Croyde

The early sun and a persistent fly woke me from the sofa bed that I'd been sharing with James. It was already 9, and the house had woken, meaning that they had been tip-toeing around us for breakfast, as the sitting room was adjoined to the kitchen.

Holly soon came down, and after a shower we took coffee and juice on the balcony overlooking their fields. Three horses perused the grass, and in the valley below a flock of sheep made a slow plod to an unseen destination.

After a brief tour of the stable and the bees, we piled in the car and headed off to Croyde beach. By chance, James' family were on holiday there, and we met up with them to swim and play in the surf. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to fit any surfboards on the roof of my car, so we had to make do with body boards. Still, the surf was weak, so perhaps boards may have been a bit much.

We picked our way across the sands, through the crowds that mass by the main entrance to the beach, and onto the rocks rounds to a teahouse for cream tea. The rock had been folded a perfect 90 degrees, and so had eroded with the hardest strata acting as a painful obstacle course for our bare feet.

Many cups of tea and a detour to the pub later, we made our way back to the car, back to Holly's house, and after a big coffee hit, started to make our way back to Bristol. My second long drive, and my first night drive. Quite a lot of energy concentrating, and once I made it home to bed, I was ready to sleep for a week.

Still can't get over the freedom that a car allows. 24 hours in Devon.