Day 30: Wednesday, 9th October 2013: Babbacombe Model Village & Living Coasts Zoo & Aquarium at Torquay

Today we drove to Torquay via Dartmouth so we had to take a short ferry ride from Dartmouth. It was only about 30 minutes’ drive to our destination then and we didn’t have to go on too many narrow lanes to get there (other than from the lodge to Dartmouth). Our first stop was at the Babbacombe Model Village which is famous for its award winning landscaped gardens. It features a unique collection of dwarf conifers, flowering shrubs and more. The Model Village displays many architectural styles including Medieval, Tudor, Georgian and Victorian all depicting quintessential English countryside, towns and villages. There are models depicting familiar scenes such as Cockington village, Stonehenge and Shakespearean Tudor manors. There is also a couple of working model trains that run through the village, stopping at stations. Some of the other features include a medical centre, weather station, fire station, emergency services at a burning house, a castle with a fire breathing dragon, a wind turbine and lots more! I thought they didn’t really depict the very narrow lanes so well – they are one of our big memories from our stay in Devon!   

one of the owls at the Model Village

the model village

the model village

the model village

the model village

the model village

the model village

the model village

After wandering through the village and taking lots of photos, we headed into the café for some lunch before making our way to the Living Coasts Zoo & Aquarium. Here there are many exhibits of coastal creatures. Living Coasts is an education, scientific and conservation charity dedicated to protecting our global wildlife heritage and inspiring in people a respect for animals, plants and the environment. We saw two varieties of penguin – the Macaroni Penguin which has a spikey yellow “hair do” and the African Penguin which is black and white with and “ugly” face. The African Penguin is endangered and the Macaroni Penguin is vulnerable. There were also lots of birds to see – some endangered, including the Bank cormorant. One of our favourite exhibits was the Eurasian otters. There were four of them scurrying around the enclosure – 3 seemed to stick together and the other one was a bit of a loner. We also watched some South American fur seals as one sunned & groomed itself on a rock and another two or three turned circles in the water and did some grooming too. In the aquarium there were numerous fish to see as well as some sea horses, sting rays, an octopus and more. The Model Village and Aquarium were two of the things Alison had found in our literature to do, so she was very pleased we visited them today. On our way home from Torquay, 

Lion Fish

Macaroni Penguin

King Eider

Inca Tern

we stopped at the supermarket to stock up on supplies, then came home to make Dr appointments for Keith and I as our colds seem to be getting worse and Keith now has conjunctivitis. We took the opportunity to catch up on photo sorting, postcard writing and journal writing while waiting for a call back from the doctor.

Well we didn’t get the call from the doctor – I think I must have given them the wrong code to use to call my mobile! We had a simple dinner of pre-prepared food from the supermarket, then watched TV and I did a couple more pages in my storybook.