Tuesday 2nd July:  Weather: 14°C to 19°C: Overcast with Sunny patches

Walking:  8k circuit walk to Trenance Gardens Barnecutt's Baker then return to Pentire

Time:  6.30am to 8.30am 

Accommodation: 14a Wyfold Rd Fulham SW6 London

Highlights was catching up with Ian and Robbie in London to start our Wimbledon adventure.  They flew Jet2 from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Stansted Airport, while I flew Eastern Airways from Newquay to Garwick and we met up at our booking.com apartment at 14A Wyfield Rd Fulham.

My day started early at 5am and after a quick cup of tea and more packing, I leave at 6.30am to walk 4k to Barnecutt’s Bakery on Hever Rd Newquay.  My plan is to buy a loaf of their wonderful multigrain bread to take with me to London to make sandwiches for Wimbledon tennis.  It’s a cool 14°C and a bit overcast as I hurry to get there when they opened at 7.30am as yesterday afternoon when we called in on the way back from Polperro, they had sold out.

Returning with my box of bread, I have coffee and bread and jam while John reads the latest news on the Fire at the California Hotel just over the road.  I reweigh my bags as Eastern Airways is strict with both checked weight of 15kg and cabin bag weight of 7kg.  I wear three pairs of tracksuits and 5 layers of shirts and jumpers to make sure I’m under weight.  It’s a 35 minute drive to Newquay International Airport and we arrive at 10.45am and I say good bye to John - see you next year!

I check in no problem at all with bag weight and go through seurity to wait in the small lounge where there's a few hundred people waiting for Easyjet and Aer Lingus. There’s a few passengers called over to the airport assistant who is weighing and checking bags.  I saw at least 6 people who were told either their cabin bag was too big, or they couldn’t take 2 bags on board, and were told to pay £50 extra to have their bags checked in and put on the little trolley taking them to the hold at the back of the plane.  It was very clear when I booked that my seat cost £40 and one bag in the hold would cost £50 - that’s the way budget airlines operate. So these people were trying to avoid that hefty baggage cost.

The flight left on time at 12.40 and the turbo jet only took 45 minutes to get to Gatwick.  There was barely enough time to serve a snack of a really nice cup of tea with two shortbread biscuits - typical being a Scottish airline.  My bag turns up on Number 11 conveyor belt almost as soon as I exit, and I decide to see how easy it is to get to the train station at Gatwick South Terminal.  Easy! I am so impressed with Gatwick - very clean, well signposted to everywhere, and within 10 minutes I’ve tapped on with my credit card and on the train heading for Clapham Junction.  It’s almost a 30 minute trip, and Clapham Junction is a bit of a maze, but a station attendant points me to the right exit to get a BOLT taxi.

A long walk dragging my wheeled duffel bag, and I order a BOLT for £12 and I’m taken directly to 14A Wyfield Rd Fulham through busy school traffic, arriving at 3.30pm.  Meantime, Ian and Robbie’s Jet2 plane had been delayed in Dubrovnik due to storms and they arrive in Stansted where they get a Uber, cheaper than the train for three, to the house, arriving at 4.30pm.  After a lovely reunion, Ian walks to the local Co-Op just down the road to buy dinner of bacon and eggs, and stuff for sandwiches for tomorrow’s Wimbledon Tennis.  Ian makes his cut lunch now, ready for his early start to queue as when we shared out the Wimbledon tickets, today was my turn with Robbie and Ian will queue for a ground  pass. 

Dinner is simply bacon and eggs with salad and after fiddling with the TV for an hour to download BBC2, we’re able to watch the tennis at Wimbledon, then bed at 10pm