Day 1 Saturday

Off we go again, this time down to the South Devon coast, staying in Torquay. I was picked up in Bingley as the coach made its way through to the main pick up stop in Bradford. This time it was William that drew the short straw as we travelled with our Sunday coach provider J.A.K Travel.

We had a good journey down, a bit busy on the roads as it was bank holiday Saturday and the weather forecast was a good one for a change!

We arrived at our destination, the 'Shelley Court Hotel', at about 6.15 pm and were greeted by Carole with tea and banana bread after which we claimed our luggage from the entrance and made our way to our rooms. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself and my room mate Maureen Crossley in a room with a sea view and also a large shared balcony. I don't know what we'd done to deserve this but we made sure we made the most of it throughout the week! This is the view that first evening from the balcony.

The ballon was a prominent feature of Torbay and a group of us were going to go up in it but by the time we decided to do this the weather had turned windy and it remained firmly on the ground for the rest of our time there.

After our evening meal many of us decided to stretch our legs and check out the delights of Torquay. There should have been a skittle competition in the hotel but walkers sitting in a coach all day feel the need for exercise and by the time we returned the skittles had been packed away. Just time for a quick drink in the bar and then..........oh dear, poor William, there was a problem with the hand brake sticking on the coach, his light bulb had gone in his bedroom, and his kettle had burned out, not a good day for him. He ended up taking the coach to Exeter to be fixed and returning in a small Volvo van that certainly wouldn't fit us all in for tomorrow's walk!