An "A-Devon-torous" Month (Pt. 4: Homeward Bound)

Wednesday 15th March, 2023

Upon waking up on the morning of the 15th - I hadn't the slightest clue that it would end the way it did. But we'll get to that.

By the time I had breakfast, I knew three things:

1. I had packed my suitcase with everything I didn't need this morning

2. We had a long drive home with a stop-over or two

3. Check-out time was midday.

With this in mind, I awoke early to ensure the smoothest of departures. By 11am, we were already on the road.

On the second day (9th), I almost got stuck trying to let a bin-lorry past on the country road outside our accommodation - throughout our time in Devon, I had be meaning to get a picture of the mark/wheel-spin groove I left in the grass - but kept on forgetting - and on the last day, it had all but vanished (didn't look as severe as the first few days).

So I drove past it - but given it's state, I decided it wasn't worth it.

Over an hour into our drive, Charis realised she left her coat - it's easily done, and quite honestly - I was glad we were as close to the house as we were - we could have been a good 3 - 4 hours away and she could have told me/noticed - but we were near enough that it wasn't deemed as overly inconvenient.

I was going on a PROPER road-trip - with 6 different destinations planned for later that day

1. Becky Falls, Dartmoor

2. Lidl, Exeter

3. Charis' house (to drop her off)

4. My brother's house (drop his birthday present & card off), West London

5. East Sussex (to pick up some parts being put on my car the next day)

6. Eastbourne (where my hotel was that night).

Now, full disclaimer:

Charis knew about 1 - 3. We were still in Devon/Dartmoor - our holiday hadn't finished, so my priority was fully on her.

My brother's birthday was only the following day, so I could drop his stuff off on his birthday - and I'd be heading to Eastbourne after I dropped Charis off, so where I headed after dropping her off didn't overly matter - and I didn't have a ferry to catch, as I had plans already tomorrow - and the hotel only said "Check in after 3pm" - and had no later limit.

~

Anyway:

Going back to the accommodation was a little bit of a blessing in disguise.

Upon arriving (for our first night) - the "road" was in an absolutely atrocious and diabolical state - and I don't actually think it was paved.

Coincidentally, during our stay - they began paving the road and making leaving and arriving at our accommodation a lot more comfortable and pleasant.

Even more conveniently, on the day we left, the roadworks ramped up - so much so that I had to park up at the end of the road and jog down to the property.

On my way down, I remembered that I wanted to take pictures of a few cars

As the roadworks on the road leading to the accommodation had ramped up (and they were making good progress) - and in addition to grabbing the coat, I also managed to get some pictures of vehicles I both hadn't seen before - and also had seen before and had my eye on snapping.

I don't know what it is - cars in vegetation/shrubbery just fascinate me - how long has it been there? Would it start at all? (maybe with just a battery change?)

The owner (presumably of the cars and the AirBnB) also had a Land Rover Defender hiding away in the garage opposite where we were staying - but I didn't have a chance to get a picture.

Coat collected, I got one last picture of our accommodation.

My bedroom window being the window furthest to the right - and looking out at the rear of the property over a field with a couple of horses in it.

Next door also had an adorable sign.

After returning the key to the owner, I returned to the car (after my photography session) and we hit the road once more.

Just another day at a Devon petrol station

Following only my second fuel stop on our holiday, our first port of call was Becky Falls.

I had never heard of Becky Falls before - and dad jokes aside, I quite literally thought it was a waterfall (and nothing more) - so was QUITE surprised when upon arrival they were charging £9 per person.

To my relief, it was more than just a waterfall, and was a lovely little waterfall, zoo and semi-natural walk.

After seeing some Pygmy goats and rabbits, we went on the walk they provided.

Which started off above...Becky Falls (the waterfall) and then wound down alongside the falls down a nature path, before crossing the river/brook a little further down stream before then winding back up to the waterfall, back to the start location.

Blue Route: Entirely flat | Red Route: Intermediate difficulty | Purple Route: Walking shoes require

The walk was incredibly interesting and entirely natural, albeit some wooden railings, small bridges, concrete over some gaps between rocks and other "minor assists".

Only on writing this, have I found out who the one and only Becky is.

The river/brook that the waterfall descends on is called "Becka Brook" - so Becky Falls is just the waterfall on that brook.

After this, we had a little look in the gift shop - and I bought a little something for my mum - and stumbled upon this...

Everyone's struggling at the moment - but you too can buy a massive £119 plush.

Make a trip to Becky Falls unforgettable for you AND your kid!

I'm also wondering why...

At least it will go to a good cause...

(Sure, I bought something similarly priced - but I had the excuse of it being exclusive to Disneyland).

Whilst we were there, we realised that the final feeding of the day was in about an hour or so, so we checked out some animals/insects in an indoor area to pass the time before the owl and meerkat feeding started.

(On the walk to the to the indoor enclosure)

Following this, we'd watch the meerkats and an owl being fed.

Of course, I didn't get any footage of this.

Before leaving, we tried to find both pigs and ponies - but could only find the pigsty/pig yard.

The last thing we did before leaving was feed the pygmy goats (which was cuuuute - and made me want one) before we headed on out at 4:15pm

after a quick stop-off at lidl, we were quickly back on the road - and began to make good progress towards Surrey - the first time back in a week.

How could I possibly dare to eat such a beautiful thing?!!?

4 Hours later - after a safe and enjoyable drive home, we eventually arrived at Charis' house at about 8:45pm.

The trip was done, we both survived it and we were both back safe and sound.

Dare I say it, Timon was the man of the day - from failing his MOT to bringing us both safely home - he was an absolute legend for that.

After unloading the car, Charis invited me in for a bite to eat.

I locked my car and we laughed and joked about the holiday just gone - and before all too long, the inevitable came up - what next?

We joked about going extreme east or extreme west - and dabbled on the idea of going to Amsterdam - another adventure for another day - but our wallets both had to seriously recover.

Whilst Devon had been a blast and we both missed it dearly, it was good to be back on familiar ground.

With a hotel awaiting, I said my goodbyes and headed outside into the darkness...