Wales

Blog

Well here we are in Wales. The missing few days of our travels in Northern Ireland are trapped on Stu’s iPad which is frozen and refusing to recharge. Hopefully we can recover it and upload it in a few days if we can resolve the issue with the iPad when we get to Cardiff. If not it’s up to your imagination until we get the time and energy to rewrite it! Technology! Fabulous when it works!!!

Anyway, Wales is beautiful. After an almost debacle with our ferry trip - thought we were leaving from Dunleary but luckily checked and found we were actually sailing from the Port of Dublin we checked in at the terminal amidst what seemed a little disorganised and chaotic boarding process. We soon discovered we were not the only bewildered passengers wondering if we were in the right queue or if we had actually missed the ferry but no - all was well we eventually boarded and arrived without incident in Holyhead, collected our hire car and drove to The Gladstone, near Conwy - our accommodation for the night. A lovely little hotel across the road from the beach - a very nice welcome to Wales.

Next morning - destination Snowdonia National Park. Our travels took us through the town of Conwy where we discovered a wonderful castle in the middle of the city. So first stop - explore the castle AND try and find somewhere to fix the iPad problem. Castle - fabulous - iPad - No! We were directed to the nearby town only a few minutes away so thought it worth a try but NO! So onward to Snowdonia driving through fabulous scenery, narrow windy roads, past magnificent stone houses, mountains (literally) of slate, one lane roads including a bridge with a peak in the middle meaning you can not see what’s coming from the other side until you get to the top - therefore cars frequently meet in the middle and someone has to reverse back down to allow the other traffic over. Crazy! And beside it a completely leaf/ vine covered tea house - gorgeous! 

Our accommodation for the next three nights is in Betws -y- Coed at a place called Craig -y- Dderwen. You have gotta love the Welsh names. Apparently it is very easy once you know the rules! I still don’t know the rules. 

Regardless, our accommodation was on one of the four rivers that meet in Betws and very beautiful. A lovely base for our next few days. Betws is a lovely little town bustling with tourists, especially heaps of ramblers/ hikers. After checking in we explored the town. It was a bit rainy for too much adventuring but we did manage a visit to Swallow falls - beautiful!

Day one in Snowdonia National Park - we decided to go exploring and drive around/ through the National Park. We drove towards the bottom of the park to a town called Dolgellau which reputedly has the largest number of historical buildings. True to description it was narrow cobbled streets full of fabulous old stone houses, shops, churches, pubs etc complete with a Sunday market held where else but in the pub! From here we headed back towards the top of the park and back towards Conwy to visit a National Trust property - Bodnant Gardens which was described as the best gardens in the UK. The estate - house and gardens were spectacular. Unfortunately we had made the decision to leave our coats in the car when we set off. Of course it started to rain shortly after - only light misting showers to begin but when it set in 10 minutes from getting back to the car we decided our earlier decision had not been so good. Returning to the car a little wet and soggy we decided it’s best to always carry your jacket. It is Wales after all! We managed a quick visit to the Welsh Food Centre and picked up some very yummy olives, salami, cheese, duck rillette etc for a relaxed dinner back at our accommodation. 

Next day and we are booked on the rack and pinion rail to the top of Mt Snowdon. Blue skies when we woke looked hopeful but by the time we had showered and changed it was gray and had started to rain. Sadly this only worsened and we had zero visibility on our journey to the top. Once there we had half an hour to explore the summit, take photos etc. it was raining, windy and cold but we were there so what to do - go to the summit of course. It was only a short, not very steep walk but........it was raining, windy and freezing! But we did it and have the photo of us surrounded by white cloud!!! Then straight back to the visitor centre for some warmth and a coffee before boarding the train to head back down. We did take a couple of photos of some postcards in the gift shop at the bottom so we could show people what it’s actually meant to look like.

From there we headed out towards the coast to Caernarfon and another castle. This was amazingly well preserved and intact. You can’t help but go Wow! amazing! Then on to Anglesey for a drive around the island and a visit to the town with the longest name. (Stu says he thinks there is one in New Zealand that’s longer - the challenge is yours Rob to track it down). Anglesey is very different to the rest of Wales - quite flat! Visited another beautiful estate called Plas Newydd. Again beautiful gardens and house set on the water.

Sadly, we watched the weather slowly clear during the day till we had blue skies in the afternoon. It seems to be the pattern at the moment - greyer and rain in the morning clearing as the day goes on! Oh well who can control the weather! Although there are a lot of churches here!!! 

Farewell to Snowdonia and we head south today via the coast and then back in to the Brecon Beacons - another National Park. Stopped off at a couple of seaside villages for a bit a walk around. Drove through more fabulous scenery. Stopped for a visit at Llanerchaeron - an old farm estate. Fabulous old house filled with very authentic memorabilia. The farm and walled garden is still operational. Then on to Brecon x checked into our B&B accommodation then off to dinner at Gurkha Corner for some Nepalese food (inWales!)

The parking costs are going to kill us as everywhere we go they want to charge you to park. By far the worst was the 8£s for the railway but a close second was 5£s at the castle where the spaces did not allow enough room for a driver and passenger to get out. Actually , every park is small so owning an SUV is almost out of the question. 

Unleaded petrol is £1.32 per litre which equates to $2.30 

Beer and gin on the other hand are pleasantly surprising given I can get a pint of beer and a gin and soda for under £7   Probably should stay in the village and just drink in order to save money.