Hot, Hot, Hot!

Hot weather, hot campers, overheated car!

We moved from Cornwall to Devon on a very hot day. On the way, the car became unhappy, with a warning light on the dashboard coming on a couple of times, making it necessary to pull over for a while before continuing gingerly to our destination in Parkham, north Devon. Fortunately, it was not a long drive and we could take it slowly.

The next day we took the car to a local garage where they found the coolant level was very low, though the temperature gauge had only gone up halfway, as it always does. They filled it up, and we set off to a nearby village where we had a picnic and did a bit of shopping before driving a bit further to a craft centre and café. It was an unbearably hot day, so we didn’t venture far.

The next morning I checked the coolant level, to find it completely empty. This time I didn’t take any chances and rang the RAC. After two hours, I hadn’t heard anything, so I rang again to be told a mechanic would be with us around 5.30pm. This caused some consternation as we needed shopping and we were stuck in a field with no shade.

Our accommodation, for this leg of the trip, was a glamping dome on a campsite just outside the village of Parkham. It was spacious, with a double bed, a single day bed, with another pull out single underneath. There was a gas hob, a large coolbox with ice packs replaced daily, a table and chairs, and a wood burner (had we needed it). We had our own, level access, shower room and composting toilet next door. The whole unit stood on a sizeable deck and had a semi-enclosed garden area with outdoor furniture and a fire pit. A little further away were washing up sinks and more showers and toilets. The owner, Dave, kindly kept Racheal’s meals in his freezer, as the dome had no electricity except some solar powered lights.

We tried to keep the dome cool by closing the curtains most of the day, but it was still very hot inside. The RAC were able to arrange a taxi to take Summer to buy essentials. Eventually, the mechanic arrived and gave us the news that the car radiator was leaking, probably punctured by a stone thrown up at just the wrong angle. He was able to repair it temporarily, but it needed a new radiator. We were relieved that the repair should last for the rest of our trip, but a lot of phone calls followed. Firstly Motability needed to be informed, then there were numerous calls to the garage in Norwich, and finally to RAC again as they will arrange a wheelchair accessible hire car for the time we are without our vehicle.

After a busy day of doing nothing we enjoyed an evening round the fire pit, cooking sausages and singing a campfire song or two.

On our last day at the campsite the temperature dropped a little, we had a working car and it was time for a proper gap year day out again. We decided to explore Appledore, then go to Westward Ho! to see if we could get Racheal on the beach. You can’t drive past a place with an exclamation mark in its name without visiting!

Appledore has narrow streets and small shops, plenty of places to find shade on another hot day. We ate our lunch at a picnic table overlooking the mouth of the river.

Afterwards we moved on to Westward Ho! There was a large, expensive car park or a smaller, cheaper one. Obviously, I opted for the latter. This meant we had a long walk to the ramp over the pebbles to the beach. Racheal enjoyed the trek alongside a gravel road with a huge pebble bank one side and sheep grazing the other. When we finally reached the concrete ramp and got to the top of it, we found the sea had taken its toll on the slope down to the beach. It was badly twisted, as well as very steep, and not safe for us to use, (see header photo). We enjoyed the view for a while before returning to the car, and back to our dome to pack.