Torquay, the English Riviera

12th - 22nd September 2012

Page 1 ¤ Page 2 ¤ Page 3 ¤ Page 4 ¤ Page 5

So, 'twas a sunny day in Exmouth, but also not a little bit windy.  Daisy resumed sandcastle bashing duty.

In order to protect my sandcastles, I decided to construct a moat, then a wall, and finally another moat.  It was relatively easy to do and provided some insurance.  Daisy was confined to throwing sand at it in the manner of a magician.  Initially, at least.

However, her determination knew no bounds and she soon found a way to clamber over the not-quite-painstakingly constructed defensive structure to decimate the two sandcastles.  Unfortunately, this was probably also the point that, whilst videoing her doing this, my camera got sand in the lens, such was the gusty nature of the day.

The sun glistened off the sea, which was moving rapidly from right to left due to the layout of the coast.  There was a particular section for which swimming was not allowed due to the power of the current.  We weren't going in any part of the sea as it was not warm enough, so that wasn't an issue for us.

With Lynne off shopping (surprise!), Daisy and I played bury the leg.

Daisy seems to wear my shades more than I do.

So here is where the Allens spent a couple of nights back in the 1980s (plus two nights in Paignton and one night in Stratford-upon-Avon).  This was the side facing the sea but there was no easily-viewable frontage.

This is one of the parts of the hotel that I most vividly remember (which is to say not very vividly at all, but it's all relative - it was a very long time ago) - small putting greens on a larger lawn.  I recall it being more enclosed than this and I don't recall us actually playing on it, but there you go.

This was about the best shot that I could get of the hotel, complete with resplendent car park.

We then spent a little while in the pleasant Manor Gardens, where we fully de-sanded Daisy.

We also saw some cricket action.

And so we bid good-day to Exmouth, on what was a great day for wind-and-water-related activities.  We had some ice-cream on the walk back to the car, but Daisy was a bit of a sulkpot.  The changing of her nappy on the beach had been a little bit painful because of all the sand and her mood had not fully recovered.

A day later, we investigated the village of Cockington, although not in the company of this horse.

We wandered over to Cockington Court, which I was pleased to note featured a cricket pitch, although the ground is quite unique in having sloping boundaries, which must make scoring fours quite hard.  The pavilion is neatly positioned up one of these slopes.

Here is the view of the Manor House...

...where Daisy saw an opportunity to have her beloved ice cream.

Behind the Manor House were a number of shops and workshops, and then a play area which featured uniquely physics-based activities.  Daisy showed her typical lack of keenness for being on anything resembling a swing.

But being on a slide is another matter entirely...

Lynne and Daisy try out their musical talents.

Here is one of the workshops, although what you can't quite see is the sign saying no photos.  Oops.

On the way back to the car, we caught a glimpse of a squirrel taking a rest on a bench.

That evening, we went for Daisy's first Mexican (at a place called Jingles), for which she was eagerly prepared with a fork, although in actuality she didn't eat much and spent most of the time colouring.

Another day, another local tourist attraction.  This time: Babbacombe Model Village.  This is the view of just some of it from up above.  (Incidentally, the shot of the cricket match that I pretended was in Exmouth was actually from here.)

Before we explored the village up close, we were given a birds of prey display.  Here is what I think is a barn owl (from my childhood bird knowledge).

We went indoors at first, to catch a 4D cinema show, which Daisy enjoyed.  While we waited for showtime, we had some indoor models to check out, most notably this mock-up of Albert Square from Eastenders.

Look!  A miniature Stonehenge!

Hmm, I'm going to have to put the rest of this on another page.  My concision is clearly on the wane.