Wednesday morning and we're about to leave. The car is over-bulging with bags and equipment, so we have to take time out to order a roof box and rails from The Roofbox Company for delivery to Liz's tomorrow. It's raining heavily outside. We are warm and snug in a house. Tomorrow we will be lying in a soggy field in North Devon. Are we disheartened? You decide... We set off for Grandma's at about midday. No problems at all. Until we hit stationary traffic on the M25 at Denham. Luckily we're just before the slip road so we come off and end up having a leafy meander through the backlanes to Maidenhead where we join the M4 and then on to Wales, arriving about teatime. We have a restful evening ahead of our privations. Just before we get to bed poor Lucy emerges from the top bunk bed and proceeds to throw up at regular intervals until after 2:30am... this does not necessarily bode well for the holiday...
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Lucy is a lot better. We take photos of my dad's double bass and then set off for Devon. Halfway down the M5 we discover that one of the main straps holding the bike rack on has come adrift.Which would explain overtaking motorists' interest in it. Oops... We decide to take the lengthy yet scenic route along north coast via Minehead, Porlock, Exmoor and Linmouth. Arrive at Hidden Valley at about 4pm. Put up tent etc. No problems. Go to Liz's for dinner... bit later than expected as we get totally lost in the lanes. Return to camp about 9pm to finish setting up. In the midde of the night find that a) our airbed has deflated substantially, b) it is raining like buggery and c) the A361 is only twenty five yards away...
Friday, August 13, 2004
Have to go to Barnstaple to get fuses for the lighter socket to reflate the airbed, power the coolbox, charge phones etc,, also looking to get some other stuff like a swingball and sausages (pork with laver from Butcher's Row, made famous by Rick Stein). Meet fellow Citroen driver in the car park who helps us sort out which fuse is the right one. Then we go to Liz's so that the kids can get together and, after lunch and a much needed siesta, Nick can fit the roofbox which arrived for us there yesterday. It's all a bit complicated. And the fuses are still blowing. We end up borrowing a manual pump to inflate the airbed. We try to go to bed early but are disturbed by neighbours celebrating their last night in camp - Janie soon puts them straight. In the middle of the night we find that the airbed has once more deflated substantially... rearrangement of sleeping quarters has Janie in with Emma and Lucy, and Nick on the previously inflated lilo. A not entirely restful solution.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
At last, a sunny start. The fuse saga continues as we go to the local Spar garage and get overcharged for a couple of yellow 20s but it's worth it as now we have phone charger, iPod charger, coolbox and pump. Things are getting better by the minute. We go down to the beach at sunny Putsborough (parking at £4.50 rivalling Islington but never mind) and have fun followed by another trip to Millets in Barnstaple for a new airbed, and then it's back to Liz's to pick up my wallet which I had left there yesterday. Good news is that new airbed inflates like a dream and stays inflated. Result! Liz brings the kids (including little Bruno) to the site for supper. And I don't think it rained at all in the night.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Have a mooch round Woolacombe in the morning looking for a gas canister for our lamp to replace the one that ran out last night, then decide to head down to Bude to find somewhere to stay tomorrow night. The journey involves traversing Barnstaple and so takes a lot longer than anticipated. On the plus side we do get a cancellation at Wooda Farm and have a paddle at Crooklets Beach. In the evening we eat at the Hidden Valley restaraunt. Lovely food but the simple fact that we are indoors is the best thing. Absolutely throwing it down outside. Get back to very soggy pitch to find the unmistakeable smell of cow poo which our groundsheet seems to have drawn out of the soil.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Up early as it's moving day. Everything is wet from last night and we're wading around in cowpoosmelly muddy puddles. We're supposed to be offsite by 10, eventually pull out at 11:15. Emma running a temperature - we sensed something was wrong last night when she couldn't finish her ice cream. Stop off at Westward Ho! on the way down to Bude and leave when it starts raining. Arrive at Wooda and start putting up tent only to be thwarted by torrential rain. To stay dry and have something to do we go for drive to Sandy Mouth and Duckpool beaches. Later discover that Boscastle, ten miles down the road had been practically washed away by flash floods. Finish putting up the tent with rescue helicopters flying overhead to Bideford (?) and thunder rumbling around us. We drive down to Bude to get some gas for the lamp and find the centre of town practically awash. The heavy rain and high tide having combined to bring the river almost up to the level of the lower shopping streets. We return to the site and have pizza and, to aid restful sleep, Nick downs the best part of a bottle of red wine.
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Tuesday starts off slightly brighter, but all the weather forecasts, amateur and professional (not to mention the huge mass of dirty clouds piling up to the south), point to more badness on the way. There is an air of a refugee camp about the campsite. Everyone seems to be wearing virtual "Cornwall 2004 Survivor" t-shirts and more and more people are beginning to break camp. Lucy is now down with the bug that Emma had. Nick ended up sleeping in with her last night as Emma was unsettled in the middle of the night. We tidy up our pitch and decide to head down to explore some more beaches for future reference. We go to Northcott Mouth and have a pleasant stroll along the sand but decide that swimming isn't really an option. Then it rains again so we head into Bude to get supplies and for Janie to check out a surfshop... what seems like several hours later we have depressing soggy sausages and spaghetti cooked under the limited shelter of our awning. More, but not enough, red wine followed.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Following a terrible night of rain and wild wind hammering at our tent we are woken early by Lucy informing us she has had a little accident in the sleeping bag she is sharing with her mum. This is about the final straw. We now only have two working sleeping bags for the whole party. We have to wash this huge sleeping bag and get it dry in the admittedly admirable Wooda facilities. But it still won't fit in the washing machine. Oh and reception doesn't open until 8am and it is only 7.30am and we have no change. And it's raining. And now Nick has obviously come down with the same bug Emma and Lucy (and possibly Janie) have had.. but worse of course. We decide that enough is enough. The weather forecast says more storms, the prospect is bad until the weekend. We want to go home... so pack away in delirious state, with Nick madder by the minute. Get all our stuff and us safely in the car by about 1pm, Janie has to drive as far as Bath as Nick is not to be trusted with heavy machinery at this point... Oh nearly forgot, before leaving we went up the hill to see the goats, chickens and cows, and the man putting the refuse in the compactor. Get home at about 8pm to find road all dug up by gas people... get bikes off and leave car miles away in front of garage doors meaning to move it later. Forget to move it later. Oh, and the gas had been turned off...
Friday, August 20, 2004
As a postscript to the above... our return home was notable for two events. Firstly Janie had a crown detach on the way back, leaving her with a nasty bit of tooth gubbins lacerating the inside of her mouth. This was to lead to her having to go to North Middlesex Hospital for treatment on Friday. NIck, meanwhile, making a rapid response to the call to move the car from where it had been parked on our return, slipped at the top of the stairs and plunged feet first, breaking a toe and damaging his neck, backside and elbow (yes he can tell the difference) in the process, resulting in visits to Chase Farm Hospital on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Happy holidays!
