We love going away for short (or long) breaks in Dora. We aren’t proud! So, when an ex-neighbour was celebrating his 60th birthday in Tintagel at the weekend, we thought why not? Jo had volunteering on the Thursday afternoon and we also had tickets for the recording of the BBC Podcast, The Kitchen Cabinet, in the evening so that meant a Friday morning start. However, everything took a bit longer than anticipated which meant that we didn’t leave home until after 11.00. We were also driving via our friends in Hampshire to pick up some artwork they had kindly brought back from Denmark for us. We turned down lunch as we had already had biblical rain on our way down and suspected more was to come, slowing our journey down.

After a quick loo break and a cup of tea, we were back on the road. Late lunch was a pit stop at Stonehenge before continuing onto Cornwall. Unfortunately, there was a major crash on the A303 which meant we were diverted off down some pretty narrow lanes. It also meant that we were going to be very tight on getting to our pitch for the night on time. It was just a field but it overlooked Bossiney Cove (P4N#45472) with fantastic views. The gate is locked at 19.00 and we arrived at 18.59 to find it shut and chained. Oh no! Luckily, the woman who looks after the site for the owners was staying in her Moho at the bottom of the field and she happily came up to the gate to let us in. We were so glad she did as it was a fantastic spot. No facilities but breathtaking views across the cove and all for £5 per night!

It was a bit dreary in the morning but luckily stayed dry for most of the day so we joined another ex neighbour, Linda, and her friend, Carole, in a quick trip to nearby Boscastle. What a delightful place and amazingly restored from the awful floods of 20 years ago.

We needed to get back for the party that was being held at the local Youth Hostel, perched on the cliff about a mile out of town. Stunning location for a party. We managed to sit out for most of the evening and admire the view.

We were also very lucky in being able to find a spot to park up for the night right next to the party as the whole hostel had been booked out for the weekend. Of course, that meant we could imbibe to our hearts content!

The rain was forecast for overnight and by midnight it was chucking it down. And it continued all morning. We managed to find a dry spell to drive into Tintagel for breakfast with Linda and Carole before making our way to Killerton, a National Trust property near Exeter. It was a nice example of a Georgian mansion house built by the Ackland family but a bit uninspiring to be honest. Still, it killed a couple of hours before our next stop.

We decided to go home via Weston Super Mare as we have friends who moved there about three years ago and we hadn’t managed to meet up with them since. They also had a drive we could park Dora on overnight so that was a bonus! A lovely catch up with Michael and Graham and a delicious meal at a local Italian restaurant finished the weekend off nicely.

It started raining as we went to bed in Dora and didn’t seem to stop until we arrived home just before midday. Roads were flooded but thankfully the motorways were clear but with a lot of surface water. It did feel like autumn had arrived!

Total miles this trip: 562