Yesterday we made the long journey south to the beautiful county of Devon in the south of England. In many ways it is like going back in time as [apparently] Devon is about ten years behind everyone else! We went to visit some friends and have a general relax.
The journey down was a long one (280 miles to be precise) but we made it in good time at a fraction short of 4 hours. This was the only time that I have been down south were I have not hit terrible traffic. Actually the journey was trouble free and we went past the sights on that place were all the cars are stored in the UK (off the M5) and other sites of interest on the way down such as Cheddar gorge. We arrived in the lovely small town of Westward Ho! at about 1015 at night, ready for a brew!. Westward Ho! is the only place in the UK that has an exclamation mark in the title.
So today we decided to venture out and take a look at Devon itself. We started by driving to the small town of Bideford, where we went into the Atlantic Shopping Park. This was a small centre with some shops, mainly outdoor shops and the odd one that is familiar to us all. It was here that I purchased a wonderful, yet practical outdoor jacket with an added twist, which I will write about in my next post.
We wandered around the town taking a look at all the little shops and that and even made a few purchases. In fact by this point I had already spent around £140 which was becoming an expensive shopping session for me. We also got the chance to see the sea and the river estuary were Bideford lies, including all the boats and fishing vessels that are parked on the towns quayside.
It must have been around 1300 when we all felt our tummies rumbling and therefore headed for the nearest coffee shop to be watered and fed. Omlette and chips did the job for me with a cup of tea (for some reason, as I don’t normally fancy tea) to wash it all down with. The we nipped back to a shop tp purchase some wall stickers in order to decorate Harry’s room before leaving for the beach.
It was windy at the beach but suprisingly warm actually. The beach was beautiful, even in the murky depths of the November autumn and there were a number of surfers trying their luck on the somewhat small waves. In fact surfer, canoeist general swimmer it didn’t matter they were out to try it. I have to say that it looked absolutely freezing, but our knowledgeable hosts for the weekend informed us that actually this is the warmest time of the year for going in the see. There was the countries oldest links course on the sea front (Royal North Devon Golf Club) where the golfers play alongside the sheep!
After seeing the beach, my pregnant wife simply needed a site down and so we retired to our accommodation for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we have the long journey home, which I am not looking forward to but [Westward] hey ho!
