Push off for slap up do!

Thursday 5th May 2016 - to Start Bay.

We woke up and went through our normal rituals.  I will spare you the personal rituals but they do include our little stretch and exercise regime that involves us putting on sports gear and going outside with an exercise mat and a set of dumb bells.  Whilst we were stretching this morning we tried the particular calf stretch where we lean against the van with one leg extended.  Another caravaner happened to walk past at the time and politely asked if he could help.  I thought he was just joking that he would help to push the van with us.  I jokingly replied that he could join in.  He looked a bit puzzled and then it dawned on me that he really thought we were trying to push the van backwards and he was really offering to help push.  Maybe he missed the clues to exercise, like the mat and dumb bells!  Never mind, it was nice of him to offer.

A little update on our bird spotting - we have seen plenty of swallows, so summer must be on its way and we also saw a couple of Green Finches, we don't see many of them in Cumbria.  Janice saw a Blue Jay too.

We packed our stuff away after breakfast and set off the short distance to our next stop.  We did a little shopping at a Lidl and then parked at Kingsbridge for a coffee by the creek.

As you can see the weather is getting better.  

Our plans were now to get to our new site near Torcross on Start Bay and meet up with Debbie and Graham, our friends from Grange.  They have hired an apartment in the village for a week and it was very fortuitous that we could meet up with them. The apartment was right next to the beach and the views were stunning.

This is the view from their balcony.  The beach is called Slapton Sands.  Couldn't be better.

In the afternoon we did the coastal walk to the lighthouse at Start Point.  

The scenery was lovely, we stopped off for lunch on the way out (fresh crab sandwich) and at the Cricketers Inn on the way back for a cheeky cider.  Whilst in there I saw the Lea and P sauce on the bar and told the landlord I could do with some of it for my next hotpot.  He was kind enough to clean an empty bottle of tonic and put a bit of Lea and P into it.  That's what I call service.

On the route there was a small ruined fishing village called Hallsands.  Plaques explained the story of the villages demise.  Quite a tale, it must have been a tough life.

In the evening we walked from Debbie and Graham's apartment about 20 metres to a pub.  Many places seem to do plenty of seafood and this pub was the same.  There was a large selection of seafood, Janice tried the 'wing of skate' and I boringly had battered haddock and chips, it was a whopper.  Having finished our main course I went to have a look at the sweets and spotted a rather large piece of chocolate brownie pudding.  Seeing that the remaining slice was far too big for one portion but probably not big enough for two pieces I entered a negotiation with the waitress about getting the whole piece for the price of one.  She was reluctant and we had to call the manager over to adjudicate.  My charm must have worked because we succeeded and shared the piece.  Sorry there is no picture, it would have needed a wide angled lens!  We had a slap up do on Slapton Sands!

What a good day, great weather, lovely food and great company too.  We finished the evening with a couple of whiskies (Graham and I enjoy a dram) and Janice and I walked back to the site in the dark. We were brave.