We know that for many of you will be heading down to Cornwall for the first time this year. It's a great time of year, you'll see fields of cornish daffodils coming into flower, hopefully get some much needed sunshine as well as taking advantage of the days getting longer. But, the weather can play a big part in what you can do.
Kim has come up with her top tips for ideas of what to do when you are down in Padstow, so pack your waterproofs and a picnic and get outside and try out some of these ideas.
TAKE A WALK......
"My favourite walk is from Padstow to Stepper point. Take the coast path out of the town and make your way all the way to the headland. From here you can see miles of coastline all the way up to the Camel estuary (see photo below) one way and then down towards Harlyn Bay the other. If you are lucky you will be able to spot seals basking on the rocks below. Take a picnic or flask of coffee and sit and watch the wildlife and birds busying themselves getting ready for nesting season. If you do this walk later in the year pop into 'Rest a while cafe' right up at the headland. It's a small tea room at the back of the old Coastguard Houses and does the best Cream teas ever!!"
This walk is approx 6 miles on easy paths, and is suitable for kids and dogs
Above - the view up towards Padstow and the Camel Estuary
TAKE A TRIP TO ROCK......
We do sometimes think about other things than food, but one of our favourite things to do is take the ferry over to Rock and go and eat at the Blue Tomato Cafe. Time your visit either for breakfast or lunch (both are equally good!) and you'll be treated to tasty, locally sourced food served by a bunch of great people with views back over the water to Padstow.
If you need to walk off some of the food after, and it's low tide we love walking up along the beach towards Rock beach and Draymer Bay. If it's high tide you can get onto the coastal path just at the back of Rock Quarry car park
Have a look at Blue Tomato's tasty menu and their opening hours here
http://www.bluetomatocafe.co.uk
VISIT SCREECH OWL SANCTUARY....
Kim's favourite place to take her Grand-sons, this low-key Owl sanctuary is such a fun place for both kids and adults. Its situated about 25 mins South of Padstow, down towards Newquay airport.
A great opportunity to get up close and personal with a varierty of different owls from around the world, most of which have been hand-reared for conservation purposes. You get to handle the tame ones and can ask all your questions to the extremely knowledable staff. They can tell you about all the different species and also speak to them about their owl hopistal and rehabilitiation back into the wild - its fascinating.
Each day has schedule of different activities with up to 3 different times for flying displays. There are also lots of other small animals like goats, donkeys, Racoons, meetkats and emus. So make sure you allow a whole day there as there's loads to see and do. You can even book one on one experiences with some of these animals? fancy meeting a racoon??
The sanctuary opens ready for half term on Saturday 15th Feb, and their website updates daily to show the activities on each day
https://screechowlsanctuary.co.uk
Of course we always know about the food options, and there is tea room on site that serves great cakes, scones (of course!) and a variety of sandwiches and snacks. There's also a fab childrens playground thats almost worth the trip alone!
Please do make a trip over there, we love what they do and without everyone's support they won't be able to continue the fantastic conservation work they do for our local wildlife.
a Barn owl
AND IF ITS RAINING?....
Surely not in Cornwall we hear you say!!! One of the best things to do in town is visit the National Lobster Hatchery, located just down on South Quayside.
An invaluable part of our marine world in Cornwall, the hatchery is a leading research centre into Lobsters in our British waters and works tirelessly to educate and research better ways of fishing and breeding them.
They also hatch Lobster eggs, looking after them until they are big enough to be released into the sea. This increases their survivial rate by about 1000% and it's a vital part of the survival of our local species.
You can look around the hatchery, learn about lobsters, local fishing and what they are doing to help conserve the species. You can also book kids into their Mini Marine Biologist Activities over the half term week, where they can meet the baby lobsters and get involved with some hands on activities.
It's so worth a visit and a big part of our community here in Padstow. They are providing a life-line to our local fishermen and with their help and research should ensure that lobsters remain in our local waters for many generations to come.
and if you need more ideas then of course we recommend wandering the streets of Padstow seeing what all the lovely, local stores have to offer. High streets are becoming a thing of the past so we're very proud of our thriving retail community and hope you can make time to pop in and see us on Duke Street
See you soon,
Kim x
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