Wandering through Wales

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Wandering in Wales
Well, can you believe that we are into our last week in the spaceship van and our European leg of the journey? I have asked the universe to give us good weather and it appears to be obliging, well today anyway! After another calm crossing of the Irish sea, (well there was only a medium listing from side to side) in which we entertained and were entertained by some youngsters on board, we arrived back in Liverpool for another night at the Ibis hotel, and headed off the next day for Wales. We stopped in at Chester on the way through, where the first double-storied shopping centre was built in medieval times about 700 years ago. Then it was out to north Wales and we spent the night just out of Conwy, on the coast. It was still blowing a gale, and with the chance of rain, we prudently slept inside with the back awning down, a wise move as the showers came through strong and hard during the night. I have to say at this point that we have only spent four nights during the whole trip with the awning down and tucked inside the van so we have had a pretty good run. The next day we headed for Anglesey, crossing the Menai straits via the Menai suspension bridge and found ourselves in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandysiliogogogoch, which means "Church of St Mary in the hollow of the witch hazel trees, near a fierce whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio, near the red cave." it was a name created by the Victorians to attract tourists to the area, so I guess it worked didn't it! Otherwise there wasn't much there apart from the place name which takes up more than it's fair share of room! There are many castles in the area, built by Edward the 1st to intimidate and subdue the welsh hoodlums. We visited Caernarfon Castle, which was most recently used for the investiture of the present Prince of Wales in 1969. Then we headed inland, looking for some shelter from the wind and drove through the gorgeous Snowdonia National Park. Even in the rain it is stunningly beautiful with dense mountain woods, brilliant with shades of green interspersed with the dark pink of flowering Rhododendron and hills of loose slate that you think should have slid into the valleys years ago. We spent the night in a sheltered campsite beside Lake Llyn Tegid and a little town called Bala. Next day it was off towards the west coast, once more in showery weather, through Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and into Penbrokeshire, in search of a campsite we had found in one of our books which boasted heated pools and jacuzzis, but which alas was fully booked being that it was a bank holiday weekend! No worries though, we found another campsite just down the road, next to a small river. Not quite a hot pool although plenty of trout in there as well as salmon in the autumn. Leaving the next day, once again in the rain, (are you getting as bored with it as we are?) we headed through Fishguard and out to St David's. This little town has a cathedral and a major pilgrimage site, two trips to St David's equals one trip to Rome apparently, and some pretty impressive beaches. I have to add that the rain had stopped and the sun had come out at this point. Wonders will never cease! From there we headed to Tenby, and another campsite we found in a book which boasted quite a few good amenities. When we arrived, it looked like a butlers holiday camp, and it was very busy. It had its own supermarket and burger king! But they wanted to charge £57 for a night! Granted you would get the use of pools, archery, playground, guided walks through the area etc etc, but that much to park on a piece of grass and use their toilets and showers for a night? We thought not and found another campsite just down the road for £18. Tenby is another 9th century walled city and it was crammed with shops and people being a sunny bank holiday Monday. A rather cool night has led to a lovely sunny day and we have travelled up through Carmarthen to Brecon Beacons National Park, once again, through some amazingly picturesque landscapes. We have toured the town of Brecon, which has a strong military presence as there is a base just outside of town. We got rather loudly buzzed by a low flying jet fighter. I swear its wingtips were brushing the tops of the trees. Half the kids in the camping ground started screaming. You don't actually hear them until the jet is right on top of you! All in all, I am rather impressed with Wales. Well, the shorts are on, the washing is in the machine, and there's a pub 100 yards down the road that may provide us with our dinner so I hope you have enjoyed reading the information in this blog. ( I thought I should get a bit of actual factual knowledge across every now and then rather than my own random thoughts so I saved a few brochures just so I could write the info in this blog!)
That's all for now. There will probably be only one more blog before we hit the States. 30 degrees in New York today. Bring it!!!! Shelley and Dean.

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