Winter in Devon

When we first arrived here a lot of the trees were losing their leaves ...


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But not the oak in our back yard.

Then slowly, slowly we watched the leaves change colour.



Those leaves hung on and hung on ...

Eventually, a few of them fell, and most of them gravitated to the pond.



But then we had a really wet weekend, with a lot of wind.



A sunny winter's day

But it happens every now and then. The sky clears, and we get to wander on the beach.



Nothing quite like a vacant beach. This is Preston Beach, rolling on to Paignton.



That's Paignton Pier over there. And back this way, some lovely rock pools to play in.




One of the nicest things about Preston Beach in the winter is this little kiosk - that actually stays open.



Young Madeleine in there serves great coffee and bacon baps and the like. And while we sit there and enjoy our meal, all sorts of interesting people come by to chat with her and grab a coffee or a snack too.



Musicians and all sorts of interesting locals. And because this is England and the people are friendly and we can speak the language we can enjoy a bit of jovial banter with them.

Time to stay indoors

Of course there are still a lot of days when it's too wet to go to the beach.

And no students.

So lots to do on the computer.

Torquay in Autumn

Torquay is very beautiful. And this part of England is generally warmer than the rest. Here we have a bright, sunny Autumn day.



Even the ducks like a bit of sun now and then.



It seems like the trees are doing their best to outdo the colourful ducks.

We have autumn in Australia, too, but not like this. In Oz we have a lot of Eucalypts (gum trees) and a lot of those are not deciduous - they don't drop their leaves. There's not a whole lot of leaf-dropping going on in Oz in Autumn.



And if I found a pile of leaves like this in Oz I certainly wouldn't go kicking though it like this, because who knows what might fly out at me (not to mention the dust!).



Despite the delightful weather, Torquay is pretty quiet this time of year - imagine what this parkland is like in summer!

Except, of course, for the squirrels.



They have so much to get done.

All that twitching and switching and jumping about.

Nuts to find, nuts to hide ...

...games to play maybe ...



things to look out for.

As for us people, when we are not out kicking leaves, there are some great walks around Torquay. That's another thing we don't generally have in Oz - Public Foot Paths, they are all over the place and you can do some great hiking or even just gentle strolls.



In the summer a lot of people come to Torquay for the beaches.



Yes, I know, they are not a patch on Australian (especially West Australian) beaches.



And that red sand would take a bit of getting used to. But, hey - this isn't Oz (or anywhere else). This is TORQUAY, and it's kinda nice, isn't it?