I suppose this is the time to confess my little secret: I'm an aspiring adventurer who doesn't enjoy camping. Surely an unthinkable contradiction! But there you go, I am one such person. Don't get me wrong - I love most elements of camping and I really don't mind dirt, the dark or creepy crawlies. The problem for me is that I hate a bad night's sleep. I need to have warm feet, feel cosy and have a proper pillow. Before I had kids I was more than happy to rough it in any condition, camping or otherwise, but after years of child-related broken sleep (and not enough of it either), I wonder why I would ever willingly put myself through a bad night now - and when I'm on holiday, of all times! Suffice to say that I am precious about my sleep!
So, when Simon suggested that we wild camp during one of our National Park trips, I was none too pleased. When we go camping our car is usually packed full with a big family tent and anything I can fit in to make the nights more comfortable (including a large, thick sleeping mat and the full size memory foam pillow off my bed). The thought of only being able to bring what we could carry over a long hike made me groan. And the kids aren't able to carry all their kit so Simon and I essentially had to carry food, water and equipment for four. Argh! Of all the National Parks in the UK, only Dartmoor and the two Scottish ones allow wild camping, although you can usually get away with it in upland areas of some of the other Parks if you arrive late, leave early and are respectful of the land. We decided to camp in Dartmoor over the late May bank holiday weekend and kept our fingers crossed that the weather would be good. The ability to stay with Simon's parents and wait for a good weather day for camping was a real advantage. Next up in the planning was where we would head to, in the hope of finding a good camping spot. We pored over our OS map to look for a location that was close to a water source but not likely to be boggy, and we mapped out a couple of hiking routes. Peter (Simon's dad) very kindly agreed to drop us off on day 1 and collect us at the end of our hike on day 2. The final but most vital step of our planning was what to pack. We got out all our camping kit and set most of it aside as it was too heavy, bulky or simply too much of a luxury to justify the weight. We ended up spending far more money on this trip than I had expected to but the only way we could make it work was to buy Eve a new large backpack and me a new compact but comfortable sleeping mat (NeoAir XLite Therm-a-Rest) among other things. It was a great learning experience, particularly in discovering what we really could live without! So, how did the trip go? Pretty darn well (until a little mishap at the end...). We hiked across the moor, camped out under the stars far from civilisation and felt like real adventurers! I will post a little photo diary shortly.
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May, our blue tit Travel Bug, flew up to Yorkshire earlier this month and visited a couple of geocaches here before landing in the North York Moors National Park yesterday. Hurrah! She has now visited three National Parks (against our seven).
There are two National Parks in Devon: Dartmoor in the south and (a bit of) Exmoor in the north. The majority of Exmoor National Park (c.70%) actually sits within Somerset. It was designated as a National Park in 1954 and an International Dark Sky Reserve in 2011. The latter designation is thanks to the fact it enjoys the darkest skies in the UK and this status helps to protect them. Exmoor's lovely skies look down on a mix of moorland, woodland, farmland and a stretch of coastline. We only had one day to explore so we had to think hard about what we wanted to experience. It is best known for its moorland but as we were planning a moorland walk on Dartmoor, we decided to go for something different. In the end, we decided to visit the Valley of Rocks and do a short stretch of the South West Coast Path National Trail. The South West Coast Path National Trail (www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk) is the longest National Trail in the country, at 630 miles long. It starts at Minehead in Someset and follows the north coast of Devon to Cornwall. It runs the entire way around the Cornish coastline, then along the south coast of Devon to Poole Harbour in Dorset. We only walked a tiny stretch of it in North Devon. Our trip to Devon was a chance to spend some time with Simon's parents, who live in Tiverton. We therefore travelled to Lynton and started the Valley of Rocks walk together (following Route 17 outlined in the Discovery Walking Guides book 'Walk! Exmoor' by David & Carol Hitt). When the path became steeper and rougher, Peter & Shelia returned to Lynton and drove to the Valley of Rocks car park, where we met them again later. The Valley of Rocks is a dry river valley that runs roughly parallel to the coastline, and its unique rock formations and wild goats draw in tourists - as does the fact that a road that runs through it, giving easy access to the area. Our walk took us high up on a hill and we stopped for lunch on a convenient bench with a clear view of the valley below. The road and car park below slightly marred the scenery but we loved the fact we were able to see Peter & Shelia arrive, far below. After lunch we took a path that zigzagged down the lush, green hillside until it arrived at Lee Abbey, where we joined the South West Coast Path. We followed this into the Valley of Rocks, where we met up with Peter and Shelia for tea, ice-creams and cake at Mother Meldrum's Tea Gardens. (It was also a convenient mid-hike toilet-stop - anyone who has read my previous posts will know the location of toilets on a day out is a mild obsession of mine!) After a refreshing break, Simon, the kids and I returned to the South West Coast Path and followed it as it skirted around the edge of the cliffs and led us back to Lynton. There were great views and some pretty cute goats (including a young one who was bleating mournfully as he'd lost his mother, then went streaking up the path when he spotted her). We had a lovely day out in Exmoor but are very aware that there is so much more to explore and plenty of moorland walks to enjoy. So, I'm sure we'll be back - and perhaps we'll bring Simon's telescope next time, so that we can make the most of the dark skies too.
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