Dartmouth to Brixham - 11 miles

Dartmouth/Kingswear

This title is misleading.  We didn't actually walk from Dartmouth - we walked from Kingswear.  We thought it was a bit silly to take the ferry across to Darmouth just so that we could get the ferry back to Kingswear and say we started our walk in Dartmouth.   However the official SWCP website states that Dartmouth to Brixham is 11 miles.  We're not sure if that includes the ferry crossing.  Anyway we walked from Kingswear to Brixham and are sure that it was more than 11 miles.  This was a very hard walk.  It is one of the most up & down walks we have done, it was very muddy & it took us about five & a half hours of walking non stop.

We're staying in a very nice apartment in Torquay - 'Chelston Dene Apartments'.  We've booked for a week but we'll probably go home after we've done all our walks. The owners have said we can stay for £165 for the week which is great.  What is even better - I can stay for free.  We have a one bed apartment with views over Torquay.  The owners like me.  Ann had already warned me that I had to be on my best behaviour when I met them so I offered them a paw.  They thought I was lovely so I rolled over onto my back like a right old tart so they could tickle my tummy.  We would highly recommend these apartments for any other dog loving visitors to Torquay.

Firstly we had to go in the car to Brixham.  We were going to park in the 'harbour long stay car park' but it cost £7 for 5 hours or more.  What a rip off?!  The machine only took coins and Ann didn't have £7 in coins.  We thought about buying a ticket for 3-4 hours (even though we didn't know how long our walk would take) but then we saw a parking enforcement officer prowling around so we decided just to park in the higher part of Brixham for free and walk into town to get our bus.

We had to get on the number 22 bus to Kingswear at 10.05am.  I was a good girl when I got on the bus but I was not very well behaved while waiting for the bus.  I woofed at other buses that passed us and when the postie dared to walk past our bus stop I went absolutely ballistic.  It cost £2.70 for Ann & 50p for me to go from Brixham to Kingswear.  We got there about 10.30am.

For the first 20mins of our walk I had to stay on my lead because we were walking along a lane where cars might have come.  The houses were lovely - huge, but we think some might have been apartments. 

And then we hit the coastal path and I was allowed off my lead all the way back to Brixham.  Well, apart from one very small section, when we had to walk down a very steep hill, through a field full of sheep.  Ann was a bit cross with me.  I wanted to go chasing & was pulling on my lead - until she went really mad at me.  She said  if I didn't walk properly there was no way we would do any more walks.  She said she would go shopping instead.  I knew she meant it, so for the rest of the walk down the hill I walked properly by her side.  I have to say it was quite hard because there were loads of sheep and all I wanted to do was herd them into a corner.  Even though I was on my lead I was giving them 'the evils'.  They knew I was a collie that could keep them in order if I was allowed to?!! 

The other thing that was a bit tricky on this walk was that Ann had forgotten to bring us any water.  She got so excited packing her new rucksack, with unnecessary things that we didn't need, that she forgot to pack the one thing that we did need - water.  For the first 1 & a half hours there was no water for me but after that there were streams & troughs so I was happy.  Ann had packed an extra fleece in her rucksack because she couldn't believe that the 'thin, with all the warmth' top that she had bought last week at 'Mountain Warehouse' actually was thin & warm?!!  In fact today Ann was like a proper walker for the first time - new walking top, new walking trousers, new rucksack.  The ice warning came on in the car when we were driving to Brixham but Ann was toasty warm in all her new clothes.

This walk was lovely.  However it was a bit isolated.  We only saw four people in 3 and a half hours.  And then when we reached the 'Berry Head Country Park' there were loads of people walking their dogs.  At that point we thought we were almost back at Brixham.  We weren't, we still had at least a couple of miles to go to Berry Head, which is about a mile from Brixham.  So we kept walking and walking and walking!

Once we'd reached the 'Berry Head Hotel' Ann knew we were back in civilisation.  But we still had a couple of miles to walk back to the car.  We think we've walked between 12 - 14 miles today.

We're both very tired & sleepy!