I am much perkier now, slowly getting back to being fully fit, but it's been a slow and at times demoralising process. Some days I am fine, others less energetic and a bit down. The medical profession, despite sending me off for some unpleasantly invasive diagnostic tests, have been unable to identify an underlying cause. I am convinced that I am suffering from some kind of long term post viral problem - perhaps COVID related. The nurse practitioners I have seen agree that it's a likely explanation, but the doctors are very reluctant to confirm this as a diagnosis because there is no definitive test or recognised treatment. In the end it comes down to self care, pushing yourself enough to keep improving, but not so much as to trigger a flare-up and ending up completely fatigued. However, I am much better than I was, work in progress!
We decided to stay at the same campsite as last year near Lanivery, it is quite close to the Eden Project. So far as I am concerned that's the only thing going for it. It's up a classic Cornish high banked single track road, a few hundred yards from the main road. If you are lucky you get a straight run at it, we weren't and met a series of school taxis transporting kids home from the nearby special school. It involved some intricate reversing into farm driveways. I am not that confident manoeuvring the van in tight spaces despite the tens of thousands of miles I have driven it, including some fairly hairy roads in Greece and southern Italy.
So I was in a less than positive state of mind when we arrived. The place itself did nothing to lift my spirits. On the face of it there is nothing wrong with it, indeed it is tended to the point of being manicured like a garden - lovely but feels prissy. The owner fancies himself as a bit of a comedian, constantly wandering about spreading what he takes to be bonhomie. I can't be doing with it. So inevitably the place is full of Mr and Mrs Bucket type caravanners, I just know they are all Tories and they just know we are not. Inevitably the shower block broadcasts Cornwall's commercial talk station, ablutions with the Carpenters, Abba and Coldplay interspersed with idiotic chat. The showers were good though, bordering on the luxurious, but given the choice I'd choose Spartan peace and quiet to spa style luxury serenading ne Karen Carpenter with 'Yesterday has Gone', of course it has, that's what yesterdays do!
However I'm pleased we made the effort to return to the Eden Project, it's a unique, life affirming place. It gives you hope in a world that feels somewhat bleak at times. The place's positvity became obvious even before we reached the entrance gates. It's a few hundred metres between the car parks and the big building housing ticket booths and a gift shop. Half way down we came across a member of staff attempting to weed a serious infestation of evening nightshade from underneath a steep bank of azaleas. Gill paused to sympathise, observing that the rear of our garden was similarly blighted by the weed which was creeping in from the woods at the back of it. The guy had no particular tip for keeping the invader at bay - just hard work and perseverance. It turned out he was not some highly motivated volunteer with an eco conscience, he was the boss, or at least one of them, part way through our chat he mentioned he was the Eden Project's Director of Horticulture. A challenging and wide ranging job, I would imagine, given that the place has two biomes featuring flora from the Tropics and Mediterranean as well as acres of native planting. What he said about managing visitor expectations was interesting - striking a balance between the re-wilding aspect of the place and its function as a botanical garden. Too many weed incursions and the place looked unkempt and scruff, too pristine and it lost its 'eco' vibe and becomes just another park.
We had a plan. Visit the Mediterranean biome first then have lunch at the cafe there. Then explore the Tropical biome.
We felt quite at home in the Mediterranean biome, after all for the past decade we've spent a third of our time there, olive trees and garrigue are as familiar as mixed woodland and peat bogs.
The cafe did manage a Mediterranean vibe, though since the place prided itself on sourcing ingredients locally the salad dressing had a base of Cornish organically grown rape seed. It was delicious and just as 'layered' as something produced with one of the first press extra virgin olive oils that we assiduously cart back with us from Italy and Spain. The future really does lie in localism, flying avocados from Peru makes no sense at all.
Opposite the cafe entrance a section of the Mediterranean garden housed a sculpture exhibition. The figures were wild and Dionysian, a bit scary as befits nature spirits. I liked them.
We headed for the rainforest Biome, it's probably the most spectacular part of the Eden Project. Visiting it is 'what did for me' last year. It's a steep, a snaking 50m climb to the top of the enormous geodesic bubble.
It feels steeper and higher than it actually is because the interior replicates the different climatic 'layers' of a rainforest. The humidity is stifling by the time you get to the top, the thermometer showed 43°, but felt somewhat hotter. This time I coped ok, I need to keep pushing myself, psychology plays a big part in feeling healthy, if you get into the habit of always staying within your comfort zone then you are never going to improve.
In particular the tropical flowering shrubs are stunning. My new phone camera has an improved macro function. An ideal opportunity to test it out. I think it's impressive.
It felt good to return to the Eden Project, it is an inspirational place. I am sure we will return.
We headed home next day. At a stretch I guess you could drive from Cornwall to Buxton but we decided to break the journey at a canal marina that caters for motorhomes near Droitwich Spa. It was fortuitous that we did because a major accident on the M5 near Taunton closed the motorway for a few hours creating traffic chaos across most of Somerset. We were delayed for about three hours.
The parking area at the marina proved to be lovely, well designed like a French aire de camping car. If there were more places like it we might use the motorhome more in the UK. I would be less likely to go off on a diatribe about the bungaloid culture of many British caravan sites.
It helped that it was a beautiful evening in late June, the view from the back of the site was nothing special, just open fields and a big sky, very English. Though Worcestershire is a long way from Suffolk the photo I took reminded me of a Constable landscape.
We wander around southern Europe for months at a time, abroad for more than a third of the year, but I love the English countryside too. Sometimes it's just nice to be home.
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