Cobdens Betws-y-Coed

.....as Dan and I manage to miss our first train atthe beginning of the trip!! Excellent!! After moi's rabid seraching over a month earlier to guarantee us £16 super-apex singles to London we manage to miss our train by nano-seconds. In fact Dan was on the train but I was 20 meteres away running with my big ...

... tradidionally given by the man to his lady friend as a sign of love and devotion.

Tonight we're staying in Bala - a lakeside town, known for it's watersports and prehistoric fish that inhabit the lake! Dinner was at a pub (for something new!) and we enjoyed Steak and Brains stout pies - Brains is a beer brewed in Cardiff that Josh is enjoying - he is also getting into the Magners and Bulmers ciders!

Nos Da!
XO

... next to the old car park area of demolished Chalets so our van is on tarmac the awning is on grass. Electric is 16amp and standard IEE plug normal polarity. Water is available at the end of every other row of pitches. There is Re-cycling its basic (glass, paper, tins) but its there

The site has:-

A swimming pool complex with kiddie’s pool and three very big water slides at least 5 others inside ...

... I had a quiet word, and persuaded him to let Saskia climb.

He let her climb half way up to a ledge (at the bottom of Crack 2) and abseil back down again a couple of times, which was enough to make her happy. Whew! It would have been a screaming, crying nightmare if she'd been the only one left out. It's a big deal when you are six.

We followed Jan and Emma's car to Louise's place, up the steepest hill I have ever tried to ascend in a car. It must ...

I don't know why we'd decided to climb Snowdon. It all came about quite quickly, and suddenly one day later there we were, waiting for a bus at the bottom to take us up to the start of the Pyg Track, a supposedly "moderately difficult" route ...

Today we went to Snowdonia Park in the mountains and it was lovely. Everything is green here and lots of rocky terrain. There are many mountain climbers and walkers in Scotland and Wales. Everyone is friendly and is interested in our trip. From there we made a bee line for Llangollen Canal where we just made it for a 12:15 excursion along the canal in a 72 foot canal boot. The trip was lovely ...

So all flights, ferrys and buses we hve to book in advance are all booked, sponge bob car ready thestart of our rally to naples, Italy - along with my durcell battery water pistol!!

Just a few preparation pictures to show what we taking.

We left our wonderful friends Margaret and Barry Austin and our grand room at the Midland Hotel this morning. Hard to leave a top floor room with floor to ceiling windows for the entire wall that looked out on the Morecombe Bay! I am adding photo's of the hotel and view.

We visited Chester, England and it was a darling town with the typical English Tudor style buildings and beautiful Cathedral. They were having a special ...

Group of 25 headed up Snowdon in celebration of Andy Duggards retirment.

Brilliant time was had by all, probably the best retirement I have been on (obviously sponsored by Carlsburg)

Congratulations Andy.

Proved to be a good last workout before we go - calves are feeling the effect though.

Well done to those that completed this mountain for the first time - Scafell next!

... and site of some famous old TV shows. Unfortunately it too has a extravagant entrance fee, and the average age of the visitor is like 80! So we passed after looking at it from the outside. We then headed to Pwllheli, another seaside town - under Cath's suggestion, but quickly turned around due to nothing more than some markets and it generally being a quiet seaside town.

For a little intellectual break we went to Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It ...