Homeward Bound

We were sorry to leave our beautiful log cabin near Yealmpton, (which, we found out before we left, came all the way to Devon from Estonia as a flat pack). But all good things must come to an end and with sad hearts we packed up to make our way home, travelling to our next port of call - a campsite called Paddocks Farm, near Bridport.

Sunset at Paddocks Farm

Once more, we became gloriously lost down small country lanes trying to find this site, but were helped by the landlady of a public house called Shaves Cross Inn, to find that we were actually very close to our destination, so close that we went back to the Inn for a really wonderful meal later in the day.

Before our meal however, we went for a walk along one of the footpaths near by, which involved walking through a field of wild flowers. I felt exactly like someone in a 'Flake' advert wandering through flowers, some of which were at waist height - a lovely experience.

The campsite was lovely, with clean and tidy facilities and the surrounding countryside was beautiful. We were joined on the site later in the day by an Australian couple, who were at the start of an extended holiday. I'm afraid I gave the husband of that couple an unintended shock by leaving the toilet/shower room area door ajar while showering, so that when he opened the door, he was greeted to a view of my naked body through the clear shower door - not really an edifying sight.

Our last port of call was a small certificated site near Minstead village in the New Forest. This time, we were determined not to get lost, only on arrival at the correct turn off, we found that the road was closed due to work taking place to replace cattle grids.This resulted in a rather long but well signposted detour and the relatively easy finding of our last site of this holiday. Once more, we were treated to a lovely secluded and peaceful site.

Camping at Minstead Manor Farm

We set up camp beside a massive tree (believed to be a lime tree), and went exploring.

Minstead village was very pretty, with it's wonderful pub and a village shop that doubled as a tea room. After an enjoyable lunch,we walked up to the church where after exploring the interior, we went to see the grave of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his second wife.

The following day we went to Lyndhurst, which, even out of season was incredibly busy. The highlight of the day for me was the ice cream shop where the ice cream was actually produced on site - just delicious!

Conan Doyle's Grave

After two days, we packed up and started to make our way, finally to Seaford, our home. It was hardly surprising though, in view of the lovely weather we had experienced and the wonderful time we had had that both of us felt like turning around and starting all again. Happy days:-)

Perfect Holiday

View from Yealm Cabin

Have you ever had a time on holiday when it was just perfect?

The weather is great.
The surroundings fantastic.
The food superb.
You get to do everything you want to do and you come across things you hadn't expected to see, making the holiday an even better experience.
Everything is just wonderful, even if there are slightly duff moments, because you can laugh at them.

Each morning when I opened the blinds at Yealm cabin, I looked out over the valley seeing the wide variety of trees and shrubs, with so many green shades, looking like an artist's palette. And in front, in the field, were three horses together with a group of  rabbits. It looked stunning.

Jessie, our little Border, liked nothing better than to sit outside the cabin, watching the horses intently and flushing out the pheasants.

A walk near to Yealmpton

The village store, a couple of miles away, had everything we needed - I still wonder how they managed to stock as much as they did in all the nooks and crannies. I managed, with their help, to have more than my fair share of pasties during the week and they were pure heaven!

Walks in the area were a revelation. A walk to the south of the village took the old route of the railway dismantled during the Beeching era in the 1960's. Seeing the ghostly plant covered stanchions as we walked past them, as well as other industrial relics, against the background of the constant babbling of the river alongside us - just beautiful.

And Alan, well Alan was feeling very happy, because until he arrived here, he had thought we were going to a cabin in a holiday village. To come to a secluded cabin and area such as this more than exceeded his expectations, my bad mood at the time of arrival quite forgiven.

A beautiful 7 days was had by all.

Alan pottering in the kitchen area