Padstow

Planning our next port of call wasn’t difficult. We had a couple of options but both decided that Bude looked worth a visit. Mandy had friends that had stayed at Bude earlier in the year, and feedback from them meant we shouldn’t be disappointed. As with so many places we visit between campsites, we knew we were only really going to leave with a taste of what the place has to offer. The day was mainly overcast and blustery with the odd hint of sunshine. We parked up in the main carpark next to the beach. This was the first contact with sand and the sea, so although the weather wasn’t amazing, we felt an element of excitement.

After a brief wander round, a very expensive, but nice serving of Fish & Chips at Urchins Bistro and a sit on the beach, we decided to take a leisurely drive over to Padstow. This was our second time at Padstow Touring Park, the first time being last year. During the planning of this holiday we were in two minds whether or not to book in for a second year on the trot, but we both agreed that there was an element of comfort in knowing we liked the campsite, and we left last year knowing there was more to discover at Padstow than our stay there had allowed.

Before getting to the campsite we stopped off at the local Tesco supermarket to stock up on Supplies. We were there for three nights, and once the van is set up we like to use that as a static base. Knowing this it was important to get fresh bread etc. On arrival at the campsite found ourselves on the all too familiar pitch we had last year. Quite a surprise in light of the campsites many pitches.

We filled the water tank, popped the roof, wound out the awning and ten minutes later it seemed like we had never been away. We had a bite to eat and stretched our legs with a half hour nosy round the campsite. I was definitely starting to feel relaxed…

The following day started with this burst of sunshine caught as I wondered back from the shower block…

This pretty much set the scene for the next few days. Mainly sun with the odd cloud, which gave us plenty of opportunity to explore the areas of Padstow we had previously missed. Three nights was one of the longer stops of the holiday, but time to relax and change the tempo for the next few weeks ahead was always the intention of this particular part of the break. The stress of work, and the issues I had with the gearbox had kind of taken their toll on the run up to the holiday, but this was just what we needed.