We left Brooke Lodge Farm after a day in Bristol and headed over towards Bath. We were just looking for interesting places to camp that weren’t going off the beaten track too much. We knew our holiday was coming to an end and we were just trying to make the most of the weather really. This would prove to be our last night of our main holiday in 2015 🙁 . We decided not to go into Bath as we had done Plymouth City two days previously, and Bristol the day before so more shopping wasn’t on the cards.

www.thwblackberriescampingpark.co.uk

We headed back to Derby via Broughton on the Water. The sun was out and it turned out to be a really nice end to the holiday 🙂

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After The Eden Project we headed over to see my Uncle at St Johns near Plymouth. We had a great night with some fabulous food and wine, and got to see my cousin and the extended family also. We don’t hook up much so it was a really nice couple of days. We were offered a bed for the night but decided we would camp in the van on the driveway as the views of the garden were pretty amazing 🙂

St Johns

Our original plan was to head into Cornwall from here and down to Lands End. However, the weather started to take a turn for the worse so we decided that we would leave my Uncles and catch the ferry to Plymouth and spend the day there. We perused the shops and had a meal at a nice Italian restaurant. For just over a week previously we had done so many different things that took advantage of the good weather, but more rain on the horizon meant that we would probably be better of heading towards another city break. So Bristol was the next port of call.

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We departed from Blackpool Sands after a couple of brilliant nights on the beach and headed for our next destination at The Eden Project. The weather had taken a turn for the worse but we were fine with that as we knew the attraction had plenty to do indoors (good timing really 🙂 ). We got to Croft Farm Holiday Park about mid afternoon the day before we were due to visit the Eden Project so that day was really just a day of travelling, stocking up on food and setting the van up for a good nights kip.

The following day had gotten worse weather wise and it was quite depressing in comparison to the excellent week we had previously. So we had some breakfast and a shower and drove the mile or so to the Project.

I must admit it was an excellent day out and i would recommend it to anybody in the vicinity. In fact it had been on our radar for some time during our trips ‘down south’, but was always just a little bit too far away to get there and back to our accommodation in one day. That is where we were really appreciating the new flexibility of the campervan.

 
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So from Dawlish we headed to our next pre-planned destination. A very exotic venue at Blackpool Sands in Dartmouth. I had frequented this area of the UK on numerous occasions previously, and knew when I saw this event being organised that I wanted to be a part of it. Basically it is a privately owned beach, but the owner lets camper-vans park there for two nights of the year. This particular weekend fell in the middle of our two weeks holiday, and fitted in perfectly with our plans.

We arrived at the camp on the Friday afternoon.

The weather was fine but overcast initially and we had a good chat with the people on the beach front. As the afternoon turned into evening more people turned up. This was limited to about twenty vans so it was never going to be over crowded.

So we I had a few Old Moute fruit ciders and the wind started picking up. The temperature dropped, darkness crept in and within an hour or so and the rain started falling. We had the mood lighting on and some nice music playing in the background. It was really cosey 🙂 . Mayhem was happening outside but we were as happy as could be.  This is what having a van is all about!

So we called it a day and went to bed. However, I was awaken in the early hours by Mandy who said the awning was being uprooted by the high winds and was in danger of breaking free. We managed to get outside and close it in time, but this could have ended very differently 🙁

We woke up to an amazing sunrise. Well life didn’t get much better than this! 🙂 . We had been fortunate enough on our travels so far to have access to warm shower facilities. The only shower here was a cold one to wash the sand off after you had been swimming. This certainly woke me up! Then it was time for a coffee.

And a paddle….

We had arranged to hook up with my Mum and here partner whilst we were in at Blackpool Sands. We ended up going to Brixham and Dartmouth for the day. We did feel a little guilty about leaving the camp, but many of the campers had decided to catch the bus into Dartmouth so that eased our conscience. The people that stayed behind took advantage of the good weather and sunbathed or flew kites.

Our day consisted of  Fish & Chips at Brixham , then stopped in Dartmouth on the way back and cought the ferry to the castle and back. We had packed quite a lot into the day and got back to Blackpool Sands around 6pm. Tea consisted of Salmon, potatoes and salad washed down with another cider 😉 . When the sun went down we all sat round fire pits and chatted. What a cracking time.

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So our next stop on our two week adventure took us from Woolacombe to Cofton campsite in Dawlish, Devon. We had stayed here previously and liked the fact there was such a verity of things to do in a relatively short location. A short walk takes you to Starcross train station and from there you can get the train to Exiter, Torquay , Dawlish beach or Tinmouth. Alternativly you could catch the ferry over to Exmouth or catch the bus or drive to Powderham Castle . Each one of these you could easily spend a day at.

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