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We walked some of the Coastal Path again this morning. The hills are good for our waistlines. Well that’s what I’m hoping! After the sea being a bit choppy yesterday the surfers were back out. The waves drag up the red sand from underneath and stain the water.

Our travels took us further up the Jurassic Coast, firstly to a beautiful village with such pretty houses named Otterton Mill where the working mill still practices the tradition of flour milling, bread making and cafe/gift shop etc.

Only 20 odd minutes along was Budleigh Salterton with its 2 mile stony beach. Many shops were charity – ie Hospice, and a few little boutiques. This is where we enjoyed our Devonshire cream tea in Devon. The cream was a little different but all in all, a scone is a scone.

Next town Sidmouth was charming and bustling. By this time it was 30 degrees and the challenge was on to find a shady spot to have lunch. This area also has a long stony beach churning up ‘red’ water. Doesn’t seem to bother the swimmers.

Lastly we had a quick look around Topsham, again sweet narrow streets and very close to Exmouth, against the Exe River on the opposite side. A ferry shuttles people across when the tide suits.

This marks our last day in England’s South. It’s been amazing and the weather better than we could have hoped for. Last year the summer was cold for us despite being in August. This year I brought some warm clothes with me and they are a pain in my suitcase. One can never plan for all outcomes.

Tomorrow we head to Bristol for a night to see David and Alison who we’ve kept in touch with since our French cruise last year They visited us in Oxford after our Cotswolds cycle so it will be good to see them again. There is also an English Football semifinal game vs Argentina to enjoy or endure! Let’s hope it goes England’s way ahah.

Exeter is another ancient city on the River Exe (same as Exmouth) Dating back to the Roman era, the Exeter City Walls surround its centre and Gothic Exeter Cathedral. Population approximately 138,000.

Exeter Castle, a Norman landmark, overlooks Northernhay and Rougemont Gardens which are 414 years old!

It has some vaulted, medieval Underground Passages snaking beneath the city which sadly are only open Thursday to Sunday. Damn!

The Cathedral is renowned for the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world and its gothic architecture and history of over 1000 years.

The city walls span nearly 2000 years of history with about 70% of the original Roman and medieval circuit still visible albeit with some repairs.

The quay area has had a makeover. Many residential conversions and restaurants.

A very nice city. It was amazing to leave the house for numerous consecutive days without a jersey. Especially given we are in England!

Dinner tonight courtesy of Tescos!

Our day began with a walk along the Coastal Path which took us past the Geoneedle, a stone landmark at Orcombe Point in Exmouth, marking the western gateway to the UNESCO Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. Unveiled in 2002, it is built from a variety of stones to represent 185 million years of Earth’s history. The Jurassic Coast is named as during its long life it has been a desert, shallow tropical sea, and marshlands. Its rich red stone and soil contains fossils.

The day began hot and got hotter. The car read 33 degrees at one point!

We took a trip to Darts Farm – an award winning farm shopping experience with a working farm at its heart. As with The Pig where we ate last week, this team handpicked their seasonal food, not only for their 3 different styled restaurants but to sell in their incredible shop. They grow much of their own meat and use traditional techniques to ensure minimal waste. Then they use artisan suppliers – bread, pastries, craft beers etc. Fascinating. Clarkson Farms on steroids and with actual purpose. Plus some external retailers including gift and homewares. This was our lunch stop.

But the main trip today was to the Dartmoor National Park to see the Dartmoor ponies. It covers 368 square miles – roughly 95000 hectares!!! Massive. Famous for rugged granite rocks, deep river valleys, Bronze Age history and ponies, it’s also hugely popular for hiking, cycling and ‘wild’ camping. Interesting concept that last one. The ponies have roamed freely here for at least four thousand years – apparently there are fossilised footprints in bronze aged ditches. How do they know?! Digressing though, it was really hard to find any ponies. Google told me of several spots and it took all of them to find more than one or two. In the 1950’s 30,000 ponies existed here. Now after culling and re homing there are around 1500.

During the circuit of villages we enjoyed the very old Widecombe in the Moor. Great name. A very picturesque village famous for its 14th century St Pancras Church.

Another failed pony spotter hamlet was Postbridge. But what a find. It’s has this amazing 13th ‘Clapper Bridge’ – an ancient granite packhorse crossing over the East Dart River

Finally, we went a bit further to Ashburton, the largest town in the National Park. And also associated historically with administrative duties during the tin industry. Ashburton also has an East Street, plus North and West so there might be a South somewhere.

All in all, a successful and interesting day. And hot!!

The river Tamar forms almost the entire Cornish and Devon border, not that we saw much on our drive with all the large hedge rows. We popped into a few little towns for a ‘look-see’ but mostly came directly here, about two hours from Port Isaac.

Lunch in Exmouth township treated us to a carnival atmosphere with a market day happening.

Exmouth is a port town, and seaside resort located on the east bank at the mouth of the River Exe, 18 km from Exeter, the capital city of Devon. So know we are on the other side of the peninsula – the South West Coast. We are a five minute walk to the beach which was busy for our 30 degrees Saturday.

A nippy paddle to our knees helped cool the body temperature.

There are knitted characters on the letter boxes around town as a fund raiser for cancer. You can vote and donate. Really clever knitters out there.

Dinner will be down at the beach where we saw a bistro.

That’s what Graeme said we’d have. Just a gentle circuit walk of the two harbours. So we headed around to Port Gaverne and found the not very well marked walkway which led through some trees and along a creek.

It came to a point of two choices and we chose the more worn track. Hmmm. When we ran out of track we became ‘those people’ who walk across farmers’ land through the cow paddocks trying to find a road.

9kms later after dodging traffic down the skinny lanes we got back to Port Isaac. It was a very hot 28 degrees with no wind.

Lunch was another hike up the hill to enjoy the views for our last day here.

Cornwall has been great to us, all bar those couple of rainy days but the mind is very clever at forgetting the hard stuff. I think the traffic and narrow roads would drive us nuts if living here, but the little villages are just lovely. You’d just need to plan ahead. And you don’t need roosters or an alarm clock here. We’ve had some very noisy seagulls squawking until late at night and starting very early in the morning. The joys of the seaside. We’re leaving at a good time. Apparently August is crazy here! Cornwall has been on our list for quite some time. We can now give it the big ✅

Dinner at the local, Golden Lion. It had to be done! No sea Shanties tonight sadly.

Another beautiful warm day in Port Isaac saw us trek along the Coastal Path in the opposite direction to yesterday. There were a few steep climbs along with many steps and narrow foot tracks. Super views of very clear water – probably because it’s freezing! Several fishing boats were out checking their lobster pots. A menace here are octopus who have somehow arrived from Spain and are getting into the fish pots and eating what’s in there.

At a recommendation from Jason we drove 40 minutes back near Padstow to The Pig – a 15th century Manor House. There are a series of Pig Hotels which have a 25 mile menu – ie all the food is either grown here in the kitchen garden or within a 25 mile radius.

The hotel group worked to preserve the property’s rich, overlapping architectural heritage. The main building features a Georgian facade that hides a patchwork of Medieval, Jacobean, and Georgian styles. Very cool to be in something so old.

We remembered cycling past here on our first drizzly day. Serendipity I’d say.

Basically the chef cooks what is fresh in the garden – rather like Riverstone in Oamaru.

Three of the original slate walls of the kitchen garden are from 1831. The fourth is even older and holds a well in its centre.

I really loved seeing inside this 600 year old house. Amazing to think of what has gone on before. And so nice it has been restored as so many are left to ruin.

We did a few farm jobs this morning and even some washing – although operator error caused the fancy/not fancy machine to go into drier mode after the wash when I didn’t want it to and then kept the door locked. Oh dear. Technology got the better of me!

The day began beautifully but by the time we left for our walk a mist had come in. It wasn’t cold, in fact it felt almost humid. We took a picnic lunch and walked along the South West Coast Path, a very narrow and uneven path for an hour or so before finding a spot to watch the ocean, known as the Celtic Sea, before it becomes the North Atlantic Ocean, and closer in is Port Isaac Bay. It consists of 630 miles of scenery now managed by a registered charity founded in 1973 to protect National Trail.

Just over the hill from here is Port Gaverne, more suitable for swimming and kayaking. No jet skis allowed so nice and peaceful.

The temperature rose quite steeply once the cloud burnt off, before coming back in a while later. That’s sea life. It’s a cute wee village.

5 o’clock view sitting against the stone sea wall watching the tide come in pre our steak dinner cooked in house this evening.

A gentle walk after dinner just before sunset ended another happy day.

It was so hard deciding what to wear today after bike pants and overnight washed shirts for a week 🤣.

We had a nice lazy start watching the tide come in for another blue sky day.

We took the easy option and taxied to the rental car pickup rather than juggle luggage and buses. Excited to get the little Fiat Bambina. It’s so tiny – no Cornish lane will be too narrow!

We couldn’t get into our AirBNB until 4pm so filled in time driving to the larger town of Truro and surrounds, also recognising a few trails we cycled. Most of the towns are around 30-40 minutes apart with some only 10 minutes from here. We bought a few breakfast supplies. Back to reality. Who’s going to make the bed?!

We are a minutes walk to the village. You can see the sea if you stand on one leg and turn your head sideways! But we have a nice view of the many slate roofed cottages.

Today has been lovely and warm – 25 at one point. Port Isaac is just as it looks on the Doc Martin TV show. It’s quite surreal recognising buildings that have been used for other purposes.

It is also famous for the Fisherman’s Friends movie based on a true story about a group of Sea Shanties who were signed by Universal records. They still perform at the 18th century Golden Lion pub here. Hopefully this Friday.

Looking forward to a relaxing few days. The forecast is for sun.

We’ve enjoyed an amazing dinner at Rick Steins.

Consensus is: Exceptional service, Exceptional food and Exceptional price ££££. Wonderful experience.

The conversation revolved around the past 8 days of our ride.

It was challenging – without electric bikes we’d have struggled big time.

Every day involved steep climbs, many with long gliding descents. With so much to see, the kms just disappeared and we usually arrived feeling surprised at how quickly we had finished the route.

Beautiful little bays, villages and hamlets with sweet cottages and often magnificent homes and gardens.

The App was mostly good. Sometimes operator error was to blame for the odd extra km 🤣.

Most accommodation was as we expected, with a couple of less desirables, but still cheerful staff and always clean.

Bikes were great. No punctures or lack of battery power. Phew! And no injuries. 🙂.

Downside, was some heavy rain, drizzle, and a few grey starts to the day. Usually followed by sun after lunch. Could be a Cornwall trait.

Biking was a great way to travel the coastline and visit the many coves and villages. And with a bike there’s no hassle with parking. Slow and easy with a chance to enjoy the views.

And the joy of getting into a soft bed after a big day cannot be under rated.

Now it’s time to recharge and relax for a few days in Port Isaac.

We awoke to blue sky and sunshine for our last day of cycling. No jackets required. Hooray.

The route took us along some lovely quiet lanes towards the Eden Project, an educational eco park growing plants from around the world in large domes. The ‘natural’ plantings – ie large overgrown trees and weeds masked any views. Continuing on was an option to visit China Clay pits, so we took the detour along a very rough granite track called the Clay Trails, a landscape apparently well known for its clay tips and pits created by the 250 year old mining industry. At a junction the excursion became quite complicated as unnamed tracks headed off in all directions. The quote was for striking and dramatic scenery.

Basically we saw some ponds overgrown with weeds including stinging nettle, gorse, wild blackberry….The quote continued ‘You can ride them, passing the Eden Project and then into the beautiful UNESCO ‘World Heritage Site’ valley before the pretty village of Luxulyan – the tiny village was very sweet. We stopped here and enjoyed our picnic lunch on a park bench. The clay pits part was such a disappointment, especially as it added at least an extra hour and felt like a waste. Turns out we rode past another lake, after looking at our map, but couldn’t see it. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

The route after this followed beautiful back trails including the
Treffry Viaduct, a 19th-century architectural wonder tucked away in the Luxulyan Valley, near St Austell. It was built between 1839 and 1842 from granite to carry both a tramway and a high level water channel for mining.

Then onto Bodmin where we left the rental car a week ago. The 18th century gaol is now a hotel.

By this time we we were really feeling the effects of the rough ride and were looking forward to the end. We were greeted with a gentle cycle along the Camel Trail of 17 miles. Yes, the UK is still in miles and feet. (Occasionally we’ve seen metres mentioned).

We followed the river towards Padstow and have now completed the loop.

Total for the week 360.48

Congratulations to us!!

Celebratory dinner at the infamous Rick Steins tonight.