The Sunday Edit #7 | HOLIDAY 2015

The Friday before last, you may or may not know that I went on a short holiday to South Devon. I used to do Sunday Edits on my blog quite regularly but I haven't in a while because my life was filled up with college, college work and working in the evenings too. Seeing as I had a break from everything, I thought i'd share with you what I got up to whilst on my travels.

On the 14th August, my parents, siblings and myself traveled down to Exeter as that was where we were staying the first night, in a hotel just outside of town. Once we arrived we checked into the hotel and much to my delight I had a double bed to myself which I very much enjoyed, i'd love a double at home but I simply don't have the space for it unfortunately! We threw our bags down and headed out for brunch, we went straight to the vintage cafe we went to before but unfortunately it was closed for refurbishment so we settled for the next one along down the road. 

We did a little bit of exploring in the town centre and I was very good and didn't spend too much- I did however pop into Lush to buy the Mask of Magnaminty and a gift for my sister. We also saw the Cathedral which was lovely then made our way to the local pub, I had hunters chicken which was amazing!

Saturday was my younger brothers birthday, happy birthday to him! We had breakfast at the hotel which was a choice of cereals, fruit and a cooked breakfast which was lovely and then we made our way down to Dawlish where we were staying for the rest of our holiday. Again we explored the town a little, ate ice cream on the beach front- I had cookies and cream which was so delicious! I also bought some duck food, I felt like a child again feeding the ducks and I was also chased by some pigeons for some food. After a short while, we made our way to the holiday park to settle in and explored the beach and shops down the road. I was quite pleased with the pictures I took and my brother had a lovely day- more celebrations to come!

On Sunday we decided to pop down to Torquay sea front as we were planning on getting a boat from there, unfortunately it wasn't running that day. Instead we played some pitch and putt then started a long walk to a nearby village called Cockington which was absolutely beautiful. It had the most gorgeous tea rooms where a man played the piano whilst people ate, it also had a series of independent craft shops which all had some beautiful pieces which I didn't get any pictures of unfortunately. We did so much walking this day so we were pretty much done for the day and spent the evening relaxing.

After the boat trip fail on Sunday, we decided to go on Monday instead. The trip was to Exmouth another nearby seaside town, there were some stunning views from the boat which I've included here. Once we arrived, we walked along the beach then made our way to the fun park which is obviously aimed at the kids but we couldn't help it, ok!? My brother and I could not resist the swan pedal boats on the lake, we had so much fun and if I do say so myself I was a pretty good driver- it was also a good but tiring leg workout too! We also played some mini golf which I must admit i'm not great at, but it was fun nonetheless- haha! The weather was lovely the first half of the holiday so we were pretty hot and tired by this time so stopped for a drink and we also had the most amazing chips I've had from a takeaway in a while! We walked through the park into town and saw some squirrels which came so close, we had a browse around some of the little shops then walked back to catch the boat. We even saw a seal sunbathing on a sand bank on route back, which was cool!

On Tuesday we had a lie in as my other two sisters spontaneously decided to come down and see us. We drove to Teignmouth and spent ages looking for a parking space, it was really busy! Once we finally found one, again we explored the town centre. Do you see a running theme here? All are so different and have a lot of independent stores that you won't find anywhere else so it didn't get boring. Next we made our way down to the pier and I had my palm read(by a machine in the arcade, which I know will be complete waffle but why not!?). We spent a while looking for somewhere to each lunch and settled on a lovely pub which I've forgotten the name of but I had scampi which was a perfect seaside lunch! However, the deserts weren't the best so we made our way back down to the pier for a good ol' 99. Seeing as the weather was still lovely, we took an evening walk down the beach and enjoyed some freshly cooked hot donuts- mmm!

Wednesday was when the weather took a turn for the worse and was unfortunately grey, miserable and rainy. However, we didn't want to stay in all day so I did a quick google search and the House of Marbles was highly suggested for rainy days- it was basically a pottery, marble and toy museum. I know, it doesn't sound the most thrilling but it had good reviews so we thought we'd give it a go. Half an hour later, we were out- it was super busy and quite frankly we personally found it boring.  Instead we went to the nearest retail park and did some shopping, I bought some American candy- a Tootsie Roll and Cookie Dough Bites which I was super excited to try but I didn't particularly like either. I nearly cried in Pets at Home because I can't have a rabbit and I had a Lemon Ice Tea from Costa which was lovely. I also saw a few wild rabbits at our holiday park, which made up for earlier!

Thursday was another rainy day but we decided we would face the rain and get out in it so we drove down to Ottery, St Mary which apparently is the only place in England to spot wild beavers. The wildlife park we visited was lovely, we saw otters being fed and enjoying their enrichment, watched a birds of pray display where I may or may not have got hit by the wings of a Harris Hawk- scary but I wasn't the only one and nobody was injured. We also walked through the enclosure of red squirrels which was cool as I don't think I've seen a red squirrel before. They were so cute and got so close!

We stopped by the cafe where I enjoyed a nice cold lemonade before heading back to town to enjoy fish and chips by the beach, time in the amusements where I won a Harry Styles keying, haha!

Our final day in Dawlish was Friday. We woke up super early to pop down to the bakery and gift shop in the town centre to buy gifts for our family. It was rainy and we were certainly very tired after a busy week so our moods weren't the greatest. We decided to make our way home earlier than expected as we were supposed to be staying til Saturday. I picked up a piece of chocolate cake in the bakery to cheer me up and enjoy at home, I will start to eat healthier now that i'm back but holidays are for treating yourself right?

Overall, it was a lovely week and everyone certainly enjoyed themselves. It's nice to get away and have a break from the norm, relax and spend lots of quality time with your family. I believe I said this last year, as much as I love this part of England i'm hoping to save up and go abroad with my friends next year. Watch this space!

What have you been up to this week or in fact, throughout the Summer?

Let me know in the comments below!

♥   ♥   ♥

Where I've Been | South Devon

Hello! 
You may have worked out from my previous posts that I've been away and my last 2 posts were scheduled. Here i'm going to tell you a little of what I got up to, i'll try to be short and sweet but we know I like to babble. Last Saturday I set off to where I thought we were staying in Plymouth, but actually we stayed near in Dawlish which was absolutely lovely and I'm so glad we did.

The first day was spent in Dawlish itself where we had breakfast, then visited the small independent shops and walked the beach, it was lovely and so was the weather- I was in my element! Sun, shopping and being near the beach.

Comfy travel outfit, with the pebbles beneath my feet.

Selfie with my mother who indeed doesn't look too impressed and sporting my double or rather triple chin.

Cute little boats.

The sea, glistening.

On the Sunday we decided to visit the town called Torquay, it was gorgeous but looked like such an expensive place to stay or live! We spent the day shopping, of course I spotted the Primark! I picked up a couple of items that I'll show in a future haul i'm sure. Next we set off to play pitch and putt, and i'll hold my hand up and admit it, I am definitely not a budding golfer.

Clearly displaying I know not a thing about golf.

Monday was more of a animal packed day, it would be an understatement to say I was excited as we were to be visiting Plymouth, the place where i'm thinking about going to Uni. We went to the National Aquarium, apparently the best within the UK, so that's a reason to get pretty excited right? Then followed by walking around the harbor side town and treating ourselves to the ice cream van, a typical British thing right?

A pretty fancy backdrop for a photo right?

Of course, I had to take a photo of the Nemo's!

A rather 'hipster' looking ice lolly.

We next traveled to Dartmoor Zoo which we in fact have visited before, the Zoo was fantastic the first time we went as we hadn't seen the animals before but this time was rather short as we had seen it all before, I did however manage to see the bear this time which was hiding last time!

Next was another day of my family being typical tourist's in Exeter. I fell in love with Exeter town, it had such amazing independent sellers as well as larger more national stores. Again I found the Primark, and other stores that I already have in my town but I couldn't resist not having a browse! We were getting a little peckish and found the coolest, oh gosh I do not sound cool saying that. But we found a Cafe that appealed to me a lot, vintage! I believe it was called 'The Real McCoy' but I can't be for sure, it was a cafe combined vintage store. I found the sofa and the fashion book to accompany my milkshake!

Ideal short break, music, chocolate milkshake(probably the best I've had) and a fashion book that I may have to purchase myself!

Wednesday was purely for my mothers love, donkeys! We traveled a little further than we usually would to see a load of Donkeys, I have to admit I didn't mind at all! They were so lovely, I even came away with my own(not a real one, I wish!) but a teddy and an adopted one! My father gifted my mum with a donkey, how sweet! It was a Poitou Donkey, with large ears a shaggy coat who likes to be cuddled called Aramis, adorable. 

Again we visited the beach, this was in Sidmouth and I found my favourite coloured beach huts!

I didn't take any photos on Thursday which i'm kind of gutted about as I loved this town so much too! Teignmouth! Teignmouth has amazing independent shops with such gorgeous furniture, every time I've been I've had to come away not purchasing any as it wouldn't fit in the car, weeping! Although I did get my palm read on an arcade machine which shoots cards out at random but I as always, I couldn't resist. 

The last day was Friday as we traveled back on the Saturday, I have holiday blues even though I wasn't abroad but just love Dawlish so much! Spontaneously we went for a little drive, we found a nature reserve which I was not too impressed by, although we walked for about 10 minutes with me complaining as we were surrounded by fields and cows, I regret it. We came out to such a lovely canal and little pub, we had a drink and noticed there was a boat we could catch to another town, on we hopped and spent about an hour or 2 in Topsham, although there was very little there it was a beautiful area to spend the last day!

Orangina in the sun! 

How very nautical for a boat ride.

The Exe Estuary boat trip to Topsham.

So there's the quickest round up possible for me to let you know where I've been and what I got up to, I loved Dawlish as always and definitely wouldn't hesitate to visit again although I do hope my next get away will be abroad! 
Look out for my next posts that'll be back to school related, or rather back to college related as i'm going into my final year at college!

See you next time,

Amy X