Polka Spots and Freckle Dots: Newquay Zoo

Saturday, 17 September 2022

Cornish Adventures 2021: Newquay Zoo

On the last full day of our holiday to Cornwall, we visited one of our favourite local attractions; Newquay Zoo.

Every time we holiday in Cornwall, we always make time for a visit, so we couldn't leave without continuing our decades-old tradition.

Newquay Zoo is a small but lovely little zoo on the outskirts of the popular seaside town of Newquay, which you'll probably know is famous for its beaches and surf culture. It has an interesting collection of animals to see, with everything from lions and wallabies, to penguins and tapirs, although, there are few big creatures and most of their menagerie is made up of smaller animals like monkeys, lemurs, and birds. This doesn't make a visit any less exciting, but if you go in expecting to see elephants and giraffes, you will be disappointed.

We visited just before midday on a slightly drizzly Friday last September. Due to Covid restrictions, we prebooked our tickets online, and also rented a mobility scooter, which cost a non-refundable £10, as the zoo rents them in from another company. It was easy to collect on arrival, and the helpful staff also provided us with a map of the recommended routes around the zoo as it is hilly in places, and the scooter had all the stamina of a sloth.

We had a fun couple of hours wandering around seeing all the amazing animals and plants. I particularly loved seeing the slow loris, tapirs, capybaras, and otters, and even saw a couple of species I'd never seen before, like the wildebeest and the dusky pademelon- a type of wallaby from Papau New Guinea. The wildebeest were cuter than I was expecting, and had the most amazing long eyelashes. The pademelon had such sweet little faces. Also, have you seen the 'eyebrows' on the Philippine spotted deer? Someone should've told her that over-plucking is never a good idea.

I also enjoyed walking through the peaceful Japanese-style garden by the otters and hornbills, and looking out over the lake, which has little islands home to lemurs and marmosets, and is edged with so much greenery. We were a little late in the season to see the gardens at their best, but I always enjoy seeing the huge hydrangea bushes blooming in the summer, and they have so many interesting sub-tropical plants you don't see every day further north in England.

It only took us two and a half hours to get around the whole zoo at a leisurely pace- even with rest breaks- but as someone with chronic pain, I find its small size makes for an ideal day trip. It's big enough to be fun and interesting to visit, but small enough that it's less tiring to explore than many other zoos in the UK. It's still a challenge, but I usually only need a few days to recover instead of a month. You could stretch out your visit to a half day, but you'd be pushed to spend a whole day there without doing laps. It's okay, though- it leaves you more time to spend soaking up the sun or catching some waves at the beach afterwards.

Of course, we couldn't leave without browsing the gift shop. No, seriously; we couldn't. They cheekily make you exit through it. I didn't buy anything this time, but good luck getting out without making a purchase if you visit with kids.

We had a great day at Newquay Zoo, and it was a lovely way to spend the last day of our holiday. We're heading back to Cornwall again this month, and I've no doubt that we'll be back for another fun day out. We just can't keep away.

If you're an animal lover and ever in North Cornwall, make sure you pay Newquay Zoo a visit. It's well worth exploring if you're in the area and want a break from visiting beaches and harbour towns.

When did you last visit the zoo?

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Holidaying in Cornwall During The Pandemic 2021

In September, I finally made it back to Cornwall for another holiday- and only a year later than planned (thanks, Covid).

It was my first holiday in four years, and only my second in over a decade, so it was a long over-due, and much needed break. The trip already seems like so long ago, but with the cold weather creeping in again, I can't help but long for those lazy, late summer days by the sea. Luckily, I don't have too long to wait for another taste of it, as we're heading back to Cornwall again this summer, but while I impatiently count down the days, I thought I'd reminisce about last year's holiday with some blog posts about my week away. Well, I have been meaning to write about my holiday since last autumn!

My older sister and I spent a week down in Perranporth in north Cornwall, a place we've been visiting since we were babies. Our parents actually had their honeymoon in the area in the seventies, and our family have holidayed there ever since. We've been so many times, it's more like a second home to us than a holiday spot, but we love the place, and never get bored of visiting it. So many people turn up their noses at the thought of holidaying in England and saw staycations as a consolation prize when they couldn't travel abroad during the height of the pandemic, but we purposefully choose to take holidays to Cornwall now and then, and have always enjoyed these trips as much as any holiday abroad. Those who don't see the appeal in English holidays have clearly never visited the coast in Cornwall when the sun is shining. With its golden sandy beaches and pretty harbour villages, rugged coastlines, and green countryside, it's such a beautiful part of England, and I can honestly say it's one of my favourite places in the world.

We had a lovely week chasing the last of the summer sun; sitting on the sea front watching the waves and eating copious amounts of ice cream, revisiting some favourite places, eating delicious local foods, and relaxing to the sound of the seagulls. We visited beautiful Padstow; took a tour bus along the coast from Perranporth to St. Ives; sat on Porth and Perranporth Beach sea fronts, visited Newquay Zoo, paddled in the sea, gambled pennies in the arcades on rainy afternoons, cruised along coastal roads, and explored some of the countryside where the roads were as narrow as paths. It was blissful.

We couldn't take as many day trips or spend as much time on the beach as I would've liked, but that's okay. We had to do things a little differently with both of us challenged with chronic pain, and nobody to pick up the slack of driving and heavy-lifting when we were low on spoons, as my brother-in-law was away on a deployment in The Falklands. We were sensible and fit in more rest and relaxation time, and stayed locally instead of exploring further afield most of the time, so that we could make it home again in one piece at the end of the week. It was the right balance for us, and sometimes restful holidays are exactly what you need.

The best fried breakfast I've ever eaten from Gridl in Newquay. The little Cornish spinach omelettes were incredible. (I asked for an extra sausage instead of bacon as I hate it, so they gave me both, and Marie got to enjoy extra bacon). They have so many Full English options, and do veggie ones, too.

I actually enjoyed lounging in our accommodation, this privately-owned, three-bedroomed caravan nestled in a quiet spot in the dunes of Perran Sands, with the doors open to let in the warm sea breeze, and the battle cry of the seagulls overhead. It was lovely to have a change of scenery to resting in my bedroom back home- even if the seats and sofas were so uncomfortable my backside felt bruised by the end of the week. We spent our down time watching movies, eating delicious treats that we picked up on our day trips, and played Animal Crossing, Monopoly, and Rummikub. I wanted to get through a couple of books during our time away, but neither of us could get comfortable enough to read on those God awful chairs. What psychopath decided to make caravan chairs so uncomfortable??

Despite going away in September, we were really fortunate with the weather, and even got several days of blistering sunshine in the low thirties! It was so hot for the first half of the week, it didn't even feel like England, and I came home with a million more freckles from being out in the sun. I'm a freckle magnet. The weather had people flocking to the area, and the beaches and seaside villages were busier than I've seen them since the nineties, when less people holidayed abroad. It was a little stressful to be around such big crowds of (mostly) unmasked people during the pandemic- though I masked up, and we took Covid tests twice to be careful- but also lovely to see so many Brits enjoying the places we've loved all our lives. (Although, I'm sure the locals didn't agree).

All in all, we had a fantastic holiday in Cornwall, and I loved being back in my second home. I pushed myself to my limits to enjoy as much as possible, and did more that week that I had in years. I can't wait to return again this September, revisit my favourite places, and hopefully get to visit some new ones this time, too. Hurry up September!

I'm going to blog separately about some of the places we visited, including Padstow, Perranporth Beach, Newquay Zoo, and the tour bus trip we took along the coast, so look out for them, coming soon.

Have you ever visited Cornwall? Do you prefer to holiday at home or abroad?

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Cornish Adventures Part Two: Newquay Zoo

While we were on holiday in Cornwall last month, we didn't have any of our time planned out, but there were a few favourite places we all agreed we had to visit before the week was up- St. Ives, Perranporth, Padstow, Rick Stein's fish and chip shop, and Newquay Zoo.

On the Tuesday morning, we decided to check another place off the list, and headed out bright and early to visit the zoo, set on the outskirts of the popular seaside town of Newquay.

We arrived at the zoo just before opening time, but we were able to park up, and happily waited for it to open. When 10am came and went with no sign of the gates opening, my first thought was that they must had suffered some damage during the storm the night before. We'd had a full day and night of heavy rain and 100 MPH gale force winds on the Monday which felt borderline apocalyptic, so it seemed like the most plausible explanation.

When the gates finally opened twenty or thirty minutes late, my suspicions were confirmed. They'd had to close half of the zoo to the public because of damage from the storm, but they were offering half price admission, and free entry if we returned again with our tickets during the following seven days. Since we had all visited Newquay Zoo countless times before, we were happy with that, and decided to go in anyway, which only cost us about £7 each. Result! Cheap day out!

My sister and I have been visiting Newquay Zoo since we were kids, and have probably paid a visit to the place during every holiday we've ever taken to Cornwall (which is many), so we know the zoo well, and didn't mind that we couldn't see everything because we'd done it all before. They'd said about half of the zoo was cordoned off, but it was more like a third, and luckily turned out to be the area with few animals and more plant life, so we didn't miss out on too much.

We spent about two hours wandering around the zoo enjoying the sunshine that had finally put in an appearance, and of course, all of the animals that we saw- monkeys, macaques, lions, capybaras, penguins, lemurs, warty pigs, parrots, lizards, snakes, farmyard animals... to name but a few. My favourites had to be the adorable slender loris in the nocturnal house, the armadillos, and the tapirs, which are one of my most favourite animals. What can I say? I like the weird ones! Did you know tapirs are closely related to rhinos, and that they can whistle? No? Well, you do now!

I was a little disappointed that we couldn't spot the lynx, and that the area with the otters was cordoned off, but we did get to see a peacock displaying his pretty feathers when we stopped for a drink at the kiosk. I would've liked to have got closer to him to take some better shots, but he wasn't a happy peacock, so it was safer to keep my distance, and make do with these crappy photos instead. (Sorry for the quality of these photos; I was using an old point and shoot because Rosie had broken my Canon with her teeth, and I couldn't afford to replace it).

Newquay Zoo doesn't have many large animals- lions, lynx, and tapirs are about it- but they have a wonderful menagerie of smaller animals, and enough variety to keep a visit interesting for people of all ages.

It's quite a small zoo- smaller than The Cotswold Wildlife Park and Twycross Zoo, to give you an idea- but it's a lovely little zoo, and beautifully designed with lots of trees, plants, and flowers everywhere, and even a small lake. It only takes a couple of hours to walk around the entire zoo to see everything, but it's the perfect amount of time for a day trip by the coast because it leaves you more time to spend at the beach afterwards! You could stretch it out to a full afternoon if you took your time watching all of the animals, stopped for a bite to eat, and took your kids to the playground, but it usually takes us no longer than three hours.to make it out the exit after an enjoyable visit.

You have to exit through the gift shop, so of course, we gave it a good browse before we left. I came away with a couple of small dream catchers- one for myself, and one to take home for my younger sister.

We all had such a great time at the zoo, and I don't think any of us felt our visit was spoilt just because a good chunk of it was inaccessible. We were more than satisfied with all the adorable animals we did see.

As a huge animal lover, I've always loved a good day out at the zoo. I've even done work experience in a couple! I just love being around so many weird and wonderful animals. Whenever I take a trip somewhere and there's a zoo nearby, you can be sure I'll find time for a visit; even if I've already been there before, like I have Newquay Zoo.

When I was seventeen and planning to go to uni once I'd finished my National Diploma in animal care, I was actually all set to study a foundation degree in Newquay's Cornwall College very close to the zoo. The course would have actually involved some work with the zoo, and part of my interview involved doing a project there with a few others. I can't remember exactly what it was about, but I think we had to evaluate or come up with improvements for a habitat. I just remember that we chose the tropical house because it was February and fucking freezing outside! I ended up getting cold feet about moving away from home a month before I was due to start the course because I was so incredibly shy at the time, so I dropped out, and I still regret it all these years later, even though I know I wouldn't have coped. While we were at the zoo, I couldn't help thinking what could have been, and what my life could have been like now if I had gone through with it, but I guess I'll never know. I just know I would have loved it if it meant I got to work at Newquay Zoo now and then!

We did consider returning to the zoo again later in the week to do the sections we missed out on, but we never made it back in the end. We were too busy visiting lots of other awesome places. After our trip to the zoo, we headed back to the holiday park for a rest, and later Marie and I went in to Perranporth, browsed the seaside shops, and sat looking out over Perranporth beach with the most amazing Snickers ice cream from a local ice cream parlour. It was heavenly.