The day started with the compulsory bacon sandwich and then we were off for a day at an otter sanctuary, butterfly farm and the highest waterfall in England. First we went to the otter sanctuary and watched the feeding which was horrific! They feed them baby chickens! Chicks are bred to be killed for animal food. The worse thing was that it had all of its parts in tact including feathers, urgh. We went through the butterfly farm where I spent most of the time trying to photograph two butterflies mating (I'm not weird, honest). Trouble was that it was 35 degrees in the house. Next to the otter sanctuary we walked around the WW2 show in the grounds of the railway. It was bizarre with so many people based in ww2 army dress, walking around the station and waiting for trains. It was like travelling back to the wartimes.
In the afternoon we walked to the highest waterfall in England. I'm not renowned for wearing the right clothing on hikes and this wasn't any different. I've hiked in skirts, in work shoes and now in sandles. En-route there were cards explaining about the birds we could see. Ali came out with the classic line 'i like my tits', as in blue tits but the blue was absent in the quote :) To my horror, the waterfall was created by a diverted river. Cheating me thinks.
We drove over Dartmoor and Tim took me through what I can only describe as footpaths! Orlando was a bit battered during the drive. We had a bbq and then it was time for bed, a very cold bed.
God it was a bit chilly last night. Al and Ali froze during the night. I spent the morning waiting for them to get up, watching people and pottering ( a skill of mine). We put down the tent, had a domestic between Al and I and then drove to Castle Drago which isn't actually a castle at all and actually a stately home. Trading standards me think. The house was nice tho, and so was the gardens. We had a picnic and then drove home thinking of camping next weekend too. Glutton for publishment :)
The day started with the compulsory bacon sandwich and then we were off for a day at an otter sanctuary, butterfly farm and the highest waterfall in England. First we went to the otter sanctuary and watched the feeding which was horrific! They feed them baby chickens! Chicks are bred to be killed for animal food. The worse thing was that it had all of its parts in tact including feathers, urgh. We went through the butterfly farm where I spent most of the time trying to photograph two butterflies mating (I'm not weird, honest). Trouble was that it was 35 degrees in the house. Next to the otter sanctuary we walked around the WW2 show in the grounds of the railway. It was bizarre with so many people based in ww2 army dress, walking around the station and waiting for trains. It was like travelling back to the wartimes.
We are on a camping marathon at the mo so we took Ali for her first camping experience to Dartmoor and the weather was fantastic!!!! We did have deja vu on the Fri when Ali arrived after we put up the tent! We had dinner and then went for a walk along a very dark lane. Without torch or high vis jacket, we had to use the brightest thing we had to show the cars that we were there - Ali's tracksuit bottoms. So every car got a flash of Ali's leg on approach :)
And the rain continued all night and all morning. We visited Chedworth Roman Villa (in the rain of course). The mosaics were amazing. The piccie is of the dining room mosaic and latrine. My fact for the day I learned from the roman latrine. Instead of toilet paper, they used sponges on a stick. However, they didn't know which one was theirs! URGH!!!