I spent my last day in Penzance—and, indeed, the last day of my English Dream Trip—chatting with the good folks of Estoril, packing my things (yet again), and watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones (during lunch—six seasons in, and I’ve yet to learn the dangers of that particular food pairing). I have my priorities.

Since the three nights I’ve spent in Estoril was the longest of my English Dream Trip, I got to know the owners quite well. Eddie and Nong have been running the place for the last six or so years, and the hotel room itself has been one of my favourites so far. Crucially, the memory foam mattress is pure magic—my bad back/shoulders/hip flexors/everything were appeased when in bed, and I’ve honestly never slept so well in a foreign bed.

The breakfasts were also wonderful, with my two favourite items being the fresh fruit salad and the daily homemade croissants Nong bakes every morning. I missed out on the croissant yesterday, so I made sure I was down at breakfast in time for my fair share today.

I love those fruit bowls!

Glorious croissants!

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I’m around halfway into my five-week Humble Tour, which is probably about time I hit a snag. I’m not talking about the usual transport/delay/getting lost/what the heck is going in London Paddington snags, which are pretty much inevitable while travelling, but the much more unpleasant and difficult (for me, at least) snags of bad health and feeling sick. This is mostly because I am a super duper weakling who’s suffered from both WoW injuries and PhDitis—and I’d also like to go back to the start of the game and keep rolling until I max out in Constitution.

Another (more plausible) explanation for the general ugh-ness this morning might’ve been my massive trek yesterday, but that would be logical and boring. Instead, I’m going to blame the foul weather, because rain, wind, and 15 degrees Celsius does not a summer make.

For the entire morning and a good chunk of the early afternoon, I just stayed in the hotel, phoned my parents in Sydney (hi mum, I’m glad you’re enjoying these posts!), washed my underthings, caught up on some TV on iPlayer (finally finished BBC’s Shakespearean Upstart Crow—hilarious stuff!), nibbled on my various snacks, played Sailormoon Drops, and so on. Eventually, I decided to brave the weather and head to St. Ives (£2.65 return)—except I can’t read properly and had a platform/train misunderstanding, and ended up in St. Ives an hour later than expected.

A sign from a legal firm in Pnezance. The Poldark reference was both epic and slightly concerning.

I was quite surprised that, despite the horrible weather, the water was still pretty!

Trying to make the scene more summery.

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My hotel (Estoril; £60/night)’s memory foam mattress played a large part in ensuring I had a (relatively) good night’s sleep, with the other significant part being yesterday’s general zombism. I filled up at breakfast (the homemade croissants are delicious!), and was fortunate enough to meet Grace and Steve, a couple celebrating their anniversary (congratulations!) who were also thinking about heading to Land’s End today. Given my genteral plan was to bus it there first, we decided to go there together. Yay unexpected travel buddies!

It turned out an all-day bus ticket is £10 (a return to Land’s End would’ve been £7.50), so we all forked out a tenner, and climbed on top of the open double-decker. All the super fun (and windy) times!

Funfunfun (even though I got whacked a few times by passing foliage)!

At Land’s End, I was treated to a much-needed cup of tea, before the happy couple and I parted ways. My plan was to take the coastal route down to Porthcurto, and possibly meet them there for lunch. Someone at Land’s End said the walk would only take about an hour, and that seemed very much doable…

…except it took me over 5 hours.

Not sure how I feel about the apostrophe situation here…

At the edge of the world (until Ausland was discovered)!

Granted, I’m fairly slow and constantly stopped to take in the view and shoot some piccies, but the walk/hike was on uneven terrain, and there were some pretty steep climbs.

The best of everything (clouds notwithstanding).

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