I’m not sure why I wanted to try a night without her so soon and with hindsight, maybe I should have left it a bit longer. My reasoning was to get everything ready for Laura, George and the boys who are using Brunnehilda (and Isabella) for their holiday. They arrive tomorrow and I’ll come back with Bobby in a weeks time to pack her up and drive back up the M5.
Early start this morning. I dropped off Thom and Rach at Birmingham airport at 6 to catch their flight to Dublin - they’ve been home for the last 5 weeks and I’m going to miss them so much. The motorway flowed really well and I was feasting on a 7 piece breakfast at the wonderful (and Kim’s favourite) Gloucester Services by 2 minutes past 7. And after one more stop to fill up with diesel at Tiverton, I was driving through the gates at Damage Barton at about 10.15.
As always at Damage Barton, it’s blimin windy! We have been allocated a super pitch - fully serviced and a splendid view across the Bristol Channel. A long walk up the hill to the toilet block though?!
I was desperately trying to justify leaving the Isabella erection until tomorrow but, after giving myself a good talking to, I got started. Without my foreman and chief pole holder it was a bit of a slog. Especially in the wind. It took me about 2 hours to get her up and pegged out. I’ll do the internals tomorrow. Actually, fairly pleased with myself really! Putting up awnings is definitely easier as a pair. Folks say that caravan awnings are “divorces in a bag” but Kim and I never really got into trouble putting up Isabella - we always had a good giggle putting up her up!
At 2 pm I set off on a rather ambitious walk. I planned to find the footpath to Bull Head Lighthouse and then follow the South West Coastal path to Morthoe. It all went wrong very quickly as I got myself totally lost! Eventually I managed to stumble across the path to the lighthouse. Although very cool and breezy on the cliffs it was a lovely spot to have a black coke and a large bar of fruit and nut.
The walk along the Coast Path was splendid - although very taxing on my old knees as it was very up and down! There was less people on the footpath than I expected but it was nice to exchange a cheery good afternoon to those that I did meet. The coastline is wild and rugged on this little bit with no way to get down to the sea. There was a nice isolated beach but the access footpath was shut.
I Eventually got to Morthoe at about 4.30 and had a quick pint at the Chichester Arms. Got to say drinking solo is no fun. I felt very paranoid that everyone was looking at the funny old boy drinking a pint on his own. A dog in tow would have helped! Shame I left them at home.
Walked back home to Damage Barton across the fields and had the kettle boiled, cup of tea made and an episode of Sopranos watched before 6.30. I planned to try the Mexican Street Food van that’s on sight on a Tuesday night. The queue was too much so I headed for Barricane Beach for a Sri Lankan curry on the beach. They’ve put their prices up to £12 so, due to lack of cash, I had a child’s portion for £6. It was gorgeous and the child portion was just right. Again, I felt like a pork pie at a Jewish wedding sitting eating my curry on the beach on my own. It was a busy beach and everywhere I looked there were couples and families. Not surprising really but something I’d never been conscious of before!
I sat on the bench on the cliffs that Kim and I had sat on many times before and called the kids to say hi. That’s when it all hit me square in the face. It’s hard to do stuff again without her. I suspect it’ll be easier doing new things / going to new places but the memories of recent trips, although all lovely, are tough.
Back to Damage Barton just as the Mexican Street Food van was shutting. They’d run out of a lot of stuff, so as their last customer they gave me a half price chilli nachos - nice! So 2 teas tonight! My justification was the big walk and just a children’s portion of curry! Not sure I believe my own arguments but …
A couple of episodes of The sopranos and off to bed to write the blog. Brunnehilda’s big German bed seems enormous tonight!
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