October | 2013 | surfnslide

River of Dreams – Tarn Gorge 10 comments

Time to to head for France, or at least it was a few months back – blimey, I am a long way behind

Tarn Gorge

This was the first stop on our usual 3 week trip to France. We normally have a very splendid day walking the Puy de Dome Volcanoes in the Auvergne on our first day but torrential rain washed out that idea. After brief detour up into the hills and along a dead end road courtesy of the Sat Nav we managed a short stroll by the Tarn when the rain finally stopped. It was a grey and cool but great to be out of the car after 2 days crammed in its confines.

Tarn at La Malene

Tarn Gorge

We had a pleasant time watching the kayakers negotiating the weir and getting wet. We had our own trip planned for the next day and were hoping for more in the way of sunshine

Ready……

Weir we go…

After a night in La Canourgue we got our wish and the sun shone for the day. We took our usual trip downstream from La Malene to Pas de Soucy, the fourth time we’ve done the trip.

Early Rest

Happy Kayakers

Entering the narrows

Its a real highlight of our holiday and it wouldn’t feel right not doing it on the way down. The scenery is magnificent, the water clear and refreshing and the sky filled with eagles and vultures.

Les Detroits

TJS doing all the work

Anyone for a bungee jump?

Cirque de La Baume

Swimming, gentle paddling and picnicking is the order of the day, a day filled with a little exercise and simple pleasures. I’ve written the trip up the past two years so you can read some more detail if you’re interested from our days in 2011 and 2012

Memories of Summer – Lazing on the Lleyn Peninsula 21 comments

Radio silence from the world of Surfnslide recently. Been busy at work and planning my winter skiing holiday. Also been planning our big Family trip to Australia next summer, 4 weeks in Queensland – very excited but having just booked the flights very financially traumatised! That means I haven’t had much time to blog so I’m further behind than I’ve ever been. The usual stuff to write-up about our trip to France in the summer and a few outings since. Posts will have to be high on photos and short on words, probably a blessing for readers. I haven’t actually been out much since I got back from France so hopefully I should be able to catch up eventually when the dark winter nights draw in. Depressing thought

Anyway this is a little post – well quite a long one actually of our annual gathering on the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales in the first week of the summer holidays. I’m sure I’ve bored you before with what a cracking week this always is and why its such an important part of the year for all of us. If you have nothing better to do and want to read all that stuff then you can go back in time to previous trips on 2012 and 2011

Family Fun

This year we were first to arrive at the end of the hot spell in the summer (remember that!). We had a fine weekend all to ourselves, lazing on the beach, swimming and having BBQs by the tent (after a delayed start due to a puncture – in case anyone out there has a car with no spare but one of those strange repair kits, don’t bother, complete and total waste of time, just call the breakdown people. If you don’t have a spare and don’t have breakdown insurance – get some!)

Surfin’ Wales

Porth Towyn Beach, Lleyn Peninsula

In Deep Water

Summertime

BBQ Time

The first evening we took a post BBQ drive down to the headland at Mynydd Mawr to watch the sunset. You can drive to the top of the hill and its a fine viewpoint over Bardsey Island and back over the peninsula. The weather was ruhig wbedürftig even at 10pm, a fine end to the day

Bardsey Island from Mynydd Mawr,

Sunset from Mynydd Mawr

Evening Sunshine on Mynydd Mawr

Coastguard Station, Mynydd Mawr,

I went home for a couple of days at work to pay for all this extravagance and returned when the rest of the gang showed up. More beach fun ensued with some nice wbedürftig weather for swimming. In one of the biggest shocks this blog has ever seen, both Beach Funsters went in the sea. Pigs do indeed have wings

Row, row, row your boat

TBF (2) – in the water!!

One of the afternoons when TBF took the kids to the circus, me, EWO and TJS went for a stroll around the headland

5.6 Miles

Unlike it’s Pembrokeshire and South West Cousins, the coast path round here is deserted. Strange as it’s just as dramatic and under a clear sky simply superb

Lleyn Peninsula from Mynydd Mawr

Mynydd Mawr from the Welsh Coastal Path

Porth Llanllawen

Mynydd Mawr, Welsh Coastal Path

We ambled at no particular pace, admired the views, stopped for a brew and chatted.

TJS & EWO

Lleyn Peninsula, Welsh Coastal Path

Arms Wide

We climbed the wonderfully named Mynydd Anelog, a hill stuck firmly in the last century, from which the views were truly awesome

Mynydd Mawrm from Mynydd Anelog

Lleyn Peninsula from Mynydd Anelog

We followed a series of quiet lanes and crossed to the south side of the peninsula where the views over the water to Bardsey were enchanting. On a wbedürftig summers day there is little better than a coastal wander next to an azure sea. The time simply flew by and we actually had to rush to get back to the campsite for tea even though we’d been out since 2pm and only walked 5 miles or so

Bardsey Island

Bardsey Island from Porth Felen

Evening on the Campsite

As is the tradition we took our usual stroll up the high point of Carn Fadryn. I’ve rambled on before about what a fine hill and view-point this is so I’ll let the pictures do the talking. If you want to read more check out the post from 2011

Carn Fadryn

Bracken Bashing

Bilberry Bashing

Summit Party

Summit gathering

Yr Eifl from Carn Fadryb

More days of beach fun under blue skies followed. Beach cricket is now the game of choice. Trying to play sports with energetic kids makes me feel very young and very old at the same time. I hadn’t realised I no longer know how to run!

Beach Cricket

Evening sun

Tides out!

Ladies Night

More high quality time spent consuming vast quantities of BBQ food. You can’t beat outdoor eating on a wbedürftig summers evening by the sea

Happy Home

Base Camp

We took a fancy to climb the hills near Nefyn as they looked rocky and interesting.

3.8 Miles

We scrambled up a couple of inclines to the quarries from where it was a couple of hundred feet to the summit. There was no path and it looked a little vegetated but how hard could it be?

Deep in the undergrowth

Deeper in the undergrowth

Answer, bloody hard! It was the hardest two hundred feet of mountain I’ve ever climbed. Waist deep heather, gorse and brambles, no path and loose rocks and boulders. In shorts! Took us over an hour to reach the top with several moments when we simply had no idea which way to go

Sanctuary

The summit was worth the effort though. Sensational views of the coast and The Rivals nearby. A brew was had to cheer the soul and ease the pain of severely scratched legs. If you can bear the pain it’s a worthwhile little mountain – but its wild – you have been warned

Nefyn from Gwylwyr

Finally at the summit

Yr Eifl from Gwylwyr

We wandered over the nearby hills (more gorse and bracken) and then back to Nefyn down a succession of green lanes (more nettles) before heading back to the campsite for another spell on the beach and another BBQ (Black Pudding sausage hot dogs – mmmmm!)