Blogs from Gwynedd, Wales, United Kingdom, Europe - page 12

There is nothing like your little brother turning 30 to make you feel old. Luckily, this is not a blog about me, but about my brother’s 30th birthday bash, so you are spared any ‘poor me’ rant. To celebrate my brother entering his fourth decade (OK - that IS scary) he organised a camping adventure in Wales. The guest list was limited to the elite - only 8 made the cut. Six of us headed to Wales in the 'party van', arriving just in time to have to put our tent up outside the official camp grounds (quiet camping time had begun) and to put up our tents the dark. As it turned out, we got a good camping location as the campground was pretty crowded (what is it with English camping - they all ... read more

A chilly trip to Cardiff to support the Wallabies - November 2005 We were very excited to manage to get tickets to watch the Wallabies take on Wales at the atmospheric Millennium Stadium. We boarded a bus in London Victoria and three hours later arrived in a freezing cold Cardiff already been overtaken by a sea of green and gold jerseys. The cold snap had begun in the United Kingdom and there was a dusting of snow on the ground as we rugged up and explored ancient Cardiff Castle - which looks like any old castle from the exterior but is full of beautifully decorated wooden rooms in pristine condition. The enormous stadium is right in the centre of Cardiff and looms over the rest of the city which has some lovely little paved alleyways with ... read more

Hooray for the summer, long light evenings and warm temperatures. This has afforded many fabulous mountain biking adventures into the llandegla forest, in north wales, after work, as well as some exciting hiking weekends. Snowdonia National Park is only about 1 and a half hours away, so very quick to sneak off for a nice weekend. In fact summiting Snowdon from various angles seems to have become the latest challenge. Beany, aka Steve, is a brilliant hiking partner and cant seem to get enough of it. Most of the time, camp has been in a nice welsh farmers sheep field, which is alongside a river, and my little “campervan” has been more then adequate! Snowdon from the Pyg track, the Watkin Path and the Llanberries path; Tryvan, and the Glyders are some of the peaks that’ve ... read more

The last weekend before my dreaded foot operation was forcast to be hot and sunny. Not wishing to waste a moment we decided to shoot of to Snowdonia on Friday afternoon for the weekend. As soon as we'd set up camp we set off for a short walk. The road near the campsite gives good views of Mount Snowdon and was ideal for a late afternoon walk. Saturday dawned hot and sunny so we headed off to the beach on Angelsea figuring that we could chill out on the beach and do some serious walking on Sunday. We were first on the beach as it's a long walk through thr forest to get there, but before long others began to arrive, then the boats turned up and dropped their passengers and before too long the beach ... read more

Stonehenge, where the demons dwell Where the banshees live and they do live well Stonehenge Where a man is a man and the children dance to the pipes of pan Stonehenge Tis a magic place where the moon doth rise With a dragon's face Stonehenge Where the virgins lie And the prayer of devils fill the midnight sky And you my love, won't you take my hand We'll go back in time to that mystic land Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow I will take you there I will show you how. Hey kids, Well, we're in Wales now. It's really green, and it's filled with heaps of sheep and various other livestock. Yay Wales!! Stonehenge was totally kickass. Except for the price. And the coldness. But otherwise, it was....INDESCRIBABLE. heh heh. Apparently ... read more