TR Newquay Day 2

After a good nights sleep listening to the sea washing against the rocks, a full breakfast in the restaurant sets us up for a mornings walking. We set off down the slope that leads directly down to Fistral Beach. A thick sea fog has descended and its quite eerie, you can only see about 20 or so yardds in front of us yet they are still surfers wandering around (presumably looking for the sea) the lifeguards are patrolling in there vans , calling out that the mist will lift in 30mins or so and not to go in the water until after that time. Halfway along the long beach we come across a group of a dozen or more surfers sat in a circle on the sand practicing with their "surf school" teacher. It's quite an amusing sight, especially as you can hardly see your hand in front of your face, let alone the sea. We finally come to the steps at the end of the beach that lead back up to the cliffs above. Nestled in this corner is a small wooden building on stilts which has a bistro/restaurant on the second floor "The Windswept Cafe" (Wetsuits Welcome), we will be having lunch here on our last day

The Windswept Cafe

We head back in the direction of the town, which in comparism to the harbour and the coastline is a truly depressing example of poor town planning, we quickly depart and climb back down to the beach. The tide is out so are able to walk around the headlands to reach Tolcarne Beach, a lovely expanse of white sands and traditional changing huts. There's a small restaurant and we call in for a drink and watch the sea and soak up some sun. Its hot today, hot enough for the water to be tempting. As it turns out as we walk back the way we came; our destination the New Harbour Restaurant, we have no choice but to take to the sea as the tide is coming and will reach the headlands before we can pass. Shoes removed we paddle around the headlands passing some worrying sites on the way!

Reginald Perrin anyone ?

Dont worry, the owner did return after a quick dip. Out in the sea a Navy Frigate? has appeared this morning and set anchor. It appears to have a team in this weekend's sea rowing races which we can see taking place out in the bay. Today it's the ladies' teams and we can hear the commentary as we walk back through the water nicely cooling down and working up an appetite for lunch. We are going to The New Harbour Restaurant which sits right on the harbour and had been recommended to us by a friend. We had booked in but on arrival appeared to be the only people having lunch so we grabbed a table right in the centre of the terrace on the harbour's edge. I ordered Fruits de Mer and Jackie the Moules Marinere (not technically correct as the mussels came with cream in the sauce, strictly speaking marinere does not contain cream just wine and shallots). My selection was a good plate full of Lobster, Mussels, Crab and a whole Mackerel. Both dishes were very good however I dislike restaurants that seem to make every other item an addition :Salad, Bread, Fries are all extra charges and how are you suppose to eat mussels without bread to dunk? Good wine and we were kept entertained by the ladies rowing and the five resident harbour seals that follow the boats around. Jackie insisted on purely sinful scones with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam as a dessert, will have to walk even further tomorrow to get rid of the calories.

I told you we should have set off earlier

We then returned to the Hotel and decided to work of some off those calories by trying the pools. After some time in the outdoor pool swimming and sunning ourselves we moved indoors to try the jacuzi and sauna. Then it was time for a shower and to dress for dinner.

Feeling totally fished out we decide to try the Cornish beef. Fillet Mignon for Jackie in a simple red wine sauce and Sirloin for me which came with a pepper sauce. Though tasty and cooked well I think its best to stick with the fish as I soon became bored with the dish. A steak has to be extra special for me to enjoy, think Shulas at the Swan and Dolphin WDW. A rather fruitless strawberry and rhubarb tart finished Jackies meal but left her wanting. I chose cheese (again) which is not going to do my figure much good but I have no sweet tooth and lots of red wine left.

The New Harbour Restaurant