Boating and Biking

It was our weekend for boating on the Waverley. So, we arrived at Clevedon Pier early on Saturday with coats, hats and well prepared for any weather - which was good because most of the trip was cold (going south was against wind and tide), with only a glimmer of sunshine most of the day. We sat outside most of the trip on this little paddle steamer, and were surprised that we knew more of the coast line than the locals did. We sailed past Minehead (where there is a Butlins - complete with its huge white marquis), past Heddons Mouth (where we wandered beside a stream to the stony cove one weekend not long ago), past Lynmouth and Lynton (where we spent a day wandering up and down the gorge and rode up the hill on the water powered cliff railway), past the Valley of the Rocks (which we climbed not long ago) to Ilfracombe (where we sat on the beach for a while, had brunch and wandered around the town also not long ago). We had about 40 minutes in Ilfracombe (due to the slow trip down and the captain not wanting to get caught in mud on an outgoing tide) and bought some postcards and fish and chips before climbing back onto the boat for the trip back - where we saw all the same things again but in slightly warmer conditions and with the sun behind us for some of the time. The Exmoor coast has the second highest cliffs in the UK and the highest in England - they didn't look that big to us but I guess at the top looking down (which is how we normally view them) is a bit different to looking at them from a boat.


The Waverley is the last sea-going Paddle Steamer in the World – it was rather special even to the novice boater. Restored in 2003 it was complete with varnished timber decks and chairs and polished brass tools and fittings - enough to make many people want to go home and varnish their wood work and polish their brass (but not us). We could also see the steam engines working and the paddles turning as the boat moved along. The boat was built in 1947, and can take 925 passengers - it would have been a bit crowded I think. When she sailed towards Clevedon Pier to pick us up she appeared to be listing quite severely - we were pleased we had taken the time to make Caramello his own life belt!!.
After doing very little all day and sitting in wind, cloud, sun and sea air we were rather tired by the time we got back - we did manage to get to the supermarket to find an Indian to heat up before climbing into bed - but that was it for Saturday.
On Friday night we had spent an enjoyable evening at David and Jane's chatting, eating their good food, and looking at slides of their Japan and Thailand trips. Must go there too!! They mentioned that on Sunday they were going on Bristol's Biggest Bike Ride (I think they have one every year - but it must get bigger each year to live up to its name) and as it was a stay at home weekend we crawled out of bed on Sunday morning and went on the 14 mile bike ride too. It was a lot of fun (we passed not only young families, but lots of other people) and realised that we were reasonably fit going up the hills. The route 'followed the Portway through the Avon Gorge, turns through Shirehampton and over the dramatic Avonmouth Bridge returning to Harbourside via the Ashton to Pill cycle path'. Going through Leigh Woods brought back memories as we had walked some of this track when we first arrived in Bristol. Surprisingly enough, we arrived back about the same time as Jane and David - we lost each other in the crowd - and had lunch at the Watershed (again - more memories we used the free WIFI when we first arrived in Bristol - a lemonade lasted as long as the time required to write emails, the blog etc) - nachos and olives and hummus for lunch this time. Yum. There were bands playing creating quite a festive atmosphere (the best thing was you could make your own smoothie by riding a bike that turned the blender sitting on the back) - but we didn't stay long as we were off to Chris's for tea that night.