Monday 13 October 2008

My Cornwall Holiday! Part One.

My Cornwall Holiday - Part One, by Scarlett Bear

I recently went to stay in Mid Sussex with 3 black dogs called Lucy, Meg and Murphy. I was safely delivered by a very smiley and friendly postie.

Lucky for me they were about to go on their holidays so no sooner than I arrived we were off again to sunny Cornwall the very next day. After a good nights rest, my little bag was packed and off we went. I sat in the front of the car all the way there and helped my human hosts (Ali and Graeme) with their route finding. I was very excited but managed to contain myself! We arrived at our destination, unloaded the car, then went for a walk and a leg stretch after the long drive before settling ourselves in properly. I had my pick of the bedrooms, but decided that the sock drawer (strangely) was the most comfy of places!
On Sunday it was very warm and sunny we walked across Bodmin Moor to a pub where Lucy, Meg and Murphy shared a bowl of water, Ali and Graeme had beer and I had an orange juice. I was very hot after all that walking. On the way back we took a little rest amongst the moorland ponies and had a paddle in the stream.

Monday was another fine and bright day. We headed off to Daymer Bay where we walked to Rock and then got the ferry over the water to Padstow. After shopping for fudge and a pasty we climbed the hill to the monument and looked out over the estuary. Murphy was feeling a bit sleepy so had a bit of a lie down.

It was a little damp the following day and a little cooler so I wore my jumper. We went to Cardinham Woods where we walked amongst the trees and missed the worst of the showers. Ali’s Mum and Dad arrived in the afternoon for a few days. They are nice and tickled my ears and shook my paw when we met.



On Wednesday we drove to Widemouth Bay, parking a little way up the hill. We headed in land towards the canal leading to Bude. Unfortunately the canal path was closed but there was an alternative route so we took that instead. For all of our walks I was carried as a passenger in the top of the rucksack. When I climbed into the rucksack today I got a bit muddled and ended upside down!!

At Bude we stopped for ice cream and I posed on a handy anchor. We walked along the coast path at the top of the cliffs back to Widemouth Bay. Ali somehow managed to slip in sheep do-do and got it all over her trousers, very stinky! The walk along the cliffs was a bit windy but I was firmly secured to the rucksack so kept nice and safe. You should have seen my fur when we got back, it was all sticking up!!

Thursday was a sunny chilly day. We went to a place called The Minions which is on the moors. Near to the Minions is a big pile of stones and rocks – at the top it’s called Cheesewring. Not sure why but never mind! It was a lovely day and we had lots of fun scrambling over the rocks. It was cold though so I wore my jumper and Ali made me a woolly hat from a sock from the dogs first aid kit. Personally I think it’s wasted on the dogs as it made a fine hat keeping my ears very toasty.

Friday saw us heading round the headland at Stepper Point, nr Padstow. We parked up at Lelizzick, walked around the headland then dropped down onto the beach at Hawkers Cove where Lucy Meg and Murphy had a blast on the sands. It was very blowy on the headland, our eyes were streaming (and my fur got very ruffled again)! We sheltered behind the daymark for a photo call.


It poured hard on Saturday, all day. We’d decided on a walk from Boscastle the previous evening and not to be defeated by poor weather we stuck to our plans. On arrival we discovered it was Food Festival weekend and were directed to a park and ride up on the hill. Luckily the little bus was happy to take hounds and bears so we headed back down the valley to start our walk. The beginning wasn’t too wet as we were fairly sheltered but as we climbed up and out of the dip it was very wet indeed. A group decision was made to miss out the cliff section of our walk and we headed onto the village centre. A small detour down tp harbour in the driving rain was well rewarded with sights of seals bobbing about in the surf. I’d not packed a rain mac so Ali fashioned me a waterproof coat from a sandwich bag tied on with string – it kept me perfectly dry! A must for every bears wardrobe.

So that was the first week on my Cornwall Holiday!

Part Two coming up!