To Hell In A Camper Van….

Sorry that was a typose… I should have written to Hele Valley, Devon Having said that the journey was quite hellish. Feeling very organised we set off from Sheffield. Our ETA for Hele Valley Holiday Park was 1.30pm, including a break.

All was going really well and a tad of smugness set in. We had executed everything really well and were just commenting how lovely it was going to be to have an afternoon by the beach?

Nearing the M5 in good time the signs started flashing…..junction 19 to 21 had closed and wouldn’t reopen until at least 1pm. A pedestrian had been killed at 5 in the morning. You can’t really grumble that your holiday plans are delayed when someone has lost their life.

Pete wanted me to map read from the hard back Road Map Atlas but realistically I would have needed an industrial sized magnifier to read it. So relied on my phone, which took us around the suburbs of Bristol, St Paul’s, Bedminster etc. We seemed to have gone through a very circuitous route. But the best was yet to come when we left Bristol behind.

We had a choice of going on the main roads which would take an extra 40 minutes or take the back roads. Of course we did the latter, forgetting that the roads are narrow and we were driving a camper van. Added to that everyone’s SatNav seemed to be directing them in the same way. So a convoy of cars and vans snaked through the countryside on roads which were never intended for the volume or size of the traffic.

But it was all very quaint…that is until the motorway traffic ploughed their way through. I love the interesting names of places, like Goblin Combe, a valley we passed in North Somerset. We passed lots of places called Combe something, ‘combe’ means valley and has the same origins as ‘cwm’ in Welsh which means the same thing.

We finally arrived here at just after 4 – so it had taken much longer than we thought. The sun was still shining and it was still warm so all was not lost.

You can see that there hasn’t been a deluge of tourists here.

Despite the site being pretty empty we were given an awful plot so in time honoured fashion we asked if we could move. When we got the van 7 years ago they threw in a toilet tent too. As the van is 31 years old I had never looked at the toilet tent, we have never used it before and I had always been under the impression that it would also be an antiquity. I hadn’t realised what a bobby dazzler it is, it is enormous and it has a shelf inside. Such luxury…..

We quickly unpacked and headed to Hele Bay which boasts a part shingle, part sand beach. It wasn’t heaving it was pleasantly busy, not too much but enough. Enough to people watch.

The water was quite clear but had lots of different types of seaweed, but not the type that is long and slippery, but multi-coloured feathery ones bobbing about. It’s always a bit worrying when everyone in the water is in wetsuits as it gives the impression that the water will be well below freezing. After a bit of a paddle I decided it was way too cold. But sitting on the beach I realised that unless I took the plunge that this could be the only opportunity this summer for me me to swim in the sea.

Gradually inching forwards in my brightly coloured swimsuit amongst a throng of black wetsuits. Perhaps fearless or bonkers. I think bonkers but I did get used to it and eventually it felt really good.

I am not a brave as Pete. I need to be able to touch the bottom. Pete was a dot on the horizon.

When we were in the sea a man approached us and the proceeding chat was odd. I can’t touch the bottom he said. Oh I said, I can touch it here. He replied by saying well I can’t touch it here. Mmm I said well I like to be able to touch the bottom. He replied by saying I can’t touch the bottom and then swam off. He seemed quite happy as he did the breaststroke towards the other side of the beach.

It does look very lush and verdant round here. in some ways lovely but the overgrown playground looks very sad. P

Pete had to crop this photo as I looked like I had had a wee. But still look quite wet.

I was really worried before we got here as after I had booked I saw lots in the papers about ill feeling towards tourists.

Stories about tourists throwing sausage rolls at service station staff and emotions boiling over seemed rife. But actually everyone has been friendly and greeted us with a hi and a smile. Which is contrary to what I expected and the beach was clean to boot.

Pete got some leaflets from the Reception but everything is pretty much closed or partially closed. So sadly we won’t be able to sample the delights of the Gnome Reserve.