Over and out

In true tradition of saving the best 'til last I had decided the final route out of Wales, towards home, would be the most scenic yet.

Ready for the off:

'We're going over that?'

A brief stop half-way up to admire the views:

Then on to the Pen-y-pass; a road built in the 1830's to transfer ore from the mines down to Llanberis.

At 1,180ft above sea level, only a Landrover, climbers and a few hardy sheep go much higher:

And from here it would be all downhill (metaphorically) until we get home. To Wales and camping in the forest - we will return...

From sublime to surreal...

If you've been reading the previous posts about Vanfest and the week in Wales, you'll have noticed the bike has been on the back of the van for most of the time. I knew I'd only realistically get two biking opportunities; the Malvern Hills and today in the forest at Beddgelert.
Before setting off I had downloaded a handy map which showed some reference points (the campsite) and some viewpoints (much higher up) linked by forest tracks that had been cleverly numbered with marker posts. Simple, follow the numbers and find your way around.

Or not so simple. Since the numbering of the posts on the map in my pocket the Forest Enterprise have been around a renumbered them according to their own map - and the two don't tally up!

I soon worked out that if I was heading 'north and up' I was gradually getting further from the campsite, thus heading 'down and south' I would return towards the campsite.

I'll let the pictures do the talking of how quiet, spectacular and beautiful the forest was that morning:

Gradual climbing, surrounded by mountains

Llyn Llewelyn - half way up

Looking back towards the campsite

Some nice, unused tracks (with occasional single-track)

Whilst I could have spent all day up there, I had Mrs. Stone174's sanity to think about, so some speedy descending back to the site for a shower and a brew before making the trip down to Porthmadog to find the awesome Deli Y Bwtri for a large meat and cheese-based sandwich. As the weather was fairing-up we stocked up on a few provisions (including cheap chocolate from Lidl) and headed for a bit more beach.

Knowing there was some beach close-by, we kept driving until we hit sand - quite literally! The wide expanse of Black Rock Sands (where it was free to drive and park on the beach) became a great photo opportunity.

The van looks truly at home on the sand

'Nothing too surreal so far' you're thinking. With our craving for beach satisfied we journeyed southwards for a few miles to Portmeirion. I half-knew what to expect and, having never really watched The Prisoner, I was keen to learn more about the history and pre-television days of the village. Luckily it was half-price admission after 3pm so we paid and wandered in...

I quite liked the place; from certain views it feels more Italian than Welsh. Yes there are weird bits and some of the colours are a bit 'ice-cream parlour' but there are some nice quirky touches -  I won't spoil the surprise for those that haven't been!

After escaping the heady-dose of surreal it was back to relative sanity of the campsite for a final barbecue of the holiday - don't tell Number Two!

Stunning Snowdonia

So we're pitched up in the forest, right next to the Welsh Highland Railway that runs from Porthmadog up to Caenarfon over some fairly dramatic terrain. Looking at their website before setting off on holiday I was expecting the occasional, out-of-season diesel engine to trundle past. Then out of the trees...

The campsite had it's own 'halt' where you could hail a train for either direction - perfect!

Having said that, we had missed the last train of the day, so elected to take the 15 minute walk in to the village. By this time (and it was time to sample a pint in each of the village's three pubs) the sun had made appearance and treated us to fantastic display of light and shade that my phone's camera can't give justice to:

After sitting in the sun sampling local ales we chose The Saracen's Head for a fairly average but well deserved meal, made the short walk back up to the campsite, and slept soundly amongst the trees.

B Roads to Beddgelert

With the morning it was time to leave the sleepy town of Builth Wells behind, and as the mile count begins to rise, so does the terrain around us. Having chatted with the campsite owners about our journey north it was decided that the satnav's route-choice left a little to be desired and as such, the road atlas came out for a better understanding of the way forward (plus the satnav can't show you nice lakes with lovely lay-bys to stop at and admire the view).

It was at this point in the holiday that our cravings for a bit of beach took hold. So a little detour (over some big hills) was chosen so we could head to the coast at Barmouth.

Onwards and upwards

Almost at the top!

Having only ever seen Barmouth in photographs, I was keen to see if the place was as pretty in reality. First, another toll bridge across the estuary to save some miles:

Then into town for a spot of lunch and a walk on the beach.

It felt very much like the town had already seen it's hay-day. There was an air of faded-splendour to the old parts of town; a small fishing port at one end near the railway bridge, and an impressive Victorian promenade at the other end of town. In between however seemed quite run-down and poor, missing the injection of life that comes from a hand-full of cafés, shops selling anything other than novelties and postcards, and hotels that aren't boarded-up.
One thing I loved was the Easter-island style figure-head nestled in the dunes looking out to sea - very photogenic...

So we had walked through town, back along the beach and killed around two hours here. Time to move on.

Heading north along the coast, weather improving, past Harlech and up towards Porthmadog, turning right to head deep into Snowdonia, it wasn't long before the roads narrowed, waterfalls became more impressive, and the spectacular scenery was turned up to eleven (more about this in the next post)...

At the Forest Holidays site at Beddgelert we were greeted with a lovely warm welcome by knowledgeable, friendly (but not over-bearing) staff who couldn't do enough to make us feel at home. Fresh bread was ordered for the following morning and within minutes we were pitched up in the trees - if you love being in the forest as much as me, you'll understand why I was grinning from ear to ear!

With mountain-biking right on the doorstep, a narrow-gauge railway line at the back of the van and camping in a forest with a short walk to the village (and it's pubs) we were truly in our element. More on the beauty of Beddgelert soon...

Heading West

Time had come to leave the shadow of the Malvern Hills and head west; traveling through the very pretty town of Ledbury we continued west to Hereford for another stop for provisions (barbecue weather again!) and fill up with diesel before pressing on. Unfortunately we found Hereford's supermarkets to be without petrol stations so decided to continue towards our destination of Builth Wells stopping somewhere along the way for a bit of lunch.

Another 30 mins on and we decide to detour into Hay-on-Wye - somewhere I had heard about due to the Hay Festival that takes part every year there.

After a quick 'campervan-lunch' consisting of cold meats, bread and cheese (simple but so good) we went for a wander around town.

Hay-on-Wye is another very pretty market town, uncommercialised and absolutely littered with book and antique shops.

Hay Castle is home to the world's first honesty bookshop and Europe's largest secondhand bookstore, the whole place is dotted with covered, outdoor shelving.

After an hour or so's browsing we get back in the van for the evening's destination; Builth Wells - a small welsh market town home to many events at the Royal Showground - unfortunately nothing was taking place during our visit (the Tour of Britain was due through the next day but we'd already be on our way) and on the whole, there didn't seem too much to do in the town itself although the surrounding hills look prime for walking and biking.

We pitched up for the evening on the very friendly White House Campsite right next to the river Wye that we had followed and criss-crossed on our journey up the valley.

It would have been nice to pitch nearer the water's edge, but the strong winds forced us to tuck into the corner. A great site that I would use again - we almost had the place to ourselves. Another barbecue and an early night were ahead of us before the real scenic journey into the heart of Wales which was to follow...

Life after Vanfest

So the show had packed away and the amount of campers on site began to diminish. Having the bike on the van meant I could spend a few hours exploring the web of bridleways that cover the Malvern Hills.

My legs were still tired from the previous day's milling-around the showground so I elected for a route that had a steep climb to begin with but then followed the contours of the 'Malvern-side' of the hills. Nothing too technical, just a good spin of the legs to work off a few of the excesses of the weekend.

Then for the afternoon we took a leisurely drive through 'chocolate-box' villages down to Tewkesbury. After parking and an obligatory pint we took a stroll around town and the cathedral.

The weather was definitely on our side and Tewkesbury is one to visit again and spend a little more time in. There were a couple of bookshops that I could have happily spent all afternoon in!

A proper lazy-day of not doing much at all - that relaxed holiday feeling was starting to kick in...

Another great week away

Having just got back home from a great week away, unpacked most of the van, eaten and not washed-up, got used to carpet and television again, it's time to look through the photos and maybe put a few up on here.
As you'll know from the last post, the schedule was fairly-well planned out, so this installment will be the first couple of days away; Vanfest and Blackmore campsite.

Blackmore is a lovely site with great facilities. Tree-lined pitches, the ubiquitous one-way system, generous space between each pitch means you never feel crammed-in or on top of one another. Parked-up on newly laid hard-standing, we're surrounded by caravan-types; normal enough I suppose although they all tend to go inside and watch Coronation Street and Eastenders - can't you do that at home?

A quick trip up to Malvern for provisions - something to barbecue as the weather demands it - reveals the sprawling metropolis (Vanopolis...?) of Vanfest at the showground - this picture doesn't do it justice - it's huge!

So well-fed and a few beers later (it doesn't take much to make me sleepy) and I'm out like a light, ready for a one-day visit to Vanfest...

The first thing that hit us (even more than last year) was the number of van-converters, especially for the T5 market - have you tallied-up the amount of the three vans in the pic above yet?
I'm starting to wonder if I've got our van's agreed insurance valuation wrong and whether I should be adding another few grand!!!
This year's cars-for-sale area was plain crazy; a £20k T3, a £30k Bay-window... high mileage T5s commanding big money because they've been converted into a 'surf-van'... yeah right!

Both Mrs. Stone174 and I fell in love with this double-pop-top roof from the well-spoken Germans; Terra-camper. Although I'd like one fitting the other way around with the little 'pop' at the back. The amount of stand-up space inside was fantastic. As we're still on the look-out for a pop-top roof, you never know, it could be a UK-first!

There was a T5 to suite every taste (if not necessarily every budget). The show and shine was as disappointing as always. The price of burgers, chips and donuts was ludicrous (although I'm a northerner so you'll see me with my own butties!). The thought of camping there all weekend fills me with dread; been there, done that, no thanks.

Which is why, when you get back to Blackmore, there's a little treat in store...

V-dubs everywhere!

Gone are the caravans with their satellite dishes, in comes a variety of colour, shape and size. Look carefully at the picture above; there's T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5. There was also a Karmann Gypsy just out of shot!

And with the dubs comes a great atmosphere - we all joked about how all the orange Bays had congregated towards each other!

Old vans and new could rub shoulders with one another, a multitude of languages could be heard; English, French, Dutch, German, we had Swiss neighbours between the trees - this felt more like a v-dub show than the corporate money-machine that is Vanfest. Without wanting to give-away this little secret, I suggest you book Blackmore next year... we have!

Look out for the next installment shortly.

Getting away: part three

A little bit of planning goes along way.

Now I'm not one of these people that has a detailed itinerary planned-out for a week away, but a small amount of planning (whilst sat at my desk at work) can go a long way to getting the most out of what little time we have away.

We usually take two, week-long holidays a year; one before the kids break up for summer holidays, and one when they've gone back to school. One of these weeks will usually be in my beloved Cornwall, the other will be somewhere different - uncharted waters so to speak.

And for that reason I like to do a bit of planning ahead - how much driving between destinations, campsites for each night, and things to do near those sites. Made so much easier over recent years with the likes of GoogleMaps, Streetview etc.

The holiday will start at the Camping & Caravanning Club site at Blackmore. Close to the Malvern Hills and within a brisk walk of Vanfest for a Sunday visit. We'll stay here until Tuesday morning then set of through Hereford for our destination at Builth Wells where we're hoping to camp by the river close to town.

Wednesday will see us heading up through scenic Wales to one of the C&CC's Forest sites at Beddgelert. I'm hoping this will be a great base for a day (and maybe a night's) mountain-biking with the forest being right on the doorstep. We're also hoping to tackle Snowdon - by means of the rack-railway! Then heading home at the weekend.

You will have noticed that I stipulate 'only minimal planning' as I always find the holidays tend to become organic and we often end up deviating from initial plans - no harm in that I suppose.

Finally, as I don't know this part of Wales at all, I'd be grateful of any tips you can share - places to go, things to avoid etc. Thanks.