Devon, Cornwall and now back in Devon

Well, I missed a few days of blogging.  No excuses, just didn't get to it.  

We have been lucky with the weather. I probably shouldn't have said this. Tomorrow is the last day on the bike and the forecast is for rain :-(    We are currently staying in a restored stable on a farm in South eastern Devon.  We are about 7 miles from Seaton and Lyme Regis, both located on the coast.  We have been trying to stay at each location for 2 nights and do some sight seeing day trips. 

After leaving Cardiff we jumped onto the M4 and boogied back to England. We had researched a couple of places where we could rent some bicycles and try out one of the bike trails. We settled on the town of Barnstable in north western Devon. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate.  

Also we were discovering that is was not easy to find good and reasonably priced accommodation so we started looking ahead and booked a couple of places using airbnb.  The first was in Wadebridge in Cornwall.  Wadebridge in located at the end of a long inlet on the Camel Trail, one of the longest bicycle trails in Cornwall. 

The following day in Barnstable we woke up to sunshine and took all day working our way down the coast. We stopped at several towns and villages.  First was Bude, a popular surf town. The next was Boscastle. A very scenic village on a very narrow inlet. Then on to Port Issac, the village popularized in "Doc Martin".  The finally to Wadebridge.   Of the places we visited, Boscastle was the most interesting... Very scenic and some interesting walking path in the steep and rocky hills around the village. 

     Here are a couple of photos of Boscastle harbour.  Very cool. 

I must say that Port Issac looks better on TV than in real life. Even so, it was extremely crowded. We didn't stay long. We both thought that most of the residents of Port Issac would have preferred that Doc Martin was filmed some where else.  We didn't ask anyone, but we did see a big sign in someone's window that said... " please don't sit on my wall, I live here!"

  

     This is Port Issac as we approached on the back road. 

 Below are a few photo of a very nice bub in Wadebridge.  We were given directions to find it. 

  It is located on a narrow lane in a residential area. Tucked in behind a church. 

  

We had a bit of trouble finding our airbnb home stay in Wadebridge but once again the cell phone came in handy.   Using the GPS here works well on the main roads and in cities but in more rural areas the GPS takes you down some interesting lanes.   Even on these lanes, only wide enough for a one car, Garmin believes that the speed limit is 60 Mph?  With navigation options set to " fastest route" it takes you down these roads that you can't drive safely over 30 Mph and often down to 10 Mph around blind corners. 

Aberystwyth to Brecon to Cardiff

We decided to head back inland on our route to Cardiff and try some hiking in Brecons Beacon park. The weather looked promising as we started out along the coast. We planned one stop on the coast at a village called New Quay. 

It was beautiful ride down the coast and when we arrived in New Quay the sun was shining. The village is perched on the slopes surrounding a secluded bay. Very scenic. We found a nice cafe overlooking the bay and stopped for coffee and cake.  There was plenty of sailing activity in the bay.

 We didn't know before arriving that this little village is well known in Wales. Dylan Thomas lived here for a while and the village was the inspiration for his play "Under Milkwood". In his play the village is called Llareggub.   Spell it backwards... 

        Beach and bay at New Quay, Wales 

After our rest stop we started inland toward Brecon. We have avoided the main roads for the most part and generally let the GPS have its way with us.  It has taken us down some very narrow lanes, only wide enough for one car.  It is OK on the bike because we can easily move over for oncoming traffic and is interesting to see where it takes us. As we progressed inland and up in elevation the weather deteriorated and light rain started. We opted not to stop and put the rain jackets on. By the time we got to Brecon it was raining steadily. We were pretty wet but we found a nice B&B on the main road and settled in.  

We gave up on the idea of hiking and explored the town.  Brecon is the activity centre. There are lots of outdoor equipment stores, bike shops, etc. as well as cafes and pubs.

        just a little wet.  Rain gear next time. 

      There is an inland river/canal system that runs through some small lakes, very scenic. 

The weather perked up the next day and we had a very pleasant roadie into Cardiff. Here is the mandatory selfie....

Thanks agin to the GPS we found our way through the complicated road system to our airbnb booking.  The owners were away for the weekend so they gave us the code to the "key safe". When we arrived we couldn't find the key safe in the described location.  After chatting with a few of the neighbours we discovered that we were at the wrong house.   I had the address off by 3 numbers.  

The accommodation was OK. It was nice that the owners took off the weekend and left us with the house. It didn't quite come up to Linda's standard of cleanliness, but we survived just fine.  The location was great. About a 20 minute walk from the downtown core and the location of the Spedway GP.  It is located on a residential street than circled a beautiful old church. 

       We stayed in the white trimmed house. 

         Note the reminder taped to the windshield.  Stay left!!!

Aberystwyth, second day.

On our second day in Aberystwyth we walked north along the Coastal Trail. Our route took us from Aberwystwyth to Borth. About 10k over hill and dale along the cliff tops. There were a few good climbs along the way but it was generally an easy walk.  The weather was overcast but it didn't rain.  Luckily it was not as sunny nor as hot as the preceding day but we were wet by the end of the hike. 

Most of the path ran outside the pasture fence but one point the path entered a pasture via a gate. To get through the gate we had to walk past the back of a horse that was standing by the gate.  We tried to get the horse to move but she wouldn't. We didn't want to walk behind her either so walked down the fence line a bit and hopped over the fence. Laughing at our ignorance of horse behaviour.   The horse paid us no attention but the sheep kept a close eye on us as we walked through the pasture.

Once in Borth we explored the sea side village and stopped at the local pub for a bite to eat and drink. Public transportation is good here. We had the option of taking the train back to Aberwystwyth or a bus.  We initially opted for the train but the bus came by first.  It was a bus of much better design than the ones you find in Canada. Comfortable seats, large windows and it even had seat belts!  

By the time we got back to Aberwystwyth it was raining pretty steadily, so we picked up a cheap umbrella and kept exploring the town.  We slept well that night. 

      Part way up the hill on the Coastal Path, looking back at Aberystwyth.

     Looking forward... You can see the path going up the next hill. 

    Looking back after passing a coastal home.  

    Linda waiting for me to catch up.  

      Looking at the next steady climb.