A Re-run of 3 Days Ago (With Laura this time) - 31st July ‘20

The last day of July and being 17 degrees, a bit of sun and a bit of sea mist but a lot of cloud is one thing ... but when you see the weather at home is 34 degrees and sunny then that’s quite another!!

Kim and I spent the night in the camp beds in Isabella. We both slept well, although both woke up very warm as we were dressed for winter and the sun was out early and very warm. Unfortunately 9am was its warmest and it only went down hill from then!

I would say a leisurely morning was had breakfasting and getting ready but that is not the adjective that best describes it - chaotic? manic? stressful? Isabella is great but it’s still 6 of us in a very confined space and 3 of the 6 are the Twinnies and Laura! 

We set off at 12.30 and walked the same path we had a couple of days ago to Mortehoe. Rather than pasties from the shop, we lunched at the Chichester Arms. The place was a bit scruffy and COVID meant we had to sit outside but the food was rather nice. I had a very acceptable ploughman’s.

The sun was out for a bit on the way back but on the way over we couldn’t even see the sea as the mist had rolled in a made for a rather chilly and damp walk.

Once we got back we went straight off to the beach. Trying to cram in as much as possible before they had to hit the road. We assumed that as the weather wasn’t great the beach would be quiet - wrong! It was less busy than yesterday but only a little. Charlie and I had a quick body board - rather annoyingly he is so much better than me! I assume it’s my greater bulk that puts me lower down in the water and therefore more resistant?

Of course, as soon as we were finished we had to grab an ice cream on the way out - those are the rules!! Then it was a mad rush to get them all ready for despatch. Laura finally left at about 6.45 which means they probably won’t get home until midnight - at the earliest!!

It felt weird to wave them off and then go back to an empty caravan. We’ve had a lot of fun with them this week and we wouldn’t have had it any other way but ... they do keep you on your toes 24/7! 

We thought we would get a takeaway from a rather nice place at Mortehoe. We drove down there but the chap explained that they were so busy they couldn’t take any more orders. I rang the Thai in Braunton and they quoted a rather ridiculous waiting time of 90 mins! I’m not sure if it’s just so busy down here or that they are all trying and failing to cope with COVID restrictions - either way it’s bloody annoying not just to eat what you want whee when you want to!

We ended up at KFC in Barnstaple and called in at Saunton Sands (next to Croyde) for a 20 minute stroll to try and walk it off. During this time we had a call from Laura. They were not having a good journey home with the blessed tyre pressure warning light coming on about 30 mins after leaving!

Back to the quiet Brunnehilda. She resembles an army camp after all the soldiers have moved out!

A Scorcher at Woolacombe Beach - 30th July ‘2

I’m writing this blog a day late so please excuse more shortcomings than usual. Leaving it until the next morning is not conducive for quality blogging!

Anyway ... what a day for weather? Sun all day and about 28 degrees. Ideal beach weather we thought. Which is exactly what most of the population of South West England thought too and not an insignificant proportion of them had headed for Woolacombe.

Before all that we had had a very leisurely morning. Breakfasting outside for the first time this week. Once again we didn’t get out until gone 1pm. The serious holiday makers saw the sun and were up and gone out before 10. One of the good things about this site is that they leave the shower block open until 1.30 so it gives an excuse for leisurely mornings - not that we need one!

As we were leaving our next door neighbour was returning. We did the normal exchange of pleasantries (it’s the rule - it’s in the manual!) and he said they had tried to get to Croyde beach and had to turn back - the number of cars trying to do the same had made it impossible! 

So as we headed down to Woolacombe we pretty much knew what to expect! Much like a fly stuck on a web. In our case it wasn’t a spider but a bloody long traffic jam to get in the car parks - it went all the way up the hill to the edge of town. If you don’t know Woolacombe that will mean nothing to you so let’s just say, not something you want on a scorching hot day with 3 kids in the car all anxious to get on the beach. 

In the end it wasn’t too bad and only took us about 45 mins to get to the car park entrance. Lucky for us all those efficient and organised folks who had been on the beach since 10 had now had enough and were leaving.

The beach, as you might expect, was crowded. We walked as far to the left (away from the town) as we could but it was still a challenge to find a socially distancing spot. As we were setting up I could literally feel the disapproval of those millions of Daily Mail readers! But, s** them, they don’t have 3 kids chomping at the bit to get in the sea!

We spent a lovely 3 hours on the beach. Body boarding with Charlie was a highlight but it was also fun just chilling with the Twinnies. I have to say I felt a little inadequate today at the beach. Now I know what your thinking but no, it was nothing about body image - how could I feel inadequate in that department??! It was that everyone seemed to have a wet suit on - young and old! Why you need one in the 28 degree heat and warm sea I have no idea - yet another fashion trend I suspect? Any way not having one made you stand out like a pork pie at a Jewish wedding!

The operation to get 3 boys (and yourself) sand free was helped by me bringing a container of water in the car - to be fair with the de-sanding thing, and as you might have guessed, Kim does most of the “heavy lifting” with the Twinnies. 

Charlie was keen to revisit the restaurant right by the beach - The Red Barn - so we did. They had a good post COVID process and we had a nice table outside to eat our grub. Harry didn’t like the cheese in his cheeseburger and at one stage did a rather loud “old man burp” that turned a number of heads, but apart from that it was a nice meal / experience.

Laura was joining us today but had had a late start and a delayed journey. She arrived at the campsite at about 8.45.

We headed straight back out to Ilfracombe as she was gagging for a fish supper and some ice cream. Of course we all joined her with the ice cream. Kelly’s Cornish with clotted cream on the top is heaven in a cone (or in last nights case - a tub).

The wind has got up again and as soon as the sun went down it got blimin cold. We had our ice cream sitting by the harbour and then set off back to Brunnehilda. Kim and I are sleeping in Isabella tonight so a fair bit of “set up” was required. All 6 of us went to bed very tired!

Funniest (no most embarrassing moment) cane at the Red Barn. When you are sitting having a pleasant meal and you hear a loud “old man burp” and you look to the table where it can from you do tend to assume it came from the old man sitting at the table rather than the cute 5 year old! So after being the recipient of a number of undeserved dirty looks about 5 mins later I managed to spill my glass of cider all over the table. In this case the dirty looks were deserved! I think everybody was rather glad to see me leave!

A Day at Lynmouth / Lynton & More Woolacombe Beach - 29th July ‘20

Little sun but no rain today. A pleasant enough 18 degrees from early on until evening so no real complaints on the weather front. If only the same could be said for kicking the crap out of your elderly grandparents front?! I finally had enough at 6.30 and, some would say rather cruelly, put the full weight of my legs over my 5 year old grandsons legs to keep them as still as possible. It worked, to a fashion, but the “fight” had woken me fully and that was it for my nights sleep. Finners woke up fully refreshed and ready to go at about 8.30. 

We had a pleasant leisurely morning. Breakfasting, reading, gaming and playing a bit of football. The wind break remains up but the wind has now virtually gone.

At 1pm we headed off to Lynmouth / Lynton - arriving around 1/4 to 2. Amazingly we stumbled across a perfect (and free) parking spot - the village was very busy and the pay and display car parks crammed full so that was a considerable bonus!

Lynmouth is such a pretty place - it’s hard to believe the devastation caused from the 1952 flood! As it happened we went on quite a special day in Lynmouth’s history ... the wonderful old gothic looking hotel perched right up on the top of the cliffs was being bulldozed to make way for some other development! Kim and I had first come to Lynmouth on our honeymoon - 40 years ago!! Apart from the disappearing  hotel, not a lot had changed.

In typical fashion, as soon as we arrived we wanted something to eat. We bought a rather splendid takeaway (I had homemade crab pasty) from a wee cafe / deli right by the harbour. Harry said it was the best lunch ever! A little over dramatic but it was good! We ate it on the stoney beach.

We decided to wander up to the LLCR (Lynmouth & Lynton Cliff Railway) and get a return trip on the old Victorian funicular. The queue was huge - the chap estimated over 45 mins!  Not something that any of us fancied, so we decided the best plan would be to drive up to Lynton and see what the queue was like up there. It seemed rude not to buy an ice cream on the way back to the car. Guess what flavour the Twinnies had?

I had forgotten how steep the road hill was up to Lynton? The sign said 18% which, I think, in old money is about a 1 in 5 gradient! I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be towing Brunnehilda up there!

We parked up and found the top of the railway. The queue was indeed tiny so we were soon enjoying the view as we headed back down to Lynmouth.

Once at the bottom we visited the toy and beer shop- yep, there is a shop in Lynmouth that sells toys and local beers and ciders - what’s not to like about that?! So toys and beer were bought!

We also had time for a 10 minute rest by the river and the boys and I paddled our feet - it was blimin’ freezing! The plan fell apart then ... there was still a 45 minutes queue for the Cliff railway to get back up. After a brief discussion about options - including walking up the steep steps to the top - we decided to sit it out in the queue.

By the time we got to the top it was gone 5 and we just headed for the car and pointed her back to Woolacombe.

We literally threw all the beach stuff in the car and headed for Woolacombe beach car park and the cheap parking -after 6pm.

There was no sun but it was pleasant enough and the sea was very warm. Charlie enjoyed body boarding and the Twinnies just raced around lapping up every moment - as only 5 year olds can do! Once the water fun was done with there was a lot of sand based activity before we trudged back to the car.

They say there is no gain without pain and the gain of a nice session on the beach is an equal match for the pain of sand bloody everywhere and that horrible job of getting 3 wet / sandy boys “car ready”!

We decided to head for the Thai takeaway in Braunton. It looked nice and it must be - there was a 1 hour wait for food. We might have waited but the kids wouldn’t last out so we found an empty Chinese takeaway down the road. We discovered that there was a good reason why it was empty - it was poo!

Anyway we drove home and none of us really ate much. Partly because it was late and folks were tired and partly because it was poo!

The boys were too tired to watch a DVD. We went through the motion so of putting it on but all 3 were asleep by the time the adverts were over!

Harry joins us in bed tonight. Laura is due down tomorrow and it’s due to be hot!

Walk to Mortehoe & an Evening on Woolacombe Beach - 28th July ‘20

Well the weathers improved! And we had a good night sleep, with Finners managing to keep his limbs under control for the whole night. On top of that, the silence of no gale force wind in Isabella’s sails was nice to wake up to.

But of course we are on holiday with the MacArthur boys so nothing is ever straightforward! Poor old Charlie has had a nasty stomach ache most of the day - until about 8 pm!

We had a leisurely morning. More DVD re-runs, lashings of toast for breakfast and the luxury of a shower for Kim and I. I’m afraid to say this is our first one - 3 days into the holiday! It’s true what they say though, when you stink you can’t smell others! 

The sun was out all day but it remained a very pleasant temperature (about 18 degrees) until the evening - when it suddenly got very chilly.

We decided a walk would be a good idea - and we were right. We left the campsite at about 12.45 for a walk across the pretty footpath to Mortehoe village - it took a pleasant 45 mins at Twinnie pace. We walked through another campsite on the way - better facilities but no where near as good views.

Once at Mortehoe we bought some pasties from Mortehoe Village Stores and ate them on the steps of the pretty little church at the centre of the village. Then the walk back along the same footpath. By this time Charlie’s stomach was quite bad.

When we got back to Brunnehilda he went to bed, the Twinnies relaxed and Kim and I read. After a reviving cup of tea I put up the new Isabella wind break. It took a couple of goes but eventually looked ok and seems fairly functional-  picture in tomorrow’s blog. There is still a bit of a wind so we thought a bit of shelter to sit in wouldn’t go amiss.

We waited until 6pm for Charlie to feel better but it wasn’t really happening. The Twinnies had been so good and we had previously promised them a trip to the beach so ... Kim stayed  with Charlie and I took them down to Woolacombe beach.

They absolutely loved it! Building sandcastles and rollicking in the early evening breakers. It clearly would have been more fun with their big brother with them but as always with the Twinnies, they got on with it and had a nice time.

By the time we got home to the campsite, Charlie was feeling a little better. So, we went off to Ilfracombe Tesco’s to get him some medicine and stock up with provisions. And of course more toys for the Twinnies!

On the way there we popped into Lynbays for some chips. We ate them by the water at the other side of town. It was noticeable very quiet tonight. I would say only about 25% of the number of holiday makers you expect at this time of the year!

Then back to Brunnehilda for the usual DVDs (Farmargeden tonight) and blogging / reading in bed. 

Today’s funniest moment came late on. We decided to eat our chips in the car to avoid the seagulls - but they still found us. We had the sun roof open and at one stage they nearly got in much to the terror / amusement of Kim and the boys! The current favourite profanity of the Twinnie’s is “Cheesus” which they shouted in unison during the full attack.  

I have to say, when they say “Cheesus” it does sound just like their daddy - just saying!

Finners returns for a second night in a row in our bed. Fingers crossed we will have as good a night as last night!

Another Stormy Night & A Day Spendng Money! - 27th July ‘20

The problem with rubbish weather on holiday with the boys is you just spend spend spend! However, we did manage to salvage a nice enough day out of another appalling day of weather!

The day started early - we were all woken by a tremendous storm at 5.30. To be fair it had been raging from midnight and continued until gone 10am but it must have been particularly bad at 5.30. Isabella was really being battered by the 50mph winds and the horizontal rain! I popped out to check all the pegs and then moved the car around to be between the prevailing wind (the south) and Isabella. As in the infamous Whitby storm this trick seemed to help!

So from 5.30am we had both twins in the bed. The night with Harry was equally as uncomfortable as the one with Finners. Finners lashes out with his legs once and extremely violently - like a Backstroke swimmer starting off - while Harry is persistent using all his limbs and continually pounding you like a front row forward trying to get the ball. To say which one is better is a ridiculous concept like asking someone if they prefer tooth ache or stomach ache.

The funny thing is if you think of all the weather Brunnehilda has had to withstand over the last 12 months it would bring tears to you eyes - thunderstorms, rainstorms and winds the like that I don't think I have ever experienced anything like before? And to think, that when we bought her we were wondering about getting air con!!!! I think we’ve only had a couple of days where we have had all the windows open! 

We headed out to Bideford at 11am. That’s the great thing about Twinnies .... we’re always out and about fairly early. No leisurely cup of tea in bed, no lazy breakfast with omelette and coffee, no relaxed shower and ablutions!

The rain was due to last until 5 so Kim found an outlet shopping place called The Atlantic Village in Bideford. They had a Nike store and Charlie had money in his wallet! It wasn’t a great success. There wasn’t much there apart from an Asda and the Nike shop. We queued up for 45 mins in the drizzle to get in the Nike shop and then when Charlie and Kim got in, they had nothing on the shelves for children!! Kim did manage to get some bits from Weird Fish.

We grabbed a KFC and headed back to Brunnehilda via Sainos for the boys to buy more toys and DVDs and Charlie to buy a Nerf gun. 2 more guns were bought for the Twinnies so when we got back to camp they had some fun firing them at some random targets. Although the 2 that went onto our neighbour’s awning were not part of the plan!

Kim did some washing and then we headed out to Woolacombe for the evening. Crazy Golf at the Pirate Adventure Golf.

Then more ice creams and then a walk on Woolacombe beach where they managed to get absolutely soaked - rolling up trouser legs doesn’t work when you wade through rock pools up to your thighs!?

We bought some excellent pizza from Stoned (a van on the beach) and headed back to Brunnehilda to eat it.

A DVD in bed (Captain Underpants) for them and a cup of tea and blog / read in bed for us. 

Finners will join us in bed tonight but the good news is that there doesn’t look like there is going to be any rain tonight/ tomorrow. Not much sun either but hey, no complaints here. After the last 24 hours, we’re just delighted to have, in the words of Barry Manilow, “made it through the night!

Oh by the way, to clear up a couple of things before finishing ... Charlie won the crazy golf - no idea how but his Grandma was scoring?!

Today’s funniest moment came on Woolacombe beach when Harry was so focused on eating his ice cream he didn’t realise the step down was so steep. Luckily he held onto the railing and went spiralling down it like batman going down the bat pole. To be fair to him, not one bit of ice cream was spilt but the look on his face was a picture!

Isabella Up & An Ilfracombe Fish Supper - 26th July ‘20

Sharing a bed with Finners is hard to put into words. Most of the time he lies at right angles to Kim and I. Imagine a capital letter “H” with Finners the horizontal. Then, every 30 mins or so, the person who wins the lottery of life and has his legs facing you gets a good kicking. This kick resembles an Olympic Back stroke swimmer scrunching his legs up and then thrusting off from the side with all the night he can muster.

We were up and about fairly early this morning. The delight that is a holiday lie isn’t something that’s going to figure this week I’m afraid. By 10.30 we had breakfasted and in a position to start putting up Isabella. This had to wait for gaps in the rain and wind. Luckily there was enough non rainy spells to get her up. And considering the slope, resembling, something you might come across in the Himalayan foothills, she went up amazingly well.

Kim and I scoffed at the description of an awning being a divorce in a bag and worked well together to get her up. I then pegged her out - with a little help from the boys! Yep, fairly pleased with this erection. Not bad on the timing either.

We were out the campsite gates by 1pm, heading for Asda at Barnstaple. We stocked up on food, toys and DVD. Given its size it wasn’t a very impressive Asda - although it might be that this virus has sucked any sort of enjoyment out of any retail experience?

We then headed into Ilfracombe. We parked by Verity (the huge Damien Hurst statue of a naked pregnant woman) and headed for the nice chip shop on the harbour called Lynbay. It didn’t taste quite as nice as last year but was still bloody good.

We sat by the harbour to eat - spending a lot of mental and physical energy trying to ward of a particularly determined and hungry seagull! Kelly’s Ice cream for afters. I had my normal ... Cornish ice cream with clotted cream on top. A fitting meal for a day that the news is full of warnings of the dangers of obesity!

We tried a bit of crabbing but Kim was a little worried about the Twinnies falling in so we left empty handed. Notice her hanging onto them in the pictures below. We headed home via the pretty coastal village of Lee but by the time we got there the rain was belting down so we just headed back to camp.

I finished bringing all the stuff into Isabella so we could have tea and biscuits around the camp table. The boys clearly had a significant amount of energy still needing some place to go, so I took them for a walk while Kim tidied up.

Then it was a DVD and crisps for them and a Zoom quiz for us - finishing 2nd again in Beth and Ben’s weekly quiz. We seem forever to be the Bridesmaids and never the Bride.

We decided to have a funniest moment of the day award this holiday. And the winner today went to Finners falling off his chair in the awning. To be fair to him it is at quite a slope (I don’t know if I have mentioned that??) But he toppled backwards very dramatically then tried to stand up and fell over again. Luckily, Finners thought it was as funny as the rest of us!

Sitting in bed, listening to the wind and rain and contemplating another, even wetter day tomorrow. Never mind, we are sharing a bed with Harry tonight so less likely to get a kicking but more likely to get a bit of a thump.

Off to Woolacombe - 25th July ‘20

Back on the road after 4 months of COVID lockdown. As we’ve all had the dreaded virus we feel more than happy to be out and about in this horrible new post pandemic world.

Although what a bloody day. Lots of mistakes (maybe the 4 months break had coddled my brain), a huge long journey and plenty of weather!

George brought the boys around at 9.15 and that’s when the troubles started - although this time nothing to do with the terrible Twinnies! Yesterday I had put (with Bobby’s help) Brunnehilda out of the front garden and into the church car park. So my plan was just to hook her up and go ... yeh sure?!

It took an age to hook her up - don’t know why - but once we had I couldn’t get her through the church gates very easily. So we un-hitched again and man handled her around the corner. Hitched her back up, or so I thought, and started up Brington Road. And then it happened... crash bang, and all I saw in the rear view mirror was Brunnehilda getting further away! I had not hitched her on properly and she had slipped off. In doing so the emergency brake had come on (which is a good thing) but of course this meant the emergency brake cable had broken!

So we hitched her back up (correctly this tine) and headed of to Venture Caravans to buy a new one. It wasn’t easy to fit (well for me it wasn’t!) but 30 mins and lots of rude words later we were off. So the departure time, which should have been 9.15 was gone 10.30!

We arrived at Damage Barton Caravan Club site, Woolacombe at nearly 7 o'clock - over 8 hours travelling time. 240 miles in 8 hours with 2 short stops - you can do the maths! The Saturday traffic was awful. We stupidly went on the A303 which for about 50 miles was traffic jam after traffic jam. We got a nice view of Stonehenge though - in the pouring rain.

And by this time it was raining! I don’t think I’ve every seen rain like that outside of the US. We struggled to go over 30 for several miles - which was ironic as 10 mins before and 10 mins after we were stuck fast in a jam!

We stopped at MacDonalds at Newbury and Taunton Dene services. Both stops were a little depressing as the world of queuing to get in, one way traffic inside buildings and face masks is well and truly with us ... uck!

I have to say, the boys were brilliantly behaved. Considering they had been in the car for nearly 10 hours, there wasn’t even a cross word let alone any fisty cuffs!

When we arrived at Damage Barton we took on water and then went to our pitch. It has a lovely sea view but has an alarming slope to contend with. After a lot of fiddling around we got her level - although pitching on a slope like this is going to make getting Isabella up a bit of a challenge in the morning!? One of our neighbours was so alarmed by the angle we were pitching at, he came over to see if we were OK?

Once I got all the services sent up the boys and I went for a stroll while Kim sorted out the inside of Brunnehilda.

A bite to eat (purchased from the onsite shop), some gaming, and then off to bed to watch a DVD (Rio 2).

We are due rain tomorrow but we’re hoping for a better day than today. That said, it felt nice to be snuggling down in Brunnehilda’s giant Teutonic bed - although fidgety Finners will be joining us later!!