Thursday

The rain is back with a vengeance, but today's activity is mostly indoors - we're off to Future World at Goonhilly. Tom Tom takes us on an interesting route down single track roads and through towns and villages with unlikely names. Alex is most amused to see there's a place called the Lizard.

Future World wasn't quite what I expected, with more focus on sustainability and less on space. Not that I'm complaining! It was an imaginatively-constructed programme, beginning with a short film, then a guided bus trip to another venue where we moved through three distinct zones where the evolution of communications technology and energy were explored. The final zone included a survey of our views on different aspects of the future and the results were projected onto the wall before we left. There was plenty to see at the main visitor centre, too.

There was a chance to tour the site on Segways, which Alex was very keen to do - and he just made the minimum height limit. But when we got to the Segway area it turned out he was too light to control it properly, and should have been weighed before our booking was taken. They were very good about it, though - he got a private lesson in the car park and a full refund. He took to it easily, controlling the Segway perfectly despite his lack of weight.

On the way back, we stopped for a cream tea and then Tash and I attempted to go shopping in Perranporth, but sadly because so few people were out in the rain the shops closed early. One of the shopkeepers reassured us that the weather is due to improve at the weekend - but that's not much consolation when we're leaving!