Having visitors always gives us a reason to see some new places on the Island or to return to the ones we like the most.

As this summer started with a road trip to the West Country and lovely few days in St. Ives, I wanted to end it the same way.

Because Jason is currently visiting from Vancouver, we packed the car up again on Friday and drove down to the far end of Cornwall.

The weather in St. Ives was not as stable as in April, but this place is lovely no matter what.

As we booked our hotel quite late this time, we only got a place a mile outside of town, which made us walk a lot and luckily we found a really lovely coastal path that leads into town.

Over the course of the weekend, we really only caught a few sunny spells – each efficiently used for an ice cream break.

The rest of the time we just walked through the drizzle and got curly hair…

And when it got too bad, we just escaped into one of the many bars and restaurants with sea views.

Eventually, the Sunday morning looked quite promising with sun rays on our breakfast plates.

So being very optimistic, we booked ourselves on one of the many mackerel fishing boats – all in the name of research, as Jason is working on an animated fisherman short.

These mackerel fishers in St. Ives really have a genius business model: You pay extra to do the fishing yourself!

I was quite pleased that it all turned out differently – for me at least. After lunch, the rain came back and I had a great excuse to escape the fishing trip. I love fish – on my dinner plate – but I’d rather not see how they’re caught and killed. So I had two extra hours in the lovely ‘balcony’ bar with the sea view. And when the two came back totally soaked, looking like they took a shower in their clothes, I was even gladder that I did not go. Plus all they caught were 4 little fish – less than the amount of fish we ate over the course of the weekend!

But they took photos of everything and could tell me all their fishing stories, like about the seal that wanted to steal their catch. I think I’m happier seeing photos in the warm car on our way back to London, than seeing it for real on the deck of some wet boat.