Summer Days Out
As we watch the leaves turn and float down to cover the ground, we know that Summer is now coming to an end. This Summer we have been blessed with long periods of sunshine. Unlike in other parts of our country, we have welcomed the heat as another excuse to escape to the beach. We know many of our readers of the blog like to see a variety of different sights accross Cornwall so we have decided to talk about a few we have visited this summer.
Surfing Lessons
We started the summer with surfing lessons at Polzeath Beach. Surf’s Up Surf School have dedicated instructors throughout the year offering surfing lessons. Polzeath is a great place to learn to surf. The waves break gently and even at high tide you are able to have great waves.
Beach Days
As well as enjoying the local beaches of Trebarwith Strand and Polzeath. We have ventured further afield and found a beautiful beach near Newquay called Porth Joke. If you don’t mind a ten minute walk, you will be rewarded with a picturesque beach. It is quiet, uncrowded, has plenty of rock pools, is great for surfing and bodyboarding. If you want to try something different, then just around the corner is Crantock beach. Where there are fantastic high sand dunes perfect for Sand boarding!
Exciting Days Out
Our most enjoyable excursion this holiday was going to the Sealife Safari Boat Trips at Padstow. This was a 2 hour sea safari covering approximately 25 miles of the beautiful Cornish coastline. In search of an array of marine life. Only 10 minutes after leaving the Camel Estuary, we spotted a male seal bobbing about in the sea devouring his fish lunch! We then followed the myriad of seabirds out to sea. We enjoyed watching a pod of dolphins surfing the waves alongside our boat. We were then quite lucky as the dolphins decided it was feeding time. Whilst rounding up the fish they attracted a Minke whale. He was a very impressive creature who was very gentle and friendly towards us considering his size.
The boat trip certainly was a non-stop mixture of sensitive wildlife observation and high speed exhilaration. Overall, a fantastic experience enjoyed by all four adults and four children aged 7-11 at the time.
Our second outing was to Bodmin Jail. This 8.85 million investment into Cornwall’s tourism and visitor economy back in 2020 certainly impressed us. The state-of-the-art technology allows for a really immersive experience. Your transported back to the 18 and 19th century prison on the windswept Bodmin Moor. We learned about the background of the prisoners and people who served, worked and lived at Bodmin Jail. Listened to the fascinating hidden stories and myths of Cornwall. The final part took us to see the only original, fully working Victorian Hanging Pit in the UK which really was a time for real reflection!
Finally after waiting for our children to grow a little stronger, we had a great day out cycling along the Camel Trail. This is a cycle way over 20 miles long that stretches from the moor at Bodmin into Padstow along a disused railway line, forming part of the national cycle network. Depending on where you want to start your Camel Trail cycle, there are lots of places to hire bikes and the Snails Pace Café is one of them. Our guests will receive a 10% discount from Nick who is our bike hire guy just next to the café at Snails Pace Bike Hire. https://www.snailspacecafe.co.uk/bike-hire We cycled from here to Wadebridge with Sam and Sienna our twins who are 9 and Millie who is now 11. We stopped off after 50 minutes at the Camel Trail Tea garden for lunch and a play in the pretty garden and orchard there-it looks beautiful! Feeling re-energised, we then continued cycling onto Wadebridge. Here we had a good look around the various shops and enjoyed a delicious ice-cream treat at Scoop Ice cream shop. It takes approximately 2 hours from Wadebridge back to Wenfordbridge (Snails Pace Café). For an adult day out you can also cycle to the Camel Valley Winery where they carry out Grand Tours at £18, including a taste of five wines, or Small Tour at £8.50.
Friendly
As you know we run a daily feedrun here on the farm. All animals are used to being hand fed by the guests except the deer. However this summer Friendly our tamest deer has been happy to be hand fed. It started with feeding her at night but she will now take from your hand on the feedrun as well. A truely amazing experience whatever your age.
Word Of Mouth
We are starting to get enquiries about the 2023 season. We are offering a recommend a friend offer for next year. If you recommend someone who books direct with us you both receive £50 off your 2022 or 2023 booking. A great way to encourage your frinds and family to visit Cornwall and Coombe Mill. We do have a few lodges available for Christmas and New Year. https://www.coombemill.com/availability-prices/ Please get in touch directly with us as you will save the booking fee.