Wet and windy in Wales!

25th to 27th November 2011

Riverside, Betws y Coed, a site we first visited back in June.  An excellent site in the centre (almost) of Betws y Coed.  We would have preferred Cumbria or Derbyshire but wanted somewhere with lots to do within easy walking distance and there’s not much else open at this time of year, at least not with vacancies

Friday

Arrived about 1.30 to find the site half empty, so we got a good pitch.

Had a quick look in the model railway shop on the way into the village and very nearly bought a starter set, but the cheapest one at £75 put us off.

There are plenty of pubs in Betws y Coed (none of them are particularly good, D has been spoilt by the Cumbrian real ales!) but we had a quick drink in one of them anyway and then went back to the caravan for dinner.

Back into the village after dinner and ended up drinking San Miguel in one of the hotels.

Saturday

A very half hearted attempt to get to the top of Moel Siabod (872 metres) today.  Apparently it’s a bit challenging even in good conditions with a section of prolonged scrambling to get to the summit.  And conditions were not good!

Out of the way sheep – the path to Moel Siabod

We made it to the lake at the start of the final climb, but by then the showers had turned into heavy rain and it was very, very windy!  Instead we walked around the lake, which wasn’t much fun as it was wet and boggy, and retraced our steps.  We weren’t the only ones who turned back, a group of half a dozen men did too, although we did see an elderly couple disappearing up into the mist.  We will re-visit Moel Siabod in better weather.

All the rain turned the paths into rivers, so we had to walk on the wet grass.  Very slippery and  J fell over several times and got covered in mud.  D did ask her to do it again so he could get a picture but she wouldn’t!

This was a path earlier!

First outing with our new camera, a Canon Powershot SX130, but we couldn’t really take many pictures because of the heavy rain, hence no gallery this time.  It does seem much better than the old one however.

D’s favourite pic of the day, making full use of the 12x optical zoom in glorious monochrome…

We were well and truly soaked by the time we got back to the car, despite wearing waterproof jackets and trousers.

No pub stop on way back this time, but straight back for showers and a hot drink, and a look on eBay for that train set (found it for £15 cheaper)  There may be another blog in the near future!

In the evening we headed into the village for something to eat,  but it was so busy we ended up having a fairly expensive dinner in one of the hotels, followed by drinks in another.

Sunday

Homeward bound, so of course a lovely day with clear blue sky and just a few clouds!  Still quite windy though.

D drove straight through a red light at some roadworks only to find a stream of cars coming towards us along a single carriageway!  Luckily they didn't include a caravan or a bus so we were able to get over onto the grass verge to allow them to pass, it could have been much worse.  Very embarrassing, though!

Bear Grylls on desert island discs.  He wouldn’t have given up halfway up Moel Siabod, he is the youngest person to have climbed Everest!!

Back at the storage site we discovered that we had bought the key to the toilet block home with us, so will have to post it back to them.  The new occupants of pitch no. 17 will have to cross their legs!

Coming soon…

That’s all for 2011, we wont be caravanning again until 2012.  That’s assuming it (and us) survives the winter!

We do have a couple of trips planned in December, to Cumbria and then Scotland for Twixmas, but we will be staying in hotels for the first time this year.  I wonder, will we be pining for the caravan or enjoying the luxury…?

Oh well, see you in 2012…have a great Christmas and New Year.