After coming back from Greece, the next big adventure was to go back to Sydney after 2 years of being away. But I made time to go to Devon to see Mum and Dad before I left the UK. I went at the end of August and honestly, the weather was 100% glorious!
We started off my few days there with a drive through Dartmoor and a walk to Grimspound. I had driven there myself the weekend I hired a car and drove to Devon, but I'd never actually walked up to see the site. Grimspound is the remains of a prehistoric human settlement from the Bronze Age. Apparently there was a settlement of 24 houses here, but it was difficult to count them as all that remained were the footing stones of the buildings. But, there was a definite wall around them which you could see from higher up on the Tor nearby. What was also great was the heather was blooming across the moor, so it was both purple and green!
After our walk up Grimspound, it was time to go home, have lunch and get ready for the Parish Walk. This was a walk that was advertised on the village bulletin board that left from a fancy house a little bit away from our village. We left the house and drove to Iddesleigh, where the start was at Ash House. We pulled into the parking area, which was most recently a cow pasture and there was plenty of evidence of that around! It was then time to head off! We walked across a lot of fields, up and down hills, and finally back to the house where they were waiting with tea and scones as our reward for the walk!
The next day, we drove out to Exmoor National Park. We found this little village called Parracombe, which was really cute, and had a bit of a walk around there. The church there was quite old, and had some lovely wooden stalls. The farmland nearby was also really nice, quite a bit more agricultural on this moor compared to the wildness of Dartmoor. We then went to lunch at the local pub, which was surprisingly good considering it was such a little village!
The final stop of the day was the National Trust-owned Heddon Valley and Heddon's Mouth. I say "owned" but they are more caretakers of this lovely place. We walked along the path to the ocean, which could have been Australia, had it been about 10 degrees warmer (and both outside and in the water!).
My final day in Devon, we started out with a blackberry forage in the hedgerows, and came back with LOADS of fruit, which Mum was going to make into a pie. Then it was time to get dressed up and head out to Michelin-starred restaurant Gidleigh Park for a very fancy lunch.
The next day, it was back to the train station and I whizzed back to London on a very packed train.