On the Road Again!

Today we stayed locally in Brixham. My brother Neill and my niece Eleanor were going to visit. We were up about 0830, although as usual Reggie had kept us occupied from about 0530. He wakes at dawn and needs to have a comfort break! Once breakfasted I took Reggie for a short walk on the path behind the house that goes to Berry Head. It doesn't show up on Google Maps. We got about halfway before turning around.  The relatives arrived about 1125 and we had a chat and then decided to walk down to Brixham itself. We are about a km to the south on top of the hill. It was hot and so I wore my new Chinese hat. It did the job of keeping the sun off but is still horrible.  It won't last the week in my possession. Going downhill was easy enough with no thought of getting back... Loads of scenic views. Murder on ageing knees. Lunch was by the replica of the Golden Hind in the harbour. A meal-deal from the Co-Op. We took a walk around the ha...

Although I haven't quite tied up Day 2, I thought Day 3 might be easier. It's the drive down from Back of Beyond to the Garden House in Brixham. The problem is to fill the day. We have to be out from the camp about 10am. Can't  check into the Garden House until 5.30pm. There are a few places of interest I'd like to squeeze in. Clouds Hill, the last home of T E Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia. Just down the road is a monument. I always planned to stop at Dawlish Warren where we had many family holidays when I was a kid. I last went there in 1976. More to add to fill up over 7 hours. Hopefully the weather will be good enough to park up and take in the sun.

So day 1 is sorted.. simply the drive to Back of Beyond and set up for the first night in the camp. We have two nights there before we move on. So for day 2 we need something to fill part of the day. I have been looking at National Trust sites. There are quite a few within a short distance, and a few that would be better off the next day as we head to Brixham. Waypoint 3 is Kingston Lacy . Another country mansion. Either side are two sights on the river. Waypoint 5 is Corfe Castle. I have never been there although in the 80's we used to go to biker rallies in the area nearby. I haven't finished yet as we need a visit to the sea whilst we are out. The start and end is of course the camping ground.

So far we have booked a couple of nights on the way down to Brixham, where we have the holiday stay. But what about coming back? As we will be in the Motorhome-with-No-Name (to be known for now as Van) we should be able to knock the miles off easily enough.   But as we walked the dog today along our familiar stretch of the Royal Military Canal we decided to look for a camping ground on the way back as well. I had a look for some scenic areas where we have been before and would like to try again.  I saw a site on the club site  right alongside the Fleet Lagoon on the Dorset Jurassic Coast.  I had thought of one night after we leave Brixham but the site seemed to only allow booking for minimum of two nights.  No problems I thought.  It will mean Friday and Saturday nights in the Van. The site is called Eastfleet Farm . It's not a club site but affiliated.  So that will cost us £66 for two nights including the extra fee for Reggie for the pitch for t...

With the arrival of the motorhome in the next few weeks we decided to take it to Devon on this staycation rather than the car. If we had decided to buy one earlier we would have sucked up losing the deposit on the holiday home and saved the balance. But, that didn't happen. So instead we will go a few days earlier in the RV/van/motorhome (yet to be named!). By May we ought to have a few trips under our belts.  There is only so much you can learn from books and magazines. So on the way to Devon we have booked a couple of nights at a campsite that's about halfway between home and Brixham. We chose Back of Beyond Touring Camping and Glamping Park . It's an adults only site and for two nights with Reggie it's £69. A motorhome pitch with electricity. The site is quiet and doesn't have the entertainment and all that jazz. So we will see. Once the van is ready for collection we can look at going out locally. Probably for one night to get the hang of it. Plus we have to mak...

Just over a month to go until we head off to Brixham. I texted the owner to check on a few things, parking etc, as once we paid the balance of the rental we got the address. I wanted to see on Google Maps what the property looks like from the street.  Looks okay. We have to decide when to set off from sunny Kent.  Google Map directions shows the A303 route to be a spot under 5 hours. With stops to stretch legs etc, this could be a lot longer. We can't get in until late afternoon and so other than me being frustrated at progress especially past the bottleneck at Stonehenge, we have plenty of time. Even on this map today, there is a red marker on the map. Friends that do this trip regularly always claim plain sailing, but leave home about 5am. Maybe that's what we need to do.  Then we have 11 hours for a 5 hour (plus Reggie break stops)? Last time we set off from Fleet Services along the route and it took 8 hours!!! Google does give that alternative route to the sou...

I checked the email to see when the balance was due and it is next week.  I decided to pay it today before we go to our staycation in Matlock. Once that was done the full address and details became available. That's one thing out of the way. We'll have to see which way to go. Google Maps shows several routes. But maybe anything that avoids the ridiculous bottleneck by Stonehenge is to be taken!!!

Done. After trawling the internet for cottage booking sites I finally found a place that meets our criteria.  I actually wanted a place near to our childhood holiday resort of Dawlish Warren. I couldn't find anywhere in that area that suited us but we decided to stick to Devon anyway. In the end we have booked and paid the deposit for a nice looking place in Brixham in Devon. It has two bedrooms and really importantly when you have a dog, an enclosed garden. The bonus is that it has off road parking for one car. We only have one! So many places are street parking or even council car-parks. Total the cost for a week is £660 and I paid a third deposit today  It's still ten months away so we have plenty of time to refine things about what to do when we are there and of course, getting there.  I think we might have to do the same as friends who live in the same area as us and leave about 5am! Gulp.