 Jason having a rest and taking in the final part of our route for this year's stint.
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Day 8 - Exmouth to Sidmouth
Author: Dave
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A short stroll
We sneaked around the headland in a race against the tide.
We woke up to a clear blue sky and no wind (not outside anyway). It was looking to be another warm day. This week was proving to be the sunniest one of the whole walk so far. We worked around each other while packing our kit up fairly efficently, considering the room wasn't big enough to swing a mouse let alone a cat, and made our way down for breakfast. We had low expectations for breakfast as this was the cheapest B&B we had stayed in to date and it was booked on the internet where there seemed to be no reviews on it. What could possibly go wrong? Our fears were allayed though when a decent fryup was promptly served up. All in all, despite my constant piss take for the last few months about probably having to sleep in a bus shelter when the booking turned out to be an internet scam, this turned out to be a VFM (value for money) B&B. The room was a bit small, but it was clean and confortable, with a sea view and a half decent brekky !
We set off from our B&B along the esplanade. It was still quite early and almost no one else out and about apart from the odd jogger. It was a glorious morning with just a slight nip in the air resulting in a comfortable walking temperature. As we passed the lifboat station we faced our first big decision. The official path went up and over the cliff on a tarmac path. As the tide was mostly out (but coming in) the option of wandering around Orcombe headland and along the beach presented itself. We agreed it probably wasn't a sensible thing to do with the tide coming in and no knowledge of how much of the beach was going to be passable and for how long. Therefore, we went for it. Obviously. Well, it was bound to happen wasn't it ! In my usual style, I legged it off in front for a bit of reconnaissance to make sure there was access of the beach at the other end and that we weren't going to get trapped by the rising tide and die a horrible death before lunchtime. After a quick look round the corner, I decided the odds were probably stacked in our favour and we carried on with the beach route which is a bit easier on the feet than a tarmac path.
We set off from our B&B along the esplanade. It was still quite early and almost no one else out and about apart from the odd jogger. It was a glorious morning with just a slight nip in the air resulting in a comfortable walking temperature. As we passed the lifboat station we faced our first big decision. The official path went up and over the cliff on a tarmac path. As the tide was mostly out (but coming in) the option of wandering around Orcombe headland and along the beach presented itself. We agreed it probably wasn't a sensible thing to do with the tide coming in and no knowledge of how much of the beach was going to be passable and for how long. Therefore, we went for it. Obviously. Well, it was bound to happen wasn't it ! In my usual style, I legged it off in front for a bit of reconnaissance to make sure there was access of the beach at the other end and that we weren't going to get trapped by the rising tide and die a horrible death before lunchtime. After a quick look round the corner, I decided the odds were probably stacked in our favour and we carried on with the beach route which is a bit easier on the feet than a tarmac path.
9:00am and it's already hot !
Jason runmaging in his rucksack at our lunch stop in Budleigh Salterton.
We soon came to the end of the very pleasent beach section and had to climb the cliff and follow the path round the next headland, Staight point. One reason for adopting the cliff path again was the lack of a beach, so we would have had to swim this one. The second reason was the headland was the home to an army firing range. So if we didn't drown, we would probably get shot. Oddly enough, common sense won over on this occasion and we followed the path slightly inland past the holiday park of Sandy Bay. We were on top of the red sandstone cliffs now with fine views down to and along the pebble beach to Budleigh Salterton. It was a bit early for lunch but we thought we would stop for a brew and a snack at Budleigh as we were on a short day and wanted to kill a bit of time..
We descended the cliff path into Budleigh and dropped down to the pebble beach where we found a small hut selling teas and snacks. That'll do nicely ! A cup of tea and a mid morning bite to eat set us up for the next leg of the day. We left our cafe stop and headed out along the edge of the beach until we reached the Otter River. Here the path turns inland to a bridge across the river about half a mile up stream. The route was on a good path through a nature reserve - the Otter Estuary nature reserve to be precise. We saw quite a few older people wandering around with binoculars and and telephoto lenses in hand. We crossed the bridge and then headed back towards the sea where the path climbed back up onto the cliff tops and we were to pretty much stay for the rest of the journey only descending back down to the sea when we reached Sidmouth. The only real interest was some red sandstone sea stacks and another holiday park. It had a cafe attached to it advertising ice cream....
'That could be nice' I said to Jason.
'Fancy a brew and an ice cream ?'
'OK then'
We wandered up to the doors to find it was closed. Dissapointed, and now craving an ice cream because I knew I couldn't have one, we plodded on towards our destination for the day and the last one of the week.
Beach huts at Budleigh Salterton.
Now, The cheap hotel at Sidmouth was always going to be the wild card of the week's accommodation. At the end of the week, just in case we fancy a late night as it's the last day of our holiday, we book into a cheap hotel which are a little more impersonal and forgiving when to two pissed blokes stagger in at midnight. However, this year we were in South Devon and prime Saga holiday coach trip country. We could end up in a hotel that had more in common with a nursing home than a hotel. I had mentioned this; firstly when booking it, but Jason had assured me it was going to be OK. To be fair, my doubts about the internet booking for Exmouth had been unfounded, so while I mentioned my concerns a few more times during the week, I was secretly hoping for the best.
We arrived in Sidmouth mid afternoon, despite our slow wander and found The Clock Tower cafe overlooking Chit Rocks where we stopped for a pasty and another cup of tea. It was way too early to check into the hotel. Having taken our time eating our pasties, we were still too early to check into the hotel so we thought we would go and find it and pop in somewhere for a cheeky pre dinner pint. We drank slowley and finally finished. It was still too early to check into the hotel so we decided another pint in a bar next door was in order. I still had an ice cream craving and as luck would have it, there was an ice cream shack next to the pub garden we were in, so I grabbed an ice cream and sat down and watched the world go by. It was at this point I couldn't help but notice we were the youngest two people in sight. Hmmmmm......
The time had finally come to check in the hotel. We walked through the revolving door, which is not to be underestimated when wearing a rucksack, and we were confronted by a sight that caused us both to break out in laughter. In the reception, tucked under the stairs were about a dozen zimmer frames with wheels all lined up like cars in a car park. Looks like the 'silver top tours' were staying in the hotel then. The rooms were OK though, no smell of wee, plastic covers on the beds or even a hint of lavenda scented soaps. Our big night out turned into a fairly quite one with an early night.
The following morning's clientele in the breakfast dining room confirmed that the two of us and the coach driver, were the youngest there by about three decades. I think we'll stick to B&B's in future.
We arrived in Sidmouth mid afternoon, despite our slow wander and found The Clock Tower cafe overlooking Chit Rocks where we stopped for a pasty and another cup of tea. It was way too early to check into the hotel. Having taken our time eating our pasties, we were still too early to check into the hotel so we thought we would go and find it and pop in somewhere for a cheeky pre dinner pint. We drank slowley and finally finished. It was still too early to check into the hotel so we decided another pint in a bar next door was in order. I still had an ice cream craving and as luck would have it, there was an ice cream shack next to the pub garden we were in, so I grabbed an ice cream and sat down and watched the world go by. It was at this point I couldn't help but notice we were the youngest two people in sight. Hmmmmm......
The time had finally come to check in the hotel. We walked through the revolving door, which is not to be underestimated when wearing a rucksack, and we were confronted by a sight that caused us both to break out in laughter. In the reception, tucked under the stairs were about a dozen zimmer frames with wheels all lined up like cars in a car park. Looks like the 'silver top tours' were staying in the hotel then. The rooms were OK though, no smell of wee, plastic covers on the beds or even a hint of lavenda scented soaps. Our big night out turned into a fairly quite one with an early night.
The following morning's clientele in the breakfast dining room confirmed that the two of us and the coach driver, were the youngest there by about three decades. I think we'll stick to B&B's in future.
Not a cloud in the sky. Again.
