South by south-west

The four songs that have been on constant rotation in my head since my first (and quite possibly last) foray into the world of surfing on Saturday:

1. 'Surf Wax America' - Weezer
2. 'Kill Surf City' - The Jesus & Mary Chain
3. 'Surfin' USA' - Beach Boys
4. 'Let's Go Surfing' - The Drums

As we're in desperate need of a solution to rising sea levels, perhaps I should offer my services - after all, armed with just a surfboard, I managed to swallow half the Atlantic...

The discovery that neither Jen nor I are any great loss to the world of surfing came at Harlyn Bay in Cornwall during a four-day holiday blessed by the most gorgeous weather, particularly Sunday and Monday.

Recommended: our three B&Bs (Pencarmol in Boscastle, the Golden Lion in Padstow and Glanmor in St Ives), our choices of venues for evening meals (the Riverside, Pucelli's and the Sloop Inn) and the majority of our activities and stop-off points (walking from Tintagel to Boscastle; the Museum of Witchcraft; Harlyn Surf School; the National Lobster Hatchery; the Minack Theatre; beach walks in Padstow, Portreath and Mounts Bay; a wander around Mousehole; sampling the wares at Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm; and crazy golf at Greens - even if you do take 12 shots when your opponent flukes a hole-in-one...).

Not recommended: going to Land's End, which appears to be a brand not a place. Better to avoid the tat, tourists and innumerable excuses to leech you of money and go to Cape Cornwall instead.