We left home at about 9.45am and first we had to stop off at M&S so Ann could buy herself some tasty snacks to eat tonight. She’s ‘googled’ all the dog friendly pubs in Weymouth, where she thought we could eat in the evenings, but then she remembered it’s ‘Bonfire Night’ tomorrow evening and I hate fireworks so she promised we would stay in for most of the evening tonight and tomorrow.
We’ve been in our B&B since about 6.45pm. We’re staying at the Elwell Guest House on Rodwell Road. We were hoping to get here by about 5pm but spent forever driving around trying to find it, as there’s loads of road works going on and we kept being diverted so didn’t actually get here until about 5.30pm. It’s OK here, though our room is very small. Ann booked a single en-suite room for £40 per night, bed and breakfast (I’m free) but the owner said we were the only people here tonight so we don’t know why we couldn’t have a larger room. Actually I don’t care. I’ve been lying in the shower room for most of the night and a couple of times I’ve actually gone into the shower cubicle and lain down in there – it’s lovely and cool. On the plus side – I’m allowed to go into the breakfast room with Ann tomorrow morning as we’re the only people here. Apparently I’m not allowed to stay in the bedroom by myself so if other people book in over the weekend I’ll have to be put in the car while Ann has breakfast.
We’ve had a really lovely day en-route here. We decided that we’d spend the day driving the coastal route to Weymouth because we’ve never been to East Devon/Dorset before, and then on Monday when we go home, we’ll probably go the direct route. It took us about two and a quarter hours to get to Exmouth (including stopping at M&S).
I had a lovely play on the beach at Exmouth. We parked for free right next to the beach. I got to chase wind surfers, though I couldn’t catch them. Then we went into the ‘Harbour View Cafe’ for lunch. There was a big sign on the door saying that doggies were welcome as long as they were on their leads. It was really busy so we didn’t get a ‘harbour view seat’. We sat next to lots of squealy toddlers. I just ignored them and was ever such a good girl when Ann left me alone to order her lunch and go to the loo. Ann had a black coffee and jacket potato with egg mayonnaise and cheese for lunch (£5.50) but she said it wasn’t very nice. The jacket potato was teeny weeny and there was too much filling and some of the salad garnish was starting to go a bit brown. I was happy because I had the doggie water bowl all to myself. There was only one other doggie there when we arrived but just as we were leaving about three others appeared.
Then we went to Budleigh Salterton. We drove into a car park by the beach and had a five minute walk around but decided not to stay. It wasn’t a very nice beach – it was a bit stoney and Ann didn’t think it was worth paying to park the car.
After that we went to Sidmouth. For some reason we thought Sidmouth was a genteel little seaside town in a relatively flat area. It’s surrounded by the most massive cliffs we have ever seen, on both sides. Anyway we had a half hour walk along the promenade and around the town. It seemed quite nice but was nothing like we’d imagined.
Next we wanted to go to Lyme Regis and went via Seaton because one of the SWCP walks starts/ends there. We didn’t stop at Seaton but again it’s surrounded by really high cliffs.
Lyme Regis was another place that was nothing like we expected. It’s a town nestled between two lots of really high cliffs. We had a 20 min walk here but there were lots of really interesting little shops. Ann walked to go in some of them and have a look around but she couldn’t because I was with her. She said I was a very spoilt little dog because most owners would have just left me in the car while they went for a look round the shops. Ann said she’d planned this holiday because she knew I would enjoy it and she’s promised not to leave me by myself for any longer than is necessary.
The East Devon coastline is very, very high. The cliffs are enormous. We think this area of the SWCP is going to be really hard.
After leaving Lyme Regis we drove along the coastal road to Weymouth. East Devon/Dorset has some really pretty little villages with lots of thatched cottages.
Ann left me in the car while she checked into our B&B and unloaded our luggage and then she took me for a walk into town so that we could check out where to get our bus from tomorrow. We have to walk to the Esplanade in Weymouth to get our bus. It took us half an hour to get there and 20 mins to get back. Weymouth seems lovely but we didn’t start our walk until 5.45pm and by that time it was dark so we couldn’t see much. Also, I wasn’t a good dog. Several fireworks went off and I pulled on my lead. Ann said she would look after me, but I just wanted to get away from them and was constantly pulling, so Ann said our walk wasn’t enjoyable.
Anyway we got back to the B&B about 6.45pm and I’ve been asleep ever since. I’ve got my duvet here, but I’m lying on the shower room floor because it’s nice and cool.
Tomorrow we’re going to walk from Abbotsbury to Weymouth along the Chesil Beach and I’m so looking forward to it.
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