Last week was a whirl wind trip to the South of England. Following a big family wedding, our close knit crew had a couple of days together visiting the Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Cornish coast.
The extensive gardens were created by members of the Cornish Tremayne family from the mid-18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, and still form part of the family's Heligan estate The place name, properly pronounced 'h'LIG'n', and not the commonly heard 'HEL-i-gun', is derived from the Cornish word helygen, "willow tree".
We walked through the main gardens, which are beautiful with ram-shackle greenhouses and old walls covered in climbing fig trees and lilac flowers. I'm not much of a gardener, but my brother is an up and coming horticulturalist, and was able to name every single plant we came across (not that i would remember them now).
We walked past the animals enclosure, where they were shearing sheep, to the delight of the garden's visitors. We were collectively appalled by the ducks in the neighbouring pond, as two males proceeded to duck a female - to the point we almost intervened to save her!
Beyond the animals was the jungle zone, with a rope bridge spanning the fern valley. This was the opportune moment for a family photo - even if it was next-level cheese.
The next trail we took was down to the coast where we spotted a field of bluebells overlooking the ocean. An English version of the Californian superbloom. Not as vast or as bright, but soft and and stunning still. We rested in this sea of blue for a while, before heading down to the beach where my bro and sisters boyfriend braved the Cornish waters. I waded in my Tevas, but didn't make the plunge (this time).
It was such a short trip I never got close to recovering from jet-lag and spent most of the time in a haze. Despite this, it was a great few days with family - a rare occasion when we found ourselves all together.