Not having had a camper trip since early May (although we had had a fantastic 10 days in the Lake District in a beautiful cottage so I'm not complaining!!) we were getting itchy feet.
We had only planned and booked one long weekend trip away in June so with the forecast looking good, and nothing exciting planned during the first weekend in June, we got together with some friends from Poole on a site virtually mid-way for all of us....the lovely CC site at Putts Corner, near Sidmouth in south Devon.
We arrived Friday afternoon and just chilled on site reading. Our friends arrived later that evening so it was off to the local, where I had booked a table for the evening. A good time has had by all, especially us girls sampling their guest cider, Old Rosie's with rhubarb (and glorious it was too!).
It was just a 2 night stay so we all wanted to make the most of our only real full day (Saturday) so we set up our bikes (they have power assisted bikes too, which is very handy!) and headed off out for the day. We biked directly from the site down, what we call, the forest road where there are fantastic viewpoints overlooking Ottery St Mary and the south Devon countryside. From there we biked through Sidbury, a pretty village full of 'chocolate box' thatched cottages and a lovely church. We were then lucky to find a new bike trail/path that took us through a lovely park in Sidford right down to the seafront at Sidmouth, where we sat outside a café drinking coffee and people watching.
From the seafront we wandered through the small, but busy, town where we picked up some supplies for a picnic in the park, sat next to the river, on the return leg.
We took a slightly different route back up to the site and the hill was a killer! Even with power assisted bikes we all had to get off and walk (normal for me!). We did 19 miles that day. We had a few hours on site to 'rest' and shower before heading back to the local pub that evening (where sadly they had run out of the rhubarb cider!) where we enjoyed another lovely meal with our friends.
Sunday morning came around all too quickly and after packing up and spending some time with our friends it was time to head home again. Why do so called long weekends go so quickly?
I only took my camera out with us on Saturday so there are not many photos this time!
We're off again this weekend to Bristol (Baltic Wharf CC site), a first visit for us.
We were due to be up and off on Monday morning but we got up to blue skies! Typical eh? We visited the owners in reception and asked if we could stay later and as they had no one booked onto our pitch that day they said we could stay as long as we liked, at no extra charge too! Great way to run a campsite.
After a quick breakfast and tidy up we caught the bus into Falmouth with our friends, where we had a wander around and then met them for lunch (another pub!) before returning to the campsite on the bus. We were soon heading home and despite the weather we had crammed lots of walks (and pubs!) into our trip.
We're off to the Lake District in a week or so but not in Bessy, as we have booked a cottage with Mike's sister and brother-in-law. Our next planned trip in Bessy is mid June. We have managed to get a pitch on the Bristol CC site at Baltic Wharf before it closes for good. First time there for us, so looking forward to exploring a new area.
Another bank holiday, another trip!
We decided to stay 'local' for our next trip and booked to stay at Carnon Downs, just outside Truro. This was our third stay here since November (so it must be good). We arrived at lunchtime on the Friday (same time as our friends!) and discovered the pitch we had booked had already been taken so the site owner upgraded us (free of charge) to a fully service pitch of our choice. Once we'd found a pitch with a satellite signal, all was good!
The weather wasn't great that day so we walked down to the local garden centre for some tea and cake that afternoon and in the evening we all went to the local pub!
Saturday was a wet old day too, so after breakfast with our friends in their camper, and a few hours chilling out, we all kitted up in our wet weather gear and walked into Truro, where we had a couple of hours wandering around the city and a few pints in the pub. After catching the bus back to the site we had a Chinese takeaway delivered to the site.
I didn't take any photos during Friday and Saturday, hence my ramblings!!!
Sunday was a better day (just showers) so after breakfast in Bessy (egg baps are now traditional) with our friends we all went for a walk down to Penpol Creek and Devoran where we ended up in a pub for lunch (there seems to be a running theme with our trips now!). The weather was a bit hit and miss but it didn't stop us. That evening we enjoyed hot dogs and a cream tea in our friends camper before retiring to Bessy fat and full!
