Thursday, October 27, 2011

Devon and Hampshire

So what have we been up to after Bristol? Well on the recommendation of a friend, we drove down to Exeter, in Devon. We found a good accommodation deal at a golf course hotel in Teign Valley, which is on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is such a beautiful area of countryside, and it quickly became our favourite part of England. 





See? Isn't it lovely!
The first pictures are from the golf course and the others from the drive in to Exeter. We both decided we'd like to live in the area, but I've only seen one Engineering job advertised there in the past 3 months, so it might not be a go-er.

After spending 2 nights in Teign Valley, we drove past Southampton to Shirrell Heath, near a village called Wickham. It is common here for large country estates to become part of hotel and conference chains, I guess as a way of ensuring income to maintain the estate. Our accommodation in Shirrell Heath was called 'New Place' (very imaginative) and was a series of hotel rooms built to match the Estate's gorgeous mansion (below).





Unfortunately we didn't get to go inside the House, but from what we heard, it was very grand inside.

We went on a day trip to Southampton, and though the Museum of Archaeology was closed (sad!), we found IKEA. Wow. For those of you who don't know, IKEA is a Swedish home store, a bit like the Warehouse crossed with Spotlight crossed with Target furniture crossed with Bunnings and on steriods. The store was four stories high, and the whole first floor was just replica homes - including two full-size apartments - showing how one could set out their furniture or home furnishings.
Two hours later we emerged, glassy eyed.

There is not much more to say than that, and I shall leave you all in suspense with the knowledge that our next post shall feature Bunburying.

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