According to Maice who now thinks of herself a connoisseur in the local weather, we were going to be inundated with heavy rain today, dissipating to light rain showers by the afternoon. Lets just hope she’s wrong. Having had such a lovely sunny day yesterday wouldn’t it be nice if just for once, two consecutive days were the same. We weren’t at all surprised however when we awoke this morning and it was raining, heavily!
We had a lie-in until 8am then it was all systems go. Winston was taken out, in the rain, to carry out his ablutions, Maice carried out her daily yoga session, I prepared breakfast, we sorted out the blog and prayed the heavy rain would dissipate to light rain by noon, our anticipated time of departure. Today we were off to visit Lynton and Lynmouth, two small resorts on the coast, just north of where we’re staying and it would be nice to see it in the sunshine not the rain. By the time we left at midday the rain had indeed become lighter and it was considerably milder than the last few days. Maybe it would turn out nice after all.
Mr Smooth was on navigation duties and of the three possible routes to chose from he chose the cross country route, via country roads that were very narrow and windey. When we came to a fork in the road that said Lynton up and Lynmouth down we were in a dilemma. Where did we want to park? Up or down. Either way we were faced with a very steep hill. We plumped for Lynmouth which is at the bottom and drove very carefully down the very steep 25% gradient of a hill.
We parked up and went to pay at the machine but the option for payment by card wasn’t working and neither of us had any cash on us so our other options were to ring the number on the machine or download the app. Believing it to be quicker to phone we did just that and was advised by the automated operator that all that was required were answers to three questions. Question 1: What is your vehicle registration number. Question 2: What is the make of the car and Question 3: What is the colour of the vehicle. Simple enough we thought. Standing by the ticket machine, the phone on speaker phone, Maice answered all the questions directly into the phone. We were told about T&C’s then it relayed the information Maice had provided back to us. Well, the registration number bore no resemblance to ‘that what she spoke’…….probably confused them with her Canadian accent! Due to this discrepancy we were then sent a text message to key in the registration number, then we had to wait 60 seconds before we could call the number. We called the number and was then asked for the car park code. By now we had moved back to the car so had to run back to the machine to get the number then we had to key in the long code on the payment card. Honestly…..what a malaver! It seemed to take forever, all for a parking fee of £3.30. Ah well, what with our track record, if we hadn’t bought a ticket you’ll bet we’d have been fined!!
After the ‘malaver in the carpark’ we definitely needed a cappuccino and headed off in the direction of the ‘resort’ centre. Before we got there we stopped to look at the Lyn Gorge where the river cascades down from the mountain, or is it a hill, into the sea. Only trouble was we had to cross a road bridge over the river, which was fine for me and Maice but Winston was having none of it. He wouldn’t budge one inch across that bridge…..maybe the roar of the water frightened him, or because he could see the water through the railings whatever it was he’d freaked himself out. Bless him. We got him over there by walking in the gutter, thankfully no cars were passing at the time!
With that little ‘episode’ behind us we walked through a quaint parade of shops and found a place that did take away coffees. Soon we were walking along the promenade towards the vernacular railway, which was closed for winter, cappuccino in hand and took in our surroundings. The sun had finally come out, we stood by the beach wall, drinking our lovely cappuccinos, and watched a rainbow appear on the horizon. The coastline here was very different to Ilfracombe, not as dramatic but still just as hilly. We found the path up to Lynton at the side of the railway and walked up the very, very steep sloped, stopping every now and then for a breather and to admire the views. Gorgeous darlings, simply gorgeous.
It was very quiet in Lynton and very little was open so when we found the local church was open we went in. We wanted to light a candle for all our family and friends past and present but like the church in Ilfracombe there were no lit candles so we sat and said a prayer instead. Just before we headed back down to Lynmouth we found a mini-market and bought a box of matches for 21p which means we’ll be able to have our cheese fondue for supper after all. Of course we could have just used a pan on the stove, but its not the same if you don’t keep it warming on the burner! Happy with our purchase of 21p we walked down the steep slope and followed the coastal path sign along the promenade. To get there we had to cross a footpath bridge over the river where once again Winston freaked out and refused to budge, this time being carried over by Maice. Honestly, it’s only a bit of water Winston!
We had a quick walk along the beach, visited the miniature railway museum which was really interesting and headed home. Driving up the very steep hill out of Lynmouth in first gear was rather challenging, hoping not to stop and then needing to do a hill start! We managed to get to the top unscathed and drove home both looking forward to sitting down with some bread and butter pudding, brandy cream and an alcoholic drink. What more could you want after another lovely day out.
Tonight we’re watching Paddington 2, because we know its funny then we’re going to sit down and enjoy our cheese fondue, this being our last evening here at Yetland Farm Cottages. We’re off home tomorrow……can’t believe we’ve been here for five days already! After supper we retired to the lounge and relaxed on our sofas. Winston had obviously forgotten all about his phobia as he was so relaxed he was farting like a trouper, something he’s been doing every day since he’s been here. He just sleeps through it whereas Maice and I have to leave the room it was that bad!!
On that note it’s time for our beds. Got lots to do in the morning and we’ve got to be out by 10am.
M&A and Sir ‘Farty’ Winston xxx