A Week of June-ness: A 'Summer Retreat' in Somerset (part 1)

Hello guys!

Have you missed me? If you have, don't worry, I'm back after a month of fun and madness and I lived to tell you all the tale(s)! If you haven't missed me well....sod off then!

JUST KIDDING!....But seriously though, why didn't you miss me, huh?

Come hither my dears as we launch into 'A week of June-ness'- quite self explanatory really but if you don't quite follow then in a nutshell, this week I'm going to tell you the tales of all my June shenanigans. As today is Monday, I will start at the top of the month, when me and Matthew holidayed in Somerset.

Without further ado...

DAY 1:

Now despite it being the beginning of June (you know, mid summer and all that), the weather was utter shite. Wind, rain, angry clouds-you name it we got it in generous measure. Matthew drove as Kiki, whilst being a cute shiny lil ladybug of a car, has 0 luggage capacity (also, me on the m25?! I think I'd have had an aneurysm!) We stayed in Doniford Bay caravan park in Watchet right by the coast and Matthew had got us an upgrade on our caravan to surprise me. I'd been nagging  him for ages to tell me what the surprise was but he insisted I waited until the day we arrived and I suppose it was nicer finding out on the day... I both love and hate surprises in equal measure; I love having something nice to look forward to, but with that I also really love knowing things so I can be prepared. One of my many weaknesses. Anyway, back to this caravan! As we'd already parked at the wrong caravan previously courtesy of my unrivaled navigation skills, I thought I'd led us astray again when we parked up. It was a caravan on steroids; it was huge, a chimney, it's own name- 'Summer Retreat' and the cherry on the cake, it had a deck! A deck full to the brim with the latest mod-cons like a washing airer and a table and chairs. However this 'decking daze' was harshly cut short by the wind blowing me to kingdom-come. The name 'Summer Retreat' was fast becoming a parody of itself.

After we battled the winds and reached the caravan (the door swung open violently as soon as we opened it) we saw that the thrills weren't just confined to the outside oh no, the lounge was more spacious, we had central heating, a wall mounted TV, spacious kitchen with a dining table and the rooms were bigger too!

After exploring our cosy caravan, unpacking and having lunch at our dining table we decided to venture out for supplies. I say venture as the strong winds had now joined forces with heavy rain to make even more of a mockery of our 'Summer Retreat'. Once we'd filled up on supplies we headed back with windscreen wipers still at full pelt and due to a road closure we ended up taking a detour. On our way through the windy country roads we came across an effigy of the US President himself Donald Trump. Seeing this as a rather strange coincidence, we took a picture and then wondered what else we would come across on our way through the outback of Somerset. By this time the weather had cleared up a bit- it was now just cold rather than windy and pissing down with rain.

With this miraculous change of weather, we immediately took to the deck as soon as we returned. We had bought ice-creams too in the hope the sun may come out at some point in that week (it had to right, it was summer after all!) and we settled down in our deck chairs with our Lidl-immitation magnums (very nice by the way, 10/10, pretty damn close to the real deal) determined to make the most of the deck. After getting sufficiently cold, we ducked back into our 'Summer Retreat' for the night ready for our journey on the West Somerset railway the next day.



DAY 2:

We woke to find the weather was set for much of the same as yesterday and with this realisation we set off determined to enjoy our day nonetheless.

To get the most from our trip on West Somerset Railway we went to the start point at Bishops Lydeard. The train goes from here all the way to Minehead on a 90 minute journey throughout the day and you can even chose between a diesel train and a steam train. Me and Matthew chose the steam train for the best experience and to top it off, he was able to use his club card vouchers to get us in at no extra cost. There's something about being on a steam train that immediately transports you to yesteryear. From the springy seats to the old style windows and wooden paneling. Seeing the Somerset countryside by steam train was lovely and the sun even broke out from the clouds for a brief cameo appearance as we got closer to Minehead. After about an hour and a half we rolled into Minehead with a bit of sunshine. We enjoyed a nice cream tea....for about 2 minutes before the wind picked up again nearly sending everything flying.

Armed with our fill of cream tea, we went out and explored Minehead. The last train back was only a couple of hours away which was a shame but we decided to see what we could discover here before going back plus we had the rest of the week to come back if we wanted. We came across the beach first of all and sat down to enjoy the view out to the countryside and the sea around us. Me and Matthew were watching the world go by as the wind suddenly picked up again sending grains of sand flying into our eyes and hitting the back of our ears. While the sheer pain was enough to move us from our seat on the wall, the wind had us battling for each step forward. Once the wind passed for a moment we continued wandering and shaking all the sand out of our hair finding our latest predicament hilarious.

Soon we were back on the train back to Bishops Lydeard back through the Somerset countryside again and for dinner we decided to go to Toby Carvery. Me and Matthew love a good carvery and with Toby Carveries being so scarce in the areas where we live, we saw one nearby and struck while the iron was hot.

Once we got back from our carvery, we decided to check out what the entertainment complex had in store for us. When we booked the holiday, we didn't add on any entertainment passes as they were extra money and the entertainment could be patchy at the best of times. Besides, we were planning to be out for most of the days and evenings so didn't think it worth while. However, when we checked in, we were given a pair of entertainment passes! Thinking about it now, it might have had something to do with Matthew's upgrade, but still we decided to make the most of these when and where we could. We got into the complex just as the bingo was starting. This wasn't an exceptional game of bingo; the numbers were picked via an app as was the winner. It lacked the usual camaraderie that goes with a game of bingo.  As this ended we decided to head back to the caravan ready for a day of exploring the local area the next day. We had already planned Thursday's day trip earlier in the evening- an Exmoor safari! A chance to explore Exmoor and spot some of it's wildlife including deers!


So that brings us to the end of part one of the 'Summer Retreat' in Somerset. Come back tomorrow for part 2. Highlights include: deer encounters, a plastic museum and when we finally got to enjoy the beach at Doniford Bay!