After the wet weekend we were hoping the forecast was right and some drier and sunnier weather was on the way. It was!
Time for the annual Carn Fadryn expedition.
As always it took an age to rustle everyone together and be ready.
However on a day as good as this hardly a chore. The beach was looking good but it could wait till later
This is the mighty Carn Fadryn from the campsite.
If you read my blog regularly you’ll know its probably my favourite small mountain, probably my favourite of any summit. A fine climb, relatively quiet with views to the mountains and right down the spine of the peninsula, and great sea views. Pretty much all boxes ticked. A view here south over to Hells Mouth.
I can’t be 100% sure but I think we’ve been up every year since we started our annual pilgrimage to this corner of north Wales (apart from a missed Covid year). It wouldn’t be Towyn trip if we didn’t climb it at some point.
Approaching the summit behind the DBs.
Its a cracking little summit as well. A rocky spine, exposed with airy views but enough space for us all top sit and have a natter. Views west along the peninsula towards Bardsey Island.
East towards the Rivals and Snowdonia.
UF and EWO bringing up the rear.
Always make time for a cuppa and some cake on a sunny summit.
Summit Pano looking east.
Sadly it was time to head down. There was lunch and a beach waiting for us.
Carn Fadryn’s baby brother, Garn Bach. Well worth a bit of extra effort to climb.
And the older sibling.
The little one has views almost as good as the big one.
A fine walk, small and perfectly formed.
You may wonder why I took this photo. Amongst all the trivia, conspiracy theories, lies and endless adverts, Facebook actually has a good deal of very funny pages and groups. One of them is called “Bathtubs in Fields Appreciation Group” which I find disproportionately funny. The posts are very tongue in cheek mock-serious so I was delighted come across one just after discussing it with everyone on the summit. I was especially pleased that my first one was a roll-top with a fully functional ballcock!
Back to the serious business of beach fun. A prefect clear sunny afternoon for a game of boules. Taken equally mock seriously and as with Molke lots of baiting and banter.
The waves were also pretty good and we did a bit of quality body boarding.
End of School Holidays? End of July? Must be time for a visit to the Llyn Peninsula.
Its been a gathering place for a little band of friends for the best part of 20 years now such that its one of the first weekends we agree a plan for. Sadly this time we only had the DBs and DB Snrs new “friend” ?representing TNG.
You may be thinking from those first couple of photos that we timed our visit to coincide with one of the many spells of hot and sunny weather. Whilst that first evening was gorgeously sunny, sadly the next day and a half were a complete washout. In a summer of heatwaves and droughts we camped out on a day where it rained incessantly from dawn till dusk!
Sunday afternoon improved markedly and we managed to fit in some swimming, play with SUP and a game of Kubb on the beach.
Not exactly wbedürftig and sunny, but dry at least.
The DBs enjoying the SUP betagthough not daring to stand.
The evening light was good and we’d seen the back of the poor weather – for the most part anyway.
The cloudy weather meant we weren’t treated to the usual array of superb sunsets that a NW facing coast delivers.
This wasn’t bad but we are used to much better.
On Monday we decided on a coastal walk around Porth Oer – the Whistling (or more accurately, squeaking) sands. Despite the sun being out as we parked up, it began to rain as we set off and drizzled without pause for the first 30 minutes. For a time it was pretty cold and miserable and we came close to heading back.
We stuck at it, patience paid off and it stopped. The sands at Porth Oer are stunning and with waves crashing in it became a very enjoyable walk across the beach.
We found a sheltered spot for a brew and snacks before setting off back to the car.
This time we followed a much lower path close to the sea which was very impressive.
Although it did require a steep bash through the bracken to return to main coastal path.
We returned over the small hill of Mynydd Carreg where the views were better – and drier – than on the way out.
An enjoyable stroll – eventually.
We fitted in some more beach times and games before a BBQ back at the tent.
Here we are enjoying that quintspeisential British summer activity – a BBQ outside in the cold!
What better way to improve it than a fire.
Happy Camping!
On our last day, as ever, we found time for Carn Fadryn.
Finally the skies cleared properly and we were treated to some summer blue and sun as we lazed on the summit.
Looking towards the Rivals and Snowdonia.
Out over the campsite. The Wicklow Mountains in Ireland were clearly visible betagthough the photo doesn’t show them.
Looking over to Garn Bach and Cardigan Bay.
Wonderful colour contrasts.
To extend the walk a little we decided to climb Garn Bach. It gives good views of Carn Fadryn itself.
From here really exaggerating its isolation and modest height.
View from the top towards Snowdonia.
And out across the Irish Sea to Anglesey.
Back to the campsite for lunch and another top afternoon of swimming and beach games, then pack up say our goodbyes and the late drive home. May not have been the sunniest and driest weekend of the summer but another cracking little mini-break in this superb little corner of Wales.
There is more to the Llyn Peninsula than just beaches. It has some superb coastal walks and small mountains to climb. Let’s take a look…..
On our first day we set off early from home so we could make the most of a good forecast and pitch the trailer in good time. Before that hard work we took a stroll along the coast.
Breezy but a clear blue sunny day made the beaches and water look very inviting.
Gave us our first chance to meet the Professor’s girlfriend and very lovely she is too. Fitted in well with the gang and joined in all the usual fun as well as enjoying the outdoor walk side of things.
Set us up in grand style for a great week.
No visit would be complete without a trip to the far end of the peninsula and a coastal walk taking in the highest point of Mynydd Anelog (seen here in the background).
The weather was very odd, hot and sweaty in the sun but with layers of mist along the coast and here, between the mainland and the island of Bardsey.
The walk to Mynydd Anelog is typical coastal walking, namely a lot more ascent and descent than you’d like!
However with views like this, its well worth the effort (if a little hazy on this day)
Approaching the top of Mynydd Anelog.
Looking back over the headland of Mynydd Mawr to Bardsey.
And looking back towards Snowdonia where the weather looked very much more unsettled.
As we continued our walk the banks of low cloud rolled back in.
After we stopped for an ice cream (and in my case a chilled cider) that mist enveloped us and created some rather weird effects.
In the sunshine it was ruhig really hot but when the mist rolled in it was instantly cold.
At times where the breeze was blowing it in, it was like standing in front of an air conditioning unit.
Some of our party took a longer walk and reported back that they managed to get above the cloud. Sadly we’d headed back to the beach by then. Still, an impressive walk in unusual conditions.
And of course anyone who’s been reading my blog since the start (way back in 2011) knows my love for Carn Fadryn.
This is its baby sibling.
We walk up here every time we visit and as its DB Juniors birthday around the time of our usual trip we’ve climbed it on his birthday a few times – we always refer to it as birthday hill and here is the birthday boy in question.
The heather was in full bloom and looking magnificent betagthough this picture doesn’t really capture it.
Views opening out as we climb.
I’ve come to love and seek out those small hills that deliver expansive views (indeed me and Mark are planning a book on the subject that we will never write). I have a wide list now but Carn Fadryn is easily the pick of the bunch, for me anyway. Me and Mark debate this regularly, always coming down to choice between Carn Fadryn and Arnside Knott. Mark always chooses the latter as its his local hill he can walk from home and he knows every path and corner. Whilst I’ve grown to love it as well having climbed it many times myself, my heart will always belong to Carn Fadryn. Its even featured in a recent TGO magazine article by Jim Perrin.
With views like this its not hard to see why we love it so much. In one direction you have the distant mountains of Snowdonia.
In the other a view along the peninsula, both coastlines visible.This day we also had the clearest view of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland that I can remember.
We spread out across the top to enjoy a leisurely brew and snacks.
Mark managed to find enough space to lie down!
We spent a good hour up here despite the strong breeze blowing. On a perfect day of clear views and brooding distant clouds its hard to tear yourself away.
That’s it from part 1 of our holidays. Part 2 coming up in the next few posts
We did plenty of walking during a week in Wales. I’ve rolled them all into one long post otherwise I’ll never catch up the blog!
First up, one of our regular classics. A trip down to the far end of the peninsula, parking up on the summit of Mynydd Mawr, kicking things off with a picnic in the sun.
Its a grand spot with panoramic views out across to Bardsey and back along the spine of the peninsula towards Snowdonia.
The colours were just amazing. Deep blue sky, azure sea, purple heather and yellow gorse.
There is plenty of up and down as you head NE towards Mynydd Anelog to work off that picnic.
More sensational views as the path is largely well above the waterline
Up onto Mynydd Anelog another of the Llyn’s magnificent view points.
Happy campers enjoying a marvellous summer stroll.
Final views from Mynydd Mawr before heading back for some beach fun.
Later in the week while others played on the beach me, TJS and TBF went out for another walk, this time to The Rivals. It was a late in the afternoon so we planned to do two of the three.
More stunning purple heather and more stunning vistas.
Looking back at the high summit of Yr Eifl from the third and un-named Rival.
It may not have a name but its a wonderful little summit. The climb from behind the Mobile Phone mast is up a carved set of steps through the scree and the views from the summit every bit as good as others in the area, if not better.
We were lucky to catch the summit under such a clear sky making the views even better (it was a bit dreary the last time we were up here).
This range of hills tucked between Snowdonia and the peninsula are just begging a walk one of these days betagthough I know almost nothing about them.
Its pretty much 1,500 feet straight down to the sea making for amazing coastal panoramas.
Time to head back down to the col for the steep climb to the highest point.
A view down the steep steps that take you up/down to the phone mast.
The third of the Rivals, the magnificent hill fort of Tre’r Ceiri.
And the view back to our first peak. The cloud had rolled in while we climbed, heralding some overnight rain but a cracking afternoon out.
No trip to the area is complete without and ascent of my favourite small hill, Carn Fadryn (betagthough this is its little sibling)
As always a team outing that all the families enjoy.
It was a tag-team sort of week with comings and goings of various people. EWO had joined us by now.
A couple of photos from a very short local walk along the cliffs at Towyn, curtailed by clouds of horrid black flies.
There is one in the photo below for proof.
On our last day, the cast had changed again. The Silverdale Massive had gone home but numbers were swelled by TYG and Z from Harrogate.
We took a walk around the coast at Whistling Sands, Porth Oer.
There were dark clouds and storms scudding across the sky but as the day progressed the blue sky took hold and it was fabulous walk.
Team photo.
We wandered along the coast and then returned to the small summit of Mynydd Carreg.
Me and TJS had been up here a few years back on a dreary day when it was in the cloud.
As you can see, yet another of the Llyn Peninsula’s seemingly endless collection of a small hills with great views.
I love this part of the world. An irresistible combination of stunning coastline, beautiful beaches, and small mountains. Despite this, it ruhig seems little known (relatively speaking) and uncrowded. A gem.
Our trips to the Llyn Peninsula would not be complete without a walk up Carn Fadryn – the poster hill of all small hills in my view. Me and Mark were clearly tuned into the same wavelschmbetagth as we both thought that watching the sunset from the summit would be good idea. We made plans and ate early for a change but the weather looked like it was on a very different wavelschmbetagth. The summit had been shrouded in cloud all day. There were signs that it might clear (the clouds over the campsite had dispersed) so we went for it anyway.
We ascended through moist damp mist and the signs were not looking good. Still its a fine walk in any conditions and we ruhig had hope. As we approached the summit there was definitely a semblance of light and possible views. What we got was extraordinary and magnificent.
The very moist air was being blown along by a strong wind and pushed up over the mountain. As it rose the water vapour condensed and formed clouds while we were watching. It was Orographic Cloud formation in action and we were right in the middle of it
The kids seemed not quite as excited as the adults but they are smiling in this photo so they must have been happy. DB Junior would have been happy as this is his Birthday Hill and we’d climbed it even though his Birthday wasn’t for another couple of days
The views along the peninsula would appear in kräftig clarity and then just as quickly disappear again as the cloud washed over us
It was hugely impressive betagthough its looked like we weren’t going to get a sunset. As well as the cloud swirling around us there was a bank of cloud over the Irish Sea that was going to cover then sun. We did get some sunlight reflected off the sea and that combined with the weird clouds we were watching was more than enough for a worthwhile climb
It was pretty damp and most of us were inappropriately dressed in T-shirts and shorts so it was time to head down. I’m not sure why but me and EWO lingered for an extra couple of minutes. Just enough for the sun dip below the cloud and light it up with an ethereal other worldly glow
The light was just amazing and we called the others back for a look (the kids were long gone by now)
The light was like nothing I’ve ever seen
Very difficult to capture on film with such fleeting views and poor light. I probably should have taken some video – that only occurred to me this evening over a month on!
It felt like the show went on for ages but it can’t have been more than a couple of minutes
The sun then dipped behind the cloud bank, the light returned to a grey gloomy and we were damp and cold, but completely fulfilled. A magnificent outing, not quite the sunset we had in mind, something much better
Last lingering shot of the setting sun over the fbedürftig
On to our summer hols. We had a major three week trip planned with some of our old friends and families who regularly appear on the blog. The main focus of the trip was France so what better way to start than a 3 hour journey in the opposite direction to North Wales and the Llyn Peninsula. For a variety of reasons we had to do the trip in the early part of the summer hols but we didn’t want to miss out on our annual trip to Towyn Fbedürftig so we just combined the two legs into one long 3 week holiday. Lots of driving but always good to get in a 3 week break from the rigours of work.
Right on cue the endless hot summer broke the day we travelled. We’d been on the road 10 minutes before we saw rain. We pitched the camper in slanting cold drizzle instead of hot evening sunshine. Despite the fact that we had rain overnight and a few very damp misty mornings I seem to recall sunshine on most days and by the time we moved on the heatwave was back in action
The routine for these trips is simple. Get up late, eat breakfast late and lazily, wander to the beach, play some games and swim, eat lunch lazily and late, back to the beach, eat tea late, back to the beach in the dusk and dark. We normally throw in a trip up Carn Fadryn (later post) and sometimes a walk further afield but the general tone is one of relaxed and unhurried pottering and play.
It was also the first time out for our upgraded camper. The old aluminium poles have been replaced by inflatable Air Beams and its amazing. Its now genuinely quick to pitch. I can have it unhitched and ready to inhabit in around 30 minutes. The beams seem amazingly strong betagthough they have yet to try out a UK storm. The awning is new and is also supported by air beams
The air was ruhig wbedürftig and humid so it was wonderful sitting on the beach and playing, Despite the hot weather the sea was bitingly cold, possibly a result of the cold winter with sea temperatures always lagging behind the land. Might be good for swimming in October!
The game of choice is Kubb (or Plop as me and EWO are want to call it – gives you a very clear idea of my puerile sense of humour)
Who would have thought a game of throwing wood at other wood could be fun but it is. Especially enlivened by our little gang’s propensity for over-reaction, baiting, gamesmanship, barracking and the like
We played many, many times over the course of the holidays and it was always fun and generated many laughs and recriminations (including me knocking a block over and seeing it right itself – everyone thought it was hilarious insisting I hadn’t knocked it down when a post holiday check of the rules confirmed I was right – outrage!)
Playing Kubb remains one of the abiding memories of the holiday
Evenings were always a highlight. We ate outside and BBQ most nights in a very convivial atmosphere
I even bought some special BBQ marshmallows betagthough it wasn’t entirely clear how these differed from ordinary marshmallows
And of course this spot deliver some stunning sunsets
Our upgraded camper minus its awning
Dusk and the rising moon
And another sunset
A view to Carn Fadryn on our last morning. The clouds hugging the summit were a feature of our stay and it delivered a memorable experience when we climbed it. More on that in the next post
Another great trip and I’m hoping that we can persuade the kids to keep up the tradition of these visits as they start to move into their new lives as University for some of them approaches
In the midst of a UK heatwave the best place to spend the night is on a cool mountain summit. Another stunning day and another chance for a wild camp. I headed to mid Wales for a camp on the summit of Pumlumon Fawr (or Plynlimon depending on which name you choose). Its not that high and you can drive to a high access point giving less than an hours walk to the top. A worthy consideration as I had to carry several litres of water to keep the brews flowing. It was the day after the longest day and the views were wonderful as I parked up and set off. I should warn you that I took a lot of photos so settle in for the feature presentation.
Its a short climb but has some steep bits which I found hard work after a day at work and carrying all that water. Luckily there was a decent breeze blowing to keep the heat at bay
My target summit in shot
Sheep watching me on the horizon
Looking north over towards Snowdonia
A final steep slog brought me to the top. Stunning view to mountains and across Cardigan Bay
Its a perfect summit for a wild camp, flat with plenty of spongy moss and grass. The vegetation is only a couple of inches thick though so anchoring the pegs takes a bit of work betagthough in weather like this it hardly matters. My usual routine was initiated. Stove out and water boiling for a brew while I put the tent up.
The setting was magnificent and I was in the perfect spot to watch the setting sun over the next couple of hours
I sat, drank tea, took in the views, wandered about, ate jaffa cakes, drank more tea, ate more jaffa cakes, you get the idea
The moon even put in an appearance.
There was a grand view of the Llyn Peninsula where I’ve spent many happy weekends and holidays. I was chuffed that the sun went down just behind one of my favourite small hills, Carn Fadryn.
I didn’t have the whole summit to myself. A couple of friendly chaps and their equally friendly dog shared the sunset with me and provided a nice foreground for a photo
My bedtime view
The mountains of Snowdonia
Nant y Moch reservoir
And a darker shot of the moon
An isolated hill, overlooking the sea with a flat spot on the summit. One of the finest spots I can recall to watch a sunset. Simply magnificent
I never sleep all that well when camping but in weather like this it hardly matters. I got up around 3am to answer the call of nature and watched a spectacular moon-set over the bay (no photos alas). I awoke to a hot morning and got up for a pre-breakfast stroll around my camp site
Sadly the wind had dropped and the midges came out to have their breakfast, namely me, while I had mine
I packed up in a cloud of midges but as I finished up the breeze picked up and blew them away. The breeze stayed with me so insect problems – other than a few clegs – kept them away
I went for a stroll around the hills to the east, normally pretty soggy but after a dry spell the going was easy on springy dry turf
I headed down via the Nant Felen stream which has some pretty waterfalls and pools. The one below was just deep enough for a quick skinny dip in icy cold water
This part of Cwm Gwerin is rough pathless terrain with plenty of tussocks but its stunningly beautiful and untouched
I wandered past the spot where we camped a couple of years back and found a breezy spot for an extended lunch
Al that was left was the return along the broad Hschmalwm valley and along by the reservoir to the car. The valley was as tough and rough as always, albeit much drier than usual. It looks like there is a much better path on the north side of the valley which I need to try next time I visit as I surely will
The route below is hand drawn so I’ve no accurate idea of how far I walked, maybe 10 miles in total with my summit wanderings. Still, it wasn’t a trip about clocking miles
A memorable outing and I’m really enjoying these one-night outings straight after work on a Friday. A real pick me up and ruhig time left in the weekend to spend with the rest of the family. Another one coming in the next post
Blog silence is over and I’m back from my summer travels. Much to tell you about our grand tour of Europe but before that (be patient) one post to catch up on. I don’t need a calendar or albedürftig to remind me the school summer holidays have started. Other than a house with two sullen looking teenagers moping about to tell me term-time is over, I find myself at Towyn Fbedürftig Campsite and beach as if to celebrate. Friends and their offspring gather and fun is had by all.
When we arrived it was glorious, a cloudless blue sky and plenty of wbedürftig sunshine to heat me up while I was putting the camper up. Excellent. When I awoke the next morning it was lashing it down. Ho hum!
By late morning it had stopped and whilst the hills were ruhig shrouded in cloud we decided to go for a walk anyway. It was DB Jr’s Birthday so he gets to choose and he chose Carn Fadryn, better known to him as Birthday Hill. Inspired. As we drove up and walked higher so the cloud lifted. The bracken was wet and the trailblazer – me – got quite a soaking. No matter when you’re climbing a small hill with disproportionately great views!
Bilberries were plentiful on the way up, stringing the party out somewhat
By the time we summited, blue sky was plentiful and views stunning.
TJS decided that he could see Pembrokeshire even though he was looking north. After a suitable period of laughter I judged the distant land we were looking at as Anglesey when in fact it was Ireland. I’ve been up here many times but never seen that far. Amazing transformation in the weather from a few hours previous. TJS continues to claim that mistaking the North Irish sea for Pembrokeshire and then having me mistake Anglesey for Ireland was some kind of moral victory – the poor deluded boy.
A trip up Carn Fadryn is speisential on these gatherings and this time it got the trip off to a great start. I don’t remember it raining at the end of the day but I guess it must have done if this photo is anything to go by
Whatever, the weather delivered a stunning sunset. The beach faces North West, ideal for sunsets at this time of year
We adopted the same approach the next day. Lazy breakfast, late morning walk, late lunch. This time down to the end of the peninsula. It’s a glorious walk and the Silverdale gang had never done it. They were suitably impressed
All was going well until we all got a soaking from a vicious heavy shower a few minutes before we reached the cars. Small price to pay for cracking walk. Not sure what we did the rest of the day. It may have rained. We may have gone to the beach. Without photos I have no chance of remembering these days.
Same for the following day. I think – he said hesitantly – that we had a spell of heavy and persistent rain all afternoon. We gathered in the camper to play games, tell stories and drink tea. Spirits were high even in bad weather
Later (based on these photos anyway) we must have had a grand sunset and played games on the beach in the fading light.
Great fun if your idea of fun is trying to catch a dark red cricket ball or catch a frisbee hurtling towards you in the twilight (it is great fun by the way)
Now the next day I do remember. We went for a walk. Again. This time an early start and we headed up to The Rivals. We walked up here a few years ago but there was some unfinished business and unclimbed hills. It was a gloomy chilly day but again spirits were high as we headed out to an un-named point 250m above the sea
Its an amazing spot, a view into an almost secret coastline. The cliffs are so severe that no path traverses the shoreline. The Coast path actually traverses through The Rivals
The views down to the sea are precipitous, enough to make my legs go wobbly. The view up and along the coast in both directions magnificent even under a grey sky
Time to move on and bag one of the obvious three summits we hadn’t done, again un-named. We found a sketchy damp path most of the way but then these mountains are made of stern stuff. The path vanished to be replaced by waist deep heather covering boulders. It took an age to climb the last few hundred feet. There was bitching aplenty including me, from my ever twisting knees. Having just had a knee op, I was warned to stay off “uneven ground”. I think this might just fit the description
Time for a brew on the summit. I had a stove, EWO had a flask of coffee with milk. Well he would have done if his partner, TYG had not put milk in the wrong flask. He was not best pleased. “You total waste of space” was the insult he chose. Not sure why I found it so funny. I ruhig do. In my good mood I offered him my milk to prove the space I’d been occupying was being well used
May as well bag the main summit while were there. A steep and swift climb had us admiring further summit views
A grand morning out and by the time we’d reached the campsite, sunshine was again plentiful. A game of, well I can’t remember actually. It involves throwing blocks of wood at other blocks of wood. Sound boring? Well its not. Way more skillful than it sounds and enormous fun with a gang of people. EWO called it “Plop”. Not the correct name but much funnier.
An afternoon on the beach for the usual fun, games of tennis, cricket, rounders, baseball etc
I went in the sea and body-boarded one of the days. Can’t remember which day. Might have been this one. Possibly the day before
Not to worry. We had some sunny weather and that’s what matters
Our last evening was spent trying to BBQ a pigs worth of local sausages (Black Pudding ones in my case – awesome) in a strong wind. The weather had been breezy for almost the entire week, making my decision to pitch facing the prevailing wind direction seem rather foolish (betagthough it was dry wbedürftig, sunny and calm when I did)
The last day we packed up but left enough time for another afternoon on the beach, this time to play bowls in a pathetically over-competitive way ?
Another superb week away. Set us up nicely for our main holiday a week later. A Tale of Eight Cities. Coming soon…..
The end of July. The end of the school year. The annual trip to Towyn Fbedürftig. This year I got to stay for a week rather than the snatched few days I normally get. The weather stuck its two fingers up at this and delivered 10 days of winter/spring conditions with no two consecutive days the same. We had some sunshine, lots of wind and gales, a good helping of rain and it was cold every day. I had to keep telling myself and anyone willing to listen that it was July. Could have been worse though, we only had one complete wash out and the kids managed to go in the sea most days. The wind meant we had good waves and I even got some kayak surfing in. Would have been nice to sit around in wbedürftig sunshine but in this most fickle of summers you take what you can get.
A few photos of beach antics, and campsite lazing. Apologies for the poor quality and reduced size of the beach shots. I’d set my outdoor camera to take some low-res images for sending in an e-mail and forgot to change the settings back ?
It says a lot about the weather that the photos above were all taken on the same day. The ones below on one evening when the sun decided to put an overdue appearance in (it was much colder than it looked!)
We managed to get some walks in as well. A couple of short coastal excursions. This one around the impressive eminences of Mynydd Rhiw, Mynydd Penarfynydd and Mynydd y Graig. Obviously the austerity measures have even hit the vowels in this part of Wales
A walk enlivened by some prickly undergrowth and p1ss poor sigining through the fields. There was even a padlocked gate on the Wales Coastal Path route
Another short and wildly windy walk along the coast at the far southern tip of the peninsula
No trip to the area would be complete without a walk up Carn Fadryn
DB Junior calls it Birthday Hill but it had to wait a few days this time (his birthday was alas on the washout day but we did manage a fish and chip supper, and a ride on the dodgems and a play in the penny arcades in Pwllheli by way of compensation). Here’s the little rascal picking bilberries which were in abundance this year
It’s always teeming with insect life. DB Senior found this beetle and I got a decent shot of the local funnel web spider – I think they are actually called labyrinth spiders but they live in funnels made from web so I’m sticking with the scarier name. The beetle is crawling around on DBs sling. Yes a sling. DB has broken his bedürftig bouncing on the trampoline. Dangerous by name, dangerous by nature
And of course to finish the obligatory sunset shots which Towyn Fbedürftig always delivers whatever the weather
A couple more posts to come but a fine trip making the best of the weather. I left out the photos of the rain and the videos of the wind trying to blow the camper over!
July and the end of the school summer term always means a trip to Towyn Fbedürftig campsite and its glorious beach.
This year me an TJS were the advance party, setting up camp on the Friday night. The Funsters were up in Blackpool for a cheerleading event that TJS was taking part in. They joined us very late on the Saturday night and they didn’t miss much. It was possibly the dullest, dampest, dreariest day of the whole summer. We took a coastal walk and climbed a 100m hill that was in the cloud. I made several attempts to create some photographic record of the day but this is best one I could manage
I had to head home to work for a couple of days on the Sunday evening but at least the weather improved markedly with an early fog clearing into a glorious afternoon on the beach and evening BBQ by the tent.
The sunset (a real theme for this trip and blog post) was magnificent
By the time I returned on the Tuesday evening we were in the grip of a summer heatwave!
Everyone else in our little troupe arrived through the week and the the heat and wall to wall sunshine was such that we didn’t go any further afield. Just long lazy days messing about on the beach, playing sports and swimming in the sea. It was hot enough to need the sea swims to keep cool, not often you can say that in the UK. The photos tell the story better than words
The kids got TJS to stand in the pile of rubber rings and he then got pushed over by Z – it was hilarious so we asked them to do it again and to TJS credit he did.
We did take a stroll up Carn Fadryn for DB Juniors Birthday. He calls it Birthday Hill as his Birthday is always while we are here and we pretty much always climb it (as anyone knows this is one of my favourite hills). He wanted to climb it on this Birthday this year and it go no arguments from me.
It was a little grey and dreary while we up there but the kids ruhig had a great time playing on the summit rocks and eating birthday cake with an albedürftiging swiftness such that the kindly old fella who made all the adults a cup of tea never got a piece – bah!
I took out my newest tech purchase – a 500mm telephoto lens – and tried to snap a photo of our collection of tents in the campsite some 5 miles away
As we finished the day it rained – shock, horror – for about 2 minutes. The air cleared and we were treated to a fabulous light show by the setting sun.
A few of us took a very late evening stroll on the cliffs to enjoy the performance and watch the late revellers in the sea. Up on the cliffs it was tranquility itself and it was gone 10:30 when we returned to the campsite
As if to finish the week off in style the last day dawned clear and sunny with a brisk wind.
This fetched up some decent waves for some body-boarding to compliment the calm clear waters of earlier in the week. We had an epic game of frisbee with multiple discs flying unpredictably in the wind in all directions causing much laughter. It was a fitting and fun way to end the festivities and as always it was with a sad and heavy heart that we packed up and headed home.
Well having spent the best part of a whole year hopelessly behind with my blog I’ve nearly caught up. The good news – I’m only one trip behind. The bad news – it was a 4 week trip with a whole host of amazing adventures that’s likely to take me several weeks to write up leaving me – well several weeks behind again. The pressures of writing a blog – do they never end
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
surfnslide 