TUESDAY 22 MAY 2012

CORNWALL

Great nights sleep in a very comfy bed at the Premier Inn and we grabbed a quick tea and toast in the restaurant downstairs before hitting the road and heading further west towards Cornwall.
We decided we wanted to see the tip of England at Lands End so we programmed the GPS and took off!
Once again we passed through some beautiful country, saw the edge of the Dartmoor moors and some of the amazing coastal scenery. We stayed on good roads and made pretty good time - reaching Penzance at about 1.00pm in time for lunch - and had a looksee about the place before hitting the road and heading northward!
We had to backtrack over the same road for an hour or so, but it didn't matter as there is an amazing amount of stuff to see and all this lush countryside is bringing the farmer in me out again!
When we picked up our hire car we had to get a permit to take it into the Republic of Ireland, a fee being paid for the length of stay! We nominated 3 - 5 days and duly coughed up sixty pounds, but we also had to put the actual dates we are going to be there, which is a real pain because we are now locked into catching a ferry across to Ireland on Thursday (24th) and coming back on Monday 28th).
This caused a bit of a re think of our plans and we have decided to have a look at the area around Bath and then head for Wales so as to be in time for the ferry on Thursday.
Once we reached the M5 motorway near Exeter we made good time, sitting on the 70mph limit and after stopping to top up the Audi with diesel at one pound forty two per litre, we got to Weston-Super-Mare on the coast in Somerset at about 5.30pm!
It took three or four stops to find a hotel for the night and we finished up at a Premier Inn again, happy with the largish rooms and extra happy that they usually have a bar and restaurant next door!
We had covered a lot more territory than we anticipated and even though we spent a lot of time on the motorway we saw some amazing scenery, which was good because the lesser roads take ages to get anywhere!
After a few drinks - nah, after several drinks - and a lovely meal we headed off to our rooms feeling very pleased with our choice of route and happy that the Audi is very economic and a bloody good car to drive!
We sussed out the ferry sailing times and then rang Stena Line to book! Thought it would be easier than trying to use the Internet because we have no way of printing out a ticket! Turned out to be a very easy process, the staff very helpful and they sent a text with the booking details!