Features

United Kingdom - No place like home

by Judith Randall

I had a moment of enlightenment at the weekend that I am compelled to share with you. The moment began whilst driving along the A303..... With the hood down on my car, as the landscape opens up I looked up at the sky... briefly of course! I noticed something. Well a lack of something, the sky was a beautiful blue, not a cloud in sight and more amazingly there were no plane contrails! What a perfect sky!
This was the beginning of my theme for the weekend, no planes. No queues, no people, no waiting, no scary thermals or sitting for hours bored... here I was driving along in the sun, a whole vista before me. Being off the beaten track is as much mental as physical.

So here is my suggestion for all you relentless explorers: take yourself and your chosen transport to another part of the country and let yourself go mentally and physically. Forget the clichés regarding holidays in Great Britain. Find a space of your own, I did. As I walked across the hills that caress the pebbly Chesil Beach all I could hear was the delicate bleat of a lamb and the occasional moo of a calf calling its mother in the valley below. Looking up into a big sky that was flawless and so blue I forgot where I was and bathed in it.

So my friends try this. Put your overseas wanderlust on hold until later in the year. Get yourself and your favourite transport back out there and give your own country a fresh new look, I think you will love it. You know what they say, the more you travel and see the world, the more you love your homeland. So here are some suggestions for you:
Kayaking Cloud Nine: six days for £575 pp with Wilderness Scotland - Head north of the border, by car or train, and get close to nature during a six-day sea kayaking break. Kayak through the wildlife-rich waters of the Sound of Arisaig, camp in the wild and explore the white sand beaches of Scotland’s magical west coast islands. Departing 2 May, 4 July, 15 August and 12 September, it costs £575 pp (£599 in Jul & Aug) including five nights’ camping, all meals, transport throughout the trip (starting/finishing at Inverness mainline station), kayak/camp equipment and guiding. Graded moderate. Call Wilderness Scotland on 0131 625 6635 (www.wildernessscotland.com).

Quintessential Cornwall at The Crown Inn – rooms for £79.95 - Explore one of the most scenic parts of Cornwall during a visit to The Crown Inn, a quintessential Cornish pub in the peaceful village of Lanlivery. Enjoy bracing walks along beaches or over brooding Bodmin Moor and try stepping out from Polruan to Looe on the Gribbin Head-Polperro Heritage Coast, before returning to the comfort of the inn for a glass of real ale in the flagstoned bar, followed by lunch or dinner in the restaurant. Double and twin rooms from 30 April to 30 September cost £79.95 including a hearty breakfast. Call The Crown Inn on 01208 872 707 (www.wagtailinns.com).