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We had loved being in Devon in April, but had missed one thing. The sea!

Unbelievably. We had been close to the coast for a whole month, but hadn’t dipped our toes in the sea at all.

Our chance to right this wrong arose when I was searching for where we could go after leaving Exmouth at the end of April.

There was a multitude of house sits advertised from all over the UK, but one really caught my eye.

It wasn’t a million miles away either, in fact, it was also in Exmouth!

We hadn’t planned to stay in this area after April, but this one was impossible to resist.

Devon house sit number four, Exmouth house sit number two, May house sit number one…. was a seafront apartment!

May Housesit Number One – Exmouth

The Home

Along the seafront of Exmouth is a Crescent of large Victorian buildings.

Over the years, as is a common occurrence with many grand period buildings around the UK, lots of these buildings have now been converted into apartments

Our home for the next three weeks was to be the top three floors of one of these amazing properties!

Honestly, if we had been looking to book a holiday and this apartment had popped up on Airbnb, we would have booked it in a flash.

It was massive, much bigger than many houses we had previously stayed in.

The apartment had four large bedrooms, high ceilings throughout, an ultra-modern open-plan kitchen/living area, and a sea-view balcony from the living room.

We even had a private rooftop terrace!

What a place! We felt very lucky to have been invited to stay.

The Pets

The reason we had been invited to stay in this wonderful property was that this was the home of two cats, Leila and Mila, who needed looking after whilst their owner was away.

This was a relatively new home for Leila and Mila. Until recently, they had been living with their owner in a house with a garden.

The new seafront location was a dream come true for their owner, but unfortunately for the cats, it meant they had lost their outside garden playground and were now confined to within the walls of the apartment.

Luckily, they had the run of the property, and its size meant they had plenty of space to excercise and play inside.

We did wonder, however, whether given the choice, they would prefer climbing trees to looking through the window at the ever-changing ocean view outside?

Out And About

Luckily for us, the sun shone all through our stay, giving us the perfect opportunity to take full advantage of the beautiful sandy beach which was on our doorstep!

Exmouth Beach is officially the western gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Jurassic Coast.

The red cliffs here are a famous geological feature along the coast.

They are composed of red sandstone and serve as proof of the region’s Triassic past, when Devon was a hot, desert environment approximately 200-250 million years ago.

The deep red rusty colour of the cliffs is due to iron oxides within the rock formation. 

Lympstone Village

One day, we decided to tear ourselves away from the beach to go visit the pretty village of Lympstone.

Lympstone lies along the picturesque Exe Estuary and is the next-door neighbour of Exmouth, just one stop on the train.

We arrived, not knowing what to expect of this pretty little village, but ended up being pleasantly surprised.

We started the day wandering through narrow, cobbled streets, which were lined with white-washed cottages.

These led us to the waterfront, where we had great views of the estuary.

Next, we popped into a couple of traditional shops and had lunch in a charming little tea room before walking a little out of town, into the beautiful surrounding countryside. Here we came across the historic, 12th-century St. Peter’s Church.

Finally, exhausted after our grand day out, we strolled back through the streets of Lympstone towards the train station for our short journey home.

Lympstone is a hidden gem. Be sure to visit if you ever find yourself in this part of the world.

We guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Meeting Friends

One sunny Sunday, we took a train to Bristol.

We knew our Devon adventure was almost over, and before we left, we wanted to take the opportunity to visit our good friends Mark and John who live in Bristol.

We always enjoy getting together with these guys. An unexpected bonus of our nomadic life is that we get to see our southern friends more often than we were able to when we lived ‘up north’.

We filled the day with a leisurely afternoon walk, a lovely lunch, and catching up on news since we last met.

The day went quickly, and before we knew where we were, we were on the train again, heading back to what was to be our final day Exmouth.

That evening, we packed our suitcases.

We’d had an amazing six weeks in Devon, but sadly, the time had come for us to leave.

One Night In A Hotel

We had one more house sit to do in May, but before that, as we had arrived in London a day early, first we needed somewhere to lay our weary heads for the night before.

As our booked housesit was in Teddington, we looked at hotels in that area and managed to book ourselves into the Teddington branch of Travelodge.

The hotel was as expected. Clean, comfortable and in the perfect location for us.

What we didn’t expect was the price – £35.99! Amazing value considering we were in such a nice area of London.

We slept well and the following morning took the very easy fifteen-minute walk to start our second, and final, house sit in May.

May Housesit Number Two – Teddington

When we arrived, the home hosts had already left for their holiday.

We collected a key from a pre-arranged location and let ourselves in.

As the whole point of doing what we do is to get to see new places, early on in our house-sitting adventure, we made the decision not to do repeat house sits.

That didn’t last long!

We soon discovered there is undeniably a lot to be said for arriving at a house sit, already knowing what to expect in terms of the area, the comfort of the home and the pets.

In this case, we had stayed here once before, in December 2023.

We loved our stay the first time around, so we were delighted to have been invited back again.

The Home

As it was not so long ago when we were last here, we expected to step inside familiar surroundings. However, we were in for a couple of surprises.

The first thing we noticed when we walked in was a gift bag with our names on it.

It is not unusual for home hosts to leave us a bottle of wine, a supermarket gift card, or a box of chocolates to show their appreciation of us caring for their home and pets.

These home hosts went above and beyond, with a whole selection of goodies! Christmas came early this year. 🎄

We never expect anything in the way of gifts, but have to admit, it does warm the cockles of our hearts when home hosts show kindness such as this.

Thank you!

Our second surprise was that since we were last here, the home-hosts had done some major renovation work to their home.

We hardly recognised the place!

The installation of a stylish new kitchen with bi-folding doors opening onto their garden had transformed the ground floor.

With more big changes upstairs, plus welcoming a new arrival to their family, the last 18 months must have been hectic for this Teddington household.

They definitely had earned their holiday!

The Pets

I’m glad to say, there was no change to the four-legged members of the family.

The resident cats, Mango and Nemo, were still here, and as laid back as we remembered.

They really are the easiest cats to care for. Happily roaming the neighbours’ gardens all day long and gracing us with their presence every now and then, mainly when they were feeling peckish.

The Area

We love Teddington. It is a great area with a lot going for it.

For a start, it is remarkably well-connected.

Teddington train station provides direct links to London Waterloo, making it very easy to visit central London. Local bus routes are also good, with easy connections to neighbouring areas like Richmond and Kingston. If you prefer a more leisurely mode of transport, regular boat trips are available on the Thames, which is a great way to get to Hampton Court and Richmond.

Teddington’s high street is thriving and always filled with shoppers browsing the many small independent businesses, shops and cafes that line the streets.

At the top of the high street is the Landmark Arts Centre, which is housed in an imposing former French Gothic-style church. It is a busy community hub and is used for a multitude of community events throughout the year, including concerts, exhibitions, meetings, theatre productions, and workshops.

The highlight for us of Teddington is its proximity to nature, and the jewel in Teddington’s crown, without a doubt, is Bushy Park.

This vast, 1,100-acre park is London’s second-largest Royal Park.

We visited almost every day and saw something new on each occasion.

The residents of Teddington are very lucky. Living in an urban environment whilst having a huge park such as this on your doorstep allows easy access to escape the stress of city life.

Stepping through the park gates almost magically puts you into a place of peace and quiet. All generously provided by Mother Nature – and it is free to enter!

The Sunday we arrived is known as ‘Chestnut Sunday‘ and there was lots of entertainment in the park celebrating this time of the year when the horse chestnut trees are in full bloom.

The singers, dancers, jugglers, Et Al, were doing a fine job’

However, the real stars of Bushy Park are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

The free-roaming herds of Red and Fallow deer.

We have seen them here before, but it’s always an incredible experience to watch them grazing peacefully in their natural habitat.

The Upper Lodge Water Gardens were built in 1710 for private use by poet, and park ranger, Charles Montague, the 1st Earl of Halifax.

Over time, the area had fallen into disrepair and was closed to the public for many years until a major restoration programme returned it to its former glory.  

The newly restored Baroque-style gardens, with their pools and waterfalls, reopened in 2010 and are now a popular place for visitors who can sit and momentarily share this tranquil spot with the swans that reside here.

The Woodland Gardens were created in 1925, by combining two early nineteenth-century plantations, the Pheasantry plantation and the Waterhouse plantation.

They now provide a large area of winding paths, streams, trees and shrubs.

The end of a day in Bushy Park usually involved a visit to the Pheasantry Café.

Ideally located within the Woodland Gardens, we stopped here on far too many days for a welcome treat and cake!

Bushy Park offers something for everyone. Just remember to give the deer their space – they can bite!

We loved our return visit to Teddington and are already secretly hoping we may get invited back again sometime in the future.

For now though, it was time for us to leave.

Next Stop – Radlett in Hertfordshire, but more on that next month.

until then, as always thanks for reading.

Hugs, Colin & Karyo xx