Well here goes…. our very first blog, we decided to start from our last weekend away which was 2 weeks ago, weekend 22/6. When we go away I do quite a lot of research into the area we are going to and the walks we can do, we use a lot of various forums to do this, google, park4night, britstops, and some Facebook, free and cheap camping spots overnight is a good one, plus you can ask for ideas on there, I also use a lot of good paperback books for walks in different areas in Britain, we also watch other Youtubers (that are all mentioned in the links section) and I sit there with my five year agenda book that was a present from Amazon and jot stuff down, i.e. campsites, places to walk, etc.
I do like to plan our weekends, well that’s more me than Steve, he would get up and go on a Friday after work and just take to the road, I like to be a bit more organized, think it’s a woman thing, well it’s my woman thing, we try to go after work on a Friday, but we are lucky that we can get away by late afternoon, we pick places that are 1 to 2 hours away from home just for these short weekends, of course a lot further afield when we have our longer holidays, we pick an area we fancy going and the search begins.
This weekend we decided to go to the Lleyn Peninsula, as there was a walk we had wanted to do called Nant Gwrtheyn, we are not huge lovers of the big campsites with clubs, pools etc., we look for quiet sites preferably farm out of the way ones. Its personal choice i think, we have no young children to entertain, just the 2 of us, so it’s a bit easier to do quiet sites with no particular facilities for children, we don’t really look for sites with Wi-Fi or a tv signal, if it has them when we get there it’s an added bonus.
The site we choose was Glanrafon Fawr, a small site on a farm, perfect. We decided to go non hook up, as we have 2 new leisure batteries. When reading the about on the site website, it said it was in walking distance of the coastal path, but that could mean a long or short walk before even reaching the path, there was nothing to say how far it was, but it didn’t really matter, a walk is a walk.
We set off on Friday after work and thankfully the A55 was ok with no hold ups, the journey took approx. 2hrs, once you hit the Peninsula you start to hit narrow lanes and little villages with cars parked either side of the road, but it was all doable in Evie and we saw bigger motorhomes and caravans, we actually passed the site entrance as the sign was after the turning, but it was a blessing in disguise as we actually found a place to turn round which was actually the path to the coastal path, so bingo a bonus, we knew where our walk was the next day.
We turned into the site, it was tidy with lots of flower baskets around, so lots of colour, there is a sign saying enquiries, I popped to the house and was greeted by an old Jack Russel who liked his bark, a lady came to the door, she remembered my name, which was lovely, told me exactly where our pitch was and took the money. We pulled into a large flat field and pulled onto our hard standing pitch, it was by the toilet block, but there was a massive hedge so you wouldn’t know you were so close, there were a lot of touring caravans parked round the edge of the field, but it was so quiet, these caravans are parked there all the time we got to learn later as you do, we checked the toilets out and they were spotless with a washing up facility too. The field was basked in sun and as you do the kettle went on.
The site was unbelievably quiet when we arrived, but I can imagine it would be a different story in the height of summer, but as it was we got talking to a couple who had their caravan there all the time and they were saying that yes it is busier in the holidays, but surprisingly quiet except for the odd late barby. We got our chairs out and sat outside for a good while before tea.
We usually do something quick and easy for that first night, as we are both usually knackered, so I do something like burgers or bacon baps, but as we are trying to be healthy :), I did steak, new pots and a tin of peas and carrots, which took no longer than a burger. After a few wines and a couple of lagers we walked up the long weary ladder to bed.
After a lovely quiet night we woke up to silence, except for a lovely dawn morning chorus, it was the Saturday that the weather people had promised hot weather and oh boy it was hot, we had decided to do the coastal walk, so after breakfast al fresco and healthy again:), we sun creamed up, with a flask of coffee and a couple of butties, back packs on and cameras round our necks we set off.
Getting back to the site and seeing Evie was a welcome sight as it was so hot and we were exhausted and we were ready for a cold drink. After downing a can of cold coke I was in desperate need of a shower, so with towel and shampoo I headed off to the toilet block, while Steve got the chairs out. The shower was heaven, lovely and warm and a good powerful spray, there was also a toilet and a sink in the same unit and plenty of room to get dried and dressed.
Despite the hot weather, we had chicken curry for tea, it’s a quick and easy meal to do in Evie and with rice and prawn crackers, a wine and a lager went down a treat. We sat outside for a good while, moving the chairs to chase the sun, it started to cool down about nineish, so we opted to go and sit in Evie and as there was no tv signal we watched a film.
After a good night’s sleep again we woke up bright and early so we could have an unhealthy breakfast of bacon, sausage and egg butties, heaven, we didn’t have to be off the site till 11.00am, so we had plenty of time to clean Evie, we usually do her as soon as we get home after every trip, it did save us some time when we got home though.
We set off for the carpark of the second walk, which was about a forty mins away, the drive was lovely and we saw the views we hadn’t seen on the way to the site. The carpark at the start of the walk is huge, there is one at the actual visitor’s centre at Nant Gwrtheyn, but we had read that the road is so steep it is not suitable for the larger motorhomes so we opted for the top carpark. We also noticed that there are no signs for no overnight parking, so may be somewhere to stop overnight in the future. There were two walks on the information board in the carpark, both were longer than the one we had planned to do, the one we were doing I found in a book called Walks on the Lleyn Peninsula.
We set off, rucksacks on backs, well Steve did, my stuff was in his, no flask this time, just a couple of cans of coke, there is a cafe half way through the walk, so we planned on stopping there if we wanted a hot drink, we did stop there, it is a lovely cafe with good views and a good menu, we didn’t have a hot drink, just a scone, jam and cream and very nice it was too and it was needed for the walk back up the hill, apparently it’s the steepest hill in North Wales, we managed it, we took our time, the views are amazing as you climb up, it was a relief to see Evie again though.
We had a sit for a while just enjoying the view before setting off home, unpacking Evie which involves taking the rubbish, clothes, food etc. out and of course emptying the loo, then taking Evie back to the storage where we keep her.
In all it was a lovely relaxing weekend, both walks can be found in the walk section of the blog
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