Winter Camping

The time between Christmas and New Year is always a bit of a non-event. A bit of rubbish tv, grazing on Christmas leftovers and maybe a walk or two. Before you know it, leave is over and back to work. So this year I decided that I'd make the most of that leave and go on holiday.

Despite growing up in Devon I've hardly been to Cornwall and seeing as I'd be down that way, Cornwall seemed like a good choice. This would be the first winter trip in my van and Cornwall does have a few campsites open so there would always be back up options if the weather was really cold or wild. I planned to spend a few days on the North coast and then a few days on the South.

First stop was Tintagel, determined to make use of my English Heritage membership that I have through work, to see King Arthurs castle. Closed due to high winds. To be fair, high winds was a bit of an understatement, and the whole week was windy making walking on the coast path slightly hairy in places! So I did some coast path walking but had a wander round some of the villages for a couple of days too - Tintagel, Port Isaac, Port Quin and Boscastle. Boscastle being possibly the prettiest village I have been to in the UK. I spent 2 nights car park camping in Tintagel where most of the car parks allow overnight parking for £3. Not the most scenic of stopping places but there was a bit of shelter which was needed.

The next day I headed for Porthluney cove on the south coast to do a long day of south west coast path walking and thought I'd probably spend the night down there. The walking was beautiful but the wind was brutal and I turned back when I thought there was a risk of being blown off the cliff and walked in the other direction until the same happened. The path is tough and so varied, the Cornish section more so than the Devon section it seems - the 600mile walk has made it onto my list. With 60mph winds forecast overnight, I wimped out of sleeping in the beach front car park and instead tucked myself away in a sheltered offroad layby for the night after a swim and shower in St Austell.

The storm was still around the next day so I put my waterproofs on and went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan, reckoning it wouldn't be overcrowded. The woodland and jungles were brilliant, and even better with rain dripping off the tropical plants. It turned out there were 8 visitors to the gardens when I was there and I didn't bump into any of them, just a couple of friendly sheep, adding to the "lost" nature of the place. Then I headed to Megavissy, another typically Cornish town but you can car park camp there for £5 a night so it was an easy option for somewhere to stay.

I'd pre-bought a ticket for the Eden project but going on a damp new years eve turned out to be a bad idea, the place being overrun by grandparents and their unruly grandchildren, and after the day before at the lost gardens it felt packed so I didn't stay too long, instead choosing to do a bit more of the coast path. New years eve was a takeaway curry, a dvd and sleeping on a beach front in Par being battered by the wind and rain - the best NYE I've had in a long time!