Day 14

August 24, 2015

Depart Babbacombe | Arrive Exmouth, Accommodation: The Swallows Guesthouse, Exmouth

Distance: 23.2KM | Cumulative Distance: 334.6KM | Grade - Strenuous/Easy

Ascent: 2,578 ft | Cumulative Ascent: 35,062 ft.

Cumulative Distance (both walks): 798.6 KM | Cumulative Ascent (both walks): 96,767 ft.

TWO DOWN ONE TO GO!!!

For today's walk I was spoiled for choice of what to title it.

God was looking out for me could easily have got the nod, or maybe I didn't know it was Wednesday! Or even it was a cracker! Or even Look at what you missed Dale and Joan! So many choices. Still today marked the 14th day of the walk meaning we have two weeks in the books and one left to go. Where does the time go when you are having fun?

Before starting on today's walk it would be remiss if I didn't mention my stay at The Exmouth View Hotel in Babbacombe, where Dave, the Manager, took good care of me and set it up for me to have a bowl of pasta for dinner, (Tagliatelli with chicken and followed by a phenomenal dessert which Dale and Joan would have loved, and something I'd been fantasizing about for a couple of days ever since getting into the blackberries, and that was Apple and Blackberry Crumble and Custard. As they would say in the North of England, "It was reet champion".

The weather when I went to bed last night was magnificent, but when I got up it was rainy and blowy, and this is supposed to persist right through the week, (I hope not), After breakfast I set off at around 8-45am, and no sooner had I walked across the car park I stopped and took off my lightweight sweater as it was deceptively warm, once that was safely stowed in my pack I was on my way and found the path soon enough. I was thankful that the rain had stopped before I started walking and was hopeful it would turn out like the other day when it was wet for 2-3 hours and then cleared up around lunchtime.

The path led me into a wooded area right by the Torquay Golf Club which I found odd, as I had come through Torquay yesterday. Anyhow the path started to climb down, down, down, (you know where this going don't you? That's right, down), when I met an older chap out with his dog, little was I to know that after him I would only see a women out jogging with her two dogs, and two younger fellows heading to the pub I suspect just after 11-15am.

By now the rain was coming down and I was thankful to be in the trees, as they provide protection and warmth. Needless to say after going down I was now faced with the alternative which is the climb up. Unlike yesterday when I had very little energy, today I was fuelled by my pasta and pie! And it was game on! Does anyone remember the old song What goes up must come down? Well on this trail it's the opposite, What goes down must come up! And it's Ike being on the proverbial roller coaster.

Today was also a day of great reflection, and I put a lot of thought into how we are all different, and yet so much the same, and felt so happy and blessed to have people like you supporting not only my walk but also Opportunity International and can never thank you enough for getting behind this great cause. When you are doing these long distance walks on your own, you need to be comfortable when you are alone, as there will be times like this morning when you see very few people. Having said that you can always stop and have a chat if you feel a need to, but for me it all depends on my mood.

I eventually came out of the woods and the trail took me straight up from the bottom of the field and took me up to a road, where I enjoyed the flat surface for about 100 feet of so before being plunged back down again. The morning was mainly a lot of up and down, but it felt there was certainly more down than up so I guess that was a bonus, as I dread to think what it would have been like going the other way!

I had now reached Shaldon and was going to stop there for a coffee and to try and dry myself out before carrying on, but decided it would be better to get across the water to Teignmouth as it was now raining pretty good, plus it was open with no chance of any shelter so off I went. There is an option to catch a ferry across to Teignmouth but because of the weather I preferred to keep moving rather than Gus's around trying to find the ferry terminal. I got into Teignmouth and quickly found the sea front where I also came across a tea room. By now I was pretty wet but the staff at the tea room said they had more seats in back, which is actually a catch all area rather than the tea room up front. Who was I to argue, especially in my predicament? That is wet and uncomfortable! I fished out my towel, and long sleeved lightweight sweater, found the bathroom, where I dried myself and then changed out of my tee shirt into my long sleeve sweater.

When I got back my coffee and date flapjack were waiting for me, and they were very good. All I needed was about 30 minutes to warm up and recharge and then it was off again. I placed my wet tee shirt over my long sleeve, put on my Goretex jacket and was toasty warm. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped outside as the rain had abated.

The next stretch of the path leads along the sea wall from Teignmouth to Dawlish and if you time it right you can clear two miles off your journey on this flat but exhilarating path. As I set out there was NO ONE on the wall, and further along I could see the waves crashing against the wall and sending plumes of water in the air. It all sounds terribly dangerous, but I'm not in the danger game and wouldn't be doing this if I felt threatened in any way. This is where I felt God was on my side as after going about 2/3rds of the way I could see a man coming towards me and so I took the opportunity to get a report as to if he thought I would be able to get off the wall up to Smugglers Lane, and the answer was affirmative. I marched on and just before the end there were 4 middle aged people who had just come onto the wall and they assured me I would make it through with no problem. At the end there I a short flight of stairs down that lead you under the railway line and then up Smugglers Lane and then you enter a field before turning into Derncleugh Gardens where the path drops steeply again almost to the rail line and before long I was in Dawlish where I again had another sea wall to walk along and again God was on my side as I made it all the way to Dawlish Warren without any problems of being forced to go back due to the tide blocking my path.

If you are of a mind, and want to view the incredible damage that was inflicted on part of the sea wall that I was walking along, please type in Dawlish Disaster into your search engine and you will find incredible footage of the damage caused in February 2014' storms that ravaged this part of Britain's coast line.

The last 2 1/2 miles was all road work as I had to make my way to Starcross to catch the ferry to Exmouth, and was nothing exhilarating to write home about. It had been a cracking day though, especially walking the seawalls and watching the spray coming in, pity I could not get them on camera.

Here are some photos which to be honest, when the day started out (from 10-30 am on) I never thought would be possible.