Hotel Grounds, Millook Haven and Tavistock

Posted on 2013/08/09 22:38:53 (August 2013).

[Thursday 8th August 2013]
Erika woke up earlier than we wanted to, as always, so I thought I'd try and give Chie a lie in, and donned tweeds, and took Erika out for a pre-breakfast walk. To my surprise the grounds of the hotel were shrouded in mist, which made it very atmospheric, and also quite damp underfoot. We wandered down to the river, looked across to Cornwall, then back to the hotel by way of the shell house.

After breakfast we went for another wander around the grounds, this time all three of us, and this time followed one of the suggested routes, taking in the little valley formed by one of the tributaries of the Tamar, which had a selection of interesting and unusual trees growing in it. There was a little man-made off shoot of the stream (I think the Devon word for it is "leat") which we dropped a leaf into, and then followed as far as we could. Erika maintained a fixed stare on the leaf the whole time, which was rather lovely.

We then retired back to the hotel's lounge for elevenses - coffee and biscuits. There was a selection of toys and books for kids in the library (neatly tidied into a cupboard) so Erika had some things to keep her occupied while we were relaxing with our coffees. Oh and they gave us frothed milk in a jug, so Erika had another babycino.

We really should have just stayed around the hotel all day - it was so restful and just altogether extremely pleasant. However, as always happens when we're on holiday, I felt a nagging urge that we should be out and about doing things. So at midday we set off in the direction of the North Cornwall coast.

For a long time I've wanted to visit the location of the picture of a beach hut we have on our wall at home. It turned out the nearest bit of coastline to the hotel was in fact around there - near Widemouth Bay - so this seemed like a good opportunity. As is often the case with these things, the reality of the beach hut wasn't quite as spectacular as the picture. The picture gives the impression of complete seclusion, but in fact there are a few other houses nearby. The beach didn't look quite as picturesque at low tide either, and the hut had been repainted. Still, all of that aside it was satisfying to finally get there, and the beach made for a pleasant spot to feed Erika her lunch.

We then continued on to Widemouth Bay, where we thought about going on the beach, but again it was low tide (so the water was a very long way out) and a bit overcrowded, so in the end we just parked in the car park at the top of the bay for a bit, then decided to head back.

On the way back we stopped off in Launceston, apparently the former capital of Cornwall, which is a funny sort of a place. I can't really think of much else to say about it really.

We got back to the hotel around 4:30, and had a bit of a rest for an hour or so, before heading out for dinner. We didn't particularly feel like eating at the hotel for the second night, so instead headed into Tavistock to try the "best pizza in Devon" at a place called Robertson's. Having been spoiled by excellent pizzas in London and Italy I couldn't get very excited about the pizza here, but the staff were all very pleasant and accommodating of children, and Erika slept through our starter which was a nice break for us.

We were back at the hotel before 8, but just stayed in our room for the remainder of the evening. I was already falling asleep by 9 o clock!

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