Cream Teas Tour

[mikey k]

We are 2 days in to our "Cream Teas Tour"
Strangley I've never "toured" Cornwall & Devon so we booked a few nice places to stay and sorted out a bit of a route

Day 1
Bit of a meander down the A49 (in the rain )
By the time we got to Tintern Abbey it was sunny so we stopped for lunch at the Anchor in the garden overlooking the Abbey.
Spent 10 minutes washing birds st of the car following a near miss (with Mrs K's head!) with a pidgeon (though by the amount it may have been a flying elephant! )
I found a new fav road! A446 to Chepstow then B4235 to Usk
Over the bridge in the mist, got a few odd looks on the M5 as we when through a couple of showers with the roof down
Nice blast through Cheddar Gorge and on to Glastonbury
Then a meander over to Dunster for the Castle and Beach
Quick spin through Minehead old town (nothing worth more time there )
Booked in to Cedar House with views over Exmoor and along the coast
Looked in the mirror and discovered I look like a beetroot with my roadster tan!

Tintern Abbey

Cream Tea Tour 011 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Cheddar Gorge

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Mrs K's excellent shot of Glastonbury Tor

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One for Jockman - Bloody Sat Nav

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The views from Cedar House over Exmoor

Cream Tea Tour 048 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Day 2
We did the Little Switzerland route round the Lynton area.
Stopped at Hunters Mill and had a wander down to Heddons Cove following by a pint at the Mill.
Some great hairpins and sweeping roads round this area, though I'll bet it gets packed at the height of the season
Walked down to Waters Meet for s spot of lunch by the waterfalls - really nice!
Listening to the exhaust popping and cracking and bouncing off the walls in the small villages was great. Got some superb reactions as well
Some of those lanes are a bit narrow
Worth it for the views and lack of traffic though.
Now back at Cedar House watching the steam train go down the valley whilst Mrs K recovers from 2 busy days
Photos on their way!

The main coast road (A39) over Exmoor a great run when there is no traffic

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A bist hazy out

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Down in the depths of the valleys around Lynton on the "Little Switzerland" tour

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Mrs K taking 2 pictures at ones and sneaking one in of me

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Heddon Cover worth the walk from Hunters mill

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Trying that trick again

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She got a bit close on this one

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Heading in to the Valley of Rocks

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Surprisingly found a fair few of these as well!

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Arty log shot to end the day!

Cream Tea Tour 192 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Edited by mikey k on Sunday 20th May 22:52

[AdamV8V]

Write-up: 8/10
Emoticon usage: 10/10



Girlfriend wants to go to Cornwall / Devon in the autumn, so nice to know there are some good roads - thanks MK.

[mikey k]

the driving one is a little wrong as I don't have a stick

[johng39]

mikey k said:

the driving one is a little wrong as I don't have a stick

That's what Mrs K said in Wales ..... BOOM BOOM

[Jockman]

Hope you're having a great holiday matey - some pics would be useful too

[yeti]

Very nice Mikey, my part of the world, grew up round there and it's still here the family home is.

If the traffic is light then it can be great, caravans have always been the bane of my life though!

Watersmeet is lovely, used to drive home (South Molton) across the moor and when I got a clear run... Happy days

Keep the pics coming!!

[mikey k]

Jockman said:

Hope you're having a great holiday matey - some pics would be useful too

See edited post
I have a really bad case of roadster sun burn

[Jockman]

By God, you're looking old Mikey - do you have much stress in your life?

I can picture Kay hanging over the door at 90 mph - some great pics there and I even forgive you for your satnav transgression

[LordBretSinclair]

Good to see you in the best county in the UK (Deb'n). I'll look out for you over the weekend

[George H]

mikey k said:

Cream Tea Tour 064 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Is that a GoPro HD thingy in between the bumps on the roof cover? I want one of them but not quite sure if I'd ever use it

Looks a good run out too, good to see the roof down in all the pictures

[Molly GT]

Thanks for the postcard Mikey!

I know my way round the southwest but Rob was only introduced to it by me, having always taken his holidays abroad before we got together. We know where nearly all of these shots were taken! Rob's family home was near Tintern and we stayed at the Hunters Inn (where the peacocks live) just last July and walked down to Heddons Cove (with the dog - it wasn't an Aston trip).

Good for you 2 for keeping the top down. Have a lovely time

[CPBRI]

Beautiful country! Nice pics.

[krisdelta]

I think you are living my dream Mikey - great pics and many thanks for sharing!

[mikey k]

George - it is a DogCam HD & yes roof down unless it is really raining
Molly - glad you liked the pics more to come

[Tony V12V]

You ever thought about a book Mikey? I'm sure you could write up some excellent routes and road recommendations, along with some of Kay's wonderful pictures added to the mix it could be a best seller... put me down for one!

[mikey k]

I've not got the patience to write a book.

Day 3
Mooched around Exmoor avoiding pigs, horses, pheasants, sheep (asleep on the road!) and rabbits.
Zig zagged down to Dartmoor through some great empty country roads!
Down the Torpoint coast and over on the ferry

Where to today

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Fuel first at the best petrol station I've ever seen!

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Lots of sweeping bends

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Not a car in sight on Dartmoor!

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Day 4
Eden Project & Gorran Haven
No one around on the roads or at Eden - superb!


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Bringing back the band memories

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Not sure of the likeness on this

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Weather has been great and bizarrely we have only got stuck behind 2 caravans.
The car has got some great reactions.
Off for curry now!

Edited by mikey k on Sunday 20th May 22:46

[Jockman]

Please don't go for a curry in the Aston Mr K - or at the very least keep the roof down.

Weather forecast is good for you @ over 22 degrees - bit of cloud coming in Friday.

Jammy Git

[mikey k]

Very good curry had at the Moguls Palace
The waiters sat and watched the Aston in the car park for us
Just getting over my roadster sun burn from day 1, looks like I'll need more sun block - forecast is 22C on Thursday!
Even with the Olympic Torch setting off from down here there has been very very little traffic
Locals have been great every where we have been with much appreciation for the Aston

[mikey k]

Day 5
Weather was superb topped up the sun tan
Down through Glynn Valley
Portreath & B3306 coast road

Stopped off at Gwithian Beach no one there and sand as far as you could see all the way to St Ives!

Cream Tea Tour 431 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Stopped off at the Tin Mines, fanatastic tour of Geevor, the tin miners were mentalists. Fancy digging down 1600 ft from one of these!?

Cream Tea Tour 449 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Had a mooch around St Just and then checked in to the B&B and head down to Lizard Point for the sunset.
Trekked ALL the way down the the abandoned lief boat house. Amazing place!

Cream Tea Tour 487 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

All settled in for the night with the "Lizard" in the background
The S has been great and coped with the narrow lanes, olds driving and tractors really well

Cream Tea Tour 489 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Day 6
Started off with a trip to Lands Ends, I know! Lesson learnt!

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The day just got better from there. Drove over to the Minack Theatre for a few hours and lunch. All built by hand by one woman and her gardener - amazing!

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The left hand side of the cove in the background is where the first Trans Atlantic telegraphs came a shore is the site of a Marconi memorial.

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Drove over to Sennen Cove for a wander then sat and had some traditional Cornish pasties on the beach opposite St Micheals Mount

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Ended at Poldhu Cove, the beach cafe there is a hidden secret

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[mikey k]

Day 7
Weather really took a turn for the better today after the sea mist burnt off.
Shame it was the day we headed for South Wales.
We meandered up the North Coast of Cornwall and found or new favourite beach at Bedruthan


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Down side is getting up and down the steepest steps I've ever seen

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Day 8
Slightly bizzare event as we set of.
Found the exit from the hotel blocked by this lot of "wild" horses

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We headed off in to the Black Mountains which I think Molly is including in her run in July

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We found the infamous A4069 hairpin

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Mrs K did her stuff

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Blasted up to Barmouth for mid afternoon and had a good wander
Bizarre to see the estuary cloaked in sea mist
Really good place to eat in Barmouth is Bistro Bremo
http://www.tripadvisor.com.my/ShowUserReviews-g316...


Cream Tea Tour 758 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr


Cream Tea Tour 759 by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr

Day 9
Meander back home through Snowdonia with the roof down at 24C doing the reverse of some of my fav routes Topped up the roadster sun tan

Now I need to remove the insect collection from the front, the beach from inside and fix the chipped screen

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9 days and 1440 miles add to the S averaging 17.6 mpg
Really looking forward to our Spain & France trip in a few months now.