Moving on to Crickhowell

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Today we moved on to Crickhowell from Solva. A three hour drive, or thereabouts, so we took our time and stopped at the National Botanic garden of Wales on the way. The weather at breakfast looked promising, but as we set out it became quite foggy. The fog continued most of the day, only dispersing a little as we got close to Crickhowell. We got to the gardens nesr Llanathne, and began with morning tea. A pity that the sky was so grey, I am sure it would have looked stunning in sunshine. Thee are many different areas within the garden, which is designed not only to show different specimens of flora, but also to show how gardens can be sustainable, and to trace the history of plants. The area had been a farm, with a house on it and a large double walled garden. Ponds, water features and a huge greenhouse with template plants from around the world have all been added. The stables have been converted into an exhibition of plants used in medicine, and other areas are more natural. The greenhouse had plants from the south western part of Australia, as well as South Africa, Chile and other parts of South America. We saw lots of kangaroo paw, protea, banksia and paper daisies. There was also a bee garden, with many hives and a special planting of plants that encourage bees. There was also a Japanese garden. So much to see. The morning flew by. We decided to go on to Carreg Cennon castle for lunch. This castle is on the edge of the Brecon Beacons national park. It also had a cafe located nearby, so rather than try and find a town, with a parking space for the car, we headed out into the country. The castle is situated on a limestone bluff, and stands out! It is also another of the ruined castles. The cafe was on the farm below the bluff, and we had some delicious toasted ham sandwiches. We didn't walk around the castle itself, but walked up to the bottom of the bluff to get a better picture. Then it was back to the car and on to Crickhowell. We set up the gps, and hoped for the best. It got us to Crickhowell, but couldn't find the old Rectory where we were meant to be staying. We tried looking around the area, without success. We finally passed a local , walking his dog. He was kind enough to give us directions, and eventually we arrived. We were going out to dinner in Monmouthto meet our friend Sally's sister in law, Zara , and her daughter Gabriella. We set out to drive to Monmouth armed with directions from Zara and our gps. This time all went well. We had a great dinner- good food and terrific company. It was very late when we left, and when we arrived at the Old Rectory, we found the doors all locked. It seems the person we told that we could be late, had forgotten to tell the night porter. Luckily he answered the phone when we rang, so it was off to bed, in a bed, not the car!

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