Devon Holiday

We got back home on Friday from a weeks holiday in Devon (south west England) with grandma, grandpa and Auntie Jane. We were super lucky that the weather was perfect all week and our only gripe was that the pollen count was really high so we all suffered with hayfever.

We had rented a holiday cottage just outside of a little village called Appledore. It looked a little bland from the outside but was really lovely inside as it had been all refitted and was just very family-friendly. The cottage was less than five minutes walk to a little beach. It wasn't particularly sandy but had loads of shells and rocks and enough sand to make lots of pies! You could actually see the cottage from the beach - overlooked by horses, hens and lots of rabbits (and there was a great area for flying kites).

During the week we visited three other beaches. Westward Ho! was the big sandy beach only a short drive (or long walk as grandma found out) from the cottage. We went there on one of the first days. It was massive and when the tide was out it was pretty hard to actually see the sea. Unfortunately with it being so flat, when the tide came in, the beach totally disappeared. We got an hour or so playing before that happened and Beth tried her hand at bodyboarding. I think she liked the idea more than the reality but I think she'll be happy to try it again on our next beach holiday. Toby was happy just paddling around and of course did his trademark fall in fully clothed; something that was repeated at least twice more during the week!

The next day we ventured a little further to Croyde (sorry, no decent pics), a beach well known for the surfing. It was a proper sandy beach with sand dunes behind and a little river perfect for paddling and splashing. The surf did look pretty good but as Jane pointed out, it's horrible to actually surf in as there are so many people. At one point there were seven surf school groups each with about ten people in them then all the individual surfers too - even worse than round Huntington Pier!

On Wednesday we took a break from beaches to visit the Royal Horticultural Society garden at Rosemoor. All of it was beautiful and made me want to race home and plant something. We only explored a fraction of it but did get to see their fruit and vegetable gardens, the orchard, formal gardens and the play area. Beth took time to smell the roses and Toby the opportunity to escape and get himself lost. It was lovely though I suspect it could be appreciated more fully as the designers intended without the delight of chasing the kids. Perhaps when they leave home I'll venture back there to explore on my own.

Our last day was spent at Bucks Mills Beach at the bottom of a rather steep cliff (that we manoeuvred down complete with picnic, blankets and all the other accoutrements needed for a day out at the beach!). It was beautiful and I think our favourite beach of the week. There were plenty of rock pools to fish in (Steve caught a shrimp), sand for pies and lots of opportunity for Toby to fall in, which he did, twice, in spectacular fashion - if I had been holding my camera I would have snapped a pic before extracting him. :)

It was a great week, the kids have tons of fun and got to know Auntie Jane (and her big red van) a bit better, and we all enjoyed a week of overindulgence, sun and good company.