east devon way - day one

Trying to find the start of the East Devon Way set the tone for the rest of the days ramblings. We opted to follow the river out of Lyme Regis because it was heading in the general direction that the way was supposed to go. On a telegraph pole there was a badly damaged way mark that was really not much help once the path left the river.

Wild garlic

The path’s marks improved as we crossed the main road through Uplyme but only to go awry further along. Somehow the markers for a circular walk around Uplyme had adopted the same colour as the path we were trying to follow and had us waking off in the wrong direction. It was only when we started going back downhill did it dawn on us and we had to retrace our steps.

This must be the way

Climbing steadily up, the route crosses the hill above Musbury, where there is an iron age fort, the view opens up and reveals the east Devon coast with Seaton and the Axe estuary in the distance. The route descends to the River Axe and follows the flood plain on the west side of the river. The soil here is Devonian clay which meant that, although flat, the way was hard going. More diversions, electric fence dodging, and field edge skirting slowed progress. The sky that had all day threatened to add to the experience decided it was about time it did. But no sooner had the downpour started it was over and the sun finally started to break through.

After crossing the tram line we stopped for a rest and to take a view on the day. It was gone 4pm and Farway where we were expecting to get to that afternoon seemed too far away. A quick look at the map settled it. We’ll catch the tram to Seaton and walk to Axemouth and the campsite there.

Leaving Colyton

The tram takes you along the estuary wetlands and as we travelled along we spotted curlews, shellducks, gannets, cormorants and a couple of roe deer.

Trams crossing across the Axe

At the campsite I set about pitching the tent and sorting food for the evening whilst Penny popped to the village pub (at the entrance to the campsite) for a bottle of wine to go with our meal. We hadn't gotten as far as we wanted on the first day but we were in no hurry and the weather was being to improve.

east devon way - day one

A damp Devon start, typical for SW at Easter. Off to Lyme Regis soon.

east devon way

Full focus this evening on some last minute dehydrating and packing of Exos for the Easter trip.

The East Devon Way runs from Lyme Regis, actually in Dorset (just), to Exmouth following an inland route. The route runs over country that's not dissimilar to the North or South Downs, so not too arduous. The route is 40 miles long and I'm aiming to get to Exmouth Sunday afternoon where (if the weather is good enough) I get to paddle in the sea.

coffee solution

A couple of Stateside outdoor bloggers have commented recently on a new product from Starbucks called VIA, an 'instant' coffee that comes in single cup sachets.

Popping out of Gunnersbury tube on Saturday I noticed some advertising for the same on a phone box. And as I was heading down Chiswick High Road I kept an eye open for which of the many Starbucks outlets along this strip was stocking VIA.

VIA is available in an Italian or Colombian roast, with a packet of three sachets costing £1.20, so I picked up one of each.

Here's the dilemma... I'm not a fan of organisations like Starbucks or Maccy Dee's. But I am a fan of good coffee. I don't rate the coffee at SB's - it's bland tasteless stuff - you can guess where this is going.

So what does VIA taste like? Well I couldn't tell much difference between the two roasts, not much of a surprise really, but that said the coffee did taste better than instant. It's not cheap; you'll need two sachets for a decent sized mug but it will be a better tasting one for that. If you can live with that then it is vastly more convenient than using a mug mate. For now I'm going to stick with the coffee bag solution that I worked out.