Month: December 2025

Hembal Manor 11 – 15 December 2025

16 December 2025 / admin / 0 Comments

Falmouth Maritime Museum 12.12.25

11 December

The dear old A303 and then the A30 are covered today as we head to Hembal Manor, an excellent house for a family or similar party. There are nine of us in total congregating for a pre-Christmas “Christmas” just outside St Austell.

The outward journey is the easiest ever drive on the A303 and as it is dark and grey I decide to drive the entire distance. Not recommended is the Ilminster service area – despite the actually quite good refreshments from Greggs – the toilets need attention! Also on the downhill three lane section I am identified as having achieved 72mph in the Tiguan (I would question if it is capable of such speeds so must have been a following wind). Oddly had I allowed Jackie to drive she would have been behind the wheel on this section.

The Tiguan is also noted for not having a satnav worth using and it so proved again today as the only route it can find into the destination is along a road in need of much repair and which I miss at the first attempt as the road swings left and it does NOT tell me to turn right at the appropriate junction. Another car coming to the party uses the same route in as I cannot find the road in from the other end (and I have been here before)!

12 December

Today two of us go to visit the Maritime Museum down in Falmouth and I can heartily recommend it. Not huge but an amazing collection of different styles of boats from across the world each with a little story to tell. It also has great views from the top over the adjacent Falmouth Sound and the bibbly bobbly boats (many of which are out of the water at this time of the year).

Heligan Light trail 12.12.25

In the afternoon we drive down to the Lost Gardens of Heligan for the light trail in the grounds. All excellent and it probably seemed further to walk than was actually the case. The annoying thing was that for some reason we were parked away from the main car park which added to the distance covered for no obvious reason.

Dinner was booked for the Tartan Fox at Carvynick Holiday Park. However the satnav decided it would take us to Carvinnik Farm – which is close to Mevagissey on the south coast of Cornwall and the Tartan Fox is close to Newquay. Whoops. We get there eventually and I decide stern words are needed with the satnav system when we get home.

13 December

Cloud Bridge Eden Project 13.12.25

Also close to Hembal Manor is the Eden Project and this is visited in day time. Since my last visit the entrance has changed dramatically and the parking seems to be a long way away from the entrance. The two domes themselves are little changed although in the main dome all of the vegetation has reached maturity and is impressive. In the Mediterranean dome it was largely freshly planted on my previous visit and is now mature. This is probably not the best time of year to visit this dome.

Up in the air 13.12.25

Not for the faint hearted is a many step climb to the very top of the dome which would have been beyond me – but a number of the party managed it.

Other areas have been added – externally there has been a lot of planting and further landscaping. A pair of zip wires stretch across the entire site (although are seeing little use this afternoon) and another major area has been added (Core) which is purposed at the moment to provide entertainment for children.

It remains an amazing development and again there are lights in the evening – but we decided not to do a second extravaganza.

14 December

We spend most of the day watching television apart from a lunchtime excursion to the Polgooth Inn where I enjoyed a turkey roast (well it is all part of Christmas this year) and a gentle drive back to the Manor. Two of our party left us this morning so it was first farewells as they departed. We then watched a selection of Christmas and other movies. We tried the Polar Express which has been such a success in recent years but neither of us like the story line and decide after about 30 minutes to revert to other content – an episode of a comedy programme which Jackie has been enjoying was shown so that we know all about liking circuses!

15 December

Time to brave the A30 and the A303 back home. The journey is punctuated by two main events. Firstly a stop at The Hub a small but very welcoming restaurant at Tintinhull where we had excellent coffees and carrot cake and could not stop for one of their grander offerings. Heartily recommended and one to remember.

Less welcome was the traffic jam on a single track section (but we were on a dual carriageway) following an accident. For a while we only move as cars use a cut through to return on the other carriageway but the diversion was lengthy trip through some villages but it is uncertain if it would have been quicker than staying with the queue which we did.

Paphos 28.11.25 – 5.12.25

6 December 2025 / admin / 0 Comments

View from Hotel room Paphos 28.11.25

We have been to Paphos before – but not since I retired so it was well over 10 years ago. Last time we hired a car and toured along the coast and also visited the Troodos Mountains. This time we were going with the hope (subject to the weather) of seeing some winter sun and getting away from the domestic cold and those slate grey skies which have been prevalent throughout 2025.

A particularly early flight out of Gatwick was offset by using valet parking. Take the car into the right car park, hand over the keys and walk across into the departures area to drop cases and then go through security. On this Friday morning it is pretty quiet and apart from the usual need to inspect my carry on bag we are soon through the other side. A decent breakfast courtesy of Sonoma and then the usual wait for the plane to be ready. It is at one of the nearer gates which makes a pleasant change. The flight is full and it is a 4.5 hour flight to Paphos – earphones in and away we go.

We are staying at the Amavi which is one of about four major hotels along the sea front and I can heartily recommend it – after all at reception we are offered an upgrade and end up in an impressive fourth floor suite which has a balcony with loungers, table and chairs and is completely protected from the prevailing wind – meaning we can enjoy fresh air all the way through the week.

The hotel has extensive grounds and allocates residents a pair of sunbeds for the week – it is relatively quiet this time of year but in the busy times it means there are no towels reserving sunbeds or similar. It is also quiet. We do not see anyone in the outdoor pools as they are probably simply too cold. We do not use the indoor one as we prefer the open air. We only use the sunbeds a couple times – but the weather is warm enough to mean we can return with some tan rather than none.

In the peak the hotel has three special restaurants. At the time we visited the outside ones are closed but the inside one operates in two different formats – half the time serving European food and on other nights it is a Japanese menu as it seems this is in favour in Cyprus at present – it seems to be on offer elsewhere.

Paphos Wine Tasting 4.12.25

On the first day we were supposed to go on a local tour with wine tasting but regrettably (and without being told) it was cancelled – all funds re-imbursed. We had expected it to go ahead having had an email the previous day and quite why no-one managed to let us know it was cancelled we did not understand. (Autogenerated emails from Trip Advisor are not to be trusted it seems). Later in the week the hotel organised a small wine tasting and I can confirm that there are some excellent local wines available with the Persephone being local to Paphos apparently – and from a winery we should have visited!

During our stay we wandered into central Paphos and since our last visit the main front has been pedestrianised and therefore it all looks a little different. It no doubt makes it far safer but it seems quieter – but that may just be the time of year. It is obvious that there has been some development away from the main front and this includes “The Lodge” a newish restaurant serving South African barbecue food where we dine one evening. Recommended even if the service is just a little rapid.

On the main front we stopped in Aphrodite’s Secret and selected some excellent supplies – so many nuts that we brought a lot home and some wines. They also told us that one of the wineries we had been due to visit was not actually that good (no names) so we may have had a lucky escape!

A restful week and the temperatures were around 20 deg C – slightly warmer on some days too – which makes it pleasant. We had thought about visiting the Roman remains and the Old Town but decided to save those delights for a return visit at some future date.

However a decent week away despite the high winds one one day and I am told we ended up under budget.