Redditch / Newquay / Wells

1st to 13th August 2019

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Redditch: The Abbey Hotel

Monday 5th August

It had rained overnight but the weather was fair in the morning.  Lynne went to the shops so I took the kids to the nearby playground, which featured zip-wire action.

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We both returned to the house to gather together our beach stuff and we headed for the closer Fistral Beach.

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The tide was a little lower than when I ran across it the day before so there was plenty of room to find a spot to sit.  It was quite windy, though, so not as pleasant to just sit there.

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I tried with both the kids in the sea but they weren't that keen, even with the newly-bought balance board.  I had a go myself but it was too lightweight.  The kids were soon bored and hungry, so we went to Rick Stein's restaurant for lunch.  It was not as fancy as it sounded it might be - food served in boxes, for example.  I went for a non-chippy style curry.  It was all tasty enough.

In the afternoon, we traipsed back past the golf course to the cottage to rinse ourselves of sand and chill out.

We then went to play crazy golf...

, have a go on the amusements ...

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and pick up some provisions from Sainsbury's for a quiet tea in, with some Yahtzee action featuring following Daisy's impassioned request.

Tuesday 6th August

A damp start to the day so I went for an exploratory run while we waited for the rain to clear.  It didn't take long and we were soon on our way to Newquay Zoo.  There was still a little drizzle in the air but the indifferent morning gave way to a gloriously sunny afternoon, confounding the forecast once more.  We had a pastry-based lunch, the kids did a quiz which was focused on what the zoo looked like 50 years ago, when the zoo started, and we pretty much saw everything that there was to see.  That gave us some time to go to the nearby playground, miniature train and mini tennis courts, before walking into town to go to the Portuguese restaurant (called the same, it seemed).

After some skewer action and entertaining staff (perhaps mostly a family), we went to the amusements (x2) and I found some form on one game to get enough tickets to get ourselves a mini missile (of the foam variety for throwing games).  My hire bike was delivered on our return.

Wednesday 7th August

I went for a bike ride in the morning while the weather was forecast to be changeable.  There was some rain in Newquay, but I mostly got sunshine (and wind and hills).  On my return, we walked back down to Crantock beach since it was such a nice place.  The tide was fairly high so we again needed to get the ferry across, while lunch was also a similar repeat of the sandwiches and crisps we had last time.  After missile and body board action, we traipsed across the bridge and up the stairs back home.  The weather was mostly sunny in the afternoon but once again the late afternoon and early evening was blessed with glorious sunshine.  We booked ahead to get in Little Italy, which was a nice place if a little run off its feet.

Thursday 8th August

With rain forecast for the late afternoon, we headed fairly promptly to Lappa Valley for some railway and playground fun (featuring a large slide), with a cafe stop for pasties at lunch.  We also had a go at a pedalling on pedalo, crazy golf and canoeing.  After a bit more playing, we decided to play it safe and get the train back to the car park shortly before 3pm.  After getting home, via Asda to pick up provisions for tea, I headed out on the bike for one last ride before it got picked up but alas I got drenched.  It did not deter me however.  A tapas tea in plus the usual Yahtzee made up our evening.

Friday 10th August

With a stormy day forecast, it was time for the contingency wet weather plans to kick in, but not before I went for a run in the sunshine, heavy rain, strong winds...  The weather wasn't so bad for the walk to the cinema, where we watched Toy Story 4, a good film for all the family.  We shuffled along to Wax (on the side of a former bank) for lunch (persisting despite them saying it would take a long time to serve the food - it didn't - and dodging a complete monsoon).  After walking back to the house, we got our swimming gear together and headed for the Oasis water centre.  We all had fun on the slides in particular, although a wide-reaching power cut scuppered things for a while (we were about to leave but the electricity kicked back in just in time for us to have some last slide action).

We zipped back to get changed and then headed out to the Smugglers Den Inn in Cubert, a place I had seen on my longer bike ride.  The main bar/restaurant was full but we found room in the pizza/grill offshoot, although only in the covered seating, with the high winds whipping at the canopy walls.

Saturday 11th August

Time to pack and say goodbye to Newquay.  We plotted a two-hour drive, which went pretty smoothly, to Bridgwater as a stepping stone, where we went to the Purplespoon Cafe for lunch.  A bonus feature (since we needed to waste a couple of hours before our house in Wells was available) was a charity fair, featuring bouncy castles, lucky dips, a BBQ (not tried since we had lunch at the cafe), candy floss and hair band / wall hanger making.  We ventured outside briefly, to feed the ducks and get some fresh air, but the rain kept blowing over.

We then had a short 45-minute trip to Wells, although we got a bit lost in the one-way system.  We eventually made it, to be greeted by the owner.  We headed out for an exploratory wander, including a quick look at the Bishop's Palace and a drink in the (famous) Crown Inn (as it was where the film Hot Fuzz was filmed).  We went round the corner to the Greek Taverna for tea, a place which was a family-owned business, seemingly including the owner of the house.  Lynne very much enjoyed the Mythos.  The weather in the afternoon and evening was quite warm and sunny.

Sunday 12th August

After a run and a mini fry up, we headed to Wookey Hole, a mere 7-minute drive up the road.  We went straight for the cover tour, which was pretty impressive (best quote: "Most people have been to the moon then Wookey Hole Chamber 25"), then bought some cave-aged cheese.  We queued for the 4D cinema but we're just outside the cut as it rained (and I had unwisely decided to leave my coat in the car), so we headed into the mill, but got in for the next viewing to watch an Ice Age mini film with underused 4D features that weren't as involved as the one at Cadbury World.

Our afternoon then featured an indoor play area, sandwich lunch, mini golf and the mini maze.  They had made the most of the area.  The weather was very changeable throughout, veering from glorious sunshine to heavy showers and back again in quick succession.

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