Our holiday party increased once more when a friend and her two boys also joined us. As it was their first time to Sennon, we did a beach day on the first day so they could appreciate the place as much as we do. On this day we also took the south west coastal path to Land's End. Our family had done this before so this time I got a photo of Digby and all the kids as a keepsake.
The next day I had a day trip to St Ives planned. I had booked a boat trip on a glass bottomed boat to Seal Island to do some Seal spotting. We drove to the park and ride train service in St Erth so we could ensure parking plus enjoy the scenic train route to St Ives.
St Ives has always been on my wish list as it's an artists haven, it has four glorious beaches and the cobblestone alleys are home to lots of independent boutiques for some great shopping. There is so much to do here that one day is not enough, so I missed some bigger things to see so we could just absorb the vibes of this place, do a little shopping and have a great sea safari boat ride for the kids. I thought that would go down better with them rather than the Barbara Hepworth Museum, so another time then for me.
The company I booked through was called Nemo and they were good, if visibility isn't good they will offer you a partial refund, which I thought was generous. The trip took us out of the harbour in St Ives and we headed westward to Seal Island. The boat has a glass bottom so on the way to the seals you can see all sorts of fish, starfish, crabs and jellyfish on the sea below. We got to seal island and the tide was high so could only see some seals on the surface and bottle-nosing, none were on the rocks this time unfortunately. We were there for a good 15 minutes then we took the boat back to the harbour taking in the beautiful beaches that are dotted around St Ives on the way.
Back in harbour we couldn't believe either our luck or misfortune as a seal had swum into the harbour and was greeting a local fisherman. As the water was shallow we could see him in all his glory, fantastic!.
We then stopped for a light bite of seafood tapas at the wonderful Cintra Seafood Bar. We had a table outside with a cold crisp white wine, enjoying the view of the harbour. I could have stayed here all night. I felt I had only scratched the surface of St Ives and I can't wait to come back here again.
The next day was the last day with one of our friends and her daughter. We had planned a visit to the Minack Theatre then a trip to Porthcurno Beach after. The Minack was fascinating. We only booked a tour as there were no shows that was age appropriate for all of our children. However waking around and learning more about the founder Rowena Cade, who built it all by hand using the sand from Porthcurno Beach, was a fascinating life's work.
All the shows that have been held here have been immortalised in stone around the theatre, and there is a cafe and a snack hut in the theatre itself. I would love to come here on a date night in the future as the setting is so romantic.
We ended on the day relaxing on the beach reading whilst our children did body boarding in the beach at Porthcurno, next to the theatre itself. It was nice to come back here without the dog today so we could enjoy this beautiful beach fully. However don't fear Digby was with his dad who was moving our carvan to our next campsite in Cornwall so we can continue our Cornish adventures next week.
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