Motorhome travel: Captivating North Cornwall

Beautiful scenery, warm weather and entertainment in abundance - Helen Werins discover the exotic side of Cornwall...

Exotic palm fronds quivered in the breeze and bronzed lifeguards looked out over golden expanses of fine sand. A delightful chorus of Asian songbirds filled the air. We spotted fruit doves and peacock pheasants through dense jungle-like shrubbery in humidity that had us longing for the largest ice creams we could find.

It may sound as if we’d been sunning ourselves in southern California or exploring lush tropical islands, but we’d actually been experiencing all these natural wonders in north Cornwall, putting on its finest display of scenic beauty for us, with fabulous weather to match.

I really could imagine I was on an exotic Indonesian island as I wandered through the rainforest dome of the Eden Project. Even surrounded by ice lolly-waving youngsters in Newquay Zoo, a sense of more exotic climes came with the walk-through tropical house.

An epic journey to Newquay

It certainly felt like we’d been on an epic journey to reach our first campsite at Porth Beach, Newquay. As we set off from our overnight stop near Halesowen, the sat-nav gave an arrival time of 2.15pm. However, at the start of a holiday weekend, it was actually 8pm by the time we’d pitched.

Imagine our relief when, just before dusk, we were strolling above Porth Beach just minutes from our spot. Children were still dabbling in rock pools as we walked across Trevelgue Head and on to Porth Island to watch the gorgeous sunset.

Our views extended to the harbour at Newquay and towards the surfers’ paradise of Watergate Bay, with temptingly pretty beaches in between in both directions. Was our tiresome drive worth it? You bet!

With this great first impression still fresh in our minds we trailed the coast on our 20-minute walk to Newquay next morning. While Newquay town is probably the antithesis of glamour, what it does have, in bucket and spade loads, is a spectacular coastline – no fewer than 11 outstanding beaches, with three of them right below the town centre. One of the most memorable moments of our trip was an al fresco dinner on the terrace of Pizza Express with the sublime sunset backdrop of Tolcarne beach.

Sophie, our teenage daughter, loved exploring caves and tunnels in the rocks at Whipsiderry beach, on the other side of Trevelgue Head. Clambering down another steep flight of steps, she disappeared part way up one of the enormous boulders to emerge, much to my surprise, from its base around the other side.

The Eden Project's unique ecosystem

Superlatives come thick and fast in this neck of the woods; actually, make that rainforest. Ten minutes after leaving Roly, our motorhome, in the coach park of the Eden Project, we were serenaded by birdsong, catching fleeting glimpses of scurrying lizards and roul roul partridges and with the heady scent of exotic flowers filling the air. This unique ecosystem that brings the rainforests of the world under one roof is in a massive dome (biome), but we got the atmosphere of the tropics and all the colour, cascades, ponds and palms.

It was surreal. One minute we’d be walking past shops and ice cream sellers in a linking corridor between the rainforest and Mediterranean realms; the next we were scanning a jungle for lizards and birds as we began our ‘journey’ around southeast Asia, South America and west Africa.

The rainforest biome was, without doubt, our favourite part of the Eden Project – rare and exceptionally beautiful plants and flowers thrive here, from the spider lily to the vibrant pink Madagascar periwinkle and a critically endangered bottle palm found only on Mauritius.

A symphony of birdsong greeted us as we entered the tropical house of Newquay Zoo for another exotic ‘treat’.

Birds of every colour whooshed across our paths. Fruit doves and crested wood partridge, peacock pheasants, red-tailed laughing thrush and Javan green magpies – of which there are less than 100 in the wild – were a joy to watch.

The Atlantic has shaped Cornwall’s coastline into dark cliffs, hidden coves and some of Britain’s best beaches. We walked along the clifftops towards Mawgan Porth, retreating to the cliff path for some peace and those dazzling views again.

Driving to our second campsite, Mother Ivey’s Bay Holiday Park at Trevose Head, the sky darkened and the rain lashed down.

Watergate Bay was almost unrecognisable in the gloom, almost devoid of people save for a few stoical surfers. By the time we reached Bedruthan Steps the rain had reduced to a fine drizzle, making me cling on to the rails of the 120 steep and slippery steps down to the picturesque bay and more huge boulders.

We arrived in sunshine at Mother Ivey’s in time to enjoy the cheap and very tasty charity beach barbecue. Never has a bowl of homemade chilli with cheese and tortillas tasted so good as when watching the evening sun sprinkling the waters of the campsite’s ‘own’ sheltered soft sandy beach.

Fish and chips at busy Padstow

Intrigued by Padstow’s claim to fame as a foodie destination, but rather put off driving narrow lanes to get there, we caught the bus from Harlyn Bay.

Arriving on the quayside at Padstow we were surprised by enormous queues outside Rick Stein’s ‘chippy’ and the dozens of people sprawled along the quay enjoying their takeaways.

Seeking a quieter spot, we headed up an only slightly more peaceful side street to buy fish and chips from Chips Ahoy and they were as fresh and tasty as any we’ve eaten.

Sophie and I then walked to see the deer in the grounds of the Elizabethan manor, Prideaux Place. We joined a path towards Hawker’s Cove, a lovely sheltered sandy beach, which is about a mile from the town centre along the South West Coast Path and yet feels a world away from the overcrowded harbour area.

On our final day we were spooked by the sight of the immense Round Hole as we headed towards Booby’s Bay and Constantine Bay. We didn’t dare venture near the precarious-looking edge, although we could hear the roar and thrash of the waves far below.

The sun was making an extra effort to show Cornwall in its best light that final afternoon. Our views across first Booby’s Bay, then Constantine Bay to Chair Cove beyond were spectacular.

As we watched children rolling down the steep dunes at Constantine Bay it made me realise just how much I miss being beside the seaside.

This article was published in full in the February 2019 edition of MMM magazine - buy a digital back issue copy here. Or, never miss an issue again by getting a print subscription here.