Wednesday
19 October
Another
fine, cold day which is a lovely way to finish our stay in Ireland,
though we could do with a little less of the cold (something like 3
degrees this morning). We
pottered about before heading to the port for our 2:30pm ferrycrossing to Holyhead in Wales which should take a couple of hours.
Although
it's a fine day and the wind is down, the crossing is quite rocky.
Luckily the distraction of the entire repertoire of cartoon “Wacky
Races” did the trick for Sylvi.
Once
back on terra firma, the caravan park we were heading to, an hour
away turned out to be inaccessible to us via the road we'd taken due
to a weak bridge which we were too heavy for, and a low underpass –
we are too tall – so no way through that way. This turned out to
be not such a bad thing as the alternate park, Coed-y-Llwyn CaravanClub Site, was totally perfect. It was so nice to be back in the
luxury of a Caravan Club site with warm bathrooms and as much hot
water as you wanted.
It
seems the temperatures are a bit lower again here (2 degrees) as we
are in the hills near Snowdenia National Park.
Thursday
20 October
That
was the coldest night we've had so far and the first time the bedding
we have didn't seem adequate for warmth. But it's a lovely day again
as we brave the single digit temps and head off along a different
road to the location we were aiming for yesterday afternoon –
Harlech in north west Wales.
Along
the way we must have exclaimed ten times out loud how beautiful we
thought the countryside was. The beautiful autumn colours, lush
green fields, pretty stone cottages and houses, rushing clear
streams, high mountains and quaint little villages. But the roads
are very narrow and we had a few hairy moments with trucks coming in
the opposite direction.
The
Harlech Castle sits atop a 200 foot high bluff, so chosen by King
Edward I in 1285. It withstood a siege in 1295 but was taken over in
1404 and once again in 1468. Charles I resurrected it during the
Civil War until 1647 when it was the last royalist castle to fall.
It is pretty well intact and we were going to make the climb up the
steep slope to visit, but were more drawn to the long stretch of
beach on such a lovely day.
It was a genuine sandy beach and
reminded us of home, especially when we saw the masses of jellyfish
washed ashore.
Back
on the road we headed for Betws-y-Coed in North Wales which was
recommended to us by Sylvi's Welsh/Aussie friend Pam. With any luck
we'll will catch up with Pam in the next few days as she's here to
visit family.
This
region is reknown for its mining of slate and there is much of it
everywhere – on the side of the road in piles, used in roof tiles
and fences, and coming straight off the mountain sides. At one stage
we saw long paths in the mountains leading up to tunnel entrances
which must have been mines.
This
next site, Riverside Touring Park is another great site with a golf
club, graveyard and train station for neighbours.
After
setting up we walked the short distance into the village which is
absolutely gorgeous. This place must go off in the high season.
We
had a pub lunch, did a bit of shopping, checked out the cute medieval
church in the graveyard, then went for a short walk around the golf
course before calling it a day. The sun sets a bit earlier here so
it's dark by around 6pm and of course extremely cold.
In
world news, Gadaffi is dead, killed by his own people, and the Queen
steps off the plane in Australia for the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting. She was looking sprightly for her age, however
Philip looked very old and frail. Julie Gillard's failure to curtsey
received big headlines here in the UK.
Friday
21 October
Woken
up nice and early by the first passing train we were happy that the
temperature was a more reasonable 4 degrees here. Packing up and
heading off towards Blackpool a couple of hours away we passed more
beautiful countryside including the magnificent Conwy Castle we could
see across the river. Pam had recommended this too but we've seen so
many castles and there are many more to see so decided to skip this
one.
Arriving
at our camp site, Blackpool South Caravan Club Site, we were taken
aback by how busy it was. Although it is now school holidays so
sites may be busier for the next couple of weeks. We guess UK
residents enjoy caravaning no matter what time of the year it is.
Saturday
22 October
Quite a bit of wind overnight
but this is a very protected site. It's a beautiful sunny day but
the wind is still up.
Happy birthday to Sylvi's
girlfriend Dragana and Stephanie who is celebrating a significant
birthday. We enjoyed some lovely french champagne last night to
toast them both.
We plan to visit the Blackpool Illuminations (founded in 1879) tonight so take it easy in the
morning before walking to the local Tesco to catch the bus. It was
the slowest bus ride we've had yet as the driver was up for a chat
with everyone.
On arrival we thought we'd been
transported to Las Vegas or Dreamworld. The place is totally filled
with amusement rides, fun park attractions of every variety and the
10kms stretch of beach, all illuminated from 6pm each evening from
September to November. This is a great way for the city to extend
their tourist dollar longer in the year.
There are several piers, all
containing rides, games, bars and food stalls, so we picked the first
one to explore and felt like we were back in time. Hopefully the
engineering structure of these piers is checked regularly, because
there is a lot of rust and gaps between the wooden planks. But it's
all fun and we love it.
After a coffee at a very dodgy
and totally unorganised “Costas” we went to check out the
Blackpool Tower, built in 1894 and inspired by the Eiffel Tower.
Obviously there is a cost to go up the Tower but it's free to have a
look at the Ballroom on the 5th floor.
With mouths
gapping when we entered the balcony area of the Ballroom, this was
definitely decorated in an era “back in time”. Gorgeous
chandelliers, gold plaster work, old fashioned seating and a huge
dance floor below filled with people of all ages enjoying an
afternoon of ballroom dancing. The music being provided by an
organist on an instrument sounding like a complete orchestra – it's
a Wurlitzer that has been played here for 70 years. It was a magical
moment and we totally loved it, sitting there watching several dances
before moving on.
We walked practically the full
length of the promenade, watching people screaming on the
rollercoasters or enjoying a donkey ride on the beach, before
returning to one of the piers in the late afternoon to have a few
drinks and wait for the lights to come on.
The first to come on was the
ferris wheel and then the top of the Tower and finally at 6pm all the
street lighting came on. So many beautiful lights with dozens of
themes plus the buildings, all lite up in a multitude of colours. So
beautiful.
As well as enjoying the view we
enjoyed watching the tide come in and the water invade the beach
below the pier. Some youngsters had fun drawing on the beach and the
donkey rides continued until almost no beach was left. All the while
we weren't that cold but that soon changed and we headed off looking
for some good, hot food. And we found it one street back from the
promenade, possibly the best Indian we've had anywhere so far. Big
call but true.
Nicely warmed up we braved the
promenade one more time to admire the lights, amaze at the number of
people out and about and smile at the old trams transformed into
“boats” or other shapes, and all beautifully illuminated.
We caught a taxi home to ensure
we got there warmly and in one piece. This was a totally amazing
day. So much fun, so many beautiful sights and such goregeous sunny
conditions.
Sunday 23 October
Well the French did themselves proud and gave the Kiwis a big scare at the Rugby World Cup, but the Kiwis scraped home, even though they choked, by the barest of margins, 9-8. Good on the kiwis, they were the only country not capable of handling a loss, so it's good they won this one finally.
We had a lay day today, having a break, catching up on some washing and chores, like blogging and planning the rest of our trip.
Tomorrow we leave Blackpool to visit with a friend of Sylv's, Pam and her UK family.
The rest of our photos are here.
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