Eden at Night

It's that time of year when a trip to Eden and paying just £5 means that you get a pass which will last for the year. The only catch is that you must be a resident of Devon or Cornwall and photo/address proof is required. So this afternoon Jo and Paul picked us up and we all drove over to Eden to get our passes. It was very quiet in the car park so we were able to park quite close and as we strolled down there were many visitors leaving. They really should have stayed to see the place lit up as it was so pretty ...

There were white lights along the walkway ...

and when we reached the bottom we found blue lights in all the trees ...

We could hear the music coming from the ice-rink so popped in to have a look ...

On the wall there was a line painted which showed how far up the floodwater had reached when Cornwall was hit by the floods last November ...

We then made our way into the tropical biome and it very soon began to get quite hot! Mike took his coat off but the shades had to stay as the lights were really bright ...

We could just about see the balloon ...

but it was quite dark in there and my photos didn't come out too well ...

True to form we lost Mike! Jo and I stopped for a drink of water and to remove our coats and when we got moving again Paul was there but Mike had disappeared! He'd chosen the spot where the route split to do his vanishing act so I went looking in one direction and Jo and Paul went the other way. I passed the waterfall ...

and then finally got down to the lower level having got caught up amongst American and Japanese tourists but no sign of Mike. Jo and Paul found him and we all met up just outside the biome where I was waiting in the cool air which was heaven. It's mega hot in there! We then went over to the Mediterranean biome which had lovely food smells wafting up to us. There were stalls set up providing Spanish food for the visitors but apart from Paul none of us fancied what was on offer ...

The restaurant area had been caught by the floods and was still closed ...

but we knew that there was a cafe at the exit so planned to eat there. We then headed off to The Core passing this beautifully lit shelter ...

If you look really closely you can see Paul doing his version of a pole dance! The bridge was visible in the distance all lit up with blue and white lights - we'd be up there soon ...

Then we entered The Core to an almost deserted building ...

It was so different being here at night! After passing the wall of handprints ...

we took the lift up and then the next lift took us right up to the bridge ...

We could look down on all that we'd seen and it was generally agreed that it had been a brilliant idea to come at this time of day ...

As we walked through the cafe we found that there wasn't a great choice of food so the suggestion of returning to the Portreath Arms was made and unanimously voted for! The Arms was very quiet and so no problem getting a table where Jo and I enjoyed salmon, chips and salad and the men had steak and kidney pies. All very yummy and a great end to the day.

Seals at Godrevy

We'd promised Sara that she could see the seals at Godrevy this weekend and so with fingers crossed that they'd be on the beach, we left home along with Jo, Paul and Fred and made our way along the coast road. When we arrived it was heaving with people and cars but with a little patience we soon found spaces and set off up the hill. There were plenty of people looking down at the beach so we reckoned we'd be able to keep our promise. In fact there were about 24 seals lazing on the sand and one was bobbing about in the water ...

Sara had suggested that we take binoculars and she made good use of them ...

After we'd all had a look through them we walked on up and over to see the lighthouse ...

and Jo took a timed photo of us all ...

We then walked back along the cliff top over the stile ...

Looked down to where some names had been put in the sand ...

and across the bay ...

We were so lucky with the weather as the sky was pretty threatening but all we got were a few spots of rain and it was quite mild.

Boscawen Park

This morning we had an appointment at Eye Casualty, Treliske Hospital for Mike as his eyes have been painful over the Christmas period and he thought he may have a few rogue eyelashes. We all went in Simon's car and then drove on into Truro to take Sara to Boscawen Park. Here she had fun trying out the various activities in the play are ...

Simon had to have a go too of course!

and a group photo ...

This was fascinating but there was no plaque to tell us what or why it was there ...

On the way back to the car we passed the drinking fountain which is not working during the winter months but I'm sure it is very popular in the summer ...

Happy New Year!

Simon, Vikki and Sara arrived yesterday evening and we all went down to Portreath beach to see in the New Year. There were only a handful of people about although there was a party going on in the surf club. We heard the countdown from the party and then the sky was filled with fireworks and paper lanterns. Simon produced a bottle of bubbly and we toasted the New Year. Hamish wasn't too happy with the fireworks but he survived the ordeal and led us home afterwards at breakneck speed!

Happy New Year to all my fellow bloggers and followers x