Exmouth

With the alarm set for 5:45, the Gorse Fox was, of course, wide awake by 3:00. One habit left over from his working days is that when an alarm is set, he has to be awake before it goes off so that it doesn’t disturb the Silver Vixen. His internal clock buffer is, however, rusty from lack of use. It clearly went off prematurely.

Up and about, morning tea made, everything was now going like clockwork. The planned 7:00 start time was bettered by 15 minutes. Urban-Cub and Ellie were about 5 minutes ahead of us. We had a wonderful trip down to Devon. We had obviously left early enough to beat the traffic. Including a stop for a comfort break and something to eat we still managed to arrive at the AIRBNB by 10:30.

The accommodation is superb. It is a 3 year old town house on the edge of the Exe Estuary, just a few minutes north of the Exmouth railway station. There are three bedrooms (one en suite) and an open plan kitchen, dining, living room which opens onto a balcony overlooking the estuary. The whole place is beautifully decorated and has clearly been well cared for (mind you, it was a little pricey). 

Once we had settled in and unpacked we took a stroll into town. There was no specific aim other than getting our bearings. We stopped in the park for Ellie to play briefly on the swings, though the Gorse Fox suspects that Urban-Cub enjoyed them just as much  

We soon found the shopping centre and picked up the odd bits here and there. The Gorse Fox should point out that as we walked into town, we passed an old school house. The Silver Vixen, who lived in Exmouth for a while as a child, thought it might be her old school. We checked. There was no commemorative blue plaque and we couldn’t find anyone old enough who would remember her so we couldn’t be sure it was the right place. We might check the museum later in the week, he suggested. (That was just before he started nursing a smack on the back of his head).

We stopped for lunch at the Crusty Cob. We enjoyed some simple panini sandwiches and a drink before moving on. Tesco Express provided a top-up of decaf-tea and some coffee, then M&S provided more comestibles. We strolled back to the house along a different route and then leaving the Silver Vixen and Urban-Cub to unpack the buggy, the Gorse Fox took Ellie back to park to let off steam.

The evening we enjoyed the spaghetti Bolognese that the Gorse Fox prepared yesterday, then spent the evening on the balcony’s watching the sun set slowly behind the hills on the other side of the estuary.