We’d been on the road since silly o’clock, crawling through every set of traffic lights between Bristol and the A30, when the sat-nav decided we needed a quick detour through a farm track that was clearly meant for tractors only. By the time we’d reversed out of a hedge and picked the last bits of bramble off the bumper, we were both laughing like idiots and wondering whether St Ives was actually a myth.

When we finally rolled into town the light had that soft, late-afternoon glow that makes everything look like a postcard someone’s overdone the filters on. We parked on the steep lane above Spernenwyn and lugged our bags down the stone steps, the sea already winking at us between rooftops. The cottage sat tucked against the slope, its slate roof catching the sun, and the front door opened straight onto a little patio where two rickety chairs looked ready for a proper cuppa.

Inside it felt like someone had thought about what you actually want after four hours in a car: a sofa that didn’t mind sandy feet, a kettle that boiled in thirty seconds flat, and windows framing nothing but blue. We dumped the bags, kicked off our shoes, and wandered straight back outside because the beach path was literally at the end of the garden. Five minutes later we were on Porthminster, shoes in hand, watching the tide slip in across pale sand while gulls argued over a discarded pasty wrapper.

Back at the cottage the fridge had been stocked with milk and a few Cornish goodies; we made tea on the patio and watched the light slide off the headland. It was the sort of quiet that makes you notice you’ve been talking non-stop since the hedge incident. I found myself wondering how often we actually stop moving long enough to hear waves instead of the radio.

By the time the sun dipped we’d only managed a slow wander into town for fish and chips, eaten them on the harbour wall, and still felt like we’d arrived somewhere that didn’t need an itinerary. Spernenwyn already felt less like a place to stay and more like the pause button we’d been promising ourselves for months.