For the very first time in a very long time, I find myself in a holiday location so remote and unserviced that there is no kind of connectivity whatsoever. There is no landline to use, no mobile phone coverage and certainly no wireless internet coverage. In short, we are completely isolated, and I only write this today in the hope of driving a few miles to where there are rumours of a BT Openzone wireless internet hotspot. That said, if you're reading this, it must have worked. The only other point to bear in mind is that I am unlikely to be able to send as many updates as I would normally, or certainly that they will all come in bursts rather than singly. If you have been emailing me and wonder why there is no response, this is why.
I used the word freedom in the title of this blog entry, and it is this freedom to which I refer. I simply haven't been out of range before and it has a liberating effect. Far more pleasing than I might have imagined. This seems to emphasise to me my need for a full and complete break from everything. I have been getting these messages from all departments of my life so perhaps now it is time to start listening.
The Jacuzzi bath was absolutely the most fun, although I think I may have flooded the place.
Our first night was spent at the Hatton Court Hotel in Upton-St-Leonards, near Gloucester. It's a nice little hotel and I would only fault it on two things: The poor quality of the breakfast and the fire. It would be fair to say that I have not previously stayed at a hotel and experienced a fire before. The fire engines arrived reassuringly promptly and it was all over in just over an hour, but sleep was not easily achievable thereafter. The laundry in our wing was damaged, but the fire did not spread. we spent an hour waiting around in the courtyard and finished up by having a large free drink in the hotel bar, courtesy of the management.
No-one was hurt, but it caused a fair old adrenalin rush. It's interesting to note the thoughts which go through one's head as one leaves a building without even a pair of glasses. We took time to get dressed after a fashion, but there was not time to rescue my laptop or anything other than Fiona's handbag and my phone. For a short while we faced the prospect of losing most of what we had brought with us. Very sobering.
Breakfast the next morning was rubbish.
If I had been a non-resident paying £12.95 for this breakfast I might have asked for a refund. The sausage was large, penis-like and tasted rather "gamey". Even if it was OK, it was a dinner sausage and therefore inappropriate. The bacon was black and obviously old - too long in the fridge. Other elements were OK, but nothing special. The poached eggs were just barely soft in the middle, avoiding total criticism by a whisker. I shall be setting up a Breakfast Blog separately from this one one my return home. I will leave a full account of this breakfast there, along with many others. The new blog will be reachable from http:www.friedbreakfast.com
The drive down to Cornwall was pleasant, punctuated by many places we thought were in other parts of the UK. I can't remember them now, but I do remember several times saying "I had no idea this was in Somerset/Cornwall." So, if you know of a place and are not quite sure where it is...
Coverack is beautiful, and the Coverack headland doubly so. Upon arriving, we instantly knew that this was the kind of remote haven we could learn to love, and learn quickly. The only persistent sound is the wash of the sea into the shore and since we have been here the sun has never been far away - apart from at night of course. Actually that was a stupid thing to say, because it is always far away. It's just that...well, you know what I mean.
We ate creatively last night, of tomato soup and sausage sandwiches. Proper sausage. Nice sausage. Cooked in our little apartment sausage. It's not palacial here, but it suffices, and there is a very pleasant 30 foot balcony to sit out on in the warm sun. It's quite easy to believe that one is in paradise here.
Hopefully, these pictures illustrate how great the scenery is. What is harder to pass on, is the total peace and quiet. No car noise, no bustle of a village or town. Nothing. Even the other residents in this fine old building are quiet and well-behaved and this is definitely no place for lager-swilling types who want to paint the town red. No town, see.
So today we will visit the Goonhilly Earth station and seek some broadband coverage with which to send some email and this blog. Later we may go down to Lizard point, returning here to get on with the serious business of doing all but nothing.
Thanks for reading all of this. Have a great day.
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