Arthurs “stone”, amazing Tintagle Castle and Newquay beach

We drove steadily on through the day, taking the wrong turn only once and took time to stop at both “Arthurs Stone” and Tentagil Castle. Sadly, Arthurs stone is nothing to write home about. You pull into a dirt parking lot and make your way to a small little ‘building’ to pick up your tickets ( 3 pound each for the record) and then make your way through a paddock which is home to many many sheep, past a horrid power station that buzzes hideously, down a steep little path that has a picnic table in the middle of it (?!) which you have to either climb over or walk around (which means going through a soggy part of the paddock) over a little bridge, through a walk way surrounded by blue bells (this part was lovely) over a road and into another paddock which they claim was the setting for King Arthurs very last battle, which just so happened to be against his evil and illigitment son Maudrid. Ho hum. I don’t believe it. It looks as if someones looked out their back window one day and gone “you know what luv? I reckon we could milk some suckers into believin’ that soggy paddock is a historic site. I reckon we charge ‘em an arm and a leg, we’ll just pop up a few “official” lookin signs up, add a few ‘historic’ bits and bobs about, and hey presto, bobs ya uncle, we’ll be rich! Bloody fools!” (obviously this ‘entrepenur’ was an occa… the Brits would have been saying things more like “Maudred my dear, I do believe we could cleverly disguise our back field as the final battle grounds of his holiness King Arthur… anyway, I’ve diverted off the subject.. back to the story!) You then walk down a path to a little running river and stand on a platform and look down to see a large stone that has some latin inscription. This apparently once upon a time use to be part of a bridge, and is inscirped “here lies Ma” Now, how that translates to “King Arthurs stone” has me a little bemused, but, I’ll take there word for it. You then walk a little further down stream and come to the “secret garden” which isn’t really so secret anymore, not with all the big signs that are up all over the joint. It’s not such a garden either, it’s a pile of rocks, so again, not so impressed. The best part about today was the walk though the blue bells, that was really pretty!

We then drove onto Tintagle Castle, and oh my word, THIS was awesome and believable! A huge castle obviously once stood on the cliff tops of this amazing coast line, and my god, who ever built the place must have had bloody good legs! It’s incredibly steep and winds its way over the cliff top and sides, just amazing to see! It was incredibly windy here today, so much so my eyes watered terribly and rended me blind for a bit, which scared the crap out of me as I was walking along the cliff top where there were no barriers to stop you falling. Chris was my hero for the day (and always) though and offered me his sunnies, which did help with the wind and allowed me to see again. It was just breath taking though, amazing cliff faces, the ocean, the castle ruins, the seal we saw lazily swimming below (it was a very large seal for the record!) We’d have loved to spend more time there but unfortunantly had to move on as it was getting late and we still had to find our accommodation for the night. We did vow to come back here though on the way home and spend longer exploring.

Newquay wasn’t so hard to find, though there was a scary moment when the GPS died (someone forgot to recharge it’s batteries.. no names… Chris…) so I had to navigate the old school way, with a humungous road map. I managed to get us to Newquay, but it wasn’t without it’s yelling and carrying ons believe me!  Our accommodation is at a backpackers right on the water front. We’d booked a 4 man dorm and were able to score this room to ourselves (always a huge bonus!) the rooms not all that fantastic (nor clean, sand in the beds, bins not changed, dirty mop in corner, beer glasses under the bed and the list continues!) but the view from the window is fantastic! We look out right over Newquay beach and are able to lie in bed and watch the surfers and those walking their dogs etc, it’s a nice way to chill out. So, we’ve opened up the window wide to let in all the fresh air and to be lulled to sleep by the sound of the crashing waves, can’t ask for more than that (apart from perhaps no sand in the bed…)

written by  Chris and Emily on May 18, 2009 from Newquay, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Europe 2009
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