>Saturday July 29th 2006.

Set off to Wales at 9.20am, weather was good to start with but once we got nearer to Wales you could see the clouds building up and by the time we got there it was raining.
The journey which was just over 200 miles should have only taken at the most 3 hours but we had 3 stops just to have a drink and stretch our legs and then there was a few traffic jams one bad one in particular where 3 cars had a slight bump with each other, nothing serious it looked like one had stopped and the two behind it hadn’t noticed so had shunted each other, no one was hurt but it made the traffic behind want to come into our lane so slowed things down, what should have taken 3 hours took us 6 hours to get there!
The cottage was quite cosy it’s an old coach house with original stonewalls even though it had beams that run through the ceiling I don’t think they were the original ones.
There were 3 electric heaters in the living room but with the weather being so warm we only used one just to take the chill off in the evening.
After we’d put our things away we thought we’d take a look round the village before tea, which was only a 10-minute walk away on the way there you have to cross over a mini suspension bridge made just for people walking, it doesn’t look to bad as you approach it but once on it as you walk across it moves!! When you get off the other side your legs still feel like they are wobbly..lol..
Didn’t sleep too badly considering it was a strange bed, could have been because I was shattered after all that driving..
I am adding some photos to this diary of the scenery from each day of the places we visit, these first ones are of the inside of the cottage also of the view as you look out of the door the last one is of the arch on the outside of the cottage where the original doorway was when it was an old coach house.

Sunday July 30th 2006.

We had planned on going on a walk round a lake which according to the map took about 2 hours, when we got there the dark clouds had begun to gather over the mountains and as we set off it started to look very dark and dismal!
We hadn’t taken any coats with us as it was quite warm but we did have the sense to take umbrellas, which as it turned out was the best idea we’d had..
At the beginning of the walk there was a sweet little waterfall tumbling over some rocks we had to cross a small wooden bridge then it got a little steeper but wasn’t too bad as there was a rocky path to follow as we began the climb it began to spit about with rain until it was enough to get out the umbrellas we only managed to take a few photos at the beginning of the walk because we didn’t want to get our cameras wet so they went into the backpacks which we were pleased we had brought because soon after we’d put them away it “chucked” it down, our legs got a bit wet but we weren’t bothered we did notice though we were the only ones on the walk with umbrellas everyone else had been sensible and had waterproof jackets on…:D we thought we’d carry on a bit further hoping the rain would stop and managed to get to the lake but looking at the sky and the heavy mist that was hanging over the mountains we didn’t think it would stop long enough for us to go around the lake without getting a total soaking. So we headed back to the car thinking we’d have a drink and give the weather a few minutes to see if it would stop raining, then we’d try again. No such luck even after giving it about 10 minutes it was still raining so we thought we’d head off towards the blue sky that we could see in the distance.
We had planned for another day to go to a place on Anglesey called Puffin Island, you can’t actually go onto the island but there’s a lighthouse that is supposed to be great for taking photos so we changed plans and went there, so pleased we did it was beautiful with gorgeous sunshine and a lovely warm breeze that helped keep the heat down, there was quite a few people there, families that were tiddling with fishing nets and hand lines there was also the serious fishermen with proper fishing gear then there were the ones that were just sat around enjoying the scenery and weather and those who were more energetic as you looked in the distance you could see them walking along the cliff tops. Took loads of photos.
On the way home we thought we would visit an old windmill so programmed the SatNav to take us there, don’t trust them! No problem taking us there but what roads, narrow, windy and steep! When I say narrow I mean only enough for one car had to back up once to a gate way so that a car could get passed, then when we got there the windmill looked quite new and didn’t have any sails!
Once we got back to the cottage, which was around 4.30pm we walked into the village and got fish and chips for tea.

Monday 31st July 2006.

As I write this it’s pouring it down and looking at the weather forecast on the TV it says that it’s going to be a wet morning and fairing up a little in the afternoon, as of now we don’t know what we’re doing, will get back to you later and let you know.

It faired up enough for us to decide to go to the village and walk round the stream/river that goes partly around then through the village, in the booklet it said there were Kingfishers, dippers and herons along the river bank as we set off it was still spitting about but wasn’t too bad but once we reached the river bank it started to get heavier, we managed to see a heron and a dipper but the kingfishers kept out of sight, we were going to take our cameras but pleased we didn’t because the rain got so heavy we had to run and shelter under a big tree for about 10 minutes when we looked towards our right you could see the rain sweeping across in front of the mountains it looked quite spectacular, once it had slowed down we again set off along the path, in places it was quite muddy and the puddles were that big they were difficult to cross without stepping into them also growing along side of the path were some wild pink and white snap dragons that were at least 4 feet tall with them were some strong smelling plants that smelt like onions I guess they could have been wild onions growing, it’s strange because this afternoon when we went out in the car we could smell these onions as we drove along. When we reached the village it had stopped raining and we popped into one or two shops in one I managed to buy a welsh tea towel as a gift for our supervisor at work and also a couple of thick welsh sweaters for my hubby to wear for work in winter. We also called into a bakery shop and bought some “goodies” for our lunch.
After lunch we drove about 30 miles to an aqueduct in Froncysylite but was a little disappointed as it wasn’t as big as we expected but managed to get a few pics before it started to rain again! On the way there we went through a village called Llangollen it kept advertising horse drawn boats so we thought we’d take a look, it was a pretty little village and as usual had to climb to get to the canal where the boats and horses were our timing was out as it was the horses break time and they were munching on some food in their stables so didn’t get to see them actually towing a boat along the canal. Also on the way there Claire noticed we passed an organic shop that had bison in a field, I’ve always been a fan of bison from being little but never seen one in real life so we planned to call on the way back but when we did it was as I said raining so the bison were no where to be seen we had a look round the shop but everything was expensive so didn’t bother to buy anything.
We were also going to stop off at the Riverside Continental Chocolate House where they make handmade chocolates but when we got there it had closed for the day

So back to the cottage for our tea of boiled eggs and toasted soldiers made from the bread we had bought earlier from the bakery shop.. Hmmm yummy.

Tuesday 1st August 2006.

Rain forecasted yet again for this morning with it clearing during the afternoon! We really picked the wrong week weather wise.
We’re heading southward today in the car ending up on a walk at a place called Dolgellau, the rain isn’t supposed to reach there. More later…

I was wrong the rain did reach there.. . It was only showers but when they came they were very heavy and sometimes came without warning, the walk we went on was called Precipice walk so you can imagine what it was like, it was 3 miles long, at the beginning of the walk we went through trees with a slight up hill climb but when you reached the walk proper most of the time there was a steep hill with ferns, wild flowers and purple Welsh heather growing on it with sheep dotted here and there grazing on our left with a sheer drop on our right with spectacular views!
If you had the nerve to look down......You would see that the houses looked so small they looked like the ones you use in Monopoly the cars that were going along the roads along the bottom were like dots that moved, as we followed the path it took us around the steep hill and as it did in places it became quite windy so when the showers came it wasn’t pleasant and we tried to shelter under our umbrellas as best we could the wind was that bad at times it kept turning my umbrella inside out and by the end of the walk it was broken, even though it sounds like I’m complaining a lot about this walk it really was enjoyable and we’re pleased we went on it, in total it took us 2 hours from start to finish when we got back to the car we had our packed lunch then went into Dolgellau to have a look round the shops there, where I managed to buy a new umbrella…D. By the way it had now stopped raining and didn’t see any more all afternoon in fact we actually caught a glimpse of the sun and blue sky at times..
We had a look at the map and decided to go along the coast road back to the cottage just after we left Dolgellau we went over a sweet and quaint wooden toll bridge over a very small river the toll cost only 50p.
We went through Harlech and stopped to take some pics of the castle there.
At one point along the way to the cottage there was a narrow humped back bridge where in theory it was only wide enough for one car, I waited for a car to come across then I went luckily for me that I did as the car that was coming towards me wasn’t going to stop for anything so the car that was following me and that car met on the bridge as I looked in my rear view mirror all I could see were two cars side by side that looked like they were jammed against each other, they weren’t of course but it was a while before I saw the car that was following me appear in my mirror again. There were some great views along the way of the sea and sand with the mountains in the back ground, Claire managed to take some pics through the window as we were moving but there wasn’t anywhere for me to pull over so that I could take any.
We arrived back at the cottage at around 4.30pm.. We seem to be getting the timing just right by getting back just in time for tea..lol.

Wednesday 2nd August 2006.

When we stayed in Wales last time there was a derelict cottage next door but by the end of the holiday people arrived that looked like they were going to renovate it so today we are going back there just to see what they did as it looked like a great project to work on. We’re also going back onto Anglesey and over to Holyhead. The weather? Supposed to be getting better today, but we’ll see, taking my new umbrella along for the ride…lol.. Will let you know later what happens.

Total change of plan, we both were feeling really tired after yesterday so decided not to go to Holyhead, went to see the derelict cottage and they have done a great renovation and made it into two holiday cottages afterwards went to Bala lake thinking there would be some short walks there but there wasn’t any at all so sat looking over the water for a while and had lunch then went onto Conwy falls which weren’t as over flowing as they should be with it been dry over the last few weeks.
While we were at Bala we saw something quite amazing there was this yellow/golden disc in the sky that warmed things and made the mountains and surrounding area light up like you’d turned a light on, people kept referring to it as the sun!!! It wasn’t with us for long less then an hour but there is talk that we’ll see it for longer tomorrow.
We got back to the cottage quite early about 3pm so we made a drink and sat quietly reading for an hour then walked into the village to buy some groceries.

Thursday 3rd August 2006.

What a fantastic day weather wise sun all day! Today we went to the bottom of Mount Snowdon along one of walks around the lakes. (We climbed it last time we were here so decided not to this time) I imagined it being a leisurely walk but I was kidding myself it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. it started off on a plain simple track with a gentle slope upwards as we progressed it levelled off for a little while then began to get steeper with the simple track turning into a rocky uphill climb. When we got to the last lake (there was three in all) we were at the bottom of Snowdon where several people carried on up the even steeper, even rockier path to join the main path up to the summit. We had several rests on the way there and took loads of pics, on the way back we rested a little longer and had lunch. The views both on the way up and down were fantastic so the effort of the climb had been worth it, sheep as usual were in abundance and there were small waterfalls here and there with purple welsh heather and what looked like yellow gorse in bloom growing along the route and higher up on the mountain sides. About 10 minutes after we got going again the most amazing thing happened, we kept passing lots of people on the way up as we were coming down as we approached a couple of men they had a dog with them. Claire commented on what sort it was but I wasn’t sure as we were passing each other we said the usual hello as we had been to almost everyone we passed (isn’t it weird, you’ll say hello to complete strangers in a situation like that but if you’d passed them in the street you’d both ignore each other!) As everyone said hello we all realised we knew each other!! What are the chances of that meeting someone you know half way up a mountain in Wales?
It was someone we knew from work even more of a coincidence was that he and his brother were staying 8 miles in a cottage from where we were staying…. Wow. With knowing them I was also able to ask what sort of dog they had and I think they said it was a Bracco some sort of Italian hunting dog, he was gorgeous.
In total from setting off from the car park to getting back to the car it took 4 hours.
On the journey back to the cottage we passed a Fudge house where they make handmade fudge in all different flavours (double chocolate, banana, chocolate and banana, maple syrup, orange, orange and chocolate, fruit and nut, and others that I can’t remember) so with not being able to get some of the handmade chocolates the other day we thought we’d try some fudge, Claire got the orange and choc and I got the banana and choc, it’s very good but you can only eat a little at once as it’s very sweet and sickly, we also found it quite expensive 100g for £1.80 and when the girl weighted it out that gave us just one piece each!!
We got back to the cottage about 2pm so we had a drink and a rest for half an hour then went for a walk along the river/stream the one we went along on Monday when it rained and couldn’t take our cameras, today however we could and managed to get some pics of a heron also of the river and of some ladies playing golf, sadly didn’t see any Kingfishers. It’s been a really good day today, enjoyed it very much.

Friday 4th August 2006.

Today was going to be a non driving day but we’ve decided to go home instead of tomorrow,
When we got up this morning the sky was overcast and the weatherman had said it was going to be a drizzle and overcast day and seeing that we’d been to most of the places that we’d planned on going, we didn’t see any point in hanging around just to spend the day indoors.
We gave the cottage a really good clean, packed up the car with luggage, handed the keys in to the owner and set off home at about 9.10am, after a few breaks to stretch our legs and to stop off at a local shop near where we lived it took 5 hours to actually arrive home.
In all it was a great holiday despite the weather and now we have going back to work on Monday to look forward to.