Minack Theatre

"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." Jacques Yves Cousteau
Rather a special day today, beginning with being serenaded by local builders (working next to the Airbnb) singing 'morning has broken' at 7.15a.m. - think I prefer the Cat Stevens version. We're booked in to the Minack theatre for this afternoon's peformance of 'Third Light' and the weather is just perfect, so I'll need to get the sunscreen on later. For the morning we're planning a visit to one of the tin mines in the area, suggested by the couple we met in Rick Stein's place last night. It's a relatively short drive, about an hour to St Just area and Levant mine and beam engine, a National Trust property on the cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. We combined the visit with a short walk, about twenty minutes one way, along the coast path to Geevor tin mine which has a much larger site and an underground tour. Our visit today was brief, we have an important appointment for the afternoon -  I've been keen to see a performance at the Minack for at least ten years and I was getting suitably excited as we made our way to Porthcurno to arrive in good time to get our seats. Stunning views all around from the cliff top as we made our way down the track into the theatre, collecting our lunch 'box' of Moroccan chicken and rice from Katie's street food near the entrance. We were in our seats about three-quarters of an hour before the performance, enough time to enjoy our lunch in the warm sunshine on the cliffs, with time for ice-cream afterwards from the kiosk. We'd come prepared for the worst with several layers of clothing; most - not all - got peeled off before the performance and used as padding for our seats (which are rock-hard of course). Whether it was the setting, the production - reluctant remembrance day veterans - or what, I found the whole event so moving, at several points I could feel the emotion building with tears just below the surface waiting to run down my cheeks. The stage setting itself is so dramatic, cut into the cliff face with a stage and a precipitous drop beyond. An incredible experience from start to finish and I am so glad I made the effort to come, one of those memorable experiences in life for me. At one point towards the end of the performance a seal appeared in the ocean below and a ripple went around the audience as attention switched from the stage to the head sticking out of the water gazing inquisitively up at us all, gathered on the cliff face. A wonderful afternoon's entertainment and, reluctant to leave, we paused for another course of the Thai fish curry from Katie's before returning to the car. There would be an evening performance later, so we left about 5pm, before the audience began arriving - the roads are so narrow it would be horrendous to attempt to get out with hundreds arriving. We were booked in to a place near Marazion, at St Hilary, so time to check-in, have an evening walk around the village and settle down to sort out our plans for the coming days. While we were in the area we thought of taking a trip across to the Isles of Scilly, but the boat trip would only give us a couple of hours on the island. Flights had had some limited availability - but they needed photo ID and we hadn't brought any! A phone call 'home' and P went to our place to get our passports, scanned them and emailed them to us. But would they be accepted? We have to wait until tomorrow to find out when the Airbus booking office opens.