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I woke up 7:15AM. I relaxed until Renée got up at 8:40AM. The weather was soaking wet outside as expected from yesterday's forecast. The bad weather was already clearing Scilly. It looked to be a nice day there but a slow soggy start in Exeter. This front was really dragging its heels. Oh well we were still in Exeter so the plan was to make the best of it with a day trip to Exmouth. Alas the 56 bus didn't go to Exmouth on a Sunday. But the Stagecoach app showed that we could get there with two busses in an hour. So we were still up for it.
We went for breakfast at 8:45AM. It was a nice buffet albeit not as good as the Premier Inn breakfast with not many veggie options and poor soggy looking scrambled egg. The waffle iron was a nice touch though. It still fuelled us up for the day. We finished at 9:35AM and returned to the room. The rain was expected to clear around lunchtime so we planned to rest for a bit then catch the late morning bus. Renée had a sleep and I played games until I got bored. Eventually we were ready to go out and at 11:10AM we went to the front desk and ordered an airport shuttle bus. It sure beat walking in the rain.
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| The waffle iron and a delicious fresh waffle. | The light display above the buffet table was cool. | |
We got to the airport bus stop at 11:20AM. With the 56 bus expected at 11:45AM we had a bit of a wait. It was late too! After a long wait it finally arrived and we moved off at 11:55AM. On the way we hit heavy traffic. As a result we just missed a connecting bus at the Livery Dole stops. So with 25 minutes to the next bus we waited patiently and caught a 12:38 57 bus. The top deck of the double decker had comfy leather seats. We sat just behind the front which was full of kids. It was a nice ride once we escaped Exeter and the rain steadily cleared away. But we still found heavy traffic and roadworks on approach to Exmouth which was tedious. We arrived at parade stop at 1:20PM.
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| On the 56 bus to the Livery Dole stop. | Heading down Barrack Road on a wet 57 bus. | Crossing the River Clyst (a tributary of the river Exe). | We spotted some llamas by the side of the road. | |
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| A field of Pumpkins near the Topsham Road / Exmouth Road junction. | Following Exmouth Road Southwards. The big body of water is the River Exe estuary. | Bus selfie. | ||
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| The road becomes rather busy due to roadworks just outside of Exmouth. | Coming into Exmouth. | Approaching Exmouth Parade. | The bus after we alighted. That was a nice bus! Nicer than any London bus I've been on. |
First we briefly explored some nearby shops. Then we made our way towards the seafront via Victoria Road to the marina. We went to the Dock Side Café for tea, tea cake, biscuits and hot chocolate at 1:35PM. This was a much needed rest as Renée was tired and we both needed comfort breaks.
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| Tower Street Methodist Church. | A war memorial between Strand and Rolle Street. We crossed to Victoria Road to reach the sea front. | The sea front at the end of Victoria Road. | The Dockside Café. | ||
We set off and started to walk along the sea front at 2PM. We walked all the way along the beach, taking in the views and sea air. We walked as far as the cliffs at the far end as the tide went out and the sun came out.
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| Walking Eastwards along the Esplanade until we find some steps down to the sand. | Renée and I on Exmouth Beach. | ||||
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| Looking over the wall to the Flagpole Memorial on the Esplanade. | Nice moody cloudscape as the sun poked through. | Looking back West the way we came. | A wishing well on Queen's Drive. | The ice cream kiosk was tempting. |
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| Further along Queen's Drive were lots of colourful and archetypical beach huts. | Heading Eastwards along the beach towards distant cliffs. | |||
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| A customary wave shot. | The RNLI Exmouth Lifeboat Station. | South and East of the Lifeboat Station were Groynes and rocks being exposed as the tide went out. | ||
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| Further scenes as we approached the cliffs at the Eastern end of the beach. | Bumble and Sea Café. | The Eastern end of Exmouth Beach. | |
Renée waited on a bench close to the Bumble and Sea Café while I just nipped up some steps to a view point at the top of the cliffs. The view up there was awesome! After taking pictures I went along the coast path and returned down a zig zag path to the Café, which was a converted container.
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| Walking South along the bottom of the cliffs to a staircase to the cliff top. | |||||
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| Barnacle evidence that at high tide this rock is under water. | The staircase. | Climbing the staircase. | The view from the top of the staircase. | |
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| Orcombe Point. | Panoramic views from Orcombe Point. | |||
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| Looking down from Orcombe Point. | Looking back at the spire at Orcombe Point. | Following the coastal path back towards the Café. | Looking down at Exmouth Beach from the cliff top. Renée could be seen sitting on ther bench waiting for me to return. | ||
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| Following the zigzag ramp down to the Bumble and Sea Café. | ||||
I got us ice creams as I passed the Café. They didn't have many flavours left as they were winding down for the winter. We had rum and raisin and banana choc ice creams which we shared.
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| Bumble and Sea Café. | That was lovely ice cream, enjoyed while the sun was shining. | |
We started to walk back at 3:35PM as the tide continued to recede, exposing more sand banks and rocks where the River Exe flowed into the sea. On the way back the sun went in again so our ice cream stop was very well timed. Once past the Harbour View Café we headed up Carlton Hill to the bus stop where a 57 bus was due at 4:20PM.
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| Walking back towards the lifeboat station. | Nice sand castle. | More beach views. | Nice cloudscape! | Walking back along Queen's Drive to Carlton Hill. | |
It arrived on time after an 11 minute wait. It was the same bus as the outbound one, just a different driver. Now the windows were nice and clear and we had the top deck to ourselves. We of course took the front seats and the return view was a lot better and made for a much nicer ride with lovely views to be had. We went all the way to Exeter town centre and got off at 5:05PM.
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| Back on the bus following Rolle Road to the war memorial. | The Parade. | Heading out of town on Exmouth Road and past the roadworks. | Cows. | ||
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| Continuing North on Exmouth Road. | Clearer drier windows afforded a better view of the River Exe Estuary. | A better view of the Topsham Road Pumpkin field too. | ||
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| Topsham Road Pumpkin field, as seen from the George & Dragon Hotel stop. | More cows. | Returning over the River Clyst. | ||
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| Returning over the River Clyst. | Going past the Livery Dole stops as we continue into Exeter Town Centre. | |||
After a little bit of exploring, looking around the back streets and passing Exeter Central library we ended up at Bill's on Gandy Street at 5:25PM.
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| Checking out food options. | Passing the Exeter Castle Gatehouse. | Gandy Street. | Bill's. | |
Inside Bill's the atmosphere was lovely and the menu was good. We both opted for the carrot mushroom and cashew Wellington. It was delicious and the service was good too. It was a nice early dinner, light but filling enough to last us until breakfast. We finished and paid up by 5:55PM. Then we paused for a bit as the bus wasn't due until 6:20PM.
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| Inside Bill's. | ||||
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| We had a very nice meal at Bill's. | |||
It was time to go back as we were both tired. We took a slow wander along the high street to the Sidwell Street stop 19 where we got off as the app was directing us there.
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| Walking back along the high street towards the bus stop. | Nice sunset. | ||
We waited for the 56 bus which was due at 6:23. But it never came! It seems the app had led us to the wrong bus stop. That was the last bus too so we were stuck. That was exceedingly frustrating at the time. By 6:40PM we ended up getting a cab back to the hotel and with no traffic got back at 6:55PM. After booking an airport shuttle for 9AM tomorrow morning we returned to the room at 7PM. It was a frustrating end to the excursion but it was still a nice day out. Now it was time to relax, watch TV and retire for the night, hoping we would finally make it to Scilly tomorrow.
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