My Holiday to North Wales

Hello there!

Where have you been?! I hear you ask. Well last week me and mum went on holiday to North Wales! Sorry I didn't get time to blog while I was away but there was just no time, we were very busy bees! The scenery was fantastic and we had the weather to match. From walking 5k around the woods surrounding Snowdonia to seeing the 13th Century ruins of Conwy Castle, we had a great time. However going back to work today was a little painful but that's the only downside of holiday's- they have to end eventually. I thought as Monday's are the weekend catch up, I would spend today telling you my tales of Welsh wanderings. Sit back and relax while I tell you what occurred....

DAY 1:

Our destination was Presthaven Holiday Park, Prestatyn. Me and mum set off early as we thought we'd get there earlier to maximise our time there. We got the train from Milton Keynes as that seemed to be the cheapest (and most straight forward) way of getting there as opposed to going through London as that immediately adds £20 to the price! Not to mention snaking round the tubes. We had luggage to think about. From Milton Keynes it was one change at Chester and then the home straight to Prestatyn. At about half 12 we arrived in Wales and after a short taxi ride we were soon at the reception doors at the park. The only problem then was we were too early to check in and get our caravan keys.....3 hours too early in fact and after receiving the news that our caravan was nowhere near ready yet, we went to the pub for a drink in the surprising but also very welcome sunshine. Wales was predicted to bask in the sunshine for the whole of that week which put our holiday plans in good stead- even if I had forgotten my sunglasses!

we cannot walk in a straight line

After a couple of drinks, we were starting to get itchy feet- we wanted to go exploring. The only thing holding us back were our bags; they had to go! With that and the time now being half 2, we tried our luck at checking in again- this time we got lucky. Even though our caravan still wasn't ready, we were offered an upgrade so that we could have one that was available. This was welcome news as we'd been lugging our bags about all morning so wanted to offload and then head out to explore the area.

We soon found our caravan and ventured inside. Our upgrade gave us 3 rooms instead of 2 which meant I had 2 bedrooms to choose from! Now as I'm over 5 foot 5 getting around in a caravan can be a tricky task and once I opened the door to the bedroom I realised that tricky was just the tip of the adjective iceberg. There were 2 very narrow single beds crammed in with an even narrower space between them. I'd have to channel my inner Olympic gymnast to manoeuvre from my bed every morning. As for getting dressed? I may have to dislocate a couple of joints.

The mysterious beach beacon. It was the only thing for miles.

Once we'd unpacked and become fully acquainted with our accommodation for the week, we ventured out to explore the park. Mum already knew from doing her research long before we even set off that the beach was a 5 minute walk away so we set off. Living in Aylesbury, we are the furthest point from any beach so while a walk on the beach may seem a mundane everyday thing to some, it was a lovely change of scenery for us. As we got closer we started to notice sand dunes on the horizon and the sun breaking through behind them. I'd missed the sight of sun, sea and sand and was so glad of the sight that greeted us beyond the dunes. A vast expanse of sand going out for what seemed like miles to the glistening sea in the distance. I'd never seen a beach so vast before. Going for a paddle would be a half hour walk through the varied textures of sand that lay ahead; from sharp and stony gains to soft soggy quicksand, we wondered around enjoying the sunny scene around us.

Me and mum by the lighthouse

After a while gazing out to sea, we noticed something in the distance- a lighthouse! We decided to take a walk across to investigate further. As we got closer we started to wonder if anyone actually lived in there as it did look a little worse for wear on the outside and there were also things in the windows. I knew people to live in lighthouses but I guess I'd always thought of them as derelict beacons against the roaring tide guiding ships as the mystical museums of the sea standing unopened for hundreds of years unassuming. The mystery of the lighthouse is what I suppose makes it all the more picturesque.

As the evening drew in, it was time to head back to the caravan. After all, it would take us a good hour to get back and we'd had a busy morning of travelling. We decided to get an early night so we can start full steam tomorrow morning.









DAY 2:

A lovely sunny sight- Conwy Castle

The day started for us at about 8am. Today we were headed for Conwy Castle. After breakfast, a morning call Matthew and finding a unique way to get ready in my room ( I went for the crab manoeuvre- side stepping up and down the room and avoiding any sharp movements for fear of bruising my elbows) I was ready to go. We got the bus from our park (this journey to the bus stop alone was 20 minutes so we had to time it well) to the train station and got our tickets to Llundudno Junction. Once there it was another 15 minute walk across the bridge to the castle. Amazingly the sun had decided to grace us again and the scene of the castle with the clear blue sky and mountainous back drop was a lovely sight.
My awe of the scenery was somewhat hindered by my fear of bridges and heights. There were two of them. One over the road and another over the water. Both reasonably high and the bridge over the water was in fact a suspension bridge! Now I know this may (will) sound laughable but with suspension bridges I always fear they'll start to open when I'm only half way over them leading me to do the splits across the two ends. A most unwanted sight that would probably be forever scarred on the minds of the Llundudno and Conwy community, not to mention my own.

Castle ruins

Once I'd stopped worrying about the bridge and the deep waters beneath it (I can't swim so that adds to the peril) we both got across to the castle. "This is an especially elaborate castle" I thought going up the steep path towards the entrance. The turrets, the old stone walls, the tiny narrow window holes peeping out to the world outside. It was the blue print of a castle; the picture an eight year old would conjure up when asked to draw a castle in art class. After conquering the steep slopes, we headed inside to get our tickets. To my surprise I was able to get in for half price due to having an English Heritage membership, and to my mum's horror she got in as a senior! With mum still questioning her senior entrance fee, we ventured over (another) bridge to the castle ruins.

One of Conwy Castle's many towers- and a prisoner on the loose aka my mum

This castle had truly stood the test of time, built for Edward I in the 13th Century it was a medieval fortress of military proportions and cost £15,000. Walking around the high stone walls, up and down the winding stairs of the towers and staring down at the sheer drop from the prisoners tower it was clear this fortress had seen and conquered a lot in it's Centuries of history. Imagine all the wars it had witnessed, all the royalty and tourists alike that had explored these very same walls. While it was great to see all the history this place held and the amazing views from the high walls, it was also nice to come down again.

After exploring the castle, we had lunch at the foot of the castle before having an explore of Conwy itself which seemed like a nice little quiet town.

An original from 1929.....#vintage #socool

We decided to go and look in the tourist information centre for more ideas on whats around. We were distracted however by an old style bus waiting on the side of the road with a sign advertising bus tours around Conwy. We were intrigued by this and so with a fee of £3 each we hopped aboard. The bus was an original from 1929 and had been manufactured in North Wales itself and after travelling the world, it ended up on Ebay where it was spotted and eventually brought back to it's Welsh home. It was a lovely little ride about and if you're in the area or thinking of visiting Conwy, I'd recommend it and the castle too. Conwy is a town that holds great history and it's worth exploring.

Once we'd finished exploring Conwy, it was on to Rhyl. We got the train over and visited the local Sealife centre, Seaquarium. I've been to many a Sealife centre in my time but none that had sealions and seals in! The seal and sealion show started just as we arrived so we were shown in via the back door so we wouldn't miss out. I've always loved sealion shows, picking them out as top of the list whenever I visit the zoo and sitting as far forward as I could- even in the splash zone (I have a reckless streak) This show was just as good and was made even better by the announcement at the end that we could have our photo taken with them! Actually stood next to them! Of course me and mum jumped at the chance and even though I wasn't allowed to touch it (this sealion was a bit wary of strangers) I was in that moment, the closest I'd ever been to a sealion and I doubt I would ever get that close again. As if having a picture with one wasn't enough, they did another feeding time slot just before I left. With this announcement over the tannoy me and mum went outside again only this time, it was just us. As that was the case, me and mum got a personal talk from the keeper and I got to feed them nearly all the fish! A great visit if, like me, you are an avid fan of all things seal and sealion!

You an almost see the want in my eyes! I wanted to stroke her she was so cuuute

And with that great experience, the day drew to a close as we got the train back to Prestatyn and the bus back to the park. After dinner we headed out to sample that evening's entertainment which was to be one of the contestants of Britain's Got Talent 2016, Christian Lee. Before he came on however, I had to endure the kiddies entertainment. The smiley, overly-happy patronising "entertainment" which in fitting fashion was littered with cheesy songs and dances. I know I'm not the demographic but still. If the real entertainment could hurry along...
Christian Lee if memory escapes you (don't worry, even I had to Google him) is a magician and entertainer. Well if Google hadn't of told me I wouldn't have guessed. With mum looking round occasionally to snigger at my obvious dislike and boredom, I found myself trying to enjoy the act for what it was. This was Haven and we'd got here via a popular newspaper offer of £9.50 so I suppose it was wrong to expect anything more. It was cheesy, it was slightly cringey.....it was a no from me.


DAY 3:

Wednesday morning: breakfast, call from Matthew, crab manoeuvre's and eventually I was ready. Today we were exploring Snowdonia. We were headed for a place called Betws-y-Coed which was just one part of this vast National Park. When we got here we were both struck by how much it reminded us of a small town in Flagstaff, Arizona called Sedona. Betws-y-Coed was a beautiful little quaint village with a Country Western feel to it. Of course, you could not miss the surrounding

The river at Snowdonia

Snowdonia mountains as you looked around. Today was another lovely sunny day so it was perfect weather to go for a nice long walk around the National Park. Mum had found out from research that there was a train that allows visitors to go higher up into the mountains so we headed over to the visitors centre for more information. Unfortunately the train was fully booked when we got there and the train didn't go from that Betws-y-Coed (you'll need this train to go up further into Snowdonia) so that idea was scrapped and instead we settled for a 2 hour walk option.

This route made us walk through all kinds of terrain and the journey was lovely, if not exhausting. Our mission was to find Swallow Falls- all we had to do was follow the map. Only neither me nor my mum were great at interpreting vague maps and remembering a long list of verbal instructions given to us half hour before so we ended up everywhere but Swallow Falls. We got close at one point (as mum discovered looking on Google maps when we got home) but we didn't make it there. However I passed a very scary bridge over the rushing water of the river on the way- I genuinely wanted to find this place! I felt

Me in the giant deckchair

like Bear Grylls or Ben Fogle on one of his jungle documentaries. We were properly trekking (and on my part tripping) over rocks and tree stumps to find these falls. In a bid to sound more like an adventurer I did follow the river closely to make sure we were headed the right way. We eventually got to a main road which was supposed to mark the 3/4 mark but for me and mum it marked the end. We ventured as far as we could and even had others asking us where the falls were. After already walking for more than 2 hours we decided that the falls were too elusive for us and decided to turn back and head back to the village to have some lunch and a rest.

The last train back from Betws-y-Coed for us was about 3:30 so we decided we'd get this train after our lunch and concluded that while we were disappointed about the lack of train facility allowing us to see more of Snowdonia, we were glad of what we did get to see. After all it was beautiful. It's well worth a visit especially if you're a keen walker and appreciate nature and wonderful scenery.

Once we were back at the caravan we went for another stroll on the beach and even stumbled upon a massive yellow stripy deckchair on the way! Of course me and mum had a selfie in the chair....and a couple more silly photos- it had to be done. It was also hilarious watching mum try to climb out from it!



DAY 4:

The Great Orme tram station

Looking back down at Llandudno 

Thursday morning started the same as the others with breakfast, a call from Matthew and several crab manoeuvre's (I think I may have in fact braved a turning manoeuvre that was punished immediately with the bed's forming a leg trap of which I was stuck in for several moments). Today we were heading for the Great Orme mines in Llandudno. Again we got the bus and then the train to Llundudno and then trekked up the steep Llandudno streets to the Great Orme Tramway. This discovery was again due to the great research of my mum who found out that this tram does all the way to the Great Orme summit with a half way stop at the mines. My mum is ace for any trip; she plans, she maps out, she works out timings, she takes all the photo's. And no, you can't have her she's mine. Ha...mine........see........ok moving swiftly on. Our trekking was soon rewarded by the sight of

#HealthandSafety

an old style tram station. Again history and heritage really shining through here. With around £7 return each we were set up for the whole day on the tramway. It was exciting going on an old tram, and it also proved a blessed relief as we soon discovered all the steep hills the tram was saving us from climbing ourselves! Once again the scenery was beautiful, the mountain landscape all around us as we climbed higher.
Soon we got to the half way point and were on our way to the Great Orme Mines. The mines showed the sight of great Bronze Age ingenuity- miles and miles of mined tunnels dug over many years by people of an Age that was, it came to be, so underrated over history. The mines were rediscovered in 1987 while making way for a car park. Nothing like a good old car park to unearth England's richest history-Think Richard III. After their initial discovery, it was decided to scrap the car park plans and to further excavate the area. The more they explored, the more they discovered and they're still rediscovering parts of the mines today. Before walking around the historic tunnels ourselves, we first had to put on some rather fetching hard hats.

Inside the Great Orme mine

Once we were transformed into glorious examples of Health and Safety fashionista's, we ventured down miles beneath the surface to rediscover for ourselves, the Bronze Age mining tunnels. It's not for the claustrophobic however as the tunnels got quite narrow at times and there were slippy slopes with protruding rocks in certain places. However these tunnels were a sight worth seeing, especially the huge cavernous centrepiece within the heart of the tunnels. It glistened with the water coming down the rocks and was made even more impressive by the artificial light show put in for dramatic effect.

After snaking through the tunnels we were greeted once again with sunlight. There were a few other bits to see and then it was another trip on the tram, this time to the summit of the Great Orme.

The tram we went on

It didn't take long at all to get to the summit and it was worth it. The scenery up here was amazing; the mountains, the sea, the clear blue sunny sky. While we were here we had a walk around and then decided to have lunch perched up on the mountain side. Not a bad view to enjoy while having your picnic- however signs did warn of goats roaming around however we never saw any. After enjoying the scenery up at the summit for an hour or so, it was time to come back down to Llandudno as we had planned to go and visit the Welsh Mountain Zoo later that day.

Our lunchtime view

We got the train from Llandudno to Colwyn Bay for a shuttle bus that would take us up to the zoo. Once again, mum had found out about the shuttle from her research prior. After arriving and wandering about, it was clear this was the smaller of the zoo's we've visited in our time as zoo-goers which was a shame as you got the impression the animals would've appreciated a little more room however for me the highlight was seeing the chimps. We got to see them really close up while the zookeeper fed them monkey nuts (the name isn't so much of a coincidence then) and again as there were so few of us there, we got a more personal experience. We didn't spend too long here as we were aware of the time for getting our train back and it seemed like we'd seen most of the animals already in the hour and a half we spent there.

We got back on the train to Prestatyn and boarded the bus again for our journey park-bound. We had dinner, played in the arcades for a while earning us some more tickets which we claimed for a mini dream catcher and then headed back to the caravan to pack and get ready for the journey home the next day.

After a short but very busy journey we were home by 3pm Friday! North Wales was wonderful; I loved the scenery, I really enjoyed the quaint villages and old style trams and bus tours and most of all I absolutely loved the weather. We were spoilt rotten by the weather we had while we were there. I'd love to go to Wales again soon and really I encourage you to visit too. You won't regret it.