The Virtual Traveller - Cornwall (long version)

Audio transcript:

It was Whitsun and I had travelled down to Cornwall for a week's break. So far the weather had been exceptionally warm, with clear blue skies every day - a real bonus for a bank holiday period! I was staying in Newquay, which is on the north coast of Cornwall and considered by many to be the surfing capital of the UK. My hotel was very near to the beach. It was in an ideal location and I'd been able to spend the last two days watching international surfers competing in an event, literally minutes away from where I was staying.

I had only ever seen surfing on TV programmes and in films. Watching it for real was completely different! There was a party-like atmosphere on the beach and the excellent weather helped make being a spectator all the more enjoyable. I watched in wonder as the surfers rode waves of up to 3 metres high! I marvelled at their expert skills and balance. They appeared to be completely in tune with nature. I particularly enjoyed the celebrations when a local surfer unexpectedly won the final competition of the day.

After the excitement of watching the surfing, I decided that during the remaining part of my holiday I should go sightseeing around other parts of Cornwall. I drove to St Austell on the south coast, which is about a 40-minute journey. Once there, I hired a bicycle. I planned to visit Cornwall's famous attraction - the Eden Project - which aims to improve visitors’ understanding of environmental issues.

I decided it would be appropriate to travel there using a 'green' method of transport. Cycling was also a great way to see the Cornish landscape too! Unfortunately, I was paying rather too much attention to the beautiful scenery and at one point managed to cycle off the track, landing in a rather ungainly and embarrassing heap, much to the amusement of other passing cyclists! However, on a positive note, arriving by bike meant that I bypassed all the queues of traffic and even got a discount on the entrance price for arriving without a car!

My first sight of the two huge biomes was breathtaking. I had never seen anything like them before. These enormous greenhouses are climate controlled and made from hexagons of glass, each about 9 metres across. The larger of the two domes was called the Humid Tropics Biome. Plants that usually grow in places like rainforests are housed in here, so as you can imagine, it was very hot inside! The smaller dome, known as the Warm Temperate Biome, is home to vegetation from cooler Mediterranean climates.