We’ve come to Croyde, North Devon for four nights and I’ve just read online that this month is set to be the wettest June on record. Usually, this would really ruin a holiday for me (especially seen as we are staying in a caravan), but for some reason it doesn’t.
Why is this?
It’s grey and overcast. We are sitting in a weatherspoons-type ‘restaurant’, which is part of the Parkdean caravan site entertainment complex at Ruda. There are screaming kids around us and some pretty questionable parenting on display. We are in the restaurant because it is the only place we can get WiFi to download the film we want to watch tonight. A film we wouldn’t be watching if the weather was nicer.
I should be in a terrible mood.
But Croyde is magical for me. It’s nostalgia mixed with rural beach beauty. I’ve holidayed here throughout my life and it never changes. It’s a constant when life feels up in the air, which it certainly does at the moment. It’s a perfect tonic. Grounding and beautiful. Even in the rain. Even in a caravan.
Did I mention that Shane Ritchie is here filming a channel five documentary on caravan holidays? I REALLY SHOULD BE HATING THIS.
Day 1:
We arrived and were immediately met with a problem, as someone had parked in our alloted parking space. ‘What a perfect opportunity to negotiate upgrade’ I thought, as they couldn’t find the car’s owner. Ruda were great (thanks Mike) and managed to find us an empty 2019 caravan for eight people. Yaaass! It’s massive. Well, it’s not massive, it’s normal sized. I can’t believe eight people would last a week in here without killing each other. But it’s perfect for us.
The sun was out when we arrived so we scrambled on our wetsuits and went for a swim. Talk about cold. We didn’t stay in long.
We then walked to the pub in Croyde village called The Thatch for a quick drink and ended up having a lovely chat with a gentleman in the pub, who was visiting with family. He’d come 20 years ago and was repeating photos spots with his now 32 year old daughter. He was also from Nottingham and in the 80’s used to run The Grove in Lenton, an old student haunt of mine. What a small world.
Day 2:
We got up after a heavy night of rain and had a leisurely breakfast. We knew today would be a washout so booked to use the Wollacombe Bay Hotel’s new spa. It was refurbished in 2018 with a new pool, sauna and treatment rooms. The reception even offered free teas, coffees, and pastries. It was absolutely lovely and the perfect treat for a holiday in the rain. Kev was especially happy because they had Bakewell style cakes. It wasn’t very busy and I can’t imagine it would be much fun if it was as it’s quite small.
We followed our spa with some lunch at a nearby cafe. I had a crab sandwich and Kev had some massive fishcakes.
We then had a wander round the shops intent on buying some body boards, which we eventually found much for a good price, much to our delight.
We had intended to go out again but read our books instead. After making some dinner we planned to watch a movie, but found ourselves listening to music all evening. Why don’t we do this at home? I don’t know really. Something to do with that holiday feeling.
Day 3:
We knew it would stop raining today so it was time to hit the beach! We went into the sea at about 11am. It was still freezing and the waves were pretty low but we still had fun trying to catch them with our new boards.
After lunch we headed to Baggy Point and had a lovely walk back past some Coasteerers, the rock pools and the beach. We wandered back across and saw Shane Ritchie having a wonderful time in the water.
I’ve definitely put pics of these views on my blog before, but I just can’t get enough of them. I don’t mean Shane. He’s new. Although hard to spot in the picture above.
We then came home and made a lovely spaghetti and prawn dinner. We followed this up by watching a film on Netflix called Snowpiercer. Not quite sure what we thought of it. Good I think. It came out in 2013 and is by a Korean director. Yes it was good actually. We were definitely entertained.
Day 4:
We slept really well after our busy day, waking to some more rain. We planned to go to Lee, a nearby coastal village, for a walk around. Luckily the rain disapated and we had a really nice late morning and lunch. We felt pretty sleepy when we came back but the sun came out so we HAD to go back in the water. The waves were higher and it wasn’t as cold so really glad we made the effort. But we were pretty tired, so didn’t stay in as long.
We came back, read our books, made and ate dinner, then returned to the beach for a final stroll. Kev finished the day with an ice cream in the cold.
Day 5:
We had to be out by 10am but that seemed like a silly rule, so we left at 10:30am. Such rebels.
We drove to a cafe nearby in Chiverton called the Waterside Cafe, where I had some lovely poached eggs on toast and Kev had a cake.
We drove home in the rain feeling rested and pleased to have had such a great week. We felt so rested we tidied the shed when we got back! Thanks Croyde. You never disappoint.
Littlepop: Romantic Explorer 