Normally by the end of May we would have got in two or three camping trips in the Campervan, but this year with it being the coldest spring in over 50 years it never happened. Indeed even May which can be a warm month in years gone by was decidedly cool and wet (not good camping with young kids). However we were determined to get away over half term so we searched round for sites in North Wales and found a cracking
4* site in Snowdonia just outside Caernarfon. The first camp of the year always takes longer as we have to dig out all the awnings from their winter storage in the attic and collect all the gear which seems to go AWOL just when you need it .
I gave the van its spring service a few days before we set off and prayed the weather would improve....it did..Wahey.... On the day we set off it was glorious sunshine and wall to wall blue skies..result. However though it was only a 100 miles away everyone else had had the same idea, so a two hour journey turned into four hours. At least we were able to pull over to make lunch whilst everyone else sat fuming in the traffic jams (smug feeling)
North Wales has everything a camping trip could need..Beaches, Castles, Mountains and some great pubs for when the thirst gets the better of you..The first evening we drove into Caernarfon to the
castle and strolled along the harbour with the walls of the magnificent castle on one side and stunning views of the Menai Straights on the other..truly breathtaking.
The following morning dawned with again great weather, so clearly today was a beach day...but which one?. Laura recalled as a child going to a beach on Anglesey near the village of
Llanddona which was only a few miles away. However what Laura had failed to remember was that the road down to the beach was down a steep 35 % winding single track road with very few passing places, but boy it was worth the white knuckle descent to the beach...Half a dozen other campers had made the same perilous descent and were parked right on the beach at the high water mark, just kicking back and enjoying what mother nature has to offer....It was a brilliant sun soaked day.
As is the way in Britain though, no two days are alike and so the following morning was grey and damp. No fears though today would be a "Castle" day,
Penrhyn Castle to be precise. It was great to be inside and there was a great cafe serving home made soup...And since at the end of the day we felt that a BBQ would be pushing our luck in the rain , a pub tea was in order.. Well when I say "tea" I mean Welsh sirloin steak was washed down with a pint of local ale in a
500 yr old Inn next to Caernarfon castle...nice..:-)
