Dartmouth and Dartmoor

Had a bit of a lazy day yesterday with a late start after some more fried breakfast. Rich was hurting and I didn't mind a chilled day. So we drove to Dartmouth. Really beautiful place and quite busy. With this now being off-season, the place must be packed with people on a nice summer day. Packed with elderly people. Almost 8 out of 10 people were elderly tourists, haha.
Is it just my impression or are many tourists quite superficial? Witnessing the typical tourist behaviour of seeing something like the Naval Academy, pointing it out to partner or friend, taking a picture and then moving on. What's the point? I take pictures myself, as you know, but mostly for things I've seen from the inside as well and read about the building, who built it or why it's famous e.g. what makes it really special. I understand if people take pictures to give others an idea about the atmosphere of a place or to remember the time they've been there. But when I think how they might show others their pictures and go "And this is the Naval Academy." And the reply "Uh, huh." Useless information in my eyes.

Anyway. Did some window shopping, but couldn't stay out of the nice food shops... We are food lovers. Especially of the handmade local kind. So the first cheese and delicatessen shop was ours. Tasted some cheeses and got away with only buying three and a nice chilli salami and a huge scotch egg which we shared while walking on.
Rich had his go in an old-school sweet shop getting all excited about the countless jars with different sweets. Had a cheeky afternoon pint at the oldes pub of Dartmouth which is in one of those beautiful old white houses with the wooden beams. Heading for the toilet upstairs I felt like I was on a moving ship or drunk... or both. No wall was straight and no floor even. Almost did a Jack Sparrow waddle there.

Hunting for a wee snack Rich had a nice pasty and I found a fish & chips shop which was a bit tucked away and at the very end of high street. Had salt & pepper calamari and it was gorgeous. Fist time I ate tentacles, haha.

Stopped by the butcher to get some steaks for the BBQ later. Seeing the rump steak he cut off, we politely asked if he could cut it in two and that was pretty much all for us. We still ended up with about 600g each.

Back home we put the steak onto the BBQ and pretty much filled all the available space. Squeezed two corn on the cob on. Wow. It was a meat fest!!!

Today we were a bit lazy again in the morning and set off later than intended. But hey, we're on holiday, right. I had quickly come up with a circular walk in the Southern part of Dartmoor, starting and ending the walk in South Brent.
Again the weather was simply fantastic. Started our 13 mile loop at 11:30am and were back at 5pm. Out of South Brent along the river Avon on some public foot paths and very quiet minor roads, then into Dartmoor proper on a small path and through high grass later as the path on the map was non existent. We headed for some old tin works and again pathless to a disused tram way before we hit the well defined Two-Moors Way.
We could see all the way to the Plymouth Estuary at some point and saw two Hercules planes roaring past us above. Quite impressive.

Otherwise we quite enjoyed the silence and utter bleakness that is Dartmoor as well as the views of Devon's green fields in the distance.

Quite exhausted after the fine walk we drove over to Totnes, where we had booked a table at the Good Pub Guide recommended Steam Packet pub. Had a pint in a proper local first, watching the rest of the rugby on telly. Then headed over to the Steam Packet for another absolutely fantastic meal. British cuisine is certainly much better as its reputation. The smoked mackerel with pickled cucumber and leafy salad was a dream. As well as my duck on sweet chilli veg stir-fry and Rich's Moroccan minted lamb burger with Harrissa mayo and cucumber mint sauce. Food heaven for sure.

Just chilled back a the house, packing tomorrow, then off to have a look at Exeter before we head home in time for the England game.

There and Back Again

Another day, another very promising weather forecast and another coastal walk. Parked the car in Torcross this time and walked all the way to Start Point. It's surely off-season since we could park up just in the middle of that little village, the park and display was deserted.

Looking back down to Torcross and its long beach

High tide meant we had to take the high route to Beesands, but the sun was shining again and it was less windy compared to yesterday, so we were sweating quite a bit climbing up and then down again. Looking at my watch it was now 11:30am. I really wanted to be back here for 2:30pm to watch the rugby so we had an hour and a half to get to Start Point.

Hallsands

Start Point ahead

One hump later we arrived at another beach - Hallsands. From there on we headed straight for Start Point and the light house there. Despite Rich hurting a bit from the walk the day before he tried his best to get  good pace going. Very much appreciated, hehe.
Made it easily for 12:30 and lingered a bit at the lighthouse before walking back. This way around we finally saw the abandoned/destroyed village near Hallsands and stopped for a bit to visit the viewpoint and read about the events that led to the village's demise. Apparently a number of storms and gales at the beginning of the last century had led to only one house remaining of about a dozen.

Start Point

Not far to Minehead from here

Arrived back in Beesands before 2pm even and had some of the best fish and chips ever at The Britannia @ The Beach - a small shack with a seefood menu that made our mouths water. Provided by a local fisherman everything was a fresh as you can get it. We were actually not in for a proper meal and thus chose the fish & chips, but the portion was hearty indeed and again we were fully stuffed.

Headed over to The Cricket, which I had picked from The Good Pub guide. Lovely but quiet pub at this time of the year and a huge TV screen showing some old photographs. We asked for the rugby and they turned it on for us after fiddling around with the remote controls since no one really knew how to switch to the TV channel,

Over a gorgeous pint of Heron cider from a farm near Kingsbridge we watched Scotland's landslide victory over Japan with more and more people joining us in front of the screen.

Headed back to Torcross then and again had to take the high path as the tide wasn't low enough to walk the beach. Drove back to the cottage and watched some more rugby with some of the farm cider we had bought the day before. Ahhhh, good times, eh? Dozing and chilling for quite some time, we eventually set to barbecue some chicken thighs which we had marinated in a nice searingly spicy Psycho Sauce all day.
9:30 pm is a bit late for a meal, but it was easily the best chicken we ever had. Hot and spicy to burn your lips off and with a jerk-like smokyness to it... it was simply the best!
Food coma and general exhaustion did it for me. I fell asleep in front of the TV within a minute while Rich watched a bit of QI.

A Coastal Walk

With the sun shining brightly we set off around 10am for another walk in fantastic weather. At least that's what we thought. After a nice fry-up with plenty of choice from our extensive chilli sauce collection we headed down to the coast on veeeery narrow country lanes. Arg. I was very glad when we finally hit the A381 at the coast.

First stop was a farm shop near Torcross. With the bag full of sausages and meat we realized, that the box to keep all of it cool was still at the cottage."Luckily", it had started to rain as we left the farm shop and we decided to risk it and hope the fresh meat would stay cool enough during the day.

It was quite busy on the road to Salcombe but we made it just for 11:30am with a bit of luck and a nose for a good spot to park the car, we found ourselves not long after hunting for a cash point and a coffee.
Somehow we just got the bus to Malborough at 12:30 literally gulfing down our coffees fearing we'd miss it otherwise.

Salcombe bay

Got off in Malborough with the sun shining again from a sky that went from overcast to bright blue again during the remainder of the day. The walk on another country lane was short, before we turned onto a public footpath towards Hope.

In Hope we finally joined the South West Coast Path and walked all along the coast from Bolt Tail to Bolt Head and into Salcombe again.

Stunning weather, a good breeze a few ups and downs... what a fine day on a British coast. Just amazing! We stopped a few times to take in the fine views. Waves coming from the blue and turquoise sea, crashing onto dark rock, blue sky and green grass.

Hope

Back in Salcombe we had a pint at the Victoria Inn which won the Best Pub of the South West in 2014 and 2015. Good selection of gins and wine but only a few ales and I'm not talking about the cider. Boo. Still nice pub and the food looked nice.
However, we were booked for the Tower Inn in Slapton, so as darkness was approaching fast we drove back on still narrow but now more or less empty country lanes. Parking in Slapton was a bit tricky. Driving through is already tricky, find a parking space even more. Eventually we parked a bit outside and walked to the pub.

What a nice one that was. Liked it much better than the one in Salcombe. Proper cosy and good cider, yeah. Spoilt for choice food-wise I suggested the mussels in a cider, garlic and cream sauce. I had never eaten mussels but wanted to give it a go so close to the sea. Rich showed me the best way to eat them and they were gorgeous!!!
Mains were Braised Ox Cheek (another first for me) with Kale and veg and for Rich Barbary Duck with sweet carrot purée. Both dishes were absolutely amazing and we were completely stuffed afterwards. Drove the last two miles home under a clear sky dotted with thousands of stars and chilled a bit at the cottage, food coma setting in.

What a day! Simply perfect from the start. Good weather, good food and the best company.

South Devon, Here We Are

Sitting by the fire, laptop on my knees after a nice warm up walk in perfect weather. Ah, the good life, eh? Rich is entertaining me with some Wurzels playing from his iPad. Only missing thing is a canister of cider, but I'm way too lazy to manoeuvre the car up the narrow steep country lane to pick some up.

Arrived late yesterday afternoon after attending a wedding in Wells, then driving back to Bristol for packing and finally down to Devon. Been here more than a year ago when I was mountain biking in Dartmoor. It's good to be back. It's such a beautiful place!

Rich's parents own a cottage near Slapton and what a cottage that is. Furnished with a good touch of what was en vogue in the 60s and 70s it is a cosy place indeed. Two master bedrooms and a few smaller ones, two lounges and a huge kitchen. Think we'll enjoy our stay here for the week.

Stayed in bed until midday today and when the rain finally stopped we decided to go for a walk. Good decision in the end. The sun came out more and more as we walked small country lanes towards Strete enjoying the views over green fields and the sea in the distance.

Some of the bramble was still with fruit so we picked some here and there. Reminded me of my childhood when we went for raspberries for hours, stuffing our faces.

From Strete we headed towards Blackpool Sands on the South West Coast Path as it was only a mile away. Brilliant views forward and back. Took a very small detour to a sandy beach which we had all to our own. Awesome.

Back to the cottage along more or less quiet country lanes. Had to hug the hedge a few times to let cars past. 

In the end we did 8.5 miles which was not the short warm up walk we intended to do, but the weather was simply too good. 

Somewhat knackered we relaxed on the couch sipping spiced Indian tea, listening to the flutter of a trapped bird in the chimney until we took pity on it. While Rich took the big pipe off I covered the end with a frying pan. Together we carried it out the back door and once I took the pan off, a yellow beak followed by a black head looked out. A few seconds of blinking in the daylight later, a fully grown blackbird emerged and flew off. Cheerio and good riddance to you.

Rich got a fire going and we're about to cook off our marinated chicken wings, yum. Weather forecast's looking bill for the next two days, so we're probably off to the coast again tomorrow.

Hello Devon!

To me it feels like I haven't really been away at all this year, to many others it seems like I'm away all the time. Looking at the annual leave I have left, I'm definitely in for a proper holiday! I've had a good deal of short trips this year making good use of the flexible working hours at my job, but I've only had one proper trip to Scotland and that's it. Same applies to my boyfriend by the way. So why not spend some days together?

It happens to be that his parents own a cottage in South Devon near Slapton so we decided to spend a week there. He's not into mountaineering or days and days of walking in the rain up and down mountains with a heavy backpack, but we found a nice middle way for us.
Both of us are exhausted and tired and need some time off, just relaxing and doing "nothing". I wouldn't be me if I just lazed about the cottage for a whole week. So the plan is to do some coastal walks, visit the beautiful surrounding villages (Dartmouth, Kingsbridge) and do a few short cycle rides.  Short but strenuous they're gonna be with all those steep ascents around.

So after work tonight I'm driving down for a wedding on Saturday, then back up to Brizzle to pack the car and do some shopping and hopefully we'll be down at the cottage some time Sunday evening, enjoying a wee dram by the fire.
Although it's not a hardcore outdoor adventure, I can't say I'm not looking forward to it very much. Been counting the days for some time now and can't wait to just rest and relax. No alarm clock in the morning, no fixed schedule, no plans to stick to other than finding a pub on Weds to watch the Rugby, haha.

There's exciting things happening next year, so regard this as the calm before the storm. 2015 - the year I lay dormant, gathering my strength, preparing for an exhilerating year 2016. My plans and futur trips are listed here on my blog. Just go to Upcoming Trips

Over and out.

Remote Mountain Biking in Exmoor

Had been to Exmoor earlier this year. There is a lovely secluded camp site between tourist hotspots Porlock and Lynmouth called Cloud Farm Camping. Surrounded by hills and spread along one side of a stream it can't get much more beautiful.
When my boyfriend and me had come here once before and back then had decided to come back with our mountain bikes and some more convenient camping gear.
Last weekend we did as promised. Arrived Friday night and the drive in was much easier in a car than on a bike, haha. Narrow, steep, dirty country lanes are not motorbike territory.

Pitched the huge 3p tent just before dark, set up the BBQ and started our work on some 1 litre bottle of scrumpy we had picked up at a petrol station on the way. Aaaaah. Niiice.

Saturday promised to be a fantastic summer day in Exmoor according to the weather forecast and indeed it just got better and better. Started off with some clouds and sunny intervals changing into a clear blue sky by mid afternoon.
After a long and exhausting week we had a bit of a lie in followed by some BBQ (!!!) breakfast with venison sausages and streaky bacon as well as cheesy eggs I prepared on my little camping stove. Heavenly!!! Bacon from the BBQ is simply the best way to do bacon. Really!

Picked a nice 15mi route from the map and set off on our bikes just before noon. After a short bit on a narrow country lane we turned South onto a bridleway. At least it said on the map and a sign. In reality it was a grassy field with a vague idea of where the bridleway was supposed to be.
After a short but steep ascent we cycled over a series of fields with more or less of a visible path, using the GPS to guide us to the next gate. Views were wide and bleak but beautiful and we enjoyed it a great deal: The weather, the workout and being alone with each other.

Eventually we reached a proper bridleway with some gravel and had a short stop at the ruins of Larkbarrow where some sheep were very interested in the bikes we had left when exploring the site. As if by coincidence they started surrounding them, lazily grazing close by while we were watching amused.

Last bit of the very scenic route was on quiet B roads with a nice race down a 12% descent before the final stretch back to the camp site.

Awesome round, not too long, not too short, still enjoyed a shower and chilled a bit in the sun (I actually had a nap, ahhhh, good times), pint at the pub where a guy from the kitchen obviously remembered us (we didn't remember him at all), asking if I passed my full bike test yet. What the.... ?!?!? Had a bit of a chat, finishing the last bit of our pints a bit in a hurry to get away from some annoying wasps.

More BBQ with lovely steaks and burgers for dinner followed and while we worked on a 2.2l canister of Devon scrumpy, we played some cards. Rich taught me "Shithead" and I taught him "Mau Mau" which I learned is pretty much the same as "Sevens".

Packed next day after some more fried brekkie from my stove this time and drove to Lynmouth for a valley walk. With the nice weather we weren't the only ones and couldn't find a place to park the car at all. So instead we drove to Porlock, walked down to Porlock Weir for a coffee and back up again. All in 2 hours time.

Really enjoyed this short trip and we were incredibly lucky with the weather! Exmoor makes for great easy mountain biking with an extensive network of bridleways. Will certainly come back for some more!

Blissful Solitude

Left work early just after 2:30pm Tuesday to drive the 50 miles up to Glyntawe - a part of the Brecon Beacons I hadn't been to yet. Traffic wasn't too bad, but my GPS sent me along a narrow country road just before the end. A shortcut on the map, but not when leaving a nice A road to be crawling along at 20mph since cars could only be seen at the very last instant. Arg.

Parked at the extensive carpark for the caves and paid my £3 for an overnight stay. Very nice. By 4:30pm I set off towards the hills. Just behind the car park and a small campsite a sign sent me up a path through some woodland and finally into open country. Ah! The sun was shining and I was sweating like a pig, so I zipped off the lower bits of my trousers making them into shorts.

Zigg-zagged uphill and then headed more or less North West through bleak and indistinctive scenery which made it quite tricky to navigate. I was only halfway sure I was on the right path at first, but using my altimeter and the contour lines on the map helped a good deal.

Countless sink holes dotted the ground all around. I was pacing on bearings along the path to keep track of where I was. 

Didn't do the detour to Sinc Giedd but instead walked on to cross Afon Twrch which was a bit tricky and the beginning of some very wet and boggy ground. Nearly slipped crossing the next stream and the path was soon lost between large patches of bog and a number of smaller streams.
Wearing my trail running shoes (testing their suitability for such endeavours), my feet were long wet and instead of crossing more streams I headed North earlier than intended to reach higher and hopefully drier ground.

Freelancing upwards between two of the streams I eventually reached the cairn of Bannau Sir Gaer and the dramatic escarpment high above Llyn y Fan Fach. What an amazing view! Behind me the setting sun, ahead countless green fields. So far I had been utterly alone apart from an encounter with some very curious wild horses.

I took in the views, enjoying the solitude, having it all to myself. What a rare opportunity in today's hectic lives.I walked along the ridge line now, which is part of the Beacons Way grinning like a madman, munching some dark chocolate. I was in good spirits, I had about an hour's time before the sun set and my wild camp spot on the shores of Llyn y Fan Fawr was nearby.

A terribly steep descent to the bwlch just before the ascent to Piws Du was too much for my legs. Both my feet started cramping and I was more like hobbling down, taking breaks in between. ARG! Why now??? Made it carefully to down the bwlch and up to the summit of Picws Du. Interesting enough a similar thing had happend on my previous wild camp trip in South Wales. Weird.

An almost perfectly flat and dry wild camp spot presented itself on the summit of Picws Du. I just couldn't let it pass. My dream has always been to sleep on a hill/mountain top, but the weather rarely allow for such a thing. Now was the time! Especially with my cramping feet. Plus, there had only been a gentle breeze so far, so I set up camp!

While some left over dried chili from last year was happily heating up over my stove, I laid out my tent, but only fastened the groundsheet, thinking that if I wanted to pitch at night I could just put the pole in and be pretty much done.
Stuffed my sleeping bag and mat between the inner and outer tent since it was quickly getting wet from the moisture in the air. Had food, enjoyed the sunset with a view of the ridge and the vast fields to the North and gave sleep a try around 9:30pm.

Not for long though. The wind picked up, making my improvised bivy flap constantly and on top of that I was getting propper cold despite wearing all I had: trousers, wet socks, long baselayer, vest, waterproof jacket. My down bag was just getting too moist and the wet socks didn't help either.
So at half 10pm I quickly pitched my tent fully and crawled inside. Aaaaah. Warmth! The wind however kept on blowing, throwing the odd gust so I slept only little. Why do I keep forgetting earplugs?! Duh!

Got up at 4:30am, packed and with the first light of pre-dawn set off towards the top of Fan Foel, munching an apple for brekkie. My feet still felt a bit dodgy so I couldn't adapt the brisk pace I normally set. Passed the trig point of Fan Brycheiniog and made a careful decent to the bwlch and onwards to Llyn y Fan Fawr where I had originally intended to camp.
I could've gone up the last hill and walked over its top decending at the very end of the ridge into the village, but instead opted for the Beacons Way, which lead along the base of the hill. Thought it might be easier going since it's an official long distance path and all.
How could I've been so wrong? The path wound it's way along a small stream and was rough and wet. I had to circumvent wet patches more often than not and my feet were soaked pretty soon again. The going was awfully slow. Wistfully, I gazed up towards the hill to my right. Stupid me!

The red ball of the sun spread its light over misty valleys in the distance as I struggled on. To crown it all, I slipped on some slick rocks and was more annoyed about my wet backside than the sharp pain in my ankle. Fought my way through shoulder high ferns hiding the mudd underneath and finally emerged on the A road leading back to the car park.

7:45am I was changed and pretty exhausted with a grumbling stomach drove the car the hour back to work. Devoured some fried eggs and bacon at the cafeteria and somehow survived the day despite feeling utterly shattered.

Still, I really enjoyed the walk and the fact that I didn't see a single soul on both days. I'm not only talking about meeting people. I didn't even see any in the distance. Wow. This is indeed a rather remote part of the national park. The scenery is bleak and misses the grandeur of Pen-y-Fan and friends but the ridge walk was totally worth it, especially in that wonderful evening light.
I ticked off doing a wild camp on a hilltop, which had been a long dream of mine and generally enjoyed the 15mi circular walk a lot. Good nav and orienteering practice and finding my way over wet ground. And finally, I found the South Wales Traverse which is a 73mi fell running challenge but why not walk it? It takes in 31 hills of 2000ft and over. Could be a more challenging alternative to the Beacons Way. Goes onto the list of things to do some day, haha.