Devon and Cornwall day 10 - Looe

Amber was very sick in the night, vomiting etc., starting about 1am.  She was panting heavily and seemed very stressed all night. In the morning she wasn't able to stand, her head was tilted and eyes twitching rapidly.

We were convinced she'd had a stroke. We phoned vet in Looe and made an appointment for 11am. We drove to car park to wait, but there was a mix up over the appointment time and we were eventually seen at 11.45.

The vet's diagnosis wasn't a stroke, but a Vestibular Episode. This affects the inner ear causing severe dizziness and nausea. In Amber's case the vet's opinion was it was likely caused by a middle ear infection. She gave antibiotic and anti-nausea injections, and said we were to see how she got on and phone the next day.

This turned out to be the hottest day, sunny all day. We went back to site and relaxed by the van.

During the commotion overnight Scott's phone had got broken, so he ordered a new one from Amazon for delivery to garage in Looe.

We bought barbecue meat from the local shop, burgers and pork steaks, and stayed at the site and had barbecue.

Devon and Cornwall day 9 - Camel Trail and Padstow

Today we drove to Bodmin, heading for the Camel Trail cycle route. After a bit of driving around we found somewhere to park on the west side of Bodmin, left Amber in the van and cycled off.

We reached Padstow at lunchtime, where we ate our sandwiches by the harbour, had a walk round town and ate an ice cream.

Then we headed back to Bodmin on the bikes.

We drove to Colliford Lake for a short walk and to let Amber have a paddle.

Back at site dinner was grilled chicken and vegetables.

Devon and Cornwall day 8 - Lanhydrock House and Bodmin Moor

Today we drove to the National Trust property Lanhydrock House. This is a very large family home, with nearly 50 rooms open to the public. The kitchen alone was about 9 rooms - dairy, cold store, pastry room etc.

We also had a walk round the impressive gardens.

Before leaving we took Amber for a walk in the woods. Then we left and went to Morrisons in Bodmin for supplies and petrol.

In the afternoon drove to Galitha falls, where we have a nice walk by the river.

On the way back over Bodmin Moor we stopped and walked to a set of standing stones called the Hurlers, and a natural rock formation called the Cheesewring.

Back at the site we had grilled salmon and vegetables for dinner.

Devon and Cornwall day 7 - Looe

Amber was sick in the morning. We packed up and left Devon, and drove to Looe in Cornwall. Parking in the car park, we found that Amber was very shaky on her legs so we left her and walked into town.

The town was very busy, and it was hot and sunny. We walked along the promenade at the beach, then back to the campervan.

There was a food festival at the car park, so we helped ourselves to plenty of free samples, but wanted a Cornish Pasty for lunch so had to go back into town to get one.

We drove round to Hannafore beach and gave Amber a short walk and had an ice cream.

Later we went to the site at the village of Pelynt, 2 miles inland. We were the only ones on the site again.

We set everything up the went to the local shop for some provisions, before visiting the Jubilee Inn for a pint.

Dinner was curried vegetables.

Devon and Cornwall day 6 - Burgh Island and Salcombe

After breakfast we drove to the Devon Chilli Farm. Lots of free samples of chilli products - chutneys, chocolate etc. We had a look round the show greenhouse and bought some chilli relish and chilli chocolate.

We then drove to Aveton Gifford and went for a walk down the river. The road we were on was tidal, and the tide was coming in. It started raining heavily so we didn't want to wait, so Scott carried Shirley piggy-back through the water.

While we were walking, Amber took a bit of a funny turn where her back legs seemed to collapse for a bit.

We drove to Bigbury-On-Sea where we had our lunch in the van before walking over the tidal causeway to Burgh Island.

There's a sea-tractor which takes people over when the tide is in. On the island we had a walk round, watching the seabirds (cormorants etc.) at the southern point.

After this we drove to Salcombe where we had a walk, bought some scrumpy and had a pint at the Victoria Inn.

We went to Tesco in Kingsbridge on the way back. Since it was now dry and sunny we took the awning down in preparation for leaving tomorrow. Dinner was pasta and sauce (with scrumpy).

Devon and Cornwall day 5 - Dartmoor and the Granite Way

After showers and breakfast we headed for Dartmoor, fueling up on the way. It was very sunny.

We stopped at Dartmeet and had a walk down the river.

We then drove on to Postbridge where we went over the famous clapper bridge and walked up the valley for a bit.

Next we drove to Lydford, where we left Amber in the campervan and cycled on the Granite Way. We went all the way to Oakhampton, going over a couple of viaducts on the way.

At Oakhampton we had a walk round the town, ate an ice cream and had a look round the station.

After cycling back the Granite Way we drove to Plymouth, where we had a walk round the Hoe and down to the waterfront.

Dinner was fish and chips from the Harbourside Cafe, which we could take into the Dolphin Hotel pub and have a pint as we ate.

Devon and Cornwall day 4 - Slapton Sands and East Prawle

After showers and breakfast we left in the campervan taking the bikes to Torcross on the coast. After a short walk with Amber we left her in the campervan and cycled along the road over Slapton sands. There was a wartime tank as a memorial to an incident during training which lost many lives.

At the end of the sands we walked round Slapton Ley where we saw some birds, including a Cetti Warbler.

We cycled back to Torcross where we had an ice cream.

We drove on to Start Point, where we walked to the lighthouse.

Then we drove to East Prawle where we had a cream tea in the Piglet cafe. We wanted to go to the Pigs Nose pub which had been recommended to us but we were too early, so we went for a circular walk down to the coast.

We saw a Cirl Bunting.

We then had our pint in the Pigs Nose, a very quirky pub.

Back at site dinner was burgers and sausages, same as yesterday.