Cornwall is a bit of a regular destination for us, as Beck has rellies in Falmouth, and it’s set to be even more so in the future as Ben’s folks have just bought a holiday cottage down there. So when Michael & Isabel invited us down for a week at their new place, it was the perfect opportunity to also see the Daltons. In the end we spent two wonderful weeks in Kernow. Rather than try to write up every detail, we’ve put together an edited highlights list, first of activities and then of food, because, as you will know, we do love our food!

Activities in no particular order:

• Saturday morning Penrose Parkrun – a 5km relatively flat run around the Penrose Estate, made even more fun if you tag on sprints around the duck pond after as Lee & Ben did (although those sprints are much less fun the next day!)
• Mooching around the gardens at the Barbara Hepworth House in St Ives, marvelling at her talent and vision at a time of limited opportunities for women.
• Ground handling at Porth Kidney Sands and Gwithian Beaches – acres of empty sand to practice launching without getting in anyone’s way. On the third visit we finally manage to get perfect laminar winds straight on shore from the sea and the results spoke for themselves.
• We cycle both the Bissoe trail with the McIntyres and the Camel Trail with the Daltons. During lunch in Padstow on the latter trip we witness a huge fire from our vantage point above the town in an upstairs restaurant. Ben dials 999 to make sure it has been reported and soon after around four fire engines arrive on scene.
• At the Badger Pub Quiz with Michael & Isabel, we manage not to disgrace ourselves by coming second to bottom. Appropriately, the team named “Only here for the chicken” come first, thus securing themselves said chicken!
• We take in Trelissick Gardens in the sunshine, keeping Sophie and Phoebe motivated to keep walking through the Easter Egg trail laid on by the National Trust.
• At Carbis Bay we play in the waves with Sophie and Phoebe and then Ben manages to soak Lee’s van keys in the bottom of the kayak whilst kayak-surfing the waves. Oops! The kayak comes out again in Falmouth for a more sedate two hour trip up the coast from Mylor to the Pandora Inn and back. It makes us realise that we need more than one paddle if we are to sea kayak again, but it’s still great fun and nice to be on the water with Bev & Beth for a change.
• We take a couple of walks around the coastline, including one short walk down to Kynance Cove and watch the waves crashing on shore, in true Poldark style, and a longer one around St Anthony’s headland which gives a great vantage point of the Castle to Castle swim route that Beck did a few years before.
• We become honorary members of Falmouth Road Runners for two of their outings, each an 8km run, the first along the coastal path from the Lemon Arms to the Pandora pub and back, followed by pints and chips at the Lemon Arms; the second, an 8km loop from the Penwarne Farm campsite and back for breakfast. A friendlier bunch of people you could not hope to meet – we really enjoyed running with them and especially the post-run refreshment options!

Which brings us on to… Foodie experiences:

• First meal out of the holiday probably remained the best – the Gurnard’s Head near Zennor was one of the those places where you want to eat everyone’s food (and your own). The sauces, in particular, were a highlight. Oh, and the wine. And the bread. Well all of it really!
• Another excellent meal was had at the Porthminster Café with Lee and Dawn for Ben’s birthday (in April?! It really is the birthday that keeps on going!!) – the Tamarind Jam was a major hit!
• Pasty-off between Philps and Warren’s – conclusion? We liked them both – have two!
• Two Sundays away meant two carveries. At both venues you picked the size of plate and then loaded up with various meats, veggies, gravy and all the trimmings. Of the two, the Sandbar at Praa Sands probably won out, possibly because that view is just spectacular. That’s no criticism of the Balnoon Inn, we enjoyed them both really.
• The Pandora Inn is a bit of an institution in these parts and ended up featuring three times on this trip, but we only ate there once – for fish, chips and beer in the sun. Just blissful.
• The one naff meal was at the Carbis Bay Beach Hotel – overpriced with terribly slow and inattentive service (it wasn’t busy so the lack of attention was inexcusable). The location means this place will always get custom, which is a shame as they don’t really deserve it.
• Special mention must go to Bev’s cream teas which are always excellent and were ready and waiting for us on our arrival in Falmouth. Ben managed to notch up a score of 8 and a half delicious scones eaten during the week, more than one a day so not a bad effort. Good job we did a bit of running too!
• Also a regular tradition – Eggs Bobbadict (like Eggs Benedict but cooked by Bobby). Made even more delicious (as if that were possible) by the local free range eggs bought from Beth’s colleague at work.
• The new and final season of Game of Thrones was enjoyed en masse with the Dalton family, accompanied by a leaning tower of pizzas courtesy of Brothers Pizza. They were delicious and luckily, we had leftovers for the next day, given how much there was to start off with.
• We didn’t cook much this holiday but did pull out the stops for one meal at the Dalton’s where we top hake fillets with the wild garlic pesto which we’ve brought down with us from Derbyshire. Mixed with breadcrumbs and baked in the oven, it’s a delicious treat, even if we do say so ourselves.
• Highly recommended for lunch was the Sunset Café at Gwithian. Simple, fresh, delicious food.
• Post kayak refreshment was taken at Mylor Café – you need to book a table as they get busy. You can see why from the food. Shame we couldn’t manage one of their massive scones.
• We rounded off the week with cocktails and platters at the Greenbank Hotel. Bobby is head chef there so we may be biased, but it was a brilliant night out – great cocktails (the Bakewell, for me, was the winner) and the platter was spectacular!
• We took our last breakfast of the holiday at Penwarne Farm campsite café, post 8km run, for French toast with maple syrup and bacon. This is a relatively new business, but they coped admirably with the crowd of Falmouth Road Runners that descended on them. I am jealous that the Daltons will get to try the Thai Street food that this place is launching in May.

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