31 March 1997

I collected Mousehole on March 31 1997. I got Katie ready, shoved on my leathers (a long-winded process which puts one into the correct frame of mind: Zen-and-the-art-of...) and we rode off to Mousehole to get my Landmark. It was an easy route, down the A39 and the A30, and I had fun. My parents were behind me in the car taking photographs and video film. The car-bike convoy really didn't work very well because although we travelled at roughly the same speed, I accelerate considerably faster and it's easy to lose one's four-wheeled companion.

Mousehole is near Newlyn, and is a tiny fishing village with views of St Michael's Mount. The two-way streets are narrower than most people's idea of a one-way street and incorporate a few fun gradients and 90° turns - not that I rode through the village myself. We'd checked the place out in advance a few days earlier and discovered that it was possible to take the Mousehole picture without actually entering the village. If I continue to do Landmarks solo, this will probably end up being the only picture I submit with me actually on it as opposed to Katie parked in front of various signs!

The weather was glorious, with the sun literally blazing off the sea. This was the start of the summer, though later in the year it sort of forgot to be summer again: we had a rather soggy May!

Penzance and Trelissick

Later we went to Trelissick Gardens, with a nice interesting gravelly carpark to negotiate - given my experiences with Lorraine and John's drive, I was particularly cautious! The gardens were fine, not exactly my cup of tea, but nice trees and flowers. We seemed to be between seasons, and not doing that well at seeing anything at its best.

Though I'd originally planned to extend the day by doing a tour of some of the ancient sites (quoits, tin mines, other fascinating places...) I opted to go straight home afterwards, since time was getting on and I didn't want to get caught in any crushes. So, we were home nice and early, and able to pack our gear and relax. This journey was 130 miles.

Dad took us down to the nearest beach, Trebarwith Strand (I think) which turned out to be a lovely little cove, with rocks and a great view out to sea, where we watched the sunset. It was beautiful, peaceful, and a nice way to finish off the holiday. I had a wonderful evening. And I've never watched a sun set into the sea before. :-)