When we sneaked up to Orkney in the not too distant past, we enjoyed the standard visit to Johnny Groats for a selfie at the top of GB. This place is the most southerly tip of mainland GB so warranted a nose around too.

The campsite is about 7 land miles from Lizard Point, we had to double back to Mullion to join the right road and pass through Lizard Village, which seemed stuffed with tourist shops and pubs, not much parking that was accessible to the Big Red Van, so we followed the signs to Lizard Point. And breathed in as the road got narrower. And narrower. And so narrow that an inch either way would have spelled disaster for the Rosso Profundo paintwork.

The car park itself was plenty spacious and free for national trust members. There were several walking paths around the headland, according to the information point outside the Johns. We mooched down to the viewpoint/lifeboat/beach/cafe.

The pathway down to the lifeboat station was steep and v. busy. The views out over the rocks were very grand, despite the crowds of people and drones. The boy child dragged KB down on to the sand to look for big seaweeds. There should have been plenty judging by the niff. It was so aromatic that the girl child informed me that my legs smelled better than the air. I still don’t know how to take that.

This is supposed to be the sunniest spot in Cornwall and gets the most sunshine hours in the UK. It must have exhausted this year’s supply pretty early by the time we got there. Extra murky.

We headed back up towards the ice cream shed to make purchases and to peruse the small yet perfectly formed gift shop.

The drive back out was slightly less traumatic, although the fact that the one way system around the car park is only signposted in a very half arsed way led to a close encounter with an Audi which would have been better avoided.

You can walk up to the village along a separate path, between 2 stone walls at the side of the road, which in comparison to the road looks like the best way to travel.

I think this whole trip for me has highlighted the fact that you have to forward plan every inch of the route, the stops, and the parking to be able to relax and enjoy yourself. Finding that you can’t get to or stop in the places you want means you have to think and plan a way around. A big van lesson learned after lots of last-minute Google mapping and street viewing. When there’s signal.