Ferry Disappointing

We set off from Mevagissey with a grey sky and rain, glad that it was Thursday and not Friday as Friday is when we start our walking of the English Riviera. That gives another 24 hour for the rain to blow through like they are predicting.

We travelled on more steep, winding, one lane roads as well as travelling around many roundabouts and  then through more building crowded towns and then we climbed some even steeper inclines as we made our way into the Dartmoor National Park. There was a lot of water on the roads and water moving in streams where I could have sworn it was flat ground. The dampness does cut down the photo taking somewhat.

Then it was down hill as we made our way out of the Moors back into green landscapes.

Before heading into Torquay we dropped our bags off at our Brixham B&B. Then onto Enterprise Rent A Car where we waited inside the office while the girl went outside in the drizzle to inspect the car for any damage we might have made. Remarkably and thanks to Rods cautious and skilled driving and quite a bit of luck she came back in with the great news that it was all good. Phew! I say luck only because as careful as Rod is it would only take one non-cautious driver coming from the other direction (remember a lot of our driving was on single lane, shared roads) to initiate a £1700 excess. We were hit with that in Ireland for some paint chips at the very front underside of the car, not aware that we had caused them we equally could not prove that they were already there.

Our plan was to then walk to the Torquay quay to catch the ferry to Brixham, however due to a steady fall of rain we opted for a taxi to the pier instead. Taxi paid, we found our way to the ticket sales hut only to discover that all ferries were cancelled due to the weather conditions which were now starting to clear.

We were rather annoyed as we had researched times for two different ferry services which should have given us quite a few time options, we never even considered they would not sail. We can't vouch for what the conditions were across the bay in the morning but even though it was raining in the afternoon the sea looked quite calm to us. We suspect it was more about the lack of customers - unsaleable not unsailable! So we needed to get information about buses so we headed into the tourist information centre which was conveniently located on the pier. Nope - not a person to be found, just a stand of brochures, no bus information to be found. Forget Fawlty Towers the Hotel, this was Faulty Town. We did manage to find bus shelters not far from where we were and then appropriate time tables and then fortunately we were on our way in 10 minutes. Things were looking up even though we were looking down from the double decker giving us birds eye views of the squeezy streets. 

We even worked out where we needed to get off the bus. A convenient walk had us back with our luggage at Harbour View Guest House. Brixham is very much like Mevagissey only more layers and more colourful.

We are feeling pretty pleased with the view from our window. 

Tonight's dinner was very conveniently located at a bar only about 4 doors down the road. Perfect for staying extra late enjoying an extra drink and some live music which we were hanging out for in Ireland and then again  in Scotland but always found it started too late in the evening for us weary travellers.

Rod got into the rhythm of the evening too. Great stuff.