2nd try at Cornwall

Pictures for the family to see (Click on the pics to enlarge them)
This is a second attempt to get down to Cornwall ( after breaking down last year almost at Truro )

My Mam has just moved to a small place in the village of Peranporth. A flat incorporated into a bungalow. She needed some jobs doing ( plumb in washer / Cooker / fit up curtail rails/ mirrors etc ) So as before I loaded the GS and set of about 5.30 am.

The weather was absolutely pissing down and continued for the whole way... Joy.

My first planned stop was the first services on the M5 . I wanted to get through Birmingham traffic early and had to be careful because I had my ali' box's fitted to the bike with my drill and tools in and didn't want to sheer off hundreds of wing mirrors.

No real dramas on the way down and after a couple of PTP stops ( piss - tea - piss )I got to Peranporth about 1pm ( Mileage 341 ) . I didn't know where the bungalow was tucked away so I had arranged to get into the the village and call Mam from there . Unbelievably my mobile went flat as I tried to call so I had to treck through the village to get to a phone box ( I've bought a n emergency mobile charger since then )

View on the approach to the village.

Cafe / restaurant on the beachThe village is lovely and has a nice wee park in the middle

This is Mam walking back to the car from the bank, she's gutted as her money was not in.

During the week we took a drive over to Penzance to scout out a dressing table and a few other bits. The little Micra is running well.

It was pissing down again - apparently the worst week of rain for months ! Must have brought it with me .

This is a quick view of the penzance harbour
We managed to find a nice dressing table that was the perfect size and quality but had to hang it out the back of the car with plastic sheeting over it to keep out the rain.

Some pics of the flat , small but clean and just the job. The windows , kitchen and bathroom are all new.

Outside

Living room ( ignore by ali' bike luggage - they're not a decorative feature. ) I mounted the bookcase we bought high up on the as it ws hardly visible behind the sofa. ( On the first night I slept on my travel bed behind the sofa , as there was no curtain / pole up then , but I was right next to the storage heater which cooked me to death all night )

KitchenI had to plumb in the washer and go out and buy a heavy duty 60amp cable to wire up the cooker . B&Q wanted about £45 quid for a 10m roll but I manager to find a small elec distributor and got 2m off a roll for £4 !!

Bedroom- Not a bad size and with a couple of built in wardrobes , I also rigged up the pc that Mam is doing her college work on.Bathroom , with the mirror I hungWith all the jobs done I planned to go back on Saturday am . In the Morning we went into the village, I thought the car was handling badly and checked the tyre pressures ( they were really low ) checked oil , water etc and then had a cooked breakfast together, Luckily the weather was nice but was showing rain further north.
I left about 10.45 am and went back to the petrol station to fill up , I put all my waterproof gear on as I expected rain and set off at 11.00.

On the way back somewhere on the m5 around Exeter I thought water was running on the inside of my visor and tried to wipe it away, suddenly the visor was flapping all over the shop and almost Tore off in the wind.

I stopped under a bridge out of the rain and found the side retaining clip had disappeared !! Luckily I always keep some gaffer tape taped onto the inside of my pannier lid so I taped it up and stopped at the next service station.

I decided not to go back all motorway so took a left and went over the severn crossing into Wales the plan being to go up the Border road ( Hereford Leominster , Ludlow, Shrewsbury , whitchurch )

I managed to ride one handed and took a couple of snaps on the bridge
View over to the new bridge , a bit dodgy as there was quite a crosswind

On the way back ( Ludlow I think ) I called Dig & Emm to see if they were in as I had to ride through Shrewsbury hadn't seen them or the the baby for a while ....as usual no answer, so I called into Julie and Neal's at Northwhich for a PTP stop . At Whitchurch there was a diversion as 9 miles of the A49 was closed so I had to route around Chester which was a bit of a pisser. Anyeway made it home and gave Mam a ring to say I was home safe.

Total mileage for the trip was 709 miles

Steve , Tony, and Dig, I hope this gives you an idea as to where Mam is and you'll get yourselves down there in the summer for a few days, it's worth the trip and there are loads of companies on the internet who rent cottages for the week etc.

Dave