TRURO — Today was all about getting me and my luggage to Cornwall, specifically Truro. I checked out of the hotel and into a shower of rain. I hadn’t realised it was raining and my umbrella was well and truly packed away—requiring a mad dash to Paddington Station and cover.

First thing I had to do was get my BritRail pass validated; this required joining the end of a queue at the ticket office. Luckily it wasn’t too long before I was back outside watching the departures board. Once the the train has been cleaned and serviced, the platform number is displayed and passengers can board. There was a bit of a hiccup locating my coach. I had a seat reserved on coach D but coach C was followed by coach E. It eventuated that coach E was actually coach D.

The train left on time and it wasn’t long before we were out of London and travelling through the countryside. The weather was overcast most of the way, with the sun only showing itself once or twice. The journey took about four and a quarter hours including some stops along the way. We must have been travelling quite fast in places as at one point, running parallel with a motorway, we were leaving the cars behind.
Shortly after leaving St Austell, the last stop before Truro, I made my way to the end of the coach to get my luggage and ready myself to alight. A woman also getting off at Truro noticed the koru on my luggage label and asked where in New Zealand I was from and what I did. It turns out she teaches at Bristol University but had taught at Massey’s Albany campus, in the Marketing Department I think, a few years ago. Small world.

Once off the train it was off to the Hertz office to pick-up the rental car—a black Ford Focus Zetec 1.6L. Remembering my experience with the rental I had last time, the first thing I checked was how easy it was to get the car into reverse. I’m pleased to say there wasn’t a problem. Turning out onto the road though, it was apparent that I had forgotten that the indicator stick is on the left not the right. No doubt I will be switching the wipers on many more times in the near future.

The bed and breakfast establishment I’m staying at was very easy to find, literally just around the corner from the railway station. I’m in a temporary room for the night (at a reduced price) as the shower in the room I was originally assigned is playing up and is scheduled to be fixed tomorrow.
Once settled in, I went for a walk to scout out the location of the Cornwall Record Office. As expected it is less than a five minute walk away, so I guess I won’t be using the car all that much over the next few days.

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