Camel Estuary Rock 6.5.25
When planning the holiday originally the plan was a busy day then a less busy day and so today we are not doing very much at all. The original plan was to visit Port Isaac not for the obvious televisual connection (no I have never watched Doc Martin) but to partake of a meal at a Nathan Outlaw restaurant (he has a couple). However the menu at the selected restaurant was changed to a very limited option shortly before we came west (no doubt the majority like it – but the lack of choice was off putting) and so we decided to change horses and moved the booking to a restaurant in Rock.
As the sun is shining this morning it is pleasant to sit in the caravan and make progress with reading – the magazine backlog plus some chapters of Jamaica Inn by Daphne du Maurier are being tackled as I need to complete the latter prior to our last stay on this holiday. So far Mary Yelland has experienced a strange death, comings and goings and an entertaining Christmas Eve and the wilds of Bodmin Moor (which somehow seems less fearsome with a dual carriageway through it!).
We stayed in Rock on our last Cornish holiday (2013) and Nathan Outlaw was then resident in Rock in a hotel where we had an excellent meal as I recall, so the lost excursion to Port Isaac is regretted. Our new lunch destination is The Mariners in Rock which is owned by Paul Ainsworth who competes against Rick Stein across the River Camel estuary in Padstow although I suspect the outpost here is more the control of the resident chef. Parking is at the very far end of Rock and it is a few minutes’ walk back along the front to the pub.
We are very lucky in that the sun has come out today and it is warmer than we might have anticipated. We had an early lunch booking and there we could select a table outside – later diners could only sit indoors as the downstairs outside tables had all gone when we arrived as had some of those on the first floor. In front of us the Camel estuary has a number of sailing boats navigating their way around plus the ferries going back and forth to Padstow which add to the entertainment. Oh to have been here some 70 years ago watching the Southern Region services going back and forth along the line along the opposite shoreline into Padstow from Wadebridge. Sadly a different era – but it would have added to the activity. And from here would have looked like a neat model railway.
We go for a fairly simple option of fish and chips for main course and this is excellent. It may not be the largest serving on this coast having seen some of the competition – but it was first class and was followed with an excellent trifle which probably (after some consideration) is deemed better than the one we consumed in the Tartan Fox.
We wander back to the car and then back to Piran Meadows. Coming into Rock we had noticed a pastry shop so on our return journey we pull over and pasties are acquired for dinner later in the day. Very tasty and recommended if you are passing.
Given the weather it is ideal to make use of the hot tub once again – what a pleasant way to spend the day doing virtually nothing for once. And in the sunshine. Bits of me might even turn brown.