Sun and sand in Cornwall

Continuing with the 2020 trend of lockdown UK airbnb vacations, I spent 5 days around the August long weekend in the UK county of Cornwall. Cornwall is one of the few popular British tourist spots which I have visited only once and that too for a very short time. So I was quite excited about exploring it well this time. And the whole holiday turned out to be much better than I had imagined.

View of Polruan village

For one, the weather was expected to be cold and rainy the entire 5 days we were supposed to be there, and it turned out to be exactly the opposite! It was sunny and hot each of the days. Secondly, the airbnb we had booked had looked too good to be true. It was a lavish Cornish manor set in its own grounds and we had a whole guest suite to ourselves. I was actually expecting it to be a fake booking but it turned out to be real and fabulous. And both these happenings made the holiday a lot more fun than expected.

We did treks, went to beaches, stopped at quaint Cornish villages, ate at some awesome places with stunning views, watched some spectacular sunsets and generally had a fabulous time. No wonder a lot of my friends were also visiting there the few weeks around when I was there. Cornwall doesn't just have a lot of activities to do, but also very friendly people and is warmer than the rest of the UK. All adding to its charm.

Our itinerary during the trip was as follows:
Day 1 - Drive to Cornwall, stop at Dartmoor national park on the way, do a short trek at Belston near River Taw
Day 2 - Drive to Penzance (visit Kynance and Praa Sands beach) and enjoy sunset at Senner, Lands End
Day 3 - Beach hopping at Tregantle cove, Tregonhawke cove, visit Millbrook village and enjoy sunset near Downderry beach
Day 4 - Trip to Fowey village
Day 5 - Drive back to London, stop at the English Riviera 


Day 1 - Drive to Cornwall, stop at Dartmoor national park and trek at Belstone near River Taw

It is a long drive to Cornwall, and even though Google Map shows about 5 hours, given delays on long weekends, time to get out of London and much needed stops on the way, it generally ends up taking about 8 hours to get there. So we left early in the morning, renting a Virtuo car (by the way, they have a seamless digital rental process which is ahead of all other rentals. I have become a big fan of it!) and were off.

View of Dartmoor Park

I wanted to get out of London as soon as possible, so we got out before the weekend traffic started but then stopped on the way for a McDonalds breakfast in Slough itself 😆. Then we drove all the way West, aiming for the Dartmoor National Park where we were planing to have a late lunch and do an afternoon trek. The weather was sunny and gorgeous all along. We drove through Bristol but missed driving on the famous suspension bridge as it was closed. And after Bristol, as we left the motorways, the drive turned beautiful - we were driving on small roads in the countryside, it was green everywhere and looked bright and lovely. There was a lot of traffic everywhere and we had some delays, but it wasn't as bad as holiday traffic could have been.

Lunch at Tors

We reached the car park in the village of Belstone quite quickly, within 3 hours. It was a cute little village, and we walked in, past a small little tea house to the Tors restaurant. We had a very tasty burger lunch there, sitting outside on the benches and enjoying our view of the moors. There were quite some tourists around which surprised most of us as we hadn't done a proper holiday for a while. And didn't realise that everyone except us had already been out and about for a while.

Views on the trail

We then went on a short 1.5 hour walk around the River Taw. We went down the valley in front of the restaurant to River Taw, and then walked up and down the hill through the woods, all along the river. There were some nice bridges on the way, lot of trees around and it was all green and fresh everywhere. Very quickly, we got lost I think, so we couldn't really do the full walk. And somehow we made it back to our village, using logic to find the right path. Even though we didn't get to see all the sights on the walk, it was nice to stretch our feet in the open. My friends hadn't got out of London after lockdown yet, and this already felt like a good way to start venturing out.

First view of Cornwall

We then drove around the Dartmoor park, towards Devon, onto Cornwall. We drove past a beautiful viewpoint which offered us our first views of Cornwall. And just looking at it, we felt a difference, that we were entering a different place. The houses are painted white and look different from England houses. The roads also got narrower by now and it felt like we had left the city and fast life behind.

We reached our airbnb at Torpoint just before sundown at 730 pm. It was good to reach before dark as our place was out in the woods and would have been tough to find at night. We were staying at the Sconner House in the village of Polbathic near Torpoint. And the house was breath-taking.

It was a huge Cornish manor on a small hill-top, with grounds and fields all around. And we had the guest suite, with a huge living room, huge kitchen and lovely bedrooms looking out into the gardens. It had an interesting history of ownership, passing through major families till the current one who converted it back into a home. It almost felt like we were living the high class life there 😊. As it had been a long day, we just enjoyed exploring the house and called it an early night.


Day 2 - Drive to Penzance (Kynance and Praa Sands beach) and enjoy sunset at Senner, Lands End

We had not planned much for the trip, so we took every day as it came. Since our house was so amazing, we had very lazy starts to our days. We would just come in to the conservatory and sit there for sometime every morning. It was a room in the manor, filled with sofas and surrounded with glass all around, overlooking the gardens around. It used to be sunny and green outside and very hot inside. It felt perfect just to sit and read something there, or just laze around. And we did that every morning, spending a few hours there after breakfast. We also walked in the grounds and the gardens, enjoying the views of rolling hills covered by fields all around. One day when I was walking outside in the grounds, I even found an old abandoned tank nearby! I never got a chance to explore that again though. 

We had tried to book a few activities to do nearby, like kayaking, surfing, cycling etc.. But it turned out that everything was booked out by the time we started making the bookings, as everyone was visiting Cornwall in the summer! Apparently the restaurants were also fully booked out by now, and required early bookings to get a spot. So we spent most of our time visiting places nearby which didn't need a booking, though trying to avoid crowds as much as possible. We would wake up in the morning and decided what we would do during that day and then be off.

Kynance beach

Today was the day we drove the most and farthest. We first went to Kynance Beach which was about 2 hours away. There were green rolling hills all around and we drove lazily through them. On the way, there were lot of small picturesque white villages. We passed a very scenic town called Penruth on the way, which I liked. There was a lot of traffic all day though, on all the big and small roads. And the traffic never let things slow down. 

Kynance beach is supposed to have a turquoise colour to the water there. That day though when we reached the cove, the sun hid behind the clouds and the water didn't sparkle as much as we expected. Also, there were lot of crowds everywhere, kayaking, surfing and swimming, but especially at the cafe. So we just walked down to the beach and sat on the rocks for a bit, with our feet in the water. It felt nice to be there for some time but as we were looking for food, we drove to our next stop which was the Praa Sands beach, about 30 mins drive away.

Praa Sands beach (crowded)

Praa Sands beach was a good spot and we spent a long time there. There were lot of homes in white on the cliff there. The beach wasn't very long and there were lot of people there. The water was not too cold, so we went into the waves for a bit. The tide came in a bit too while we were there. After spending some time on the beach, we went to the Sands Bar and spent some time there.

Praa Sands beach (empty)

The food was tasty there, and it had an outside seating area with a gorgeous view of the beach and the sea beyond. After such a long time, it felt nice and normal to sit in a restaurant again like this. I was eating out after so many months, just the the feeling of being in the open at a place like this was enough to make me like the restaurant. Also by the time we finished our late lunch, the crowds had left and the beach looked a lot better than when we had come in, in the early afternoon.

Sunset at Lands End

Our next and last stop of the day the end of UK, the village of Senner at Lands End. We saw a glorious sunset there and walked on the beach and harbour for a bit. The reflections of the sun in the sand were stunning. By then it had got late and we started our drive back which was about 2 hours. Also the petrol in our car was about the finish and we were starting to get a bit anxious having heard earlier that places in Cornwall generally shut down early. We were already getting ready to being stuck somewhere and having to call for an emergency rescue! We somehow found a petrol pump open till 10 pm near the town of Penzance, and raced there before that time. Thankfully it was open and we were saved from the ordeal.

The drive back at night was also quite delightful as we could see the lights of the villages on the hills on the horizons. The moon was out at night and we could see all the constellations in the sky, given how far we were from city lights. From far, Penzance looked like a pretty harbour town with some impressive buildings on the beach. We also saw Newquay lights far off on the sea. Soon we were home and ready to retire in our comfortable accommodation. It had been a fun day of exploration, made even better because of good weather.


Day 3 - Beach hopping at Tregantle cove, Tregonhawke cove, lunch at Millbrook village and sunset at Downderry beach

This day, we decided to spend in and around our airbnb as it was a weekend and the typical far off Cornwall places would have been very crowded. Again, we had a late start to the day, sitting in the conservatory and enjoying the sunny views outside in morning. The rest of the day, we did beach hopping nearby, in the Whitsand Bay area. It is apparently a hidden gem of Cornwall, with a long coast, lined with cliffs, leading into some excellent beaches.

Holiday homes on the cliffs

The first place we went to was Tregantle cove, which was about 30 mins away from Tolbathic. The cove is named after the Tregantle fort on one of the cliffs. The drive was all along the coast, with steep cliffs all dropping below. I think this is the typical Cornish coast, right? There is a funny parking rule in this area, that you can park all along the road, as long as the tires do not touch the gravel. In fact, we also ran into a policeman who was checking each car's tyres and giving them parking tickets if they even touched a single gravel stone. After parking our car, we checked with him if we were in the clear, before getting out. 

Tregantle cove (from above)

From the parking, we walked all the way down a steep descent to the beach. It was quite a long one, with loads of people there. We sat on the sand in the sun for a bit, and then I went into the water and swam for an hour or so. The water was not deep till very far. It was also very calm with very less waves. The water was cool but not too cold. The perfect place for a long swim. Surprisingly, after 11 years in the UK, this was the first time I had ever swum in the sea within the UK, and that too with it being an island! Clearly, Cornwall was a more warm place than the rest of the country.

There were lot of paddle surfers and some jet skis in the water. I also saw some stalked jellyfish while swimming. The beach has a division in between where the rocks jut out outside. And when the tide comes in, the other beach becomes inaccessible. While we were still there, a car came and was announcing to people to shift into one of the beaches if they wanted to leave or be ready to be stuck on the other, till the tide went back. It felt quite dangerous honestly.

Tregonhawke cove (from above)

After that, we started looking for a place to have lunch and drove to Tregonhawke cove which again had a beach. There were a lot of holiday homes on the top of the mountain here. We walked 30 mins, all the way down the steep cliff but the cafe was closed by then. It was a beautiful location though and had a big beach too which had all but vanished in the tide by the time we went there.

Sunset at Downderry beach

After icecream and a short break at the cafe, we got back up and drove to the nearby town of Millbrook, hoping to find something to eat. It was a small village but had a co-op and an open pub to serve us a very late and well deserved lunch. We had lunch at the Devon and Cornwall pub (finally!), bought some much needed groceries and then drove on to find a good sunset.

I searched for a village on the coast and we started driving towards Downderry. Once there, it turned out they had a beautiful beachside restaurant - Inn on the Shore - and we plonked ourselves there for a few hours which we watched the sun go down over the beach. It had gotten cold outside, so we couldn't sit out but it was still wonderful to enjoy the sun going down, from the warm inside.

Sunset drive

And then we drove back with the full moon out in the sky. On the way, we saw some divine reflections of the moon on the sea as we drove by. It somehow always felt appealing driving in Cornwall, with all its small green hills, dotted with small villages, cows and other farm animals. I think Cornwall is the only warm and idyllic place you can find in the UK. The closest a place here comes to the Spanish or Italian coast.


Day 4 - Trip to Fowey village

Lunch at Fowey Hall Hotel

We had a very lazy day today and took a trip to a nearby village of Fowey which was supposed to be a picturesque Cornish village. It was a 45 mins drive away, and we reached there around lunchtime. We first went into the Fowey Hall hotel, which is built on a hill, with a 180 degree view of the Fowey river in the valley and a fabulous view across the river of Polruan village. It was a sunny and gorgeous day and we had a long lazy lunch, while enjoying the sun and the view.

Walking in the village

Then we walked down to the village, through the main street and spent some time on the waterfront. There were lot of coloured yachts in front and it felt like a bustling village centre. It was full of people walking around without a mask, which felt a bit unsafe. 

To avoid the crowds, we then started walking along the mountain towards the edge of the land, towards the St Catherine's castle. We first stopped at a small beach on the way and then walked in the woods to come to the edge of the land. There wasn't any real castle here, just remains of an old watch tower. But there were lot of impressive views from here, all around of the bay and the two villages. And I loved every minute of the time we spent there.

Panorama of the bay

We were back home early that day and were as usual looking for a place to eat, given most popular places were booked out for dinner as we were booking last minute. So we went out in the evening to our neighbourhood pub, The Halfway House which was the only one open and with available bookings. It was not great at all and the food was also just about okay. But we didn't mind as we got to eat!


Day 5 - Drive back to London, stop at the English Riviera towns

Beach at Torquay

And soon it was time for us to bid goodbye to our vacation. While driving back, we passed by the village of St Germans which was very near our accommodation, and it was a charming little village filled with stone houses and looking very ancient. It is sad we missed exploring it. Then we crossed the Tamar river, on the Plymouth bridge, crossing back into England. After that, most of the drive was through Devon. It wasn't a great day today as the weather was rainy and dark.

Waterfront at Torquay

While driving back, we decided to visit one of the 'English Riviera towns', from Torquay, Brixham, Babbacombe and Paignton. We picked on Torquay and walked around an hour on the waterfront there. We could see the whole bay and a couple of towns all around it. There was a small beach there, but it was not as impressive. 

The place looked just about ok, but not the Riviera I was expecting. When it was sunny, it felt a lot better though. I could also see a lot of old people and yachts all along the bay, so the place was clearly popular. After this stop, we headed back to London. On the way we stopped for lunch at La Champagna, near Buckland St Mary which we liked. There wasn't a lot of traffic today and getting into London was very easy.

And just like that, the trip was over. I loved our time in Cornwall, it turning out way better than I expected. The sun was hot, the waters were warm and I loved the beaches in the coves. And there was a chillness in the air which is very rare in UK. I can see myself going to Cornwall again for sure.

Maps

From London to Lands End

Around Polbathic

Exploring the UK countryside - Walk in Chiltern Hills AONB

This fall, on a surprisingly sunny day in the middle of rainy and cloudy days, me and a friend decided to go on a walk in the UK countryside. It didn't take a lot of planning, as we decided on a walk, downloaded the map, booked a train ticket from Paddington to and from the starting point, and we were set. Except the forecast changed on the last day and it was supposed to be rainy all day. Anyways we still went ahead with the plan and it was a good call. As the day turned out to be extremely warm and sunny - the perfect weather for any walk.

Route map

Our plan was to take a train to Didcot, walk around 16 kms mostly along the Thames in the Chiltern AONB, stop for lunch in the village of Dorchester-on-the-Thames and finish the walk at Cholsey, from where we would take the train back to Paddington. It mostly went as per plan except the walk turned out to be 25 kms long, and our legs had started paining by the end. But it was all worth it, for a day out on a sunny day.

We took the train to Didcot Parkway, and the fast train was about 35 mins or so. We started our walk around 1030 in the morning. The first part of the walk was mostly through the town. The town had a lot of construction going on at a few new developments. It felt like lot of people from London are moving there 😊.

First view of Thames

Then the walk took us through some farms, all of which had already harvested their crops and were empty. We walked over some hills and passed the Wittenham clumps. One hill there apparently has the remains of a Celtic fort on the top, or they say. As there is nothing there now. There was a school picnic going on when we reached there. So we wore our masks and avoided them as we kept walking. And while going down that hill, we got our first view of the Thames. The river wasn't very wide here, meandering lazily among the greens all around, but it did look very enchanting from up top. 

We then walked towards the Dorchester-on-the-Thames village which apparently has its own little history. It was a cute little village and we had lunch at the White Hart hotel. They had outside seating which was helpful given the pandemic. After a long and lazy lunch, we started walking again and kept walking all along the Thames for the next 4 hours till we got to Cholsey.

Most of the path was along the Thames, with some detours far away from it. There were lot of rowing clubs on the banks and students practicing rowing on the river. We passed by some fascinating bridges on the Thames. There were some quaint pubs and cafes on the river in the village of Wallingford. And they were full of people sitting and enjoying the sun outside. It would have been lovely to stop at one of these places and read a book while looking at the waters passing by, but we were trying to reach the end point before dark, so we kept walking on.

There were lot of newly constructed holiday homes all along the Thames. And all along, there were lot of boats moored on the sides, of the rich and famous. And trailer parks full of people who enjoy life on the water. We walked through the Benson lock and saw some boats making their way through the locks which is always fascinating to watch. 

Bridge on the Thames

It was almost a continuous walking path all the way, covered with trees and mostly in the woods. And we saw some early autumn colours at one place. The sky was deep blue and the clouds added to the beauty of the sun. It was a nice sunny walk all day, and got warm during the day too. And there were benches all along to stop and rest, while enjoying the sun. 

Early fall colours

There were lot of people on the walk and most of them were walking their dogs 😊. Tons of people were sitting and fishing on the sides. People were generally more talkative and friendly here. An old man was going for his walk and stopped and talked to us for a bit. It finaly turned out to be a long 25 kms walk, over 5.5 hours. And we loved the whole experience.

At Cholsey Marsh, we turned right and walked towards the town, away from the river. Cholsey felt larger than the previous towns and less cute too. We walked into one pub and they had no food. Then we somehow made it to the next one, the Red Lion which was better and had a dinner menu too! It was cute and had tasty food thankfully. We had a heavy burger dinner and some hot chocolate. They didnt know how to make good chocolate though, clearly no one walks into this pub asking for hot chocolate!!

There were trains coming back to London every hour which was convenient. We got late coming back to London and took the 840 one. The station was empty by then. And the trains were all running empty. It did make me wonder why does the government waste so much money running empty trains?

Anyways I loved this day out in the countryside, and look forward to doing a few more during this lockdown period.

Exploring the UK countryside - Kettlebaston in Suffolk

Our first holiday in 2020 after the lockdown in March was in the UK itself, spent in a gorgeous English country house in Suffolk. Our house was located in the village of Kettlebaston, with the nearest town being Ipswich. To be honest, when we first heard that it was near Ipswich, we had very low hopes of the holiday being an exciting one. Ipswich is one of those British towns which has a poor reputation as a tourist destination among UK towns. In fact, we even started telling our friends we were holidaying in Suffolk, rather than Ipswich, so no one could judge us 😜.

The golden hue of wheat fields

The holiday turned out to be just the opposite of what we expected, though. Given it was the year of Corona, we learnt and started to appreciate how to spend a holiday without visiting touristy places. We spent our time enjoying the simple countryside pleasures of living in a comfortable grand country house and exploring the nearby areas. Which were as fun as any tourist attraction, with the added benefit of being safe as there were no crowds there. It was immensely enjoyable and relaxing by itself, and it did not impact us which was the nearest city at all (even if it was Ipswich!).

Getting there

The village of Kettlebaston where our country house was located is part of Suffolk county and quite close to London. The drive took us about 3 hours to get there, of which 1.5 hours were spent in getting out of London onto the M25. The rest of the drive was through huge fields, some still full and a lot of them already harvested. 

On the way, we saw a few animals like deer, rabbits and foxes, sometimes in the fields and sometimes crossing the road. There weren’t a lot of villages on the way, but the ones we crossed had some picturesque houses. But for us, anything would have looked magnificent. It felt awesome just to get out of London after 4 months of not leaving the city!


About our house, The Old Rectory

The Old Rectory

The country house we were staying in, known around as The Old Rectory, was a welcome surprise. None of us had stayed in such grand houses before and were awed by it. The house was huge and had a long driveway leading up to it through the woods. It used to be run as a B&B earlier but after the lockdown, the owners had converted it into a single family airbnb to enable people to come without fear. There were many rooms in the house but only 6 were available for us for use. It had many living spaces plus outside sitting areas, a huge garden in front with a trampoline, an aga oven (which I had seen for the first time ever) and many other spaces to have a comfortable and luxurious stay.

The gardens of the house were huge, with tennis grounds and a trampoline within its area. One of the days when it was supposed to be raining, we spent most of our time in the home grounds. We jumped for two hours on the trampoline which was pure and simple fun. And some of us made use of the tennis grounds too.

The owners of the house also stayed nearby, shifting to the outhouse when guests were over. They maintained some animals on the grounds, like hens, pigs and lambs. One of the days, we even went to see those animals and see the hen laying eggs. All in all, it felt like a real country houses with a farm-ish feel to it and we loved being there. Eating home cooked everyday in the cosy kitchen or the outdoor eating spaces. And just lazing, without a plan in mind. It was the perfect lockdown de-stresser vacation 😀.


Wheat fields around The Old Rectory

First view of wheat fields

The weather was supposed to be rainy over the 5 days we were there but it turned out to be sunny for most of the parts. The first day turned out to be a sunny and glorious day. Before we had decided the plan for the day, I went for a walk to the wheat fields right next to our grounds. You could just walk past an old abandoned boat next to a pond, cross a bridge on the stream and turn up into wheat fields stretching till where the eyes can see. I didn’t really realise till this trip that wheat farming was also popular in the UK. I walked for an hour or so through the fields, walking through them while touching the golden grains. There was something very uplifting, very freeing about it. It almost felt like being back at my village in Haryana, where we have similar wheat fields. 

The wheat fields

Some of the fields still had green-ish unripe grains, some were ripe and golden, and some had already been harvested. We got a few of the wheat stalks back to our house too, to make paranthe with those 😜. The next day again, we went for a short walk into the fields in the morning and it was as stunning as the first day. And a great location for a photoshoot too. 

The village of Kettlebaston

House in Kettlebaston

One of the evenings, after the rains were gone, I went out for a short walk to our village, Kettlebaston. According to Wiki, it has a population of 30 and I can attest to it. It was very small and lovely. I went on a 1.5 hour walk, through narrow roads and huge fields, crossing some huge picturesque houses nearby, the local church and a few stud farms around. There were some more wheat fields around it which gave some scenic views on the walk. It’s on this walk that I realised that Suffolk could easily be an easy holiday destination for weekends out of London. Maybe for next summer if lockdown doesn’t finish! 

Boating in Dedham AONB and Hadleigh riverside walk

One of the days we visited Dedham AONB, which was about 30 mins drive from our house. The villages on the way were small, and had colourful houses like they have in Italy. The villages weren’t too picturesque but still refreshing. We drove to the boathouse where we sat for some time in the grounds next to the river. We had picnic biryani lunch there as the sun had also come out for a bit.

Boating in Dedham

After that, we did a bit of boating in the river. You can hire rowing boats for £16 per hour there. The boat ride through the narrow river was fun. And quite bumpy too, with people bumping into each other. There were a few children swimming in the river too which felt quite inviting. It felt nice to be there but honestly we were surprised by the number of people around given it was still July and corona hadn't subsided yet. And they were not really maintaining any social distancing. So we decided the rest of the week to not go to any such touristy places and stay near our house only.

While driving back to our house, we stopped at the riverside walk in the village of Hadleigh and walked there along the stream in the woods. It was a nice walk and not many people were there either. The ones who were there weren't following social distancing though. But it still felt safer and less crowded.


Walk to Monks Eleigh and Kersey

Walk through the farms

One of the days, I decided to explore the villages around and went for a walk on the country footpaths, with no real plan or map in hand. I just followed the yellow footpaths, wherever they went and had quite an interesting day. Initially I walked through lots of wheat fields, again burning like gold all around. I walked through farms, farm houses and on random roads. Then I came across fields of ‘fali’. And at some places, there were loads of berries and wild flowers. I tasted some of the blackberries too. And then I walked through huge pea fields. I ate a lot of them too, they were fresh and tasty. But a lot of them were drying without being plucked and I later read that there weren’t enough workers that time to harvest ripe crops.

Views on the walks

Continuing on this walk, I reached a picturesque village Monks Eleigh Tye and kept walking past it. And I was near Swingleton Green when it started raining. I had to stop and wait at the village for the rain to stop. I searched for the nearest pub to sit and wait and found one 10 mins walking from there, Swan Inn in the village of Monks Eleigh. But even to get there, I had to take a lift for the 2 mins drive as the roads were too narrow and dangerous to walk on.

By the time I reached the pub, the sun was out and I sat outside in the sun, reading a book and waiting for my friends to pick me up as it was too long to walk back to my house. I chatted with the locals when I was there. A couple I was chatting with knew the owners, Paddy and Maggie of our airbnb. They talked about Suffolk and how much they loved being there, how it wasn’t well know among people in London and how lot of people from Suffolk commuted for work to London daily. Also apparently, Coronavirus was less here and things were open and safer most of the time. 

Village of Kersey

After my friends picked me up, we drove to the village of Kersey. It was a lovely village with a beautiful church on a hill. We stopped there for a bit and it felt nice to be there. Just being out of London and being able to walk in the open in a village felt like a gift to be valued and enjoyed. After eating a light snack there, we were off back to our house. On the drive back, we saw some stunning sunsets and enjoyed the cool breeze around after a long day. 

Coming back to London

The day we were coming back was quite a dampener. It started raining (finally), so once we checked out we just drove back and were back in London within 2.5 hours. We could have explored some more areas around if it hadn’t been raining but we couldn’t.

We enjoyed our time at the house without really exploring a lot of touristy places around. But there are a few places which are worth a visit in more normal times. Below are a few we read up about but never visited

• Grounds of Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds, 34 mins from KB 
• Lavenham - 15 mins drive from Kettlebaston, with a very pretty 1 hour walk across country footpaths that is generally empty. 
• East Bergholt, known as Constable country is beautiful with a lovely walk along the river Stour 
• The sandy beaches of Frinton, Walton and Felixstowe are just under an hour’s drive away while Aldeburgh, Walberswick and Southwold are near enough for a day’s excursion. 
• Medieval wool towns of Long Melford, Cavendish and Clare

Exploring the UK countryside - Brightling in Kent

2020 has turned out to be the year where normal life as well as normal holidays have gone for a six. So after cancelling a lot of the travels during the year, when the restrictions finally lifted for a few months in summer, I did a few vacations all within the UK. To be honest, I have done a lot of UK vacations before but this time, they were different. 

One we didn’t go far, only where we could get to in a couple of hours. And second, we rented some amazing airbnb properties, which were standalone properties with huge uninhabited areas around them, so we could be away from people. And we spent 4-5 days mostly in and around our airbnbs. It felt different to start with for sure, as we didn’t do any touristy stuff and just stayed within the nearby areas most of the time. But soon enough we got used to it and enjoyed them totally. All these airbnb vacations turned out to be leisurely days spent out of London, exploring fields and small villages around, all in non-descript parts of the UK.

This break was in August this year when we spent 5 days in the village of Brightling in and around the High Weald AONB in Kent. To be honest, Kent is not a place I would typically have gone to for a holiday in the UK but these are not typical times. And the place provided a much needed and convenient change of scenery, after almost 4 months in lockdown. 

Brightling was about a two hour drive from London. We left on a Thursday evening and it was a convenient short drive to get to the property. Get on to the M25 and drive all the way till Sevenoaks when we turned south within the AONB. It was raining heavily that day and was foggy all around. As we were driving through the AONB, with all the greenery and small hills around, it almost felt like being in the Western Ghats during the rainy season. Our house was located near the historical village of Robertsbridge which we thought we would explore but never got to. As once we entered our village, we didn’t really venture out far from there.

Our airbnb

We reached our house much before sunset and were blown away by how amazing it was. Its photographs didn’t do it enough justice and it turned out to be much better than we had expected. The place was built in the 16th century and was used as a rectory earlier. We spent an hour or so just admiring the house, it was huge and very well done up. It had a huge stately dining room looking onto the fields and the woods outside. The main living room also looked out onto the far off lights of London, across the hills and was the perfect place to spend a nice relaxed evening.

View from the living room

The house had a huge kitchen, 4 different large and small living areas, 7 bedrooms and at least 3 studies. All the rooms were full of hundreds of books and art pieces surrounded us all around. You could however see the difference in the size and height of the rooms which were in the owner’s half and the servant’s half.  

Outside, there was a pool, with a linked pool room. And lot of garden furniture to just sit outside, relax and watch the world go by. The grounds of the house spread till far too. The owners apparently raise and train horses and the stables were right next to our house where they kept 8 horses. During the day, we saw a few of them grazing around the grounds, as well as some kids who came and rode them for a few hours. It all felt like being in a fairytale. Or being in an Agatha Christie or PG Wodehouse novel. It definitely got us excited for the time ahead and we made the most of exploring all parts of the house and its grounds around.

Over the next 3 days we went on a few walks, exploring the villages and grounds in the area, with me making one trip out of the AONB, to the coastal town of Hastings. But overall, it was a relaxed vacation where we ended up not doing a lot other than eat, walk and talk.

Church in local
village

The first day when the weather was sunny and it was a weekday, I decided it was time to go to the beach. To avoid the crowds. So I decided to drive till the nearest beach town, Hastings, which was about an hour away. The drive till Hastings was mostly through the AONB, through narrow country streets, surrounded by greenery, dotted with small bright coloured villages, with their own picturesque churches all along the way. And all the streets were lined with trees on both sides. It was a very refreshing drive and felt amazing to be out of London after so long..

 

Crowded beaches of Hastings

Hastings turned out to be a typical English beach town. It had lot of holiday homes on the hills, all in white. And a pier with lot of activity, roller coasters, hotels and so on. When I reached the main city, it was super crowded even though it was a weekday. The sea road was chock-a-blocked with traffic and all parking areas were full. I kept driving till the end of the road and even found a parking spot. But I was shocked to see the crowds on the beach there, given the ongoing pandemic, that it scared me enough and I decided to leave immediately.

Holiday homes in Hastings

So then I drove to the other end of the town, planning to drive to the next coastal town to find some peace and quiet. But surprisingly, as I drove through Hastings and crossed the tourist areas, I turned up at a place where the beaches were emptier and there were less crowds on the road. I also found parking next to the beach and decided to just stop there.

There was the beach right there, with the pebbles and the water right across. But it had got very hot by then, so I walked away from the beach into a pub, the Bo Peep. It had outside seating and was quite empty, so I had a leisurely lunch there, waiting for the sun to get more comfortable. While chatting with the pub owner, he mentioned that this part of the beach was less crowded, as the tourists didn’t know about it much. And it was more popular with the locals. I felt lucky that I had stumbled here, as it felt so much better to be away from the crowds. He also mentioned that at some point, his pub was right on the beach, overlooking the sea but over the years due to reclamation, now its was some 100 meters away. That was an interesting titbit.

Quieter beach in Hastings

After the temperature cooled down a bit, I walked for a few miles along the beach, away from the town and it was lovely. The clouds in the sky were making characters in the sky, the breeze was cool, the sun was warm and the waves loud. I hadn’t realised till I had come here, how much I had missed having a view of the sea, the freedom and openness it symbolises, which we were all missing during lockdown. I felt amazing just to be there.  

I admired the views all around, sat on the beach for a while, got into the water just a bit but generally walked around just to take the feel back with me to London, to last for some more time. The drive back to our airbnb felt awesome too. It was all through narrow roads through green woods and small villages with huge bungalows, of people who stay there but commute to London to work.

The next day, we did two walks in and around the Brighling village. In the morning, we walked to the village and followed one of the paths we saw around there. We didn’t go very far though as we had kids with us, so we just explored nearby areas. We first went to the local church which surprisingly had a pyramid next to it. Then we walked into the woods nearby and made our way through it without a path, which the kids enjoyed,

The Brightling rotunda

After a bit, we found a walking track and followed it till we came to some open fields. We could see grass covered hills all around, with some corn fields in between. And one of the hills had a rotunda on top of it. We were trying to get there when it suddenly started raining. So we took cover under one of the farm structures in the area.

Views on the trail

And then it was time to walk back to our village. On the way back, we walked through some farms and ran into some horses and lot of wild jungle fowl. Overall it was a 2 hour walk up and down a few hills and turned out to be fun as we were trying to find the route as we walked along. It was a refreshing walk, with some picturesque views of the villages around.

The same evening, I went for another walk nearby, again without a map. It was a good walk for the first half but the second half turned out to be a mixed bag. I left our house and walked into the woods right in front. I ran into a yellow footpath and followed it for a while. I also came across some wild deer on the way, who ran away after seeing me. This path then took me through some farms, horse fields and swamps. It was a nice countryside walk where I had to jump a few fences, when I finally came to the road.

After that I walked a bit to the neighbouring villages looking for more footpaths but didn’t really find any. So I had to walk on the road itself which was ok as there were not many cars there. But still it was not as fun as the cross country walks I prefer. I did pass a few small villages with some pretty houses. I reached the Darwell car park from where there were a few paths going into the woods but it was too late in the evening to take one and risk getting lost. So after not finding any other footpaths, I just walked back to our house. Our house was surrounded by road on three sides, so generally it was easy to get back. The sunset that day was gorgeous and there were some fascinating views of the hills around. All made for a nice and tiring day out.

Trek in the woods

The next day, I drove to the same Darwell carpark I had come across the previous day and went into the woods for a walk, trying to get to the Darwell reservoir. The route wasn’t well marked but there were a few people I met on the way who gave me directions on how to get there. At a couple places, there were multiple turns, and I took the wrong one at one point. I ending up walking along a mining conveyor belt for a bit, but then turned back and tried the other turns. I used Google maps to help me with general directions and after walking through some more woods, finally reached the reservoir.

Darwell reservoir

The reservoir turned out to be pretty nice, and I sat there for a bit, on a log in the sun. It wasn’t large or deep but had some pretty views around. I could have walked all around but didn’t as the wind was coming in. So I headed back and somehow managed to get lost for a bit. I did find a track and turns out they all land back at the car park, which was helpful. Back at the house, I finally got some time in the pool, which was nice. And spent the rest of the evening, just lazing in the living room, looking out at the horses grazing all around and the lights of London far away.

The last day, we left the airbnb early in the morning and went to the Darwell car park again. We went for a walk into the woods, on a different path. It was a well made path and we passed some fields and a lone house in the woods. We also had a picnic lunch in the open fields, just sitting and admiring the greenery around. I think we stayed there for quite some time, as we did not want to leave and come back to London anytime soon.

Anways it started raining then and we soon left, happy that at least all our full days had been with good weather. Coming back to London felt like a downer, but I had another vacation to look forward to, so it wasn’t as bad. But hopefully, will be doing more of these airbnb holidays soon… 

A week of Bahamian sun and sand, in Eleuthera (2)

Paradise

Eleuthera is one of the many islands of Bahamas, unique in its own way. It is a 100 mile long island with an average width of a mile, and has a worm like shape, making it one of a kind. At any point on the island, you are within walking distance to the sea on both sides, the Caribbean and the Atlantic. I had read a couple of reviews about what to expect before going there, but nothing had prepared me for what we finally would experience. It was like being away from the world, in a place where time had slowed down...


Getting there

Getting to Eleuthera is easy. There are three airlines which fly onto the island - Bahamas air, Pineapple air and Southern air, from the US and within Bahamas. And even though it is such a small island, it has 3 separate airports. One in the north, one in the centre and one in the south. Clearly this place is popular with tourists, who are lazy and don't want to drive too much.

We were flying out at 730 am from Nassau airport and surprisingly, it was very cold in the morning. As expected, the airport was quite small but it did have a lot of flights going to its various islands. We were flying Bahamas Air to Governors Harbour, the airport in the centre of Eleuthera, and the flight was expected to be only 15 mins. There are flights to all 3 airports on the island at around the same time, and Bahamas Air combined ours with the flight going to the Rock Sound airport, in the south.

Our small plane to Eleuthera

However, they did not change it on the display boards showing the gate numbers, and we kept waiting outside the gate showing the flight going to Governors Harbour! Thankfully we figured it out on time and got on board the right plane. It was a small propeller plane and looked charming in front of the morning Caribbean sun. Funnily enough, since two flights got combined, the seat numbers were no more relevant and they asked us to sit anywhere we wanted. Thankfully we got window seats, which was wonderful.

As the way to Eleuthera was full of stunning views. The sea there wasn't deep, and you could see the rocks at the bottom too. And then we flew over some very small islands which each had a house on it. I am sure, these must be those typical billionaire holiday homes and they looked quite desirable from above.

We first landed at the Rock Sound airport within 15 mins. It was surrounded by very dense mangrove forests all around. It was very casual there, as people were getting on and off the plane as they wished. Some even got off by mistake when they didn't need to. And a guy entered the plane through the door to take the luggage off. We then took off again for a 10 min flight to Governors Harbour.

Eleuthera from above

As we flew along the island, we could see the one central road which runs from north to south and is visible from far. And the edges of the island were lined with some stunning coastal towns, lines of elongated white sand beaches and amazing crystal blue-green waters of the Caribbean Sea. The rest of the island was full of mangroves. The views throughout this 10 mins plane ride were very captivating.

The airport was quite interesting too. We got down and walked to the room which was the terminal. A guy got our luggage from the plane and just kept it on the outside of the airport so we could pick it up 😀. There was no luggage belt there. And we asked for a taxi as it was about 15-20 mins to our hotel, 15 kms away on the main road of the island. The guy who runs the airport duty free shop at the airport also drives people to their hotels, so he got his car out and dropped us at the hotel.

We could already see that we have come far away from civilisation as the road was bare and the air warm. I asked the taxi driver a question and he answered for the rest of the 20 mins drive a prepared speech as if the radio was on 😀. He told me the history and geography of the island, about its people and their life - all as if he was reading from a prepared speech. As if he told the same story to every passenger of his. It was actually quite funny.

Even though the island is so small in terms of area, its different parts are different and have a different vibe to it. The northern part is made up of Spanish Wells and its villages have a Spanish influence plus Harbour Island, a very famous resort island for the rich and famous. The rest of the island is very sparsely populated.

The island has only about 11,000 people. Everyone knows each other, its extremely safe and no one locks their doors. It is famous for its pink sand beaches. Also, the movement for Bahamas's freedom started from this island, from Cupids Cay, a location at the Governors Harbour village where our hotel was located. Apparently our hotel was earlier part of the Club Med hotel chain, but when one of the yearly typhoons destroyed it, it was taken over and converted to French Leave Resort.


The French Leave Resort and around

Our resort

And then we reached our hotel - The French Leave Resort. Thereafter, for the next 4 days we were in a different planet altogether, life became surreal for us. The resort was out of the world - in terms of its gorgeousness, calmness, beauty and luxuriousness. It was located on the Caribbean side of the island, and had a beach on the Atlantic side. The resort was quite spread out, with individual English white bungalow style villas with full or partial ocean views. It had an infinity pool, a jacuzzi, lot of outside sitting area, a very popular restaurant and some activities to do around. All enclosed within tropical shrubs and trees.

Breakfast views

Most of our days were spent lazily lounging around the hotel itself. Morning would start with a sumptuous breakfast in the restaurant, with a gorgeous view of the blue green waters and the Governors Harbour village across the bay. It was the perfect way to start every morning.

The hotel pink sand beach

Then we would sometimes go to the beach which was on the other side of the island and we could take our golf carts to get there. The beaches on this island have a pink tinge because of a small animal called Foraminifera, which is brought to the shores by the tidal waters. Their beach was in fact a pink sand beach, and seemed endless. It was definitely one of the best beaches that I have been to. And it was mostly empty, our hotel just had some sunbeds there, that's it. The water there was sparkling green blue and the sand was white and pink. It was choppier and windier as this was the Atlantic side, so it was a bit tough to swim in the waters with the waves and the wind. There was lot of sand also in the air, which covered all our stuff. But it was still fun to lay here in the sun, enjoying the view.

One of the days I went snorkeling off this beach and was amazed by the corals and sea life. The reef was a dead one but I could see how it would have been full at some time, with the huge rocks, all covered with dead corals. There were loads of fish there, at least some 40 types. In all colours, white, blue, yellow, orange, fluorescent yellow and blue. Everywhere. I also saw a sea snake which was a first for me. I got so engrossed in the snorkeling that I lost count of time and distance. I ventured quite deep out in the sea. I was also at times swimming very close to the reefs below, but thankfully not when the snake was around 😀. I really enjoyed the snorkeling here, though the winds had made swimming in the waters a bit tough.

Infinity pool

Then we would go back to the hotel, and laze in the pool or jacuzzi or sit in the shaded area for a long time. The bay there had a striking green colour which shone brilliantly when the sun was out. Without the sun, it would look a deep blue, still pretty but not as brilliant as the green. We went snorkeling in the bay but didn't see a lot of fishes, just a few sea cucumbers and a few fish. One afternoon, I went kayaking in the waters too and loved it. It got too hot very soon though, so I came back without leaving the bay. Also apparently the water was choppier than usual, thought I didn't feel it. I have generally kayaked in much tougher waters than the Caribbean sea.

The rest of the day would go just like that. There was a gym in the hotel too (but we never used it). And the infinity pool where we were most of the time. Or the jacuzzi next to it. Even though it was warm, when the clouds were out, I would feel a bit chilly, and sit in the jacuzzi, gazing lazily at the sea.

But during peak afternoon, it would get too hot. It took me a few days to figure out how to move the umbrella around during the day, that I could still stay out in the sun, next to the pool but still not feel too hot and avoid direct sun. I also realised that the bay used to look different depending on whether the sun was out. The green that we loved would go away when the clouds were out. When it got too hot, we would come back to our villa and sleep. It felt so amazing to just laze and do nothing the whole day.

There were two jetties at the resort where boats would come and dock, sometimes the visitors would come to the resort for the day too. And the views of the jetty and the bay at sunset were magnificent. Each day we had a different view, depending on how many clouds there were on the horizon. And each sunset was unique and fascinating in its own way...

One day we ventured out to the village. It was quite average though, as it had a lot of rundown buildings. The ones on the main island, which were holiday homes were definitely prettier. The village looked glorious at sunset though, from our resort, with its twinkling lights reflecting in the calm bay water. We also found a grocery shop in the village and got groceries to cook in our villa. The cost of everything was multiple times though.

Views from our villa

Our room was upgraded to an oceanfront deluxe villa, and it was awesome. It was like those English wooden bungalows, made of wood, with lot of windows and very airy. Right outside us was the jetty and one of the best views of the resort. And the rooms were very comfortable, perfect for such a lazy life. It was so hot everyday that all we wanted to do was sleep and relax. It was like we had come into a slow time zone.

The service at the hotel was very friendly too. The owner and the managers all knew us by name and made a lot of effort to help us, whether it was getting taxis, booking rental cars or diving, giving tips on what to do and so on. In fact one of the staff was a dive master herself and helped us plan for the dive. All in all, they took great care of us. Though we had a day when there was no internet in the resort, which was tough to deal with 😀.

Peaceful evenings

And the nights at the resort were perfect. One day there was live music in the restaurant which added to the whole ambience of the place. There were countless stars in the sky that were visible. And even the Milky Way could be seen two of the nights. It felt so amazing just to sit outside, with the waves lashing on the cliffs, no sound anywhere and just the stars above. In fact one day, there was a power cut for a bit and the sky looked absolutely fabulous! When I was there, I suddenly realised its been years since I sat outside under a clear sky. It was just amazing. Of course the mosquitoes in the evenings didn't help, there were loads of them. But they would clear out by night, so we could observe the skies comfortably...


Trip to Harbour Island, diving and exploring the island

There was only one day in the 4 days that we left the resort. That day, we rented a car and drove to Harbour Island which is in the north of Eleuthera. You can rent cars from the locals, most of which are second hand cars. Ours was a Japanese one, with instructions in Japanese. But it got us where we needed to go, so no complaints.

We had an early morning diving start from Harbour Island, and so left around 7 am from our hotel. The drive was about 50 miles and along the central road, known as the Queens road. While driving out, we didn't stop much on the way, just kept driving north. The sun was coming out and the morning colours were very refreshing. It was also coldish in the morning which we hadn't expected.

On the way, we crossed lot of small towns along that one single road. There were lot of bungalows on the sides, all isolated from each other and with sea views. The rest of the drive was just surrounded by green dense mangrove vegetation all around. We sometimes would come near the sea and sometimes would drive in the interiors. One noteworthy place on the way was Hatchet Bay which was quite crowded (relatively). Apparently the ferry from other islands comes here, docking inside the lagoon protected from the open sea. It would be good to come here sometime later.

We kept driving like this (the road was pretty good) and then turned right for the airport in the north. Right next to it is the ferry terminal at 3IS from where you can get boats to Harbour Island. This island is clearly popular with Americans, as direct flights come to this north airport from the US. We also saw a law firm's charter plane at the airport. And you can just get out and drive 10 mins to the ferry to Harbour Island.

Harbour Island

The water taxis leave from there every few mins as soon as it is full, and costs $6. A lot of locals stay on Eleuthera island and go across daily on work. Interestingly, they all say hi and talk and chat with the people in the taxi which felt like a welcome change. The taxi dropped us at the Valentines resort where our dive centre was located.

On the way to dive site

The day was glorious and sunny. We took a boat from the resort and they took us some 30 mins away to our dive site. The boat ride there was scenic. The water was not very deep all the way, sometimes just 7 feet deep and had a great sparkling green colour. At times, we could see the rocks on the bottom and sometimes the reefs too. We also crossed a few islands with holiday homes, seeing up close the lives of the rich and the famous.

Corals on rocks

The boat driver was quite talkative and told us titbits about his country. Apparently the Bahamian flag has 3 colours which stand for its people (black), sun (yellow) and turquoise (waters). He said he was from the island of Abacos which was all destroyed in the typhoon season and that's why he was working here.

Moray Eel

Our first dive site was at a wreck, called St. Fuegos. It was a good dive with lot of small reefs and some usual fishes. The next dive at Cabbage patch was outstanding. First, we saw loads of different kinds of fishes, lobsters, moray eels, lion fish, file fish, sea cucumber, sting ray and so on. There were some corals too. And it was fun to explore all the huge rocks and their surrounding plant life.

Dolphins

The crowning glory though were the dolphins! It happened in the middle of the dive when a group of four dolphins came near us, and I was late to spot them. They left soon enough, and I thought that maybe I had imagined the whole scene. We swam around a bit after that when I kept trying to figure out if I really had seen them or not, when the dolphins came back again. They kept circling us, swimming fast and slow, diving in and playing with the rocks, and generally having a good time. They then swam away and I was happy that this time I had got a good look at them at least.

Dolphins up close

They then came back a third time, as if coming back to make sure we had seen them play 😝. We could hear their whistles, watched their acrobatics in the water, and were just mesmerised with their antics. I think I forgot for a moment to breathe too, I was just so engrossed in watching them play around, swim around us and almost come face to face with us, as if smiling 😊. I think after this, we didn't really care about seeing anything else on the dive. It was already the dive of a lifetime and I felt on top of the world.

Dolphins

Dolphins

Dolphins

Lion fish

After this, I think we were done for the day. We went to eat at the Blue Bar and were surprised at how expensive the whole island was. We then explored a bit of the island and walked to the Pink Sands beach which is supposed to be the most famous beach of the island. To be honest, our hotel beach was definitely better. Though apparently the sand gets pinker on some days, especially during sunset. The beach was nice, with blue waters and white pink sand till where you could see. There was wind still and the water had too many waves.

Pink sand beach on Harbour Island

Its so hot during the afternoon that it makes you very lazy. We could have explored the island on golf carts but didn't. We did come across some churches and lot of pastel coloured houses which were very pretty. After spending some time on the beach, we walked back and took our water taxi to our car.

So we started our drive back and even though we had decided to stop and explore a few places on the way back, we finally didn't. We only stopped at the glass bridge which is the narrowest point of the island, where the island is barely 24 feet wide! And standing there you get a view which I hadn't imagined till then. On the one side is the Caribbean sea, green, shallow and very calm. And on the other side, the deep blue deep choppy waters of the Atlantic. Their difference is quite stark. Looking at this scene this way made me see the differences clearly. And it felt quite exhilarating to stand in the middle, where two oceans meet.

Between the oceans

While coming back we also stopped at the famous cliffs of the island but couldn't find them, so we just came back. Back to our resort before sunset, we sat in the pool and jacuzzi and enjoyed the sunset from our room. There are a few other places to visit on the island, like Gregory Town, Caulding Cay for its snorkeling, 'Ocean Hole' for its natural inland swimming and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve. We didn't venture out much from our resort, so missed these places but they may be fun if you have more time.


And just like that our vacation ended. We were flying back to Nassau on the short 15 min flight and then off to London. We again had an early morning flight (somehow, 4 of the 7 mornings we had to wake up at 6 am which wasn't fun). There were dark clouds today, so it was colder. The taxi driver on the way back was also chatty. He was saying that sometimes they do get a cold wave in the island, when the temperatures touch 21 degrees Celcius 😁. Apparently the island is so safe, that people rarely lock their doors or cars. Also it is cheaper to go from Eleuthera to Miami than other islands in the Bahamas, so a lot of locals would have been to the US but not to the other islands of Bahamas! That was a very interesting piece of information.

Governors Harbour "airport"

The airport was full of people as it was just a room and there were multiple flights at the same time. But it had very simple processes, so we were ready to board very soon. We landed at Nassau on time and had to take a different terminal to go to US. However, they have immigration check at the Bahamas airport itself, which makes the connections in US a lot easier. And their restaurants have outside seating, which I found quite interesting. It even started raining today, though we didn't mind as we were leaving. And just like that, our vacation was over.

This trip was definitely one of my best, and the laziest. The place was lovely and I can see myself going back to Bahamas, maybe to a different island next time. By the way, its definitely not a cheap holiday by any standards. The food, the travel, the hotels are all exorbitantly expensive. Plus they all charge 20% tip on top of everything. And the hotels charge extra charges per day plus service charge on top of the room rates.

Still I loved it. The Caribbean is always the best place to relax, with the waters, the sun and the amazing vibe of the people. My all time favourite holiday destination...

Nassau(1)