Friday 24th February 2017
That is, we're still here on The Golden Coast Campsite near Woolacombe - and we've still got 2 weeks of our booking to go! However, we're beginning to wonder if it was a bit of a mistake to stay so long in one place - mainly because of the site's location in relation to easy access to other places. I think I've mentioned before, the road way down to Woolacombe isn't brilliant for walking because it's along a fairly busy road with no pavement, and the only other way on foot is via muddy steep fields, but either route adds 5 or 6 miles to wherever else your going! Hey ho, stop complaining Lin - at least we don't have to go to work!
So what have we been up to? Well after Storm Doris on Thursday, Friday dawned with bright blue skies and lovely warm sunshine, so we decided to have another little excursion on the Tarka trail, but this time our journey was only 38 miles with our destination being Instow and back.
Along the way we stopped off numerous times to watch all manner of wading birds feeding on the estuary, as well as to read the 'numbered posts' that inform you that the trail is part of North Devon's UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. From these you can learn about work that is presently being done and what is planned for the future, and at each post you can scan the QR code into your phone to find out more!
After about 2 hours we arrived in Instow, and after cycling along the sandy estuary edge we found a comfy bench where we could put our feet up on a wall while we sat and munched our sarnies. Just across the water we had a lovely view of Appledore, and for our additional entertainment, we watched the tide rushing in, along with loads of dogs and owners playing with their balls on the beachπ ⚽π!
We lozackedπ there till about 3ish and then set off on our return journey but on the way home we had another unfortunate incident! No - I didn't fall off this time, but once we'd left the Tarka Trail we'd got about 5 miles to go down little country lanes that lots of π use, and many of them were extremely narrow. Now, you can imagine how wet and muddy everywhere was after all yesterday's rain - then add in a generous amount of ππ© that a recent passing π had just dropped across the whole width of the road for a distance of about 100 yards - and an on coming car that required us to stop and put our feet to the floor! However, at least it didn't spray us, so other than uttering an odd expletive, we didn't think much of it at the time, and when we got home we followed our usual routine of taking our shoes off outside and popping the bikes away in the garage. But all evening I kept thinking 'what's that horrible smell', and when John opened the garage door on Saturday morning the whiff nearly knocked his socks off - our bikes definitely needed a good clean!
Saturday 25th February 2017
Well, you can imagine what the first job today was! However, it was another horrible day with heavy rain forecast for the afternoon, so we decided it would just have to be a 'work' day. John did outside and I did in, and literally, everything got washed and cleaned including T4rdis2, bikes and clothes - but it was all done in a couple of hours so we had the rest of the day for a bit more R & R π.
Sunday 26th February 2017
Flipin winds back and the skies are overcast and dull, but looking on the bright side, it's not raining...... YET. So what should we do on a windy dull Sunday when nearly everybody else on the campsite had gone home! We definitely wanted to go out after being cooped up all day yesterday, so after dithering about all morning we finally decided to nip down to Woolacombe for lunch at the Red Barn (pub). We arrived about 2ish and indulged in a pint + fish and chips for John and a Jacket spud for me, and once that had been scoffed we decided to TRY to go for a walk on the beach.
Woolacombe Sands |
So as we'd achieved our goal of getting out for a couple of hours, we were quite happy to turn tail and start making our way home - but by the time we got there we were more or less soaked through - and as we sat and sipped our warming cuppa we noted that the wind was shaking T4rdis2 so much we'd got waves on our tea!
Therefore, I think it's going to be another night where we need to batten down the hatches and hope that the wind rocks us to sleep rather than shaking us awake!
Monday 27th February 2017
The Hail was Bouncing at this point! |
Tuesday 28th February 2017
At last - some sunshine, but still accompanied by strong winds -' hooray π£ππ£ππ£π', we were certainly going to go out and enjoy it! However, the weatherman advised enjoying it with caution because he foretold that the day would spoil itself for a short while around mid-day, and that prediction was absolutely spot on!
We left T4rdis2 around 11am and π΄ down to Woolacombe, and then up Marine Drive which is a little lane that traverses over Woolacombe Warren and leads to Croyde. And it was just as we were arriving in Croyde Bay that the heavens opened to produce more driving rain and hail that hit so hard it resulted in partial blindness and resulted in us having to take refuge in a convenient π shelter. To keep warm we sipped hot coffee from our flask, and while we were doing that we watched the black clouds flit across the sky above us, followed by much lighter ones with blue skies beyond.
Can you tell it's still a bit cold? |
Saunton Sands |
Wednesday 1st March 2017 ππ°
I'm only going to write a quick note for today because our plan is not to do very much at all (more ☔π§☔)! However, this evening we're going to nip down to 'The Old Mill' and treat ourselves to Sunday Dinner! That's one of the problems with living like we do π - you never quite know what day it is π
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