I still can't believe I did such a hard stretch of the Sountwest Coast Path and it was relatively easy - I was even able to do it on an injury!
Breakfast was quite good - poached eggs on toast, apple juice, tea and 2 croissants - about 8/10 on the yummy scale.
The 301 bus to Barnstaple was busy and runnning late. It's amazing what a social thing it is to get on/off a bus and how long it took people to do it. The worst thing was when there was a driver change 1 stop before the train station. The replacement driver literally walked like he was going through cold molasses. Finally the retiring driver mentioned that I had a train to catch and they should speed it up. Amazing considering this was the rail/link bus and one of the main trains was one I was trying to catch - it was even in the bus time table. I only made train with 5 minutes to spare.
Had I missed that train I would have had to take a train that ended up getting canceled so was glad I was able to make it.
The train from Barnstaple to Exeter-St. David's was about an hour journey and I was lucky to get a seat. Then you have stupid families who sit over several seats, meaning open seats are really available to those standing.
My original stop on the train from Exeter-St David's I was originally planned as a change at Woking and then back home. That changed when I had to go all the way to London for a dentist appointment.
This was lucky because they canceled the stop at Woking. Prior trains had been canceled due to industrial action and the train was packed. I had a first class seat so was able to sit down. The conductor was allowing second class passengers to sit in first class seats which wasn't really on. The train was so late that they skipped 2 stops and we were still 30 minutes late into Waterloo. I was able to make my dentist appointment with 5 minutes to spare.
I finally made it home without incident at 8:30. It was a long and eventful day and trip. Beautiful weather the entire time. I'd definitely do this part of the path again.
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