Renée at one of the benches as she takes pictures of me. |
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These are the pictures Renée took of me while I was up on the hill. | The gentler path that we walked to get back to the car. |
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Looking down at Kynance Cove from above as we ascend above it. The path by which we arrived visible and soon to be covered by the tide. | The car park looms into view ahead. | Some of the abundant heather and heathland flowers. |
Then we drove back up the Lizard Peninsula and followed the main road through to Penzance. After a diversion through the town centre we carried on back to the A30 and followed it all the way to the end. We arrived at Lands End at 12:50PM. To my dismay it was an utter tourist trap! They wanted to charge me £6 just to park. After a pause I decided to fork out and park. Beyond the car park was a small collection of buildings selling very expensive and poor quality food, and (compared to John O' Groats) the view seemed a bit spoilt there. I felt like apologising to the foreign tourists on behalf of the British people! A lighthouse on rocks not far off the coast was barely visible in the haze, but it was unmissable as it kept emitting a regular annoying loud tone. We had a look around. Then Renée returned to the car while I had a look further along a path to some rather large rocks seemingly stacked haphazardly like a giant had been playing tetris. Then I returned to the car. On the way I saw another Wall Brown butterfly. We escaped the tourist trap an hour after we arrived.
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The view South to Newlyn Pier and harbour from the Promenade Road as we pass through Penzance. | Passing through Sennen on the way to Land's End. | Approaching Land's End. | The Land's End tourist trap. |
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One of several very tame Starlings. | Tourists looking out to sea at Land's End itself. | The Land's End sign. | Some spectacular cliffs and rock formations. | Rocks out to sea guarded by a rather noisy lighthouse that beeps through the haze. |
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Looking North to Dr. Syntax's Head where a small building is perched on top of an imposing cliff. | A Kestrel hovers above the site hunting for food. |
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Just below the site is a pretty sea cave. | Looking Northwards while wandering around the paths at the site. | Renée at the Land's End tourist trap. | Looking Southwards at a jumble of rocks. | A closer look at the noisy lighthouse. | A rocky island called 'Armed Knight' just off the coast. |
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I took a walk South to a rocky outcrop opposite Armed Knight island. | Looking back at the Land's End tourist trap. The 2nd shot is a matrix panorama affording me a wider angle. | A closer look at the rocks. Did a giant play tetris here once? | Looking Southwards from the outcrop before returning to the car. |
We then went to Penzance via a nice more Southerly road (B3315). Although like many roads in Cornwall it was mostly surrounded by high walls and hedges obscuring any views. We found our way to the Police Station, opposite which was a convenient pay and display car park not too far from the town centre. We parked here at 2:20PM then went for a walk around the shops and had pasties (yummy again!). There wasn't that much of interest though and we didn't fancy going too far down the hill from where we were.
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Looking down at Penzance from the South on the B3315. | Penzance town centre. | Looking Northeast over the roof tops towards Longrock. |
Soon though we had had enough as we were tired. So we returned to the car and drove to the BnB to check in at about 3PM. Then after getting settled into the room we rested a bit.
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Pentra BnB. | The room and bathroom in the BnB. Oh that bed was dreadful. A distinct lack of proper curtains or dark blinds too. |
At 4:20PM while Renée snoozed I went for a recce and wander to the sea front. I found a few reasonable local places to eat and took in the views along the sea front (admittedly not as nice as Falmouth but still pleasant). Of particular note was the view to St. Michael's Mount in the distance through the haze. I returned to the BnB for 5PM. 40 minutes later we decided we were hungry and went to Thai Moon for a reasonable meal. It was nothing special but we had a reasonable meal. The decor was pretty.
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Thai moon and Alexandra Inn. | Looking East along the promenade. | Long range hazy shot of St. Michael's Mount. | Inside Thai Moon restaurant. |
Then we returned to the BnB for 7:15PM. We watched Doctor Who and retired for the night.
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