Day 5. Woolacombe to Braunton

The forecast was for high winds and lots of rain and, unfortunately, this time they were spot on.
I never saw Lundy Island again.
It was foreboding to see the town empty apart from ducks swimming in the hotel pool and council workers trying desperately to unblock a storm drain.
It wasn't too bad walking through the dunes and then along the beach to Putsborough sands but when we reached Baggy Point the wind nearly knocked us off our feet and the rain started hammering down.
We walked along Croyde Bay where hundreds of big
jelly fish had been washed up.

About an hour later we reached the Saunton Sands Hotel hoping to take some refuge from the storm and maybe get some lunch. We walked up to the very smart, art Deco entrance looking like a couple of drowned rats and, amazingly, they let us in !
The dining room has a fantastic view along the beach and right across the estuary.
We strung it out for a couple of hours watching the squalls queuing up behind Hartland Point before rushing across the bay to bash into the windows.
Time was getting on so we set off down the three miles length of Saunton Sands straight into the teeth of a gale.
There wasn't another soul on the beach other than sandpipers, playing dare with the waves running up the beach, and this sand dragon.

Saunton Sands

When the horizontal rain turned to horizontal hailstones we ducked into the dunes and decided to take our chances and walk across the military training area.
Probably not a great decision as we both had our hoods up and carrying rucksacks.
The dunes seemed endless and very disorientating.
We walked military style, left a bit right a bit, for ages until we climbed onto a golf course and could see we weren't far from where we set off from about three hours earlier.
Eventually we found the path that sent us south again, parallel to where we'd been walking, and then north again to Braunton.
We probably added five unnecessary miles to an already long day and arrived at the hotel at 6.30 to be told ' food 7'30'. I thought that gives us time to change and dry out before they start serving, but no, this is rural Devon where they stop serving at 7.30.
What a day!