I left you all yesterday after day 2 where we'd just finished exploring the Somerset countryside via steam train. We concluded that evening by watching 'Good Mythical Morning' before bed. You may have heard me talk about Good Mythical morning on an earlier post. Rhett and Link team up to make your morning a great morning; they've done taste tests, challenges, countless 'will it' videos exploring various foods to their extreme's. Most recently they've been on a summer break but the fun hasn't stopped as they have had regular guest hosts keeping the GMM mood alive while they're away filming 'Buddy System'- another of their projects. I've recently brought Matthew on board with the GMM community and it's become another Mulie tradition to watch it together.
Anyway, I digress...
DAY 3:
We'd decided the night before to have day 3 as a day in which to explore the local area. From our caravan we could see Watchet Bay and the hills beyond and we wanted to see this for ourselves. We first made our way to the Watchet Bay and parked up. It looked like a cute 'chocolate-box' town and after wandering past the confines of the car park we found the harbour complete with lighthouse which we walked about on enjoying the crashing waves below for a little while until we noticed a market a short distance away and wandered over for a peruse. At this market we found a delicious looking homemade apricot sponge cake and also a tip on where to explore next.After our brief encounter with the market, armed with sweet treats for later that evening, we walked around Watchet further and found the Watchet museum and Watchet Boat Museum which had lots of historic artifacts from both land and sea found in the local area throughout the years.
After a few hours of Watchet wandering, we decided to follow up on a tip that the apricot cake lady gave us and visited 'Tropiquaria'- a small scale zoo just outside Taunton. The leaflet did appear to sell Tropiquaria as more of an experience for young children but nevertheless we had a look round. When we arrived, the place had a very strange vibe to it. It was very quiet and had the look of once being another building converted into a zoo. Looking into it, it was actually a place where, in the 1930's, the BBC once did radio broadcasts. Inside the building now was a creepy crawly and reptile house and a bird and butterfly house. Outside there were a few breeds of animal that I'd not seen together in a zoo before; a tapir sharing an enclosure with Rhea's with Gibbons and Lemurs just opposite. As we explored the outside the sun came out all of sudden which was a welcome surprise. The outside area and enclosures were very spacious and with it being so quiet we were able to get a proper look at the animals playing and lounging about. Whilst we were basked in sunshine, we decided to have a picnic while the going was good. As the weather had been naff in the days so far, we thought it'd be silly to waste any good weather we had.
After our lunch in the sun, the sun decided to go in and with that so did we. There were various animal encounters going on throughout the afternoon in the bird house and we headed over for an encounter with some parrots and a tortoise.
We left Tropiquaria soon after seeing the insects (I ran past looking away from the spiders!) and initially decided to go back to our Summer Retreat and have dinner and ice creams on the deck whilst pretending the sun was out. However whilst we were driving through Williton we spotted signs for the Bakelite museum and decided in a rush of spontaneity to go and pay a visit. As we got closer to it, driving up a small residential road towards the museum we wondered just what we were getting ourselves into. It was again a very quiet area with only the owners of the house on site. Nonetheless, the museum was certainly very... quirky. Plastic in all shapes and sizes from dolls to teeth, cutlery, prams, cameras, radios and even a coffin was to be spotted in this eclectic collection. It was one of the strangest tourist attractions we'd been to on our travels, but nevertheless it was worth a visit.
DAY 4:
Today was the day of our safari but unfortunately the weather was not playing ball. It was overcast all morning and remained so even as we left for the car park near Minehead where we were going to be picked up by our local guide for the morning. At 10:30 we were picked up by our guide in his Land Rover Discovery and headed for the varied geological landscapes of Exmoor. He drove us through the little villages spread across the moors and gave us a fantastic commentary and stories all about the moors past and present. Despite the horrible weather which had worsened since arriving at the moors we were able to see a few deers and stags grazing on the grass in the distance. Unfortunately neither me or Matthew got any photos of them as they were so far away (we had binoculars in the car to aid us) but it was still amazing to be able to see these animals up close. With our guide being local he was able to give us a great amount of detail about the wildlife on the moors and even makes his own films about them, documenting their lives in the harsh habitats and varying conditions in the moors. It was great to see how vast the moors were and how differing their landscapes were; one minute we were driving through forests and the next we were on the peaks of the hills looking down at the waters below. The tour lasted 4 hours and cost us about £38 each. When you think of the breadth of knowledge and expertise you get and the fun ride you get going off road, it's well worth considering as the best way to explore Exmoor National Park.
Once we had been dropped off after the tour, it was lunch time so we headed into Minehead and to The Old Ship Aground. A pub set on the harbour, it had a very warm feel to it. Very warm in fact as I realised we were sat right by the radiator pipes. The food was very nice and afterwards we watched the world go by on the harbour side.
After a very busy morning and afternoon exploring Exmoor and Minehead, it was time to head back to our Summer Retreat for some more deck worshiping and entertainment at the camp. It was our last evening in Somerset and pairing that with another change in weather for the better, we thought we would head down to the bay at the park site and see what that had to offer. We'd not really had the best weather for it in the days previously so now was our last and proper chance. When we got down to the bay we were glad we ventured out. We sat down by the estuary and talked about our Somerset adventures so far. And of course the General Election that had happened that day. Despite being on holiday, it was hard to escape this topic of National importance but we'd both cast our vote by proxy though so we didn't miss out on our vote. Not wanting to get too bogged down in the dark realities we explored the holiday park further finding a huge deckchair with 'Doniford Bay' on it. Of course we both had our pictures taken on it and after that we started eyeing up the caravans they had for sale. We both come to really like our Summer Retreat and found ourselves wishing for one for our future 'Mulie' adventures.DAY 5:
Today was the day we had to return home and say goodbye to our beloved Summer Retreat. However before we went home we went to Wookey Hole caves which Matthew had figured was on the way home anyway. We packed up all of our things, checked out and headed out towards the caves. It took us a little longer than expected to get there leading us to think that maybe it wasn't as practical for our journey home as we had thought. Again the wind and rain came down as we had lunch...outside. This wouldn't taint our cave experience however for the very obvious reason that it was indoors. When we got into the caves we were greeted by our guide and shown around the caves and told the tales that they held within them. The caves were vast and had the deep waters of the river Axe flowing through them all linking them together. Explorers throughout history liked to Dive here, some even perishing in the harsh conditions. TV shows have also been filmed in one of the caves; Dr Who and Deal or No Deal to name a couple. The caves have also proved to be great refrigerators and cheese is in fact kept in these caves as the temperature is a constant 11 degrees no matter the weather conditions above. Like the North Welsh caves of the Great Orme, new caves are constantly being discovered and we were fortunate enough to be able to explore these. But first we had to go over a very high bridge. I'm pleased to say that despite my fears, I walked over the bridge and lived to tell the tale. Next was to don the hard hats as this cave was newly excavated. Being no stranger to the hard hat from my visit to the Great Orme caves, I put one on and went forward into the new cave.
After seeing the caves we were then able to explore the rest of the attraction. It did remind me of the Flambards park in Cornwall a little as a lot of the games machines and the museum there felt old and dated. There was also a 4D experience and mini golf. Matthew lost spectacularly at mini golf and proceeded to moan that the game was compromised in some way even as we left to come home.It took us a few hours to return to Oxford as the satnav decided to take us through Bristol City centre! While it was nice to pay visit, the traffic was bad and by then we just wanted to get home to rest.
All in all, I really enjoyed my time in Somerset at our Summer Retreat and if I would say anything as a tip I'd say go when it's dry. Having said that, we picked June- mid summer- and still got naff weather sooooooo.....just listen out for rumours of a heat wave and book it then! Despite the weather, it was still lovely to have a break away just me and Matthew.
Stay tuned for tomorrow when I will be talking about mine and Matthew's second trip away- to London for the Evanescence concert.
See you soon!
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