Things I Discovered on my Holiday in Devon

Yesturday I got back from a week of camping with my other half in the beautiful Devon countryside. Here are the things I learned and discovered from my trip:

• The weather forecasts in Devon are completely meaningless and often completely opposite to the actual weather. You can go from sun lotion and shades weather to dashing for the tent in your anorak in a matter of seconds.
• When it rains in Devon, it really rains. Like for 12 hours.
• Those arctic waterproof sleeping bags (the kind that make you look like an egyptian mummy) are AMAZING at keeping you warm and dry even when your matress and pillows are soaking wet.
• You don’t need to take tinned food with you when you can live off a diet of fish and chips, pasties, icecream and barbecued food.
• The long journey down to Devon (six hours without stops) is much easier if you set off early in the morning and make hour-long stops at nice towns on the way. 

• Stratford Upon Avon is the cutest town ever. You can go and visit Shakespeare’s birthplace and his grave and there are statues of his characters everywhere. The town is filled with traditional tudor buildings and quaint little shops and cafes and there is a nice area with canal boats offering refreshments. Well worth a visit!
• Weston Super Mare is still as much fun as it was when I was a kid. Awesome beach, great seaside food and a pier filled with fair rides, arcade games and simulators.
• Some of the roads in Devon are just AWFUL! They’re so narrow you can barely get one car down them so if you meet one coming the other way you’re in trouble. Worst still, many harmless looking hedges are in fact solid rock walls disguised by greenery which scratch up your car nicely.
• The people who own caravans at Stoke Beach near Noss Mayo are so lucky. They have a nice quiet site with amazing coastal views and a beautiful private beach. Luckily as M’s grandma owns a caravan there we got to enjoy the beach. We swam in the sea with little fish passing us by and sun-bathed on the sand and it was glorious.
• M’s Grandma is really nice and at 90 year’s old she is incredibly sharp, active and independent. She goes swimming in the sea almost every day!
• A double cream tea does not mean a cream tea for two people (i.e two scones and 2 pots of tea) but rather two scones and one pot of tea for one person, so they will not bring you another cup.
• The market at Ivybridge consists of about three stalls.
• Putting on new heeled shoes without socks and then walking up the hill in Totnes is a terrible idea! 
• There is such a thing as too much clothes shopping.
• It takes you about half an hour to find parking in Totnes and it’s unbelievably frustrating, but once you get parked the shops are really nice.
• The Splashdown waterpark at Paignton is an amazing day out but you will come back with bruises!
• Spicy chickpea pasty+honeycomb and praline cream icecream=best meal ever.
• The new Quorn BBQ burgers and sausages with cheese and onion in them are delicious!
• California Cross campsite has the tidiest, cleanest loo and shower block I’ve ever seen at a campsite and has all the facilities you could want.
• It’s well worth visiting Plymouth. The Drake Circus shopping center has loads of cool surf shops like Animal and Billabong as well as a huge Primark and nice clothes shops like Jane Norman and River Island. The Barbican is a great place to visit when you’re hungry as there are loads of neat little cafes along the harbour and you can walk right around to the hoe and see the Armada Statue and go on the big wheel. The views out to see are stunning.
• The Cherry Pop slab from Hotel Chocolat is devine- cherry swirls, white chocolate, milk chocolate and fizzy popping candy all in one bar!
• Pub prices in Devon can be rather scary- £10 for a pint of cider and a cranberry and vodka!
• Modbury has a really nice art and craft gallery.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray is a pretty awesome film.
• You can meet some really friendly people when camping. We were lucky enough to be situated between two really nice families.

[© Anstice Potts, Aug 2011]