Day #10
Leaving Mousehole
It is a shame to have to leave this place so soon, It was a really nice place to stay at. I think it is good to move around though when on holidays because we were starting to get used to being at this place and once that starts you are living there and you are no longer on holidays, so like a good little m*a*s*h unit it is time to pick up and leave. We do one more trip to their local post office to send more junk off. There we run into Alister again, and we talk about his job (he is a carpenter) and about tourism in the town. He thinks about 40% of the town is local residents (and 60% tourists). He also gave us his website of his cottage "for hire" (http://www.gonefishingcottage.co.uk) and asked us to tell all our friends about it (there I have done it, I have met my obligations ;). After that we bode one last farewell to Mousehole and then leave.
Penzance
We came here to do some shopping for the next place of stay (which I think will be quite isolated) and to do internet work + money stuff. The place doesn’t look as rough as I originally thought. It is after 9am and I guess all the rough nuts are at school, work, home etc. A lot of the young blokes (especially the big blokes) have shaved heads, so it looks like a lot of Alexei Sayles walking around the streets (didn't you kill my brother?).
We go to the post office to do more mailing :(, then go to the library to do internet stuff (checking a/c's, posting this diary, checking email), and then get some groceries. We then leave Penzance to head to our next place of stay.
Arriving at St Buryan Farmhouse (Barn)
Ok, now we are in the middle of nowhere. We travel for a mile or 2 down a road that is only wide enough for one vehicle, and has high hedges on both sides (makes for interesting sight-seeing). We eventually arrive at the farm (a collection of old stone buildings), and then drive to the barn. Yes, we are staying at a barn. We let one of the horses out to make some room for us, and we gather some tinder to light a fire. We then collect up some bundles of hay to make a bed. Just kidding ;), the place is a renovated barn, complete with kitchen, lounge-room, bedroom, toilet, shower, and washer/dryer. It has oven/microwave too. The lounge has a TV and DVD player. We have a "ye-ole" electric wood fireplace, and the obligatory heaters around the place. In fact, it got so hot up here at night that I had to turn the heater off (and it was still warm for ages afterwards). Barns seem to be very good buildings for retaining heat.
Sleep
We had a quiet afternoon, we walked around the paddock, spoke to some chooks, and then we lay down and read some magazines (I lay on their lounge reading NewScientist/Time Magazine - oh and might have played a tiny bit of computer games ;) ) under a skylight (combined with white walls and brown timber framed A-frame ceiling, gives a nice ambience). One annoying thing about this place is that there are no curtains on the windows (except the bedroom window). This means even when going to the toilet, having a shower people can (in theory) look in. I am sure that there is no human for miles (the main house is unoccupied at the moment), but even so, I find it disconcerting. The people who live here are probably fully secure in the knowledge that there is noone around but we strangers don’t share that comfort (only been here 1 night).
One funny thing, later that night Amy showed me how much frost was on the window by putting "claw" marks (in the frost) on the (full-length) glass door (another candidate for a curtain). I commented that it looked like some evil creature had been scratching the door trying to get in. She got scared from this point. She then tried to draw a heart but I said maybe some psychopath who knew we were alone, Suffice to say, from that point on I had to guard her when she went to the toilet. Unfortunately my frivolity backfired as my imagination started to crank up and the lack of the curtains on the windows combined with the absolute blackness. I had a hard time getting to sleep, and prayed that Amy would not wake up screaming from some nightmare (she had done it before and I dont think I could live through it again). I had some dreams about being chased by the mafia but that is another story again.
