Day 20: Bideford to Barnstaple

Well a day of mixed fortunes... Only serves to make life interesting :) Started out fine. The weather was overcast but dry and soon the sun broke through. The coastal path joined with the Tarka Trail away from the coast and alongside the Torridge Estuary following a disused railway... Flat walking! 

And the primroses were out I. The cuttings :) enough to brighten anyone's day

So ambled along by the estuary, having bid farewell to the coast for a long while

As we walked we received a call from our B&B to tell us their daughter was sick and they had to cancel our booking. We weren't too worried as Barnstaple is a reasonable sized place so we did not anticipate any trouble finding alternative digs. We waved goodbye to the Coastal path with mixed feelings and entered the next phase of our epic :)

We arrived in Barnstaple in time for lunch and picked up my lost phone from the police station where it had been forwarded to from Portreath. hooray! But then came the downer! We experienced great difficulty in finding accommodation that was at a price we were willing to pay. But all good things come to those who wait... Or in our case persist ... And we booked a room at the local travelodge. Not exactly home from home but clean and comfortable. Nighty night :)