Tenby on the west coast of Wales

I have lost track of days and dates - The photo says 4th of July, so I'm happy to go with that!

We wanted to see some of the coastline in Wales and the locals recommended Tenby. This is our first sighting of the beach at Tenby. It was a nice sandy beach in a large sheltered harbour - you can see the heads in the distance here. It didn't seem like a surf beach. The nature of the water reminded me of Trial Bay.

After we made the trek down, we continued our tradition of putting our feet in whatever oceans and seas we go to. Although we had seen the Atlantic before, we hadn't put our feet in until now.

This photo (below) is looking back to the town from the beach. Yes - more #$%^&* steps and climbing. I must say, though, that the view was great once we got up there.............

Although this picture is way too dark, the island you can see here is quite close to the mainland and is basically a derelict fort that was, we were informed by a very friendly local lady, for protection from the French.

The same lady also taught us that when there's and 'LL' at the beginning of a welsh word it means that it was a place where there was a Christian church. She also taught Ray how to pronounce the sound of the 'LL' - the only comparison I can make is that it's like clearing a fly from the back of your throat! This lovely lady, whose name, I'm sorry to say, I didn't get, also told us that 'DD' at the end of a word actually makes a 'th' sound and that the reason it took me so long to find Caernarfon in the map index is because the 'f'' is pronounced like a 'v', but there is no 'v' in the Welsh alphabet (I think that's what she meant anyway).

Anyway - after all that chatting on the clifftop we headed back through the wall and into the town for a little wander around.

A look around and a load of washing later we headed out where we probably should have some in
(less cliffs and stairs maybe...) and then off to see Saint David's via the coast road.

North Wales and Caernarfon Castle

Sunday 4th July 2010
We departed LLantrwyd Wells heading north to Caernarfon. It was a 3 hour drive each way, but we figured a great opportunity to see some of the Welsh countryside and drive right through the middle of Snowdonia National Park. We did see Mt Snowdon, but don't actually have a picture of that.
We stopped near this weir (below) to rest and I saw a squirrel for the first time. Ray saw him running into the trees and pointed him out to me.

We eventually made it to Caernarfon and made for the Castle. I must say it was a castle kind of day. Raining and blowing a gale............. the stuff that dark and dismal castle stories are made of.

We climbed all the way to the top of one of the towers (below - I think the one on the right). It might have been more fun if Ray had stayed on the ground and played fairy tales "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your golden hair", but there's a couple of points that would prevent that from working.

1. I don't have that much hair & 2. Most of the hair I do have is silver these days, most of the gold is gone.

Perhaps my Goddaughter Annabella can read me a story about a princess in a castle when we get back to her place on our way home?

Below is the view on the way down. It's a very tight spiral staircase, but not as tricky as you might imagine.

After a cup of tea and a slice of a very tasty Bara Brith, we headed back to the pub in Llantrwyd Wells for a ham and cheese toastie and a pint or two.

WE had noticed the hotel in the photo below on the way up to Caernarfon and were lucky enough for the traffic to slow down long enough for ray to snap this picture through the car window. I confess I don't even know the name of the town it was in.

Tintagel, Boscastle and the north west Cornish Coast

We left behind Hele (Exeter) en route to Wales, but of course if we took the most direct route we would have missed something....... We had already decided to skip Land's End (far South Cornwall), but I was determined to see some of the spectacular Cornish Coastline, so we headed west to Tintagel. Here I started to develop a fascination for drystone walls. I have noticed that they are constructed differently in different areas and my trusty tour guide (aka Ray of course) tells me that I will see many more. This one (below) is typical of those in Tintagel and I think they are fantastic.
Tintagel treated us to some great views over the Atlantic Ocean.

If you care for the 'hysterical' viewpoint Tintagel is the legendary birthplace of King Arthur (Merlin the Magician, Knights of the Round Table etc). The castle is of course a ruin, but made for wonderful views. You can walk down the cliffs and around the site but we chose to 'worship from afar'.

From Tintagel we drove a short distance to Boscastle. A charming little coastal port, famous for witches. It was here that I discovered an alternate mode of transport. Possibly faster, but I think perhaps not so good in inclement weather..........

Boscastle actually reminded me of Polperro, perhaps slightly less steep, but almost as charming

The photo below was taken as we stopped off on our drive northwards along the coast. It was taken from a spot called Phillip's Point. Breathtaking - although my photography, yet again, does not do it justice!

We did find a sandy beach!! No pebbles. It was called Wide Bay. As it was a weekend it was fairly busy with families enjoying the lovely weather. I must admit this is the first time that paying for parking annoyed me. Actually it incensed me!! The only place to park was in a (rough) paddock by the beach, but it was actually a pay and display patrolled parking lot!! I only wanted to stop long enough to take a photo or two............. and I did - narrowly missed the parking inspector too!

From there we headed to Wales. The Severn Bridge (Google it) was not as scary as it looks in some of the photos I have seen - in fact it's just another motorway.

We arrive at our destination to be thoroughly delighted with the pub we had booked and the unexpected bonus of view from the beer garden.

Factoid of the day Llantrwyd Wells (our destination- Belle Vue Hotel below) is the smallest town in the British Isles. To be a town you have to have something called a 'Town Charter' which comes from the ruling monarch at the time.

Random Thoughts, Observations and Other "Stuff"

• Roads -

We have done them all. Single country lanes, dual carriage ways and motorways. This country is insane for roundabouts - some that are no bigger than a silent cop, some nice and normal with 4 roads leading on and some that are just madness and have multiple lanes and traffic lights. The country lanes are beautiful, but can be scary when you meet oncoming traffic - this is, however, preferable to the roundabouts.

I loooooooove the roads - sometimes country lanes and sometimes "A" roads (60mph), that are lined with trees. The trees are so close to the edge that the under branches have to be trimmed to keep the roadway clear but the upper branches are allowed to grow unrestricted. This makes a green archway over the roads - magic!!

There are lots of "lay-bys" on the roads (especially "A" roads), but they are usually surrounded by trees or hedges, so you can't see any scenery from them (in most cases) - :-(

There is an amazing amount of incredibly beautiful scenery to be seen from the roads,but where there is scenery there is never anywhere to pull over. Ray actually says this is a good thing otherwise we would never get anywhere because I'd be stopping to take photos all the time!!

You know how we have electric road signs powered by solar energy? Well - here they are powered by tiny windmills!

• Buildings/houses

Way too much and too many to describe, but I did want to point out that the stone used is different in different areas - in other words - "local stone" is used. This means that although you see buildings of similar styles everywhere, they still look different and therefore interesting because the stone is different.

• Flies

Ray saw a fly and brushed it away within the first couple of days of being here. he now maintains that he will not see another one! Maybe not, but there are still some other annoying insects that particularly like white clothing.

• Animals

Sheep look weird with tails!!

I saw my first squirrel in Wales the other day (more on Wales to follow) - Ray says it was a grey one - apparently there are other kinds

Good news - I have seen several badgers. Bad news - I still don't really know what one looks like - think Pacific Highway and kangaroos.....

In Wales we saw traffic lights specifically for cows - Go figure!!

• Climate

We have had fabulous weather - although I don't think I'm actually sunburnt. It's T-shirt and shorts weather - other than one feezing cold, wet, windy day in Wales - think Crookwell or Orange in winter!

A.A. Milne wrote "In winter I get up at night and dress by yellow candle light, in summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day." - I have not seen darkness and I have (as usual) been up some mornings by 4.30am. I have been going to bed by 10.00pm. Why do they need daylight saving time???

• Stone walls and hedges

Specifically the ones separating paddocks (I think that should be fields??). I love the look of them. You can describe the scenery as "patchwork" or something quaint like that, but I have to tell you that from my point of view the great thing about them is that they make the landscape symmetrical - Ya gotta love that!!

• Food and drink

Glass milk bottles with tin foil lids, delivered by the milkman?? You betcha - they still have them!

Altogether too much food and we are only eating twice a day.

• Exercise

We have been here 9 days and if I have to walk up any more stairs and hills (and I just know I will), then I am going to have the best gluteus maximus outside the Russian Olympic Gymnastics Team!!

Glastonbury, Westbury & Avebury

Friday 2nd July



We started the day thinking that we would be moving at a more sedate pace and cover less.......well - we all know what thought done!!

We began by heading to Glastonbury and started at the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. At first I kinda thought - "oh no, not another abbey".

This picture is included really for Terry and Jenny as it pertains to a story that Ray was telling them at the airport. :-)

One of the things that I enjoyed about the Glastonbury Abbey was that "Alice from 1538" brought the whole thing alive with her story of who she was, how people lived and a "potted history" of the abbey itself. She drew her audience into the story as well. I gave her a little 'clingy koala' to say thank you.

We left the abbey and headed for the Tor - on the way was the Chalice Well and Gardens. The water from below this well is said to have healing powers, we were told it is very high in calcium. I'm sure there is some sort of 'hysterical' story to go with this, but my tour guide has let me down on this occasion and I haven't had time to look it up. Whatever the case the gardens are meant for quiet reflection and there were many people there resting, meditating and praying. It was lovely.

The picture below is where you can "partake of the waters". The tourist information place gave us a labelled bottle with our enrty fee and we could fill it here. You might notice that there are a couple of glassess under the outlet. Lots of people just used those (not sure I'd want to if people are trying to be cured of something), some people simply drank form their hands, we used our bottles.

From there we went up on to the Tor. Here Archbishop Richard Whyte was hung drawn and quartered by Henry VIII's men. Let me tell you that by the time we got there I felt as though I had been hung, drawn and quartered myself!!

We do have a photo taken from the bottom of the hill, but it was just too painful a reminder of how unfit we are to include it here!

We left Glastonbury and headed off to see if we could get a glimpse of a White Horse.

If you look really hard at this photo you can see it. It looked much closer to us than the photo makes you think. This is the oldest one of these in Wiltshire. There are others elsewhere, but you take your opportunities when you find them............

From Westbury (the White Horse place, above) we set out to find a stone circle at Avebury. This was unbelievable. You walk around saying "how?" and "why?".

Ray took my photo here - I thought you might need proof that I have been here because although I have snuck Ray into a photo or two there have been none of me to date.

Again, my photos just can't do this justice. It's kind of a shame that you can't be in these places alone - the huge number of tourists seems to deplete the mysticsm some how................

From here we headed home again. We had travelled a huuuuuuge circle and ended up quite near to Wales, which is actually where we are going tomorrow.

Depending on internet access from here on in it may be a few days before I get to do another entry.

ADDENDUM

I forgot to mention the 'piskies' in Polperro (Cornwall). No - that is not a typo, and no - I'm not pissed, although I suggested to the shop owner (where I bought one) that when I told people at home what it was they woulkd think I was pissed....... He informed me that there are lots of piskies in Australia as the Cornish miners that emmigrated took them with them! So - to recap - when I get home I CAN spell and I am NOT pissed when I tell you about my very own personal pisky!!

Polperro

Thursday 1st July

Today was the highly recommended trip to Polperro in Corwall. Thank you Margaret and Patrick!!! We had an absolutely fabulous day. Kay - if you're reading this nip 'round to Margaret and Pat's place and settle the argument - the horsedrawn carriage is on wheels, not rails. :-)

You can't drive down into the village unless you live there or your accommodation has a permit for parking with it, but there are places down nearer to the harbour and beach where you'd be lucky to get a bicycle, let alone a car!


This waterwheel was one of the first things we saw from the carriage on the way down - I keep getting carried away with the "charm" of it all, but I'm sick of that word.

Bev, if you're feeling better, or Cate S if you're watching can you Please, Please, Please send me some words that are alternatives to Charming and Quaint. Next time I travel I'm taking a pocket thesaurus!!


I think this cave might be a smugglers cave, or maybe it's where the pirate that Poppy Ray met the other day was keeping his treasure?

I felt like I was on the set of 'Doc Martin' for most of the day. Narrow lanes, bordered by white painted cottages, with low doors and flower boxes on the window sills................. and views of yet more white cottages dotted up the cliff sides.
Everywhere is "dog-friendly" as well and the company that does boat rides around the harbour has a sign that says "nice dogs and happy babies go free".

Ray fulfilled another food goal by having a Cornish Pastie in Cornwall. I think we've missed the Devonshire Tea in Devon, but we had one yesterday in Cornwall, so that will have to do!

Although it was overcast all day, it didn't actually start to rain until we were headed back up the hill to the car park.

I know there is a market for kangaroo scrotums that are made into little coin pouches and sold to tourists in Australia, but who know there was a market in Roo Poo - go figure - or as Jai would say - What the ???????. We actually have no idea what this label is - from outside the shop it would appear to be a clothing label, but we didn't go in to check.

We finished the day by heading into Plymouth - not for sightseeing as although the whole Mayflower and Francis Drake thing may have been interesting, for us being the American connection it would have been less so than other things. No - our trip into Plymouth was for a boring domestic interruption to our holiday - we need to do our washing. The laundrette in the village nearby to our accommodation recently had a fire, so we figured we'd gove Plymouth a go......... More than a slight error in judgement!!

Somewhere along the way - actually more than once - I got a taste of one of those bloody humungous roundabouts with a thousand lanes and two thousand other cars.............. suffice to say these will be avoided at all costs in future. Still the clothes are clean!!!

The New Forest and Salisbury

Wednesday 30th June

We left Bognor Regis and headed west to our next hotel/B&B/whatever in a village called Hele, just north of Exeter.

First stop (not really a stop - more of a tour) wa the New Forest. Now of course as will all things British there is an 'hysterical' aspect to this, but you are either going to have to look it up or wait until we get home and get ny personal tour guide (aka Ray) to fill you in on that. For me it was magnificent scenery, a mixture of greener than green forest and open heath (of course the heather blooms in autumn, but you can't have everything). There are lots of places to park and take a walk through the forest, which of course we did once or twice. I have not bored you here with all the photos I took of juge fungii, vines and mosses, but as a lover of landscapes and nature I was spellbound.
The ponies that roam free are quite charming (I need some new superlatives). We did see some donkeys as well and the inevitable cattle, but there are also reputedly pigs and deer as well. gardeners take note - this is where you find all the manure you need!

Now - keeping with the 'hysterical' theme, King William the second was killed here (see the stone marker below). Now the King dude gets a marker, but the guy who killed him gets a pub - go figure! Still, they served a nice lunch.

From The New Forest, we headed for Salisbury, or as Ray insists - Sarum, which is the ancient name for Salisbury. I am still being blown away by the character of these towns and villages - it is everywhere you look. this little bridge (below) was just a stonesthrow from the cathederal.

Yoou go through the hole in the wall (not the kind you extract money from) - well, gate in the wall and there in front of you is the cathederal. Again my photos can't do justice to what you see there, but trust me, if there's a book - we bought it!