Tuesday, 11th April, 2023

After one last breakfast at "The Fieldings", we left to head towards Port Isaac. On the way, we made an unscheduled visit to the Screech Owl Sanctuary. As the name suggests, it is the home of a parliament of owls together with a few other creatures. Unfortunately, the weather had changed and it was very cold and quite rainy. This fact, together with the inability to take good photos because of the way there were barriers in front of the aviaries, made me feel that it wasn't a great place. Luckily, a keeper came past with a little owl (liitle in terms of size and the name of the species) on her hand. She stopped and chatted and allowed me to get a couple of good photos. After a warming cup of tea, we went to the barn for a flight demonstration. This was excellent and I could get great photos. Then we decided that we would pay an extra £40 for an owl "experience". This allowed each of us to hold three different owls over a half-hour period. This, too, was excellent. Not only were we able to hold owls (something neither of us had done before) but we could also get great photos!




The breakfast room at "The Fieldings"




The camera struggled to take clear photos through the wire but this one and a few others are OK.



It was so cold that the meerkats stayed indoors and peered out at us!


The Little Owl



"I just don't get what the people find so interesting about these things!"



This pygmy goat decided that this was as far out of his rooms that he would go.




An owl in flight during the flight demonstration



A kestrel was part of the flight demonstration.



A British Barn Owl was another participant in the flight demonstration. They are almost totally silent when they fly so as not to warn their prey of impending doom.



This barn owl was named "Spicy".



"Aztec" is a Spectacled Owl.




The third owl we met was "Iggy", an Indian Scops Owl.








We then made our way to Prideaux Place at Padstow. It seemed to be even colder and wetter by then! We had a tour of this Elizabethan mansion. The guide was very enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable and everything was either "lovely" or "interesting"! Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos but it was an enjoyable and indeed "interesting" tour nonetheless.





The carrot, orange and ginger soup was delicious!


The next stop was Port Isaac (the filming location for the TV series "Doc Martin". It seemed to be colder and wetter again! Satoshi ventured out to see some of the locations but I decided to stay in the warm and dry car while I checked up on our next destination, Tintagel Castle. Some of Satoshi's photos are below.

The tide was out at the harbour,



This is Doc Martin's house.


Very disappointingly, there was a message on the website "Unfortunately due to high winds the castle is currently closed". I was very dispirited about that because I had been wanting to visit Tintagel since I was quite young, having an interest in the Arthurian legends. As we were staying at Camelot Castle Hotel for the night, we headed to Tintagel anyway. When we got there, I could not believe the wind! I don't think I have ever been in windier conditions. At times, it was literally difficult to remain upright. Camelot Castle Hotel was built in 1899. There are views of Tintagel Castle from the hotel so at least I got to see it from afar. As you can see, it is quite quirky. I'm looking forward to sleeping in the four-post bed! The hotel's restaurant proved to be an excellent choice for dinner and we returned to our room. It was at this point that I regretted my decision not to complete a journal entry last night. There were 235 photos to sort through from yesterday and then 199 for today! It only took three and a half hours! The hotel concierge thought that there would still be a possibility of the castle opening tomorrow. We shall see.

A view of the coast from Camelot Castle Hotel



Our room with the four-poster bed




The staircase down to the lounge area. Note the "round table".



Part of the ruins of Tintagel Castle



This bridge saves visitors having to descend and then ascend 140 steep steps. It was installed in 2019.



Looking at the trees and bushes will give you some idea of the howling wind.



An elegant table for discerning diners! (We liked it too!)


Today, the money that had been taken out of our account by the original car rental company was returned. It was a total of around $5000 as they had taken the insurance bond out twice. This was a great relief! We still need to try to get a refund for the actual rental fee that we paid months ago. We shall see.


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