Our time in England was coming to an end and we still wanted to explore one last area and Mum and Dad decided to join us in a visit to the north Devon coast where the main highlight was hiking the south coast path.
The south coast path stretches for over 1000km along the coast of Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Dorset so we were only going to be able to do a small stretch of it in the two days we had but were still keen to get a flavour of what the hike was like.
Our drive out there took us straight through Exmoor national park and the views were quite spectacular and even though the roads were narrow we were pretty comfortable by now and so spent most of the day enjoying the scenery and even managed to spot a couple of deer.
The hotel we were staying at was right in the cliffs on the coast next to a small village called Combe Martin and our views stretched down the coastline and we could see the waves battering against the rock faces. It was quite stunning.
It was lovely to catch up with Mum and Dad and also more exciting that we had found a spot that they hadn’t been to before so the next day we set off to do a hike from Woolacombe to Ilfracombe a hike of about 13km. Even though we were definitely well into Autumn the weather was pretty beautiful although it has to be said there was a bite to the wind.
Still we enjoyed a lovely hike along the coast where the scenery at times was breathtaking. There was a rugged beauty about the place and we spent a lot of the time stopping and admiring the views.
The hike went up and down all the coves and inlets and as a consequence was actually quite hard going. Mum and Dad kindly offered to go back to the car and allow us to keep hiking to Ilfracombe and come and pick us up at the end which is something we don’t usually get to do (hike a one way trip).
Ilfracombe was a lot lot bigger than any of us had anticipated and what with it being out of season there were plenty of buildings and shops but not too much open so after a quick walk around we headed back to the hotel to relax and enjoy some Devon scones with cream and jam and a cup of tea!
The next day we had a bit of a lie in due to a rain storm in the morning but come lunchtime the clouds had cleared and we set off east to enjoy another hike along the coast. This one again provided us with amazing views and at times we were a little nervous as we were walking right on the edge of the cliff!
It was a fantastic few days to finish off our UK experience and after a few last bits of sorting things out in London it was time for us to put on our backpacks and head off to Albania!! T