After the end of a week spent in the library slaving away over deadlines, taking a Saturday off to explore a little town in the South West was exactly what I needed. My housemate and I often struggle to do spontaneous things (we're both meticulous planners), but with the train station just a five minute walk from our house and Dawlish a ten minute ride down the line, it was pretty hard to resist this time.
Within twenty minutes of ambling our way down to the station, we were on the beach, soaking up the sea air. It's amazing what a little break can do for the mind and, as an island girl at heart, I always feel comforted and refreshed after even the shortest visit to the sea.
After wandering up and down the beach, admiring dogs (Sophie) and collecting pebbles (me), we found our way into the little town and walked alongside the river, keeping an eye out for the famous black swans, which you can only find in Dawlish!
There are little paths that you can walk along next to the stream, and some lovely picturesque bridges too - perfect for those Insta photos, strings of coloured lights hang across the river, which I imagine look absolutely gorgeous lighting up the water in the evenings. We also managed to find a little bird sanctuary and saw signs for some mini golf - though we didn't venture far enough to find it this time!
As it started to drizzle, we made our way inside the town hall, where there was a Spring fete filled with lots of locally made gifts. I bought a bar of lavender soap for my mum, and we both picked up some postcards of Dawlish and the surrounding area that had been painted by a local artist. Following the fete, we found our way into a gorgeous little local tea room called Daisy's. Sophie was really keen to get a cream tea, so we made ourselves at home to enjoy this English classic.
Although quaint, Dawlish made for the perfect break from our essays on an otherwise perfectly normal Saturday afternoon. For such an affordable price, our afternoon trip has only encouraged me to explore more of our surrounding area before we graduate from Exeter in July. Where to next?
