It floats my boat
A PAIR of swans huddle in the reeds, swifts and swallows swoop, while a family of fuzzy ducks give chase in a perfect straight line.
This is life in the fast lane on the Exe Adventures’ Social Paddle to the pub tour on the historic Exeter Canal.
Cruising a mile-and-a-half down this peaceful stretch of water, from Exminster in South Devon to the Turf pub, which is only accessible by water or cycle path, the modern world felt a very long way away.
The reward at the end was a beautiful lunch of moules marinière with focaccia and a pint of Avocet, brewed in nearby Exeter, in the pub garden which overlooks the Exe estuary.
With a range of water craft offered by the adventure excursion operator, you can choose how you travel there according to your age, experience and nerve. A four-person canoe was the most appropriate with our young children.
But when cheerful tour organiser Sam unveiled the paddle boards, our seven-year-old son William, couldn’t wait to try one out, and was thrilled when he went from kneeling to standing up within a couple of minutes.
The Exe Adventures tour picked us up in a minibus from our base for the week, Cofton Holidays resort in Dawlish.
Set in lush green hills, just a 10-minute walk from the coast down a shady path, it blends the pleasures of the great outdoors with top-class facilities.
The newly-built indoor pool with mini fountains for kids, Jacuzzi bubbles, sauna and steam room, proved a hot favourite with our family.
On sunnier days the heated outdoor pool next to the on-site Swan Inn, with lovely beer garden was a great place to relax.
Up in the pine forest on the hillside, past the cute resident donkeys, there is a fantastic adventure playground with zip wire and plenty of sticks for building dens.
One day our kids had a go at zorbing, which is a bit like rolling around in a giant hamster ball.
Another day, they enjoyed scrambling across a huge Harry Potter-themed bouncy castle assault course.
Down at the bottom of the hill, there’s an array of fishing lakes packed full of carp, tench, roach, bream and perch.
We met a park ranger there for a morning of pond dipping and discovered froglets, pond skaters and whirligig beetles.
In the evenings, the clubhouse is a great place to hang out if you have kids, who will be thoroughly entertained by the reps