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Published: July 29th 2011
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Last Wednesday, Kelly and I packed up as much home comforts as possible into the car for 4 and a bit days of camping in Cornwall and Devon. Yes, we were going to rough it, but we were going to rough it in style. Feather duvets, pillows, an inflatable mattress, nail polish (would not want a horrible chipped varnish to ruin the day!) and so many torches we could have been gone for weeks.
I had been looking forward to this trip for as long as we had started planning it – about a month ago, as it is a great way to experience the English Summer, be outdoors without mosquitos or having to worry about your safety. Not to mention the beautiful scenery that we were going to encounter. We left on schedule and managed to miss the busy London traffic as we made our way to Monkton Farleigh.
Arrived at Church Farm, in Monkton Farleigh and set up our home for the night, before going into the absolute picturesque Bradford-on-Avon for Fish and Chips and a walk around the town. We sat for a while at the river Avon, watching the ducks and taking tons of photos. On return
to the campsite, the rain started and although the tent looked like it was about to cave in, we could not quite figure out what we had done wrong in building it up, so just fell asleep hoping that it would hold. It did. Surprisingly.
The following two days were spent at the Watergate Surfer’s camp site. You see, Kelly and I had booked a private surf lesson, so thought it would be a full rounded experience if we stayed with surfer types. The campsite had a lot of character, our tenting skills had improved dramatically and home was s with surfers playing guitar music for most of the first night. We set up the tent to last for 2 nights in no time at all. In fact, we had turned professional in one day. 10 minutes flat and the bed was prepared as well as all the interior decorating done, and the chairs set up outside to make it home. The day had been busy, going through Bath to have a look and take the obligatory touristy photo’s, driving through Dartmoor and soaking in the rolling hills, sheep and Dartmoor ponies and I was so happy to be experiencing
such an amazing country. We tried to get in for dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen Cornwall, but they were fully booked for all major meals, with the exception of breakfast the next morning. We made the booking and headed across the road for a yummy curry at a restaurant called Phoenix. Fell asleep to the sounds of guitar music.
Breakfast at Fifteen was sensational, and the best way to start the day that we were going to learn to surf. The surfing lesson took place at Fistral Beach in Newquay and was tons of fun. It is to be mentioned that although it is summer, it was not very warm. The water was freezing and I was very grateful for the wetsuit. I caught so many really good waves with the board, but just could not stand up. Felt like a major loser, but reminded myself that bar Kelly, I did not remotely know a single soul on this beach and it really did not matter. Had loads of fun, being bashed by wave after wave and lugging what was becoming a heavy surf board back into the sea, until our time was up. 3 hours flew by in about
10 minutes? I think the hardest part of surfing is actually lugging the board around whilst trying to make it look effortless. Damn, it’s hard. Your arms feel like they are just not long enough to grab the board the way you need to. Great day, and somehow I had a sun-kissed face – compliments of an almost completely sunless sky.
We hit the road really early the next day, stopping at Bude and then through the really really small country roads to Woolacombe and onto Lynton, just bordering Exmoor. Woolecombe was packed with people in tights, trying to enjoy the sun. The sun was warm, but the wind was chilling. The sky was littered with microlights, kites and paragliders.
For this trip we had employed the help of a TomTom. Not one for Satnav, I prefer the old school map system, but that TomTom was incredible. Not only did it keep us from getting lost, it also took us on back country roads, affording us the opportunity to see really quaint, off the beaten track places. Although the cars sensors were going crazy, it was an experience that the map books would not have given us.
The campsite
in Lynton was sensational, with the camping spot on a hill overlooking Lynmouth. We went on the Lynton, Lynmouth Railway before dinner at a small country pub and settled in for our last night, warm and cosy, in the open fields. The railway was carved into a really steep decline in the cliffs leading down to a pebble beach. Rather daunting, but beautiful to experience. We went to sleep after brewing some coffee and watching a deer on the hill. Could not have asked for anything better.
The camping trip was complete. The following morning was an earliesh start on our trip back to London. Both very happy that the weather had held up and that we got everything out of the camping trip that we set out for.
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