North Wales Holiday: Part One!

Sheep, sheep and more sheep. Oh and winding roads. Plus Snowdonia, need I say anymore? Beauty, simplified in the best way.

Wales. 7 days to enjoy your surroundings in a lovely quaint cottage decked out with high specs. 30 minute walk to the beach, a slice of welsh heaven. But before all of this… The drive – oh boy. 4 hours of me having the lives of 3 others in my hands. If we even made it to Wales, that would’ve been rewarding enough for me. A car in one piece? You’ve got to be playing with me!

I kid you not, when I switched on the engine to depart from home, the steering wheel locked, refusing to loosen; I imagine due to the sheer weight. Who wants to be to blame for if something tragic were to happen? I unfortunately didn’t have a choice, my role as pilot was non-negotiable. I’d be lucky enough to make it out of my postcode at this rate!

The wheel thankfully loosened up after filling the tank with petrol and attending to the all important tyres. The whole journey the brakes were comparable to a 20 ton lorry. I felt like I was driving a double decker bus. Preempting anything and everything in front of me for 4 hours was high pressure. Motorways, the narrow winding roads for the last hour arriving in Wales, observing the drop if you slightly misjudge a bend or your car width was terrifying. After hearing constant sucking of the teeth, or repeatedly spotting beady-eyed back seat drivers fixated on my rear view mirror, I finally made it! The numerous mini heart attacks greatly improved my driving confidence, I can confirm.

Arriving in the evening, by the coast it only calls for one thing. A fish and chippy tea with curry sauce of course. You can take the lady out the north… The sauce was slightly on the thick side, but I wasn’t complaining. I’m not the curry sauce connoisseur, don’t mind me…

Fast forward to the first full day, Saturday. Consisting of a trip into the local quaint town, a little barbecue and a walk/hike through rocky paths to visit the beach. Unfortunately, arriving just after the sunset as we took the wrong turn, reached a sign saying ‘danger to life, do not walk beyond this point’. Of course, we ignored the sign. Then I saw a gigantic animal in the distance, my long-sightedness comes in handy from time to time. It was either a bull or welsh black cattle. A raincoat was ripped during the proceedings of getting away, I wish I was joking. Moral of the story, observe the clear warning signs! The sunset would’ve been the least of our worries!

Keep your eyes peeled for part two and three, featuring Panorama Walk, Barmouth beach and more….

Did you enjoy this post? Have you visited Wales / Snowdonia before? Comment below!