Having found our way to our isolated b&b just outside Hartland in Nth Devon the previous day, it was time to put on our walking legs as we attempted a 'smallish" 15km section of the beautiful 1,000km Sth West Coastal trail.
First though we had to survive a 5km drive to our nominated start point at Tichberry Farm along some incredibly narrow lanes and with H in charge of navigation using our b&b's kindly provided local map.
High hedges surrounding the car had me jumping at shadows every time I rounded a corner expecting to be fronted by a massive milk tanker or the like. Our host had explained that the lanes were at their worst at this time of the year as councils are loathe to disturb possible bird nests meaning that overgrowth well and truly hid potential passing points.
With H treating the map like a hedge maze we somehow arrived unscathed at our starting point some 8kms from our destination at Hartland Quay.
3kms in as we traversed the narrow walking trail with occasional views of seriously steep drops, I made the mistake of remarking how easy the trail was in comparison to other nearby sections I'd done !
My remarks were a bad mistake !
No sooner had we moved on from having a cuppa at a cafe at Hartland Point, arguably the remotest cafe in the UK, than the seriously steep climbs and descents emerged. In between our ragged breathing the peaks and troughs provided for stunning views of a geological landscape that suggested past violent upheaval.
With conditions starting to become gloomy we finally scrambled into Hartland Quay a former Quay and single street of same coloured buildings perched right on this wild looking coast.
After a lunch that comprised of ice cream and little else we partly retraced our steps in the now heavy drizzle eventually taking shelter under a swathe of overhanging branches.
With the weather finally breaking I put up the drone for a quick flight over the cliffs and coastline
Despite a couple of hiccups where H had us heading into cow paddocks we finally made it back to our car both now pretty fatigued from our constant climbing and descending.
There was only one more challenge for the day and that was making it to Hartland just over 2 miles away for dinner along some of the narrowest lanes I have driven on in my life.
So narrow in fact that a passing walker would have had to have clambered over our car roof as our wheels were just about wedged into the hedge lines. A right angle bridge had all the car sensor alarms going off at once with corners completely blind and approaching houses giving the appearance that we were about to drive through the front living rooms - this is definitely not an area for the nervous driver !
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Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Farewell Mallorca
The saying that all good things come to an end couldn't have been more accurate as we bade farewell to sunny / hot Mallorca and headed back to a stormy / windswept and much cooler UK !
For me the departure was more poingnant saying goodbye to my daughter Tegan and son in law Billy who' both been so incredibly generous and hospitable in showing us not only around this beautiful island but sharing with us their home, their friends and their love.
Our final day in Mallorca was a fabulous mix of sun,water, history, culture, food and you guessed it ice cream this time hand made variety from a restaurant / cafe in a 100 year old building in Old Palma.
The day started with a visit to the quaint and popular hillside village of Valdemossa. Here we walked around town and took in a cuppa in a lovely backyard cafe garden all before the heat of the day and hordes of tourists arrived.
A short winding drive on an increasingly narrow road followed to the cove side beach (if you call football sized boulders a beach) of Delia a stunning Med coloured beach with rocky outcrops and a few million dollar yachts and boats positioned to take in the stunning sea conditions.
With H and Teg leading the way like two well trained mountain goats Billy swam round the headland while I put up the drone to catch the amazing view.
Sadly en route Teg dropped her DSLR causing some pretty serious damage that will require surgery. While many things about Teg remind me of self her mild mannered temper is not one of them as I figure I would have uttered a few obscenities if it had happened to me !
Despite the "bummer" we enjoyed the incredible waters while H took guard of our belongings (he's still overcoming the trauma of trying to swim at Mt Gambier in 2017). While Teg and I wondered what was swimming beneath our feet Billy entertained us with some awesome (not that I want to encourage him) back flips into the clear water.
While Billy recovered from his afternoon theatrics Teg took us on a beautiful walk through the old section of Palma taking in some fabulous home made ice cream and the golden sunlight hour sitting outside Palmas spectacular cathedral.
After a final home cooked dinner and a few tears the following morning (mine for obvious reasons H for leaving the heat) we headed off back to the Uk for the final leg of our trip a week down in Cornwall with our great Aussie friends Viv and Linton.
As for making a final statement about his reluctance to leaver the heat of Mallorca H decided that he'd set our UK hire cars inside temp to 28c in response to our return to the mother land !
For me the departure was more poingnant saying goodbye to my daughter Tegan and son in law Billy who' both been so incredibly generous and hospitable in showing us not only around this beautiful island but sharing with us their home, their friends and their love.
Our final day in Mallorca was a fabulous mix of sun,water, history, culture, food and you guessed it ice cream this time hand made variety from a restaurant / cafe in a 100 year old building in Old Palma.
The day started with a visit to the quaint and popular hillside village of Valdemossa. Here we walked around town and took in a cuppa in a lovely backyard cafe garden all before the heat of the day and hordes of tourists arrived.
A short winding drive on an increasingly narrow road followed to the cove side beach (if you call football sized boulders a beach) of Delia a stunning Med coloured beach with rocky outcrops and a few million dollar yachts and boats positioned to take in the stunning sea conditions.
With H and Teg leading the way like two well trained mountain goats Billy swam round the headland while I put up the drone to catch the amazing view.
Sadly en route Teg dropped her DSLR causing some pretty serious damage that will require surgery. While many things about Teg remind me of self her mild mannered temper is not one of them as I figure I would have uttered a few obscenities if it had happened to me !
Despite the "bummer" we enjoyed the incredible waters while H took guard of our belongings (he's still overcoming the trauma of trying to swim at Mt Gambier in 2017). While Teg and I wondered what was swimming beneath our feet Billy entertained us with some awesome (not that I want to encourage him) back flips into the clear water.
While Billy recovered from his afternoon theatrics Teg took us on a beautiful walk through the old section of Palma taking in some fabulous home made ice cream and the golden sunlight hour sitting outside Palmas spectacular cathedral.
After a final home cooked dinner and a few tears the following morning (mine for obvious reasons H for leaving the heat) we headed off back to the Uk for the final leg of our trip a week down in Cornwall with our great Aussie friends Viv and Linton.
As for making a final statement about his reluctance to leaver the heat of Mallorca H decided that he'd set our UK hire cars inside temp to 28c in response to our return to the mother land !
Monday, July 29, 2019
The Sheer Cliffs of Mallorca
After surviving what we thought was heat in the UK we jumped straight into the fire by entering a prolonged European heat spell that's affected most European countries including Mallorca.
With daughter Tegan and son in law Billy acting as full time tour guides for 4 days we've taken in some magic places including beautiful aqua coloured rocky coves, lovely outlying villages and of course Mallorca food and culture which includes regular courses of nightly gelato !
With the embarrassment of struggling to find our b&b after trying 3 identical appartments H was reluctant to stray too far while I spent some time with Billy & Tegan at one of their Witness meetings catching up with an amazing array of super friendly people from all walks of life and national backgrounds.
After H had restocked his fruit supply (approx 100kgs of peaches) we picked him up and headed north to a spectacular coastline with segments of hair raising narrow winding sections of road
We took in one particular lookout (not well guarded) with knee trembling sheer drops near Platja Formento where Billy (driving) had a fatigue induced power nap after our constant nagging while we took in the stunning views.
From here we took an even narrower road to a beautiful isolated cove that could only be accessed by scrambling for 20 minutes down rocks and washouts. This lovely location was wonderfully devoid of people. While Tegan and I took in some photography and drone activity Billy and H discussed all things "Bulldogs" covering every AFL game since the 1920's ,
With the sun setting fast we scrambled back to the lookout to catch the last verge of a stunning coastal sunset before heading down to Port de Pollença for a waterfront 10.00pm dinner - the sort of thing you do in Spain / Mallorca !
Sent from my iPad
With daughter Tegan and son in law Billy acting as full time tour guides for 4 days we've taken in some magic places including beautiful aqua coloured rocky coves, lovely outlying villages and of course Mallorca food and culture which includes regular courses of nightly gelato !
With the embarrassment of struggling to find our b&b after trying 3 identical appartments H was reluctant to stray too far while I spent some time with Billy & Tegan at one of their Witness meetings catching up with an amazing array of super friendly people from all walks of life and national backgrounds.
After H had restocked his fruit supply (approx 100kgs of peaches) we picked him up and headed north to a spectacular coastline with segments of hair raising narrow winding sections of road
We took in one particular lookout (not well guarded) with knee trembling sheer drops near Platja Formento where Billy (driving) had a fatigue induced power nap after our constant nagging while we took in the stunning views.
From here we took an even narrower road to a beautiful isolated cove that could only be accessed by scrambling for 20 minutes down rocks and washouts. This lovely location was wonderfully devoid of people. While Tegan and I took in some photography and drone activity Billy and H discussed all things "Bulldogs" covering every AFL game since the 1920's ,
With the sun setting fast we scrambled back to the lookout to catch the last verge of a stunning coastal sunset before heading down to Port de Pollença for a waterfront 10.00pm dinner - the sort of thing you do in Spain / Mallorca !
Sent from my iPad
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Mallorca
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| Billy & Tegan on the Tram to Port Soller |
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| Valldemossa |
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| Port Soller |
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| Valldemossa |
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| Beach at Port Soller |
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| Night dining in Palma |
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| Sangria time |
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| Ordering our hamburger components in Palma |
Lovely Mallorca
After some well deserved R&R with family in Devon it was time to let H loose on the unsuspecting islanders of Mallorca.
We said goodbye to family in Honiton and made our way to Bristol Airport without too much drama as long as you don't count threatening to have an all in with a Hertz employee who tried to shunt us out of the way as we attempted to return our hire car !.
Our evening flight to Palma took off late with a plane load that seemed to include (much to H's annoyance) a high proportion of English Hens parties and Schoolies looking forward to the supposed party Isle of Mallorca.
We were greeted by my daughter and her husband (Tegan and Billy) who have been living in Mallorca for the past 6 months not because they have any partying desires but instead a want to experience a foreign culture and to help the local community - it was lovely to catch up after such a long absence.
After being smashed with little sleep form our first night we set about on a guided tour (T&B) of this remarkably beautiful island. Yes it might be a bit over run by tourists here for the hot weather and summer vacation period but beautiful it is .
Over the course of the next two days we took in some of the sights including the lovely old section of Palma with its majestic church and palace and narrow cobbled streets. Also on the agenda was some beautiful drives including a visit to Solle by way of a tourist tram and a visit to a spectacularly situated med style beach that could only be reached by a dodgy cliff top walk.
While our Air BnB has provided easy access to the old town of Palma it did provide a challenge to two travel fatigued oldies (us) yesterday. After being dropped off we wandered to the front of our street accessed apartment used our key which fitted the door and then found that we couldn't get in. Eventually a leaving resident allowed us access where we caught the lift to our 3rd floor room and found the building did not have our apartment !
A little wiser we exited and went next door to find an identical access door with the same lift and again with the same access problem I.e. the key fitted the front door but wouldn't allow us to get in.
After thinking we were going mad I wandered around the next corner to find a 3rd identical apartment with exactly the same wall tiles, the same front door and the same lift and this time yes the key worked !
We have two more days exploring the beauty of this island before making our way back to the UK.
Sent from my iPad
We said goodbye to family in Honiton and made our way to Bristol Airport without too much drama as long as you don't count threatening to have an all in with a Hertz employee who tried to shunt us out of the way as we attempted to return our hire car !.
Our evening flight to Palma took off late with a plane load that seemed to include (much to H's annoyance) a high proportion of English Hens parties and Schoolies looking forward to the supposed party Isle of Mallorca.
We were greeted by my daughter and her husband (Tegan and Billy) who have been living in Mallorca for the past 6 months not because they have any partying desires but instead a want to experience a foreign culture and to help the local community - it was lovely to catch up after such a long absence.
After being smashed with little sleep form our first night we set about on a guided tour (T&B) of this remarkably beautiful island. Yes it might be a bit over run by tourists here for the hot weather and summer vacation period but beautiful it is .
Over the course of the next two days we took in some of the sights including the lovely old section of Palma with its majestic church and palace and narrow cobbled streets. Also on the agenda was some beautiful drives including a visit to Solle by way of a tourist tram and a visit to a spectacularly situated med style beach that could only be reached by a dodgy cliff top walk.
While our Air BnB has provided easy access to the old town of Palma it did provide a challenge to two travel fatigued oldies (us) yesterday. After being dropped off we wandered to the front of our street accessed apartment used our key which fitted the door and then found that we couldn't get in. Eventually a leaving resident allowed us access where we caught the lift to our 3rd floor room and found the building did not have our apartment !
A little wiser we exited and went next door to find an identical access door with the same lift and again with the same access problem I.e. the key fitted the front door but wouldn't allow us to get in.
After thinking we were going mad I wandered around the next corner to find a 3rd identical apartment with exactly the same wall tiles, the same front door and the same lift and this time yes the key worked !
We have two more days exploring the beauty of this island before making our way back to the UK.
Sent from my iPad
Austerity Bights !
A sign of the times has been starkly evident during our travels through the UK. This has been the impact of the UK Govts austrerity measures over the course of the last 7+ years introduced after the GFC in an effort to bring Govt debt under control..
What we've seen so clearly is the impact of such measures. Little sign of obvious police presence resulting in many instances of high speed and at times dangerous driving on roads, an abundance of overgrown parks / road sides / public areas now covered with weeds and long grass, extensive minor road disrepair where cycling and even driving can be dangerous with road verges crumbling and / or filled with potholes, small towns with numerous shop closures and a preponderance of charity shops, train travel costs that are through the roof (3-4/times the cost of back home) just to mention a few things.
Add on public disenchantment with the Govts health and dental schemes ( the former often requiring patients to schedule appointments weeks in advance) and factor in welfare cuts, limited public sector pay rises, reduced spending on schools and hospitals and you have a country hell bent on balancing the budget at all costs.
Needed or not it's certainly changed the landscape of a country I often refer to as my 2nd home !
Sent from my iPad
What we've seen so clearly is the impact of such measures. Little sign of obvious police presence resulting in many instances of high speed and at times dangerous driving on roads, an abundance of overgrown parks / road sides / public areas now covered with weeds and long grass, extensive minor road disrepair where cycling and even driving can be dangerous with road verges crumbling and / or filled with potholes, small towns with numerous shop closures and a preponderance of charity shops, train travel costs that are through the roof (3-4/times the cost of back home) just to mention a few things.
Add on public disenchantment with the Govts health and dental schemes ( the former often requiring patients to schedule appointments weeks in advance) and factor in welfare cuts, limited public sector pay rises, reduced spending on schools and hospitals and you have a country hell bent on balancing the budget at all costs.
Needed or not it's certainly changed the landscape of a country I often refer to as my 2nd home !
Sent from my iPad
Friday, July 26, 2019
Devon
After having exceeded the 2,000km mark on tour after our recent ride to Dawlish it was time to take it easy for a couple of days with the family in beautiful and at times sunny Devon.
With H's ribs just about healed I gave him a taste of driving along narrow country lanes while I internally debated the least worst of two options - 1) Continuing with Kev's slightly hesitant navigational skills (one example recent when he gave me 3 instructions of stop, go & maybe all in one go when I asked if they coast was clear or 2) Allow him to undertake the challenge of driving on roads & lanes in Cornwall given my weak disposition and the fact that they are often just big enough to take a bicycle let alone a car let alone a car that's trying to avoid a truck !
On our journey yesterday to Broadhembury we came across a cyclist who was 1/2 way through a 250km ride through the heat and hills of Devon - sadly just a tad better than our efforts in NW Scotland.
With temps expected to hit the high 30's as we depart for Mallorca Kev all of a sudden has a big grin all over his face !
With H's ribs just about healed I gave him a taste of driving along narrow country lanes while I internally debated the least worst of two options - 1) Continuing with Kev's slightly hesitant navigational skills (one example recent when he gave me 3 instructions of stop, go & maybe all in one go when I asked if they coast was clear or 2) Allow him to undertake the challenge of driving on roads & lanes in Cornwall given my weak disposition and the fact that they are often just big enough to take a bicycle let alone a car let alone a car that's trying to avoid a truck !
On our journey yesterday to Broadhembury we came across a cyclist who was 1/2 way through a 250km ride through the heat and hills of Devon - sadly just a tad better than our efforts in NW Scotland.
With temps expected to hit the high 30's as we depart for Mallorca Kev all of a sudden has a big grin all over his face !
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Cycling the Exe - 72 kms !
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| Crossing the Exe heading to Dawlish |
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| En route to Exmouth |
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| Ladram Bay |
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| Dawlish Beach - I think ! |
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| Dawlish by Air |
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| Looking towards Sidmouth |
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| Hotel on the River Exe |
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