Lex and Robyn - Life as it happens

Friday 15^th August PORTSMOUTH - DARTMOOR

Robyn writes: After a late night and a big day, I expected that I’d sleep like a baby – unfortunately, it was more like the sleep assassin type of baby so well known to our family. There was so much noise in the city area outside – the local hoons seemed all stirred up after the fireworks, and there were screeching tyres and bursts of loud music until well after midnight. It would have been too hot with the window closed, so we just had to put up with it. We finally dropped off, and I was hoping for a nice long sleep in, but the garbage truck arriving just under our window at 7.30 put paid to that!

We were all dressed and ready to head out for the day when I realised that I just didn’t want to do it – I had that light-headed feeling of fatigue, and all I wanted to do was lie down. So I told Lex and Glen to go off and have adventures, put on a load of washing, hit the bed and crashed out for an hour or so. I felt a bit brighter, so I washed my hair, hung out/ put the washing in the drier and headed out to find some lunch and something for tea. There’s a huge shopping centre about 10 minutes’ walk away called Drake’s Circus (Sir Francis Drake is very big here) and when I saw they had a Marks & Spencer, I went up to the café and had a very nice roll and cup of tea. Then I had a wander around, and discovered that they didn’t have a grocery store. A quick check of google discovered a Tesco’s Express in the nearby mall, though, so I went out there and found their curry meal deal for an easy tea. It was a hot walk home; I was glad I had my hat. There are so many sunburned Poms around – very few people seem to wear a hat, even on brightly sunny days like today.

Lex and Glen arrived home around 3.

Lex continues: Using the navigator, we proceeded to Dartmoor National Park. At first, we stopped at a small creek and bridge where people were picnicking. After Glen took a photo, we proceeded on to Brisworthy Farm up a rough, windy, narrow track to a place marked by Google as the parking area for the stone circles we wanted to see. The Brisworthy Circle was nowhere to be seen! We walked up the hill through sheep trails and gorse but saw nothing until Glen had the idea to use Google to locate the circle. We overlanded, stomping across rough terrain eventually to the circle, a relief to both of us. It seems to be undocumented; no signs or information anywhere. From there, Glen used Google Maps to find a second circle, Ringmoor Stone Row and Cairn Circle. After walking for longer than it should have taken, we found the circle. As we approached, a man with two dogs came the other way. With hardly a nod of acknowledgement, he continued along the path and up the hill – he obviously knew exactly where he was going, unlike us! The circle was quite impressive and the stone row quite unique, even though half of it is missing.

Brisworthy Stone Circle

Dartmoor bridge

Ringmoor Stone Circle

We made our way back to the car, and back to Plymouth Hoe, where we had lunch at the Waterfront with a view over the harbour, looked at the plaques and memorials on the Hoe, then came home.

Robyn continues: I wanted to go and see the Plymouth Hoe, so Lex took me up there in the car. We’d seen it briefly on a rainy day in 2014, so it was nice to have time to wander around. It was in full holiday mode – people everywhere, and lots of swimmers down in the water. The harbour is very hilly, so lots of steps up and down. I had an overwhelming urge to eat ice cream, so I bought one and wandered along, enjoying the sea breezes. On the top of the Hoe are a series of memorials, so I looked at all of them. On the lookout, a nice bloke offered to take our photo, and we enjoyed chatting to him until we had to get back because our parking had run out. It was nice to go out and get some fresh air.

Memorial to Sir Francis Drake

RAF WWII memorial - thoughts of Lex's dad, Poss, who flew with the RAF

Iconic Plymouth Hoe lighthouse

Layer upon layer of seaside summer fun!

Plymouth Hoe - rather windy, but a lovely afternoon!

We decided to go out for tea tonight, so got ourselves dressed up a bit and headed out to look for somewhere nice on the harbour or Barbican. Lex had seen The Boathouse, and wanted to go there, so we walked right around the dockside area to it. The whole place was full of people, and absolutely buzzing for a Friday evening. It was also pleasantly cool and breezy; just a gorgeous evening. Unfortunately when we got there, we discovered that The Boathouse was closing – a daytime café only. We tried Rockfish next, but they weren’t taking any more bookings. Fortunately, we did find a table out in front of The Crown & Anchor, and had a lovely meal there, sitting on the pavement and watching the world go by.