Week 2: Devon, Devon and more Devon

Start Point Lighthouse

So, after leaving the Beer/Branscombe area of Devon mentioned in the Week 1 blog, this is a summary of where we have been this week:

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Steve and Bear having an in-depth discussion at Teignmouth

-Dawlish-staying at a CL (Certified Location) near Starcross for 2 nights.

-Totnes-staying at a Caravan and Motorhome Club (Steamer Quay) site for 1 night.

-East Prawle-staying at a CL for 2 nights.

-Slapton Sands-staying at a Camping and Caravan Club site for 2 nights.

Based on some feedback about the blog, some wanted to know more about where we had stayed...hope this is interesting/useful. In terms of where we stay, Steve tends to do the 'looking'...I might provide 'sign off' :-). Steve's 'looking' incorporates things such as access to the site-can we get the van there, what's nearby, are there walking paths straight from the campsite. We are not massive fans of busy and have a dog that can't cope with busy...the world is so exciting for Bear, so maybe a beach or small village within cycling distance is enough.

We prefer CLs as these are small sites for a maximum of 5 pitches. These tend to be spacious pitches, with less people, less structure... CL sites can vary massively. Some are just a field, with fresh water and facilities to empty the loo. Others have electric hook ups, hard standing etc. At the moment we are still on grass pitches but as the weather changes we will need hard standing, as we don't want to be getting us and the dog muddy/mucky getting in and out of the van.

OK, that was just some background information, again people have asked more about the 'mechanics' of motor homing...I bet you can't wait for Steve's next blog and LOTS of detail about the van :-).

Dawlish CL, Gordon's in the middle

Dawlish-We had a beautiful view from our CL site and a country park literally down the road. Fits the brief! The route in was a bit tight in places, but only for about 1/2 mile. (Don't think I had provided 'sign off'!) Steve was driving and I was co- piloting...shouting out all the possible dangers! Bear particularly loved this site as we had a small fury neighbour called Bertie, who he got to play with. We have met some really interesting people and Bertie's owner (lives in Devon) provided us with some local knowledge about the best routes to the next campsite..and some fresh green beans from her brother's garden! He lived up the road to the campsite.

We were very lucky as a storm was expected and although we had some rain, the storm missed us. However, just down the road in Salcombe they had flash flooding, you may have seen it reported in the national news. In fact we were very lucky with the rain. The weather report was forecasting 2 days of constant rain but there was only some each day and we managed to get a bike ride in and a few long walks...plus bake some cookies. There were lots of cycle paths around the area and not too many steep hills. We didn't take Bear along for the bike ride, in his chariot (as Evan and Harriett call it) this time.

I loved Totnes! It is a really quirky town with loads of independent shops with lovely things in; gorgeous velvet cushions, throws, quirky furniture, nice smelling candles, hand made cards etc. ...none of which are practical for a motorhome. It did however also have lovely cafes and ice cream shops... also not practical when still 'on the waggon'.

East Prawle coastal path

So...then there was East Prawle!!!! Steve had arranged to meet Mark here for the weekend. He too has a motorhome. I admit that East Prawle itself is beautiful but getting there was....I am not sure of the correct term/word....'butt clenching' is all I can think of. I did curse Mark...alot, as I completed my co piloting duties. He had chosen and booked the campsite. There was about 6 miles worth of very narrow Devonshire road, in places there were some passing places, but not many, no one went over-the-top in providing these. At some points the 'road' was just wide enough for us to get Gordon down it, this was with the brambles/bushes brushing each side of the van, sounding incredibly noisy from inside. In some places there were walls either side of the 'road'. I think my co-piloting duties of shouting out 'bus' 'lorry' 'branches' 'ohh shite truck' continued to be helpful to the driver. What do we do if a car comes up? Well, it seems everyone just 'jiggles' a little bit, with some reversing, some squeezing, pulling wing mirrors in and blind faith. One man, who was very chirpy (in a very small car I'd like to add) leaned out the window laughing and said 'just treat your wing mirrors like your whiskers' signalling to his own imaginary moustache. Even the A road seemed to be mis-labelled, the A379 really is being ambitious being labelled an A road. Yes, we arrived in East Prawle but it took my legs about 40 minutes to stop shaking and I am not a particularly wimpy person. Steve...just grateful we had arrived-it had finished, that Gordon was in one piece and that he was hungry.

As we move around, we are considering different places we would be interested in living. It won't be East Prawle! Well, I told Steve I'd consider it but only if we had a helicopter pad and helicopter. Hey..on reflection, the roads in and out of Beer were massive.

After arriving, my next thought was 'ohh no, Mark has a bigger van than us...and no co-pilot!'.

The next day turned out to be glorious, having cursed Mark profusely, he brought the sunshine with him. We went on a coastal walk with the dogs, found a beautiful little cove and the dogs, Mark and Steve had a swim. We had a pub dinner in the evening. (How can it be that we are at what feels like the end of the Earth and they have a pub????). A perfect day.

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Maceley Cove

Bear seemed to find it particularly difficult once Bella had left. (Mark's dog). A beautiful leggy red head, who bounds along, she glimmers in the sunshine-Bear was smitten. Bear, who can often stop and refuse, ignore us, not look at us and be quite timid on a walk found his braveness when with Bella. Whilst Bella leaps, Bear totters along behind. Whilst Bella dashes through the waves and carves her way back through the surf, Bear is carried out and aided, by a human, back onto the beach. Whilst Bella leaps up and down the coastal path with ease, Bear is carried. Bella is Bear's hero.

You have such long legs!

To miss any traffic on the 6 mile stretch out of East Prawle we left just before 7.30am and arrived at Slapton Sands early on the Sunday morning. A beautiful area with a long pebble beach, lakes and nature reserves. We went on a number of walks and Steve and I cycled to Start Point and then walked along to find a seal colony we had been told about. There are no flat roads in Devon and cycling on our Bromptons was hard work. It seems also that I had been cycling without my electric working properly. I wondered why Steve was hardly out of breath. However, I didn't mind as according to my watch I burned 1,250 calories!

Slapton Sands...Bear and I are in the picture!

Seal at Start Point

Campsite East Prawle

Bear taking the name of this website very seriously...mucky dog!