Llanfair Slate Mines

We woke up to sunshine again although we did have plenty of showers which came and went quite quickly.

We headed off to Llanfair Slate Mines, just a few miles up the road.

We had a nice coffee and sausage roll before heading into Porthmadog for a lovely ice cream at Cadwaladers. After a nice stroll around town and a quick look at the Ffestiniog railway, we called in at Tesco for fuel and headed back to the van. 

It seemed to be blowing up a bit of a storm, so we parked away most of the stuff in the awning in case it  was raining Saturday morning. 

We packed the car boot so that we could put the bikes on the back ready for the morning. 

Portmeirion

For the first time this week we woke up to bright sunshine. 

After breakfast we headed off to Portmeirion. It was built by architect Clough Williams-Ellis to show how a beautiful site could be developed without spoiling it. All buildings at Portmeirion are registered Grade 1 or Grade 2 listed buildings. 

The village is surrounded by 70 acres of forest Gardens called Y Gaylord. Portmeirion is owned by a registered charity. The income from admission charges is used to maintain and preserve the buildings and grounds that make up this historic environment. All buildings at Portmeirion are either self catering cottages or hotel rooms and suites.

We had a very nice gelato ice cream while waiting for the free land train tour of the woodland trail. It was very bumpy. Then we walked down to the quayside and along the coastal path to the lighthouse which then rose up through the woods and past the Chinese Lake.

Afterwards we had a nice Taffy Apple cider and anti-pasti sharer at the Caffi Glas, before watching the 25 minute video narrated by Clough Williams-Ellis about the building of Portmeirion. 

We had a walk through the gardens and up to the dome before having a final coffee and scone with clotted cream, before heading back to the car. 

When we got back we walked down to the beach for a paddle in the sea.

As we relaxed in the caravan it started to get very windy an d I had to take the flags down. It started to rain around 21:30, and rained heavily on and off all night with thunder about 04:00.

Snowdonia Mountain Railway

Woke up to another grey and windy day.

After breakfast we headed off to Llanberris to the Snowdon Mountain Railway. When we arrived we had a few sharp showers. We had tickets booked for the 14:30 train. We had a coffee and bag of crisps whilst we waited. 

By the time we boarded the train the sun had come out and we headed off up the mountain. The scenery was spectacular and we were surprised at the amount of people walking up. It takes an hour to get to the summit.

As we neared the summit, unfortunately we went into clouds at the top. They say that on a clear day you can see Ireland but unfortunately today you could see nothing at all. I walked up the last few yards to the actual summit. It was very cold and windy and a little bit scary coming down the wet steps.

We only had half an you at the top which would be ok today but on a clear day and if you wanted a drink or bite to eat would not be long enough.

We headed off down and into the sunshine again and it turned out to be a lovely evening. 

On the way back we called in at Harlech and had a lovely Chinese meal at the Golden Inn Restaurant, not far from the castle.

Barmouth

We had a bit of a storm in the night and woke up to another grey windy day. If started to brighten up by around 11:00.

We walked along the promenade into Barmouth. By now it was a pleasant sunny day if not a little windy. The sea though was very rough and breaking over the sea walls. As we got to the quayside there were dozens of people crab fishing. 

We had a nice walk around town and stopped for a nice cold pint of cider at the Royal. We then had another walk before stopping for an ice cream. As we walked back towards the quayside the sea was a lot calmer now. 

We walked. Back along the prom to the amusements and caught the land train back to the campsite and sat outside in the sun until it dropped below the tall hedging behind the caravan. We had some more rain in the evening and it was a bit cooler than it has been so far this week.

Plus Tan y Bwlch and Pwllheli

Woke up to grey skies and showers again. Sun came out about 10:20.

After breakfast we drove to Plas Tan y Bwlch, the Snowdonia National Park Study Centre, at Maentwrog near Blaenau Ffestiniog.

Admission was free and we had a nice walk around the spectacular Victorian gardens.

We had a nice cup of coffee and a scone and crisps on the terrace in the sun before driving on to Pwllheli.

It had turned out to be a nice warm sunny day and we had a nice walk around the shops and had a lovely ice cream at Caffi Sol, before heading to the Pen Cob, Wetherspoons pub for dinner. 

We then headed back to the van, calling in at Porthmadog Tesco for fuel, to catch the last 20 minutes of Derby County’s 2-1 win away to Huddersfield Town. Their first game of th 2019-2020 EFL Championship season.

Mawddach Trail

Woke up to a nice warm overcast morning. A few grey clouds abou, and I did feel a few spots of rain on my head as I walked down for a shower, but it didn’t amount to much. 

By the time we had had breakfast the we were having longer showers and by noon it has turned into steady light rain.

We cycled down into Barmouth, across The Barmouth Bridge and onto the Mawddach Trail to Dolgellau. The weather was generally bright with showers some pretty heavy. At one point we had to shelter under trees for a while.

About 8.5 miles in we stopped at The George 111 Hotel for a nice cold pint of cider. We then continued on to Dolgellau. 

We had to shelter for a while in Dolgellau as the heavens opened again. 

We cycled back to Barmouth and sat on the quayside in the sunshine, and ate Fish and Chips overlooking the Mawddach estuary and the Barmouth Bridge, followed by a lovely ice cream for dessert. 

We had a nice steady ride back to the caravan. It turned out to be a very nice bright evening. 

Hendre Mynach Caravan & Camping Park nr Barmouth

We left Mirey Lees about 09:30 and arrived at Toby Carvery Burton around 10:20 for our traditional holiday breakfast. The Toby was really close to the A38 so it was dead handy and quick to get back on our way.

We had a good journey until we got into Wales. The A5 has lots of roundabouts and we queued to get through pretty much every one. We also lost about 25 minutes getting through Llangollen. 

We arrived about 02:30. The turn into the site the site was a bit tight, doubling back on yourself off the main road and the drive was quite steep. A very nice site next to the promenade with easy access to walk or circle into Barmouth. Quite a walk down to the toilet / showers. Site would benefit from another toilet block down our end of the site. 

We had a 13 mile drive to Porthmadog to Lidle, ALDI and Tesco, all within a few hundred yards of each other, to do some shopping, before having tea and settling down for the night.