Our last night in Exmouth was spent ‘Wilding’ – that is, if your definition of Wilding is being without ‘facilities’ usually offered by a campsite.
We parked up on Exmouth seafront with a row of motorhomes and campervans. This is not a cheap option – we paid the princely sum of £11 for twenty four hours, not bad but not much less than a campsite in the local area.
The row of motorhomes on Exmouth seafront.
The view from Bertie’s window was lovely – Exmouth has a long stretch of sandy beach and beautiful views across to Torbay.
However, as a local, I know that there is a lot of bad feeling about motorhomes parking on the seafront. Exmouth facebook communities are full of diatribe against motorhomers, and this made me a tad nervous about our overnight stay.
The main complaints seem to be about motorhomes taking up too much parking space. Exmouth seafront is divided into a number of areas for parking – the furthest from town is diagonal to the seafront and has limited length and width, further back (where we chose to stop) the parking is parallel to the seafront and only the width is marked. It would be fair to say that with the exception of a sunny day in high season – the parking is generally not full – but people have their favourite spots for accessing the beach and feel aggrieved if they are obstructed.
The other complaint is people overstaying their welcome – the max stay is 24 hours and then no return for another 24 hours. This is designed to stop people from spending weeks in the same spot.
There are some who say that the motorhomes spoil the view – although I think that if people are looking at the motorhomes then they probably need to turn around by at least 90 degrees to see
But most frustrating are the general complainants who don’t have any rationale for their dislike – they just don’t like it – and others who actively encourage the boy (and girl) racers to be as anti-social as possible.
It is true that there are people who take advantage, both taking up multiple parking spaces (or backing their overhang onto the pavement), or outstaying their welcome. And that’s where we motorhomers need to be careful – because it wont be long before these spots are restricted due the actions of a very few.
The view from Exmouth seafront
After all of that though, we had a pleasant night. We had a final catch up with friends, the rain kept the traffic down to a minimum and the following morning was bright and sunny, a good omen for moving on.