The South West 2021 | FindPenguins

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Trip start
September 17, 2021
The South West 2021 Traveler
Day One. To Cirencester
September 17, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Bit of a long day. Between packing up everything for the baby, dog, and ourselves, and knowing that we couldn’t drive for more than two hours we were quite stressed. Still, with one stop at Reading Services, we made relatively good time and enjoyed a meal upon our arrival where everyone joined us for drinks.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Two. The Wedding
September 18, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Today was Steve and Catherine’s wedding in Knockdown, Wiltshire. It was a lovely day with the whole Draisey clan, we enjoyed the ceremony, games, and food. Sadly I had to take Jean back to the hotel as she wasn’t too well, but I returned to the wedding after for the evening.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Three. Bath and Beyond
September 19, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
We left Cirencester today, after a morning of packing up and ferrying people back to the wedding venue/picking up Wispa from the kennels. He was very happy to see everyone. I also met a golden lab called Louie who was also happy to see me.

Amy, Will, Becky, Bella, Lily and I then visited a Roman amphitheatre in Cirencester, and met up for lunch in Bath. We went to the Good Cafe where we all ordered cheese toasties off of the children’s menu. The waitress loved Wispa. Who wouldn’t.

We then left and made our way to our next hotel, the Fox and Goose. Which turned out to be in the back end of nowhere where all the pubs closed around 7ish. We ended up ordering pizza on Just Eat and gathering in Jean and John’s room.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Four. Nice Bit of Cheese
September 20, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
We started the day off right be getting the hell out of the Fox and Goose. We headed to Ollie’s cafe, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise before setting about our day. Despite having to go back on ourselves slightly, we opted to head to Cheddar Gorge. It wasn’t a long visit - we drove up the gorge and back down into the town. We had a good wander before heading south to Exmouth.

Arriving at Devon Sands, it was interesting to see how nice it actually was - certainly a far cry from the caravan parks I visited in my youth.

We ended the day with fish and chips and getting ourselves settled.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Five. Water Babies
September 21, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
After a slow start, we went for a walk down to the sea front where we had a drink and looked out across the beach. Plenty of people had taken their dogs down onto the beach, but the signs were clear and we’re goody goodies so we didn’t head down.

Over the course of the week, Jean’s ear had been getting worse, and finally she decided to bite the bullet and go somewhere to get it seen to. In the mean time, we headed back to the caravan, had some lunch and prepared for our afternoon.

We booked a slot for swimming with Bella and Lily and after some kerfuffle, we got going. We were 15 minutes late but had booked the hour, so it didn’t seem like a problem.

Sadly, the man at the reception at swimming didn’t seem to share our relaxed approach to holidaying and told us off for being late, warning us that our spots could be given away.

Still, we got in and changing Lily was relatively simple. We got in the pool, and she didn’t hate it, which at the moment is the best we can hope for. I would even go as far as to say that she enjoyed it - there may have even been a smile. Jean and John managed to get back in time to see us in the pool too, so they didn’t miss out.

For the evening, we stayed in the caravan and we’re treated to a Burger King by Amy and Will.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Six. Sandy Paws
September 22, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Another slow start today. It took everyone ages to get going and by the time we’d all finished breakfast and getting changed it was gone midday.

We set off out to play a round of crazy golf down near the club house (I came second only to John, who to be fair was far better!) and then we sat down on the veranda for lunch. I had a green Thai curry and Becky had Lasagne. I was tempted to have the same, but after trying hers I was glad I didn’t.

Once we returned to the caravan, Jean and John offered to look after Lily whilst we took Wispa to a dog-friendly beach - he hadn’t had the chance to run off lead all week and was getting a bit antsy.

He had a lovely time getting very, very sandy. I had to shower with him after to get it all off.

For the evening we had cheese and crackers and played games. Jean showed us her French impression which had me in hysterics.Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Seven. Pie & Chai
September 23, 2021 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
After what seemed like a quicker start to the morning, Amy, Will, and Bella headed out to the zoo, shortly afterward, we made our way to Exeter. It was only a short journey, and we found somewhere to park with relative ease. Apparently Jean and John didn’t have the same experience.

Although they parked in the same place as us, their walk into town took them an entirely different route - through bushes, up rickety old stairs, and 10 minutes longer. Still, they eventually found us and we headed into the city.

Exeter was busy. And it took me a moment or two to realise that university students were coming back or starting this week. It was mobbed with people that made me feel very old.

Exeter cathedral was beautiful and big and situated amongst a spattering of beautiful old buildings. The others were new and out of place. Exeter never quite seems to capture the essence of the Lanes in Brighton. There are occasional cute alleys as opposed to a spiderweb network of alleys. Still, it is an interesting city.

We stopped off for lunch at a place called Pie and Mash. Not my usual tastes, but I was up for it. And I was glad we did. It was the best pie I ever had. Everyone else had variations of beef, but I had chicken, leek and ham.

After lunch we walked through the castle park. The park was also busy, and a bit run down. Most disappointingly, we couldn’t see the castle just the old wall that surrounded it.

On our way back to the car we stopped by a cafe where they had little beach huts in the middle of some old ruined building where I had the best chai tea ever.

We then made our way back to the car park, where Jean and John couldn’t find their car. Still, they told us to meet them back at the caravan - so we headed off, until they called us to tell us that we had their car keys. So we had to turn around and save them.

Back at the caravan I had a nap before pizza arrived and we played a couple of hands of cardsRead more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Eight. Paul goes to Poole
September 24, 2021 in England ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Chaos. Packing up the caravan is chaos, and it reminds me why this is not my usual type of holiday. Self-catering is stressful. Self-catering is what we do at home. This is why I go on holiday - to get away from this. Cupboards full of stuff we clearly didn’t need. And Jean goes to town, of course.

I prefer travelling light. This is harder with a baby and dog in tow, but we still seem to manage to be the first ones packed and ready to go. The victory is short lived, however, as we are roped into helping the others as a reward for our preparedness.

Eventually the three cars are packed and ready to go. John went back to hand in the caravan keys and I went to book us a spot swimming. Today it was Amy, Will, John, Bella and I. We decided not to take Lily again as we wouldn’t be able to wash her for a long time and the showers in the pool are too hot even for me.

After a fun swim, we started to make a move for Poole. First mission was to get petrol as my tank was empty after the last week. This of course proved to be harder than usual as there is allegedly a fuel shortage. Still, after queuing and paying way more than I would usually, we finally got underway again and ended up in the town of Bridport for lunch.

We stopped at a little cafe called Moore Than Tea, where I had an awesome cheese and caramelised onion toastie and butterscotch milkshake. Becky had a BLT and a latte. Eventually Jean, John, Amy and Will caught up with us too, even though they said they’d stop at their own convenience.

We were first on the road again and headed off towards Poole. There was a lot of traffic.

Eventually we arrived at about 5. Poole reminded me of Portsmouth. I was sure I’d done a delivery here once before, but it looked totally different from what I thought it would.

Becky and I took Wispa and Lily for a walk down to the quay and back before having a massive dinner with the family. All in all, a hectic day on far too little sleep!Read more
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The South West 2021 Traveler
Day Nine. Here Comes the Rain
September 25, 2021 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C
It didn’t feel like today was our last day. After living the nomadic life for the past week and a bit, it feels strange to think that we are heading home. It feels weird knowing I have to return to an office job on Monday.

We were kept up most of the night by Lily and so were ready to go by the time everyone else was awake. I packed up the car and we headed out into Poole. It was raining. Properly. For the first time on our holiday. And for the first time I was ready to not be on the move and travelling.

We had breakfast at the Quay Cafe. I had eggs Benedict which was quite nice and a chai latte. We then walked up the high street, which was mostly unimpressive. We all commented on how it could be any English town really. Compared to the beautiful Quayside walk of last night, our time in Poole today seemed very mundane.

The drive home was easy and quick. We stopped briefly in Fleet services for a break, but we were back on our way in no time. Every sign we passed explained that the service stations had no fuel. It only got worse as we got closer to home.

At home it was time to unpack. I think that this might be a job for another day though.Read more
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Trip end
September 25, 2021