Fred. Olsen Balmoral review day eight: Buckfast Abbey, Dartmouth

Here is what he got up to!

The downpour of rain only lasted a day and was a distant memory as we left Falmouth for Dartmouth.

We headed east along the Channel for day eight of the Balmoral cruise to a place that admittedly I knew very little about.

Opening the curtains on Saturday morning was an unbelievable sight - whatever impressions I had of Dartmouth before were completely dispelled by a picturesque painting of colourful houses and beautiful water courses.

The tender to Dartmouth. (Image: Newsquest) This was another tender operation, but thankfully we could use Fred Olsen's own lifeboats to shuttle there and back.

We took in breath-taking views of the Britannia Royal Naval College over on the hill before parking up at the dock on the shores of the town.

Nicole and I had chosen Buckfast Abbey and Totnes as our tour of the day, so we made our way straight for the bus and joined our fellow passengers.

Dartmouth. (Image: Newsquest) I was aware that the tonic wine Buckfast was made at the Abbey, but a big part of me thought it was just a story made up in high school, so I was keen to see if it was true.

The tour guide gave us a superb talk on the bus there about Dartmouth's past and the sheer level of history present.

Agatha Christie was from neighbouring Torquay and bought a house in Dartmouth, which remained in the family's possession until the passing of her daughter.

Crime writers remained a big theme as we drove past Dartmoor, the setting of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous The Hound of the Baskervilles, which was quite exciting for me.

The Methodist Church at Buckfast Abbey. (Image: Newsquest) The Devon countryside was as picturesque as the town and I thoroughly enjoyed the drive there - our guide's talk was so interesting and rivalled Shetland's as the most riveting of the trip so far.

We arrived at the Abbey as it was opening and firstly went around the exhibit, which detailed its history from being founded, demolished and eventually rebuilt by just a team of six self-taught monks.

The lifestyle of the monks that lived there was most interesting - they prayed multiple times a day, didn't use money and didn't even speak out loud from 8pm until the early morning.

Inside the Abbey. (Image: Newsquest) The Abbey itself was breath-taking, a sheer marvel in its architecture and design - Nicole loves old churches and religious buildings so it was a treat for us to walk around such a famous site.

Outside the building, the grounds were just as peaceful as the inner Abbey, with the garden area simply gorgeous.

As I went off the beaten track, I explored some of the buildings to the rear - only as far as I was permitted, as the offices weren't open to the public.

I was greeted by a passing monk, Leo, who asked me about the cruise and where I'd been so far.

The garden at Buckfast Abbey. (Image: Newsquest) He had been at Buckfast Abbey for three years after his own monastery decided to amalgamate with others due to low numbers.

We discussed the assisted dying bill which was due to be heard in Parliament, as Leo was gathering signatures for a petition he wanted to submit - he was rather disappointed to hear I couldn't sign it as I was from far away!

Into the gift shop next and I had my eyes set on just one thing - and I found a shelf full of them!

I bought at bottle of Buckfast at the Abbey. (Image: Newsquest) Bottles of Buckfast lined the wall next to the till - 5cl, 35cl and full 70cl bottles available  - so of course, I picked up a bottle to take home!

I don't drink, of course, but the sheer novelty of having bought one from the source was enough to persuade me - and a few other people from the cruise were doing the same!

Afterwards, we drove to Totnes and on the way there, our guide gave us a talk about the reputation Buckfast has due to its association with anti-social behaviour in Scotland.

The castle at Totnes. (Image: Newsquest) She even mentioned that the police had visited the Abbey to chat with the producers about the bad behaviour and what could be done!

Into Totnes, a very hilly and steep but quaint town and we had an hour to explore at our leisure.

The Totnes Times was my desire here and I picked it up from the WHSmith before venturing up to a nearby castle - we'd have had to pay entry but I got a picture of one of the towers from the street.

Nicole and I got coffees and sat on the river banks until the bus came back, which was very peaceful and allowed us to reflect on just how good the cruise has been so far.

Sat by the river in Totnes. (Image: Newsquest) The bus took us back to Dartmouth town centre and we walked along the piers for a while before getting the tender back to the Balmoral.

Another first for me was that I had never really drank tea before, so Georgina had got us tickets to the rare tea tasting at the Oriental Tea Lounge.

Our tea experts Lovely and Gift, aided by waiter Rifesh, talked us through four types of tea from across China, Japan, the Philippines and Cornwall.

My journey into tea discovery was enjoyable and I thought the flavours got better as they went on - my favourite was the second blend of the Philippines tea we had - it had a smoky taste to it that I quite liked!

Lovely and Gift during our rare tea tasting session. (Image: Newsquest) Rather sheepishly, the peppermint tea from Cornwall was also very good - loved the aftertaste it left behind, but felt like such a cheap favourite compared to the brilliance from Asia we also had.

Feeling very sleepy from the tea, Nicole and I went for a quick disco nap before getting ready for dinner.

As ever, I opted for the fish dinner, complete with a roast potato and a range of mixed vegetables.

During the tea tasting. (Image: Newsquest) Erin McKinnie was back for the second part of her comedy/singing show so Nicole and I headed to that but got chatting to people from Alloa and Dunfermline so missed the start!

Luckily, we made it in time to hear Erin perform one of Nicole's favourite songs, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, so that was brilliant for her.

Erin McKinnie's show. (Image: Newsquest) Lastly, karaoke was back in the Lido Lounge and both my friends and the staff tried to encourage me to go up, but I'll confess I was too nervous to try!

The passengers that did go up were fantastic, however, and we all came together to sing Dancing Queen with the final act, which Nicole got up for to dance along to.

The Lido Longue singing and dancing to Dancing Queen. (Image: Newsquest) We bid farewell to fellow press guests Megan and Andrew, who were disembarking in Portsmouth to get a train home, before we headed to bed.