Weds 1 June we take a walk downtown, Bornemouth, through the gardens and to the beach. We meet a local who rents one of the little beach huts each year and brings his grandchildren down for memorable days at the beach. They cost This beach has sand (whereas Brighton beach is stoney) which is 'combed' of rubbish each morning to make it pristine for holidaymakers. The atmosphere here is relaxed and nowhere near as crowded.
We decide this is much nicer than Brighton, we would definitely come again!
On the road again and we discover a delightful little village called Lyme Regis. This is another holiday resort but it has a lively, holiday atmosphere with typical narrow streets and shops of a seaside village that stretch up a small steep hill. Music wafts up the hill and shop windows are bulging with exciting gastronimical delights - meat pasties, pastries, scones, cupcakes, fresh vegetables - a sensual feast all on display!
Torquay, a seaside mecca for yachties, is our destination and Fairways B&B our accomodation. Fairways is top notch and the owner Chris welcoming. After exploring Torquay by foot we head out to Ashburton to meet our next homesit family. After a mix up with the address number - we have to knock on doors and ask to use a computer to look up the address again - we finally find the house. Anna, Ian, Isaac, and Angus live in a small historic three-storeyed home with three chickens, three guinea pigs and three rats - all well-loved and cared for. After a lovely meal, we tour the village. We look forward to our homesit here in August!  |
| Cottington |
Thurs 2 June we visit an historic village called Cockington with quaint thatched roofed cottages, gift shops, horse-drawn carriage, working art galleries, restaurants, a walled organic vege garden and a pretty rose garden, where you are instantly overwhelmed by a heady mix of perfumes when you walk though the arched doorway. It's peaceful and we enjoy this interlude before we continue a haphazard journey to Penzance in Cornwall.
It's our first night in a YHA (only L10 each!) and this one, Castle Hornock YHA, is a wonderful, old but restored country manor. It's big, with spacious grounds for tents, and has been refurbished with travellers in mind. We sleep in separate dormatories and both score top bunks.
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| Top shelf sleeping for the Maddisons! |
Each bed has a docking station complete with a reading light, an electrical plug and a little shelf. We both have good sleeps and are up early-ish but in the dark find it almost impossible to read our lock combinations to clear our lockers. Note: always take a torch/lamp and never ever put anything in a (rustling) plastic bag (far too noisy when trying to be quiet) when overnighting at YHAs.
In the evening, we drive out to Land's End (the southern most tip of England) but it's too cold to do anything but take a quick photo. We find Minack Theatre (a unique ampitheatre on the cliff face) but there's show on and it's booked out so we head back to the YHA and settle in for the night.
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