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Published: April 10th 2007
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Brecons
On top of Corn Du, Brecon Beacons, Wales. The Easter break saw us headed to Wales for some of what the UK has to offer. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was not on our itinerary but the Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire, and Snowdonia were. They said it couldn't be done, they meaning my boss Dr Rowland, who said 'we do have patients on tuesday you know'. Wales in four days, no worries. For Aussies the distances are not huge to drive however in Wales the roads are narrow little village ways with some larger roads - not enough! There were lots of Clan dan nooee and Daffyd jokes, for those fans of Little Britain you will know what we are on about.
What a start to Easter, beautiful blue skies and warm sunny weather. Its unheard of. We picked up the car and headed out on the M4 to Wales to the Brecon Beacon National Park.
To be honest I am not a UK convert, that is if given the choice Continental Europe would interest me anyday. Lets just say I was pleasantly surprised with Wales and its stunning beauty. Its a natural rural country with plenty of scenery, quaint villages and friendly people to offer. Stopping for lunch in a cafe in
Brecon we were soon chatting to fellow diners, an elderly couple from Snowdonia, about their trip and also about Australia. What a breath of fresh air from Londoners!
Arriving at our hotel, a castle in Craig-y-nos, we were excited to be staying in such a historical building complete with ghosts. Our room was nice and although there were some reno works going on and the shower did not work it was still a comfortable night. No sign of the ghosts either.
Nick had researched some walks and that afternoon we tackled one of the highest peaks Corn Du, next to Pen y Fan. The scenery was stunning and as the afternoon light changed we couldn't help snapping loads of photos. It was a fairly steep climb up and a leisurely stroll back down. The hills were mostly bare with sheep grazing and golden yellows and browns. Walk complete we set out for some dinner in Craig y Nos only to find Easter Friday was the busiest day for pubs and restaurants. At around 9pm we were lucky to find a little pub still serving food.
After a full english breakfast we ventured out to another stunning day of sunshine. Nick
Sunset
Sunset at St Davids, Wales. asked the receptionist 'is the weather always like this?' She just laughed at him.
Saturday we drove onto Pembrokeshire Coast National Park in south west Wales. Our second walk was at Stakepole along the coastline and took in some 9kms of dramatic cliffs and real sandy beaches. The Welsh were out in force catching some rays and had some of the pastiest white skin ever seen outside of say the arctic. The walk followed the coastline and then past some marshes and farmland and back to the car.
Onto St Davids for the night to brave it and camp. Some camp grounds were busy and full as were B&Bs hence our choice at camping. But we did find Lleithyr farm campsite which was still taking on campers. So we set up the tent, interesting for the first time. We now own a slightly bigger model with its own front vestibule - very handy for dirty boots.
The lane ways were very narrow in St Davids not big enough for a tractor and Peugot to pass each other. We had dinner in town at a typical Welsh restaurant. Their food is not inspiring but rather basic fare. However it kept us
snowdon
Hiking the Miners track, Snowdonia, Wales. fed.
After waiting impatiently for the bill and noticing the sunlight fading outside we made a mad dash down to Whitegate beach to catch the amazing sunset. Being in the northern hemisphere it takes the sun longer to set and we had time to snap some good pictures of the purples and reds in the sky. It was freezing by the way! Nights were still cold in Wales as we found out later in the tent.
Up early and thawing out in the lovely sun we packed up and after some consideration made a decision that yes we could visit Snowdonia National Park as well. Even though it is in northern Wales and it was now sunday. The road followed the coast alot of the way and we arrived in the mountain country around 1 ish after a pitstop in the village of Cardigan. Cheap food! We ate some Bara Brith (welsh fruitcake) and took a liking to this treacly cake.
Snowdonia was stunning. I had never imagined Wales so amazing. Deep valleys, large mountains, sheep with lambs, creeks, fresh air. The village of Beddelgert took our fancy, almost Bavarian in appearance and very quaint. Hugely popular too with other tourists. Choosing a campsite out of town further up the valley we set up camp and then drove back for a look around. A short walk up the valley and we stopped by the river for a picnic and to watch the lambs. How relaxing. The village was nice too with daffodils everywhere and Welsh out sitting on stone walls sinking some pints. I finally found my wooden duck! Much searching has not found me a wooden duck for our future farm house. And I finally purchased a carved one for only six quid!
The afternoon was still young but not young enough to tackle the now strouded in cloud Mt Snowdon so we drove onto Caenarfon. With an impressive castle and views of Anglesea and many people speaking Welsh Caenarfon was a typical UK town. Realising we were wasting valuable time not spent in Snowdonia we drove back the other way around Mt Snowdon to suss out where the walks begin from Pen y Pass.
After dinner in Beddlegert, again uninspiring lamb and Nick's game pie, sounds ok but meat and vege is meat and vege eh! Night came on and it got cold again. I wasn't excited by another chilly night but we got by somehow. The idea was to go to sleep early and wake up early which did the trick. We were the first campers up and gave our noisy neighbours a quick spin of the Peugot's tyres before heading out of the campsite. A quick breakfast at Pen y Pass hostel and we were kitted up to tackle the 5 to 6 hour hike up and down Mt Snowdon. The highest peak in the UK at 1085 metres. It was a cold morning at that altitude and worthy of full woollen jumpers, fleece and beanie. We did the Miners track which starts a flat walk around some stunning lakes and miners ruins. Half way the track begins a gradual ascent upwards and then a bit steeper ascent to the saddle. At the saddle it then is a nice ascent up to the summit. As we reached the saddle some clouds started coming in over the summit and by the time we were up to the saddle the full wind started. Wow it was chilly and misty. We sheltered around the other side of the peak and unfortunately it was clouded in so couldn't see too much, certainly not to Ireland as claimed! Some brave seagulls were enjoying the wind up there. Feeling quite cold and damp we struggled back down through the wind and a quick descent the same way. All in all we did it in about 2 hours up and an hour half back. Mt Snowdon under the belt Nick felt happy to now return to London. A slightly mad dash through east Wales and some traffic jams, we decided to meander through Shropshire and bypass Birmingham traffic. We eventually joined up with the motorway and it was a good run back to London which was surprising for Easter.
We had a very enjoyable easter break and saw some amazing scenery.
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