Paignton (near Torquay)

1st to 10th August 2016

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We enjoyed our holiday in the Torbay area so much that, four years later, we headed back down there for our main summer break.  It was Gregory's first trip there, of course, as we were just with Daisy last time.  We'd previously visited Torquay but quite liked Paignton, so we decided to stay in the latter this time.  Lynne's thorough research had uncovered this nice looking chalet in Devon Hills lodge park.

We'd had a couple of recommendations to visit Gloucester services, a farmshop owned by the same company as Tebay services (Westmorland Limited), on the way down, and sure enough it was a very pleasant experience.  The only shot I have of these services features young Gregory and a chocolate rice krispie cake.  We wandered outside for a while, where there was a small maze, a pond and some, er, grass.  It was nice, basically.

The second leg of the drive was a bit grim, as we got stuck in bits and bobs of traffic and roadworks (that was kind of true of most of the drive actually - it took five hours rather than the more usual four and a half), and the weather turned a bit grim.  I had ending up doing both stints, as indecision in the services car park led to me get back in the driver's seat, and many of the motorway drivers appeared to think the right hand lane was the default.

Anyway, we eventually arrived at Devon Hills, to be greeted (after a quick phone call) by Nigel in a car with a registration plate AGOLFA and who, evidently, based on his suntan and repeated mentions, plays golf and sails a lot.  It's a nice life, eh.  Here is our lodge/chalet, No. 1 The Meadows.  (It was a slightly strange numbering/naming system, as The Meadows seemed to start halfway along a road, but it made it easier to remember if not necessarily easier to find.)

In the picture above, you can also make out the very efficient packing system I had employed on the way down, which I found much more difficult to replicate on the way back up.  Always the way.  It helps, of course, that we are bringing less and less stuff for Gregory.  Whilst we brought the portable cot, we decided against the pushchair.

Hopefully the views would be a little nicer when the weather picked up.  For the time being, outside wasn't a nice place to be.  Here you can see the barbecue (which we didn't use) and the hot tub (which we did).

Lynne had nipped to the supermarket and so we had an eat-in tea on our first night, of pizza and salad.  It was all very domesticated, although I'm not sure what Daisy is doing here.  Perhaps she is reluctant to have her photo taken at the dinner table.

The next morning was a little damp early on.  I prepared bacon and scrambled egg for breakfast for all.  Gregory turned his nose up but Daisy loved it.

We headed to Babbacombe in Torquay for our first full day, where Gregory found his natural habitat and camouflaged himself against a lamppost.

Outside the car park was this colourful rhino (coincidentally featuring more of the sky blue which Gregory was favouring today).  I don't think we knew at the time, but this was in fact part of the Great Big Rhino Trail, a "world class mass public art event" covering the English Riviera and Exeter (poor Exeter) for 10 weeks over the summer of 2016.  Ultimately the rhinos are to be auctioned to support rhino conservation.  Meanwhile, Daisy and Gregory goof around.

Our first stop in Babbacombe was the Bygones Museum, somewhere we hadn't been before.  It is an attraction showcasing all that was Victorian.

There were three floors depicting various different scenes in a variety of shops and other displays.  Here is an ironmongers (or somesuch).  The attention to detail was impressive.

The boy looked longingly at the array of cakes in the window.  Gregory, you know they're inedible, right?

Some of the models were very lifelike.  You may also have noticed the black dog in a bowler hat (or is that just me?).  This was one of those "spot all the [things]" challenges that they often include in places like this in order to help try to keep the children entertained.  Each dog had a different hat on and, if you spotted them all, you would get a treat.

Mother juggling children.  Some things haven't changed from Victorian times.

"You will only feel a little sting, sir."  Actually, this particular part of the exhibit was accompanied by blood-curdling screams.  Not one for the children.

Part of the exhibit featured a section of a steam train that they could climb aboard, and obviously they did that.

The top floor featured a crazy mirror which gave Gregory an extendable neck, as if he was one of The Incredibles.

I have to say I don't recall these duet successes.

After finishing our tour, we popped to the next door café for lunch, where they tried to make Gregory's sausage roll and chips look very slightly more upmarket.  (Needless to say he didn't come close to finishing all of that sausage roll, but had a good stab at the chips.)

Given the Model Village was next to the car park we had, er, parked in, it was very much rude not to pop in during the afternoon.  This was somewhere that we had been four years before, but they do keep updating it and, besides, Gregory had never been.

When you're looking at miniature things, being small still means that you have to crouch down to get a good look at it all, as Gregory and Daisy demonstrate here.

Each time you visit somewhere like here, you notice something new.  How long have these guys had to hold this rock-climbing pose, I wondered.

The oldies seemed not to be bothered by the presence of a blue rhino.  (It turned out that the model village was mimicking the larger-than-life rhino hunt by having its own mini rhino hunt.)

This also seemed to be something new - the superhero mansion.  It was pretty cool.

It featured The Incredibles, posing for onlookers...

...and the Ironman rhino (which incidentally featured on Totnes Road, the main road connecting Devon Hills with Paignton centre)...

...not to mention Superman hovering above them all, which included Chewbacca in his underpants (probably not him).

On the nearby cricket ground, the outfield had been left to grow a little too long meaning that boundary fours were hard to come by (thus leaving the only reliable option as aerial).

The Wombley stadium I remember from our last visit, so I took another shot for comparison purposes.  I wonder what they would have as the score this time...

Ah.  Let's move on, shall we?

The new Star Wars film was so last year (but only just; it was released in December), but assuming it remains topical means including it in cinema section of the miniature village, complete with guarding Stormtroopers.

Given that we would be going to Paignton Zoo whilst on our holiday here, it made sense to get a picture of it.

Daisy loves a good spot-them-all collectible.  Here she holds up the miniature rhino chart.  You had to try to find them all, and there were a lot!  (Maybe 50 or 60 or so.  I think we saw all but about 3.)

On the far side of the village, there was a room featuring mini golf, which Daisy and I duly played.  Here there seems to be a gigantic Connect 4 game in the middle of the course.  Careless.

In a nearby room, there were a number of film and TV characters and sets.  Here is one of my favourite scenes in The Matrix Reloaded, where Neo batters tens of Agent Smiths, but still they come.

In the same area of the model village, we had enough money for one go on the remotely controlled vehicles.  Daisy commandeered a car and tried not to drive into things, and Gregory did his best to mimic it but without any direct impact.

We split up as a family (amicably, of course) and, from a distance, I captured the cheeky young master plotting a course for Lynne.  In the background, a miniature giant balloon, if that's possible.

I'm not sure I would be comfortable in riding non-handed on a surface as uneven as this (not that I'm very good at riding non-handed anyway), although the yellow jersey holder leading the array of cyclists in this display is being supported by a bike stand.  Which is cheating.

A place where, it is said, beverages are complimentary.

Having already played crazy golf, we stumbled across a miniature crazy golf course.  Would it feature Daisy and me playing on it?  Of course it wouldn't, don't be silly.

Gregory and I then teamed up to forge on ahead, obviously checking out the model train as it followed a large, circular track, including across this bridge over the river.

Climbing up the path back to the start (which was also the end), we diverted left to have a look at the large castle, upon which a green dragon perched, breathing fire every so often (an act which slightly startled Gregory the first time he witnessed it).  In the background, you get a pretty good view of one side of the model village.  It really is an impressively large set-up with amazing attention to detail.

As we neared the finish line, Gregory was of course keen to see the nee-naws (or fire engines as they are sometimes referred) in a scene which also featured a fire on timer (just about captured here) and was definitely a memory from the last time we visited four years ago.

After all that walking, is was time for some refined sugar in the form of a Peppa Pig ice-lolly, which Gregory didn't quite manage, and some orange juice, which he more or less mainlined.

Just in case you are interested, here is the chart of all the miniature rhinos, including their locations.  As I mentioned, we had only missed about three or so in the end, which was not a bad effort for young Daisy.

And we'll finish this page (rather than start the next page, which would be mildly horrifying) with some hot tub action.  We had not been in before this and, while Gregory was having a big sleep, Daisy was keen to try it out.  The weather was not yet that great, but it didn't really matter as the hot tub water was well heated.  She spent a lot of the time in there pretending she was in a circus.  This photo is also notable for my excellently displayed T-shirt suntan.  All the ladies love two-tone arms.

And that will do for this page.  You can look at the next one now, but only if you want to.

Or you can go back to the Secret Portal.