Padstow Puffins

So the latest little sojourn into domestic holiday delightfulness was the traditional pilgrimage to the lovely fishing town of Padstow.  We managed to go slightly out of peak season, which just means that the choking mass of humanity stifling the place is confined to the centre of town and avoids spilling out into the surrounding countryside too much.  Sadly, it also means the countryside is full of dogs and their owners, along with the associated noise and effluent.

Having thoroughly enjoyed our sea safari up in Oban a couple of weeks ago, we also booked a similar trip out of Padstow, not expecting the wildlife to be on the same level.  While disappointed by the total lack of dolphin and seal activity, we were pleasantly surprised that Padstow has its own (much less advertised) puffin colony, which was happily much more accessible.  If you're down there in the narrow window of the year when they are nesting on land with their colourful "breeding beaks" on, it's definitely worth the trip out.

Having previously trekked along the winding western coast out of Padstow to Trevone, we decided to take the ferry over to Rock and try the east side of the coast over to Polzeath.  We definitely preferred this side, which finds you winding between sand dunes and popping in and out of scenic viewpoints overlooking breathtaking coastline and picturesque beaches, not to mention the fact it's much less crowded.  On the stroll over there, we also looked out onto the island housing the bountiful bird colony we'd drifted contentedly around the day earlier.

Photos are popping up on the main site in their respective folders.  Given the event-based nature of a lot of the recent shots and the volume building up, I'm also going to have a go rearranging the bulk of them accordingly, rather than just splitting by topic.