Breakfasts begin at 8.30 at the Maltsters Arms which is very civilised. We had the full English breakfasts (our first for the trip) and then set off with Pauline for a tour around coastal Devon.
We were relying on Google maps for direction (as you do) and she directed us left up this road just outside the ‘village’ at Tuckenhay. It had a sign that said ‘unmetalled road’. Mike said what does that even mean and we joked about it. I said that it might mean it is dirt and they don’t put gravel on it and we laughed. Ha ha. At first it was narrow. Then it became Devon narrow. Then there was no gravel. Then…

There was no way we could turn around so we just kept going, Pauline hoping that she wouldn’t have to reverse the 7 or 8 miles that we travelled along this dirt track. Fortunately we didn’t meet anyone coming the other way. We realised later in the day that this was probably an alternate route as the normal road (barely any wider but actually sealed) was closed during the daytime because they are doing maintenance. Fortunately they’d finished for the day when we came back and we just ignored the road closed signs!

Having successfully survived the unmetalled road we got to the seaside and went for a walk at a little village called Hope Cove. It is one of the places that Pauline used to visit with her family when she was little. It is very cute.

There are a couple of little beaches all in walking distance with lots of holiday accommodation and boats etc. There is also a sea wall that we walked along.

We then headed to Salcombe which is a really pretty village where we had coffee in a cafe overlooking the estuary. It was lovely and very warm.

From there we headed to this village where we could catch the ferry across the mouth of the river Dart and then to Brixham where Pauline had booked a table for lunch.

Unfortunately by the time we waited 15 minutes for traffic to negotiate a tight corner and eventually got to Brixham the restaurant’s kitchen had closed. C’est La vie. Pauline was disappointed but it’s not like we haven’t been eating enough so Mike and I were pretty philosophical about just enjoying a walk around another cute place. Brixham is one of the UKs biggest fishing ports and is a major fishing harbour in Devon. It has a replica of (the replica of) Sir Francis Drake’s ship the Golden Hind, as he came from Brixham. The original replica sank while being towed to the site, which must have been a blow! After a walk we had some sandwiches and a coke at one of the pubs as it turns out that all of the restaurants close their kitchens at 3pm to give the staff a break. Totally unreasonable if you ask me 🤪

We managed to get ourselves back to the hotel without having to go down an unmetalled road, although we know we can do it now. Good thing Pauline’s Honda is a 4wd. However it was touch and go whether we could get a table at the hotel as they were fully booked. Story of the day really. However a table became available (after Pauline had a chat with the owner’s son) and we had a very nice meal. Not sure why there was an issue anyway as no one else came along for our table and there seemed to be plenty of room. That also seems to be a theme. Maybe the kitchen can’t cope. Goodness knows how businesses make any money.