Exmouth

We decided to go away as it looks like we’ll not get much use of Bertie this year. We found a campsite that was doing 7 nights for the price of 5. I still struggle with the cost of UK campsites. This was at the basic end but the loos were new and clean, showers warm (just) and ground almost level. It was walking distance from the Exmouth seafront. We did just one walk along the coast path the rest of the time we cycled. It showed how I’m out of the hang of cycling. Something I’m now working on. Devon of course, unlike Cambridgeshire, has hills. The cycle paths around Exmouth are good. The nearest being an old railway line through a wood very pleasant and leads to Budleigh Salterton, which isn’t that pleasant. We cycled to Sidmouth which is more meets my requirements for a nice seafront, unfortunately the weather was not the best that day, but we found a cafe that looked out at the sea and had a slow lunch.

We also went to A La Ronde, a National Trust property. The women who had A La Ronde built sounded fascinating. Real feminists, who did lots of travel when women didn’t. They even walked up Mont Blanc in skirts! We did nothing so adventurous. On a wet day we got the train to Torquay and cafe surfed. Bertie only had two issues, the toilet door latch sticking (I took it off!) and the water pump started leaking. Luckily we had a spare pump with us so that was soon changed, although it required a trip to the DIY shop for washers and electrical connectors. Hopefully we will get out again at some point this year.