Alf

Ever tried to get a Taxi in Cornwall? It's hard!

I was down the West Coast continuing my trend research for SS11...Why Cornwall I hear you cry? Admittedly not really a fashion capital as such, but it's by the coast and the boats are pretty - enough reason for me.

On the second day we got the ferry over to Rock (the Island is called that). FYI don't ask the little fisherman ferry driver guy for "a receipt for expenses" - it's frowned upon and the locals laugh.

Upon getting to Rock, we realised there was very little there and tried to call a taxi to escape. "Ocean Taxis", had one taxi which was busy for the next three hours and the "Luxury Taxi firm " had two phone numbers both of which went through to an answer phone repeatedly...stranded. We asked in the lone cafe for another number, we were introduced to "Alf", he was supposedly really nice and we should give him a call...I did.

Alf was also not available for the next few hours either, BUT could pick us up from our hotel later, swing past picturesque Port Issac and take us to the railway station - perfect...Alf to the rescue!

Alf picked us up from the Hotel and drove us the 40 minute journey to Port Issac, where we wanted to take some more photos. We only needed an hour and so he said he'd wait for us and pick us up at quarter past four, bags were heavy so we asked if we could leave them in his car, he said that was fine..."See ya Alf! See you in an hour!"

WHAT?!?!?!?! Yes you read right, we actually did it...Why would we leave all our possessions in a stranger's car? Why would I go back and put my coat in there as well? Why did we think this man who we had met 40 minutes earlier would not steal our stuff? My BlackBerry with his number was in the car, in fact in the car I had left the following...

• New Burberry Bag
• Personal BlackBerry
• Work BlackBerry
• Clothes
• Shoes
• Wallet with cash, bank cards, company card.
• Train Tickets
• Oyster Card
• Door Keys
• Passport
• Work Pass
• Coat

Seriously, why didn't I just phone him up and let him know my PIN number and blood type? Oh yes, couldn't, he had my bloody phone!

For that last hour, needless to say, I was panicking slightly. Sure I wanted to relax take in the last few beautiful sights of the coastline (and it was beautiful) but wasn't really in the mood - how would I explain this to work, how would I explain that the three of us had basically handed over everything to a complete stranger and all we knew was his name was "Alf"?

Luckily for us Alf made a re-appearance and even joked when we got to the station and he handed us our stuff..."oh good, you're stuffs still here"...queue nervous laughter.

What have I learnt? Well, just because I'm out of London and I'm enjoying the countryside does NOT mean I should trust random old men...oh and I need to pack less.