Padstein!

Wednesday 22nd May

Picked up rental car and headed south out of Bristol on the M5 to Padstow in Cornwall. The motorways are fantastic 3 lanes each way and the A roads great too.  The countryside on the way just like NZ, but not as many sheep and cattle and there are gorgeous little cottages dotted about.

It was about 3 hours drive in total.

Stopped at Bodmin , not far from Padstow at a pub which once was a debtors jail.

Heaps of interesting artefacts hanging from the ceilings.

Arrived at Padstow - some people call it Padstein because Rick Stein has so many hotels and shops here! Narrow little roads in the town and on the approach to the town. Barely room for two cars in some places and trucks bad buses use different roads into the town. We are staying at St Petrocs Hotel a lovely old house. Nice views from our attic window of the Camel River. It is so picturesque. Quaint little buildings, boats and harbour. 

We hired bikes and rode the Camel Trail to Wadesbridge, which was an old railway between the towns.  We only had time to do the 6 mile ride between the towns, but it is about 17 in total. Gorgeous views of the river and estuary on the way. Coffee stop at Wadesbridge and then rode back to Padstow. Sun shining but a very cool breeze off the water.

Everywhere is dog friendly here - hotels, restaurants, pubs

The highlight was dinner at Rick's famous Seafood Restsurant. Impeccable service and fabulous food. I had warm seafood platter, crabs, whelks, clams, mussels, oysters, scallops and prawns. I was provided with a range of tools to tackle it with. Absolutely amazing. That was the entree. Next was Madras Fish Curry - one of a Rick's signature dishes - delicious!  Sam went for prawn fritters and John Dory cooked in a butter sauce on Asparagus - we both had trouble selecting from the extensive menu.

Will definitely be back here again! 

A real highlight of the trip so far.