Cracking Crickhowell.

 Another day, another trip.

This time we were off to try out our fitness levels on Table Mountain ( The Welsh version in Crickhowell )

A place we have not been to for about 10 years, but it used to be one of our favourite places.

Riverview Caravanning in Crickhowell, Wales. An adult only site, right in the middle of the Brecon Beacons and just below Table Mountain, right in the heart of walking country. The site has been considerably updated since our last visit and now boasts a heated new toilet block and hard standings for motor homes. All for £33 per night.

We were soon settled on a lovely private pitch in the sun and out of the wind. Complete with rubber mat and picnic bench. We set out for a stroll around the town. Lots of small shops and a few pubs so there was a fair bit of choice. The town was much as we remembered it. 

The famous Crickhowell bridge.

The Bridge End Inn. Lovely in it's time but now a little sad. A shame really, as it's in such a lovely spot by the river and the once beautiful garden is now very unkempt! We did have a quick drink here for old times sake.

The Dragon pub where we stopped for a meal.

The next morning we were up for the climb. Here, right to the top of Table Mountain.

I know it looks tiny, but believe me, it's not!!! It was a real slog and very sharply uphill in places. We almost gave up, but coming down would have been as hard as going up. At least we didn't have to call out the rescue squad, although that would have been difficult with no phone signal up there. Fortunately we were wearing the right footwear, had water and plasters!!

We braved long horn cattle, streams, forests, bracken, ponies and WIND. It was very windy on top of the mountain, luckily no rain. Sadly, we didn't take the camera out of the bag, too busy concentrating on where we put our feet. We did make it to the top of the mountain and felt very pleased with ourselves. Coming down, was just as traumatic and steep, we were glad we took our walking poles. On the plus side we made it, so won't have to do it again!!

The next morning we had survived intact, so went on a calmer hike along the flat canal. A beautiful walk and we did take the camera out.

The bottom of the famous Redwood Tree immortalised in Tolkien's The Hobbit.

 A Welsh dupe of the Gap Tree perhaps?

All too soon the end of a beautiful few nights. 

Another return visit planned maybe later in the year.

Delicious Dartmouth

 The delayed start of another year and we finally decided we had better do a "shake down" trip before the summer hike to France. Two hours maximum drive from home and we settled on the Camping & Caravanning Site at Dartmouth. I guess we really should use their sites more often.

A dry but breezy afternoon found us soon settled on the site. It was an interesting drive through some of the larger resorts of Paignton and Brixham but the roads were easy and because it was mid week light traffic only!

The campsite is on the hill over looking the estuary and we opted for the seaview. On reflection we may have been better further down the site out of the strong Easterly wind. The site was very much a typical Camping & Caravanning Club site £30 a night. Gravel hard standings and nicely mowed grass. The toilets and showers were clean and tidy and the water HOT!

I think the beauty of this site is it's location. Easy ( though somewhat hilly) walks, a nice pub, local shop and restaurant within walking distance, as well as, a convenient bus stop at the site entrance. Late April, so relatively quiet.

A kind of sea view. It was behind the hedge but could be seen if you stood on tippy toes.

On the first afternoon we went in search of eating.... and drinking establishments. Through a pretty little gate across the park and you were in Stoke Fleming. 

The Green Dragon Pub on a sunny Sunday afternoon. A very nice pasty served here.

We walked into Dartmouth to take advantage of the weather. A lovely picturesque walk towards the Castle, via Warfleet.

We decided to take advantage of the ferry across the river to Dartmouth. A lovely trip all for £3.50. The friendly ferryman was very chatty and we were the only ones onboard.

 

How to call the Ferryman.

Dartmouth is a lovely place to while some time away. Lots of shops and places to eat. We had a good wander around before getting the bus back to the campsite.

That evening we had a nice meal in the Italian restaurant in Stoke Fleming. Pretty quiet but the food was nice.

The following morning we went in search of Blackpool Sands. A lovely walk down hill, we caught the bus back.

On the way to Blackpool Sands. A stroll down through the woods.

Across the bridge to the beach.

The beach was lovely, fine pebbles with a nice beach bar for coffee and cake. There was even a sauna cabin on the beach being used by a few hardy folks.

Later we took the bus back to Dartmouth and spent some time wandering about and a drink in the Crab Inn.

The bus stop at Blackpool Sands.

A lovely few days, Pebble enjoyed it and so did we! 

Next time we want to do a visit to Agatha Christy's house up the river...ferry from Dartmouth. 

A trip to the Naval College, it has to be booked in advance.

The steam train, bus and ferry trip around the area. Highly recommended, so we heard from a couple we met on the bus.

We will be back.

Another Road Trip .A Tale of Three Campsites.

 A short road trip up to see family in Tarporley Cheshire. We usually travel up to Cheshire once a year, generally combined with a family visit to Tarporley. Generally we do the trip in one hit, but in the spirit of taking things a bit slower and not driving for so long, we decided to break the journey up. Moving to Somerset has added and extra 1.5 hours to the journey, so a stop somewhere around Birmingham, would be perfect. Our first two choices Kingsbury Water Park and Somers Wood were both full. Of course, we had forgotten about the motorhome show at the NEC Birmingham being on this week, so  "No room at the inn", any camp sites local to Birmingham were full.

We turned to our new BF, ChatGP, to see what, he/she/they, ( I wonder what sex AI is?) could turn up? Near to main roads, restaurant or pub nearby, good toilet facilities, hard standing if possible (in case of inclement weather). The first stop she ( it's got to be a girl) came up with was...

Midway Holiday Park, Aymestery, Nr Leominster.

Heading in this direction meant we would be off the motorway and travelling up through Wales, which we thought could be a nice drive. Around three hours later we arrived. Slightly under whelming, as a first impression but prepared to give it a go. We got a friendly welcome and it appeared, we were the only campers that night. £25 cash including electric, so not too expensive. The campsite grounds were beautifully kept, mainly grass with a kind of carpark bit at the top which was also the car park for the coffee shop. We tried the ground before driving Pebble down, fortunately all the dry weather meant it was very hard.

The coffee shop had been a cafe but now served home made cakes, pastries and teas & coffee instead. Luckily we had brought provisions so we managed our own meal that evening. There was a pub a walk away, the Riverside Inn but we looked it up to find it was "fine dining" and super expensive. To be fair, it was damp and getting dark, we didn't really fancy the walk. On the plus side, Pebble's heating system kept us lovely and toasty and we managed to get the TV to work, so all was well.

I think a sunny afternoon would have made all the difference. The toilet facilities were, shall we say basic. A bit chilly too, with no heating, although the water was hot. Also, no sinks for washing dishes. Sadly, the cafe was closed in the morning, so no cooked breakfast either, C'est la vie. As a one night stop, it was fine and relatively quiet.

We left relatively early for us and three hours later, we were in Cheshire, arriving at Shays Farm.

Shays Farm is a well run very clean and tidy site on the outskirts of Tarporley in Cheshire. It can be busy in the summer, especially if there are events on at Oulton Park Racing Track, which is just up the road. Fortunately on a Tuesday in October the site was relatively empty. We had booked and paid on the very efficient website and knew which pitch we were on. The campsite is in a valley with beautiful facilities, there is also a special field with shepherds huts, complete with hot tubs.

Our pitch was huge with it's own table and bench set, with electric , water and a TV point on our pitch. There is a lovely pub The Shrewsbury Arms, which does food, just a short trudge across the field. In fact, The Shrewsbury Arms also has a small campsite attached with more basic facilities. Just up the road is a small shopping complex called The Hollies, all done up as a "Christmas Shopping Event", for well heeled customers. There is a deli and other shops including an up market coffee shop. We browsed !!

A relaxing two days spent here. We had actually come to see family who live in Tarporley, so we find Shays Farm, a really convenient stop over and will be back.

We had a meal at the Shrewsbury Arms one night and went to Northwich for a very nice curry the second night at Bombay Quay . Northwich definitely worth a visit, a small harbour by the canal in town and some nice shops to browse.

 
After a very relaxing two nights and time spent with the family, we were off again. 

The next destination LLanidloes in mid Wales, Red Kite Touring Park. We had stayed there before and enjoyed it. Red Kite  is an adults only site on the edge of the small Welsh market town of LLanidloes . The site is at the top of the valley 3 miles from the Clywedog Dam, it is the first town on the River Severn and very popular with walkers. From the camp site it is a short walk into the town where their are plenty of pubs and shops.

The scenery in the area is stunning.

We had booked Red Kite but there were plenty of spaces. Some of the pitches had their own raised terrace at the back which would be lovely on a sunny day.

Toilet facilities were warm and super clean. We walked into town, down hill on the way there, a climb on the way back! We ate in a great little restaurant Hiraeth recommended by the locals, there were a number of eateries that looked good, catering for all tastes. Pubs are in abundance, we tried The Red Lion and The Angel Inn, both friendly and comfortable. 

If the sun had been shining we may have ventured up the hill to the Clywedog Dam but it was a bit damp and gloomy, so we will save that for the next visit.

Our final stop on this road trip was Luckshall Camping at Fiddlers Green near Hereford. Another favourite. This site has a restaurant and again very high standard facilities. We actually booked the restaurant before we went as it was Sunday and we knew the roast was popular. We arrived on a Sunday just in time to grab our table booked for 1.30pm. We had a great meal and spent the afternoon snoozing in the van, the sun had definitely decided  not to shine.

The site was relatively quiet although a bit busier towards evening. I guess it is a good stop over place.

Amazing that six nights could fly by so fast. Luckshall is another site we shall return to, perhaps in the summer when the canal is more welcoming. A little bit of sun makes all the difference.

Review Bonterra Resort. Two Tone Site.

 Strange how one camp site can have two distinct and different personalities depending on the time of the year.  In our opinion definitely a case of a split personality. In the Summer a real Spanish lively family resort. In the Autumn, Winter and Spring, the place for the "Snowbirds" or "Grey Wave." We have actually experienced both sides of the resort August, April and September and know which one we prefer!

Finally made it to Bonterra Resort this August. We had postponed our trip due to the new arrival our new Knaus Boxlife christened Pebble.

We had actually booked 26 nights from mid April but postponed until mid August. A relatively easy process, to change our booking and Bonterra were very easy to deal with, they just transferred our initial deposit to the new dates. Slightly more expensive in August but we were just pleased the booking could be moved as we knew the site would be very busy. Dealing with Brittany Ferries was a bit more painful, especially to the wallet.

We arrived on a very busy, hot Sunday afternoon. Booking in time on the resort is 5pm, so we thought we would probably have to wait as we arrived at 2pm. Luckily, we were quickly sorted out with no wait. We had an option of a few pitches and eventually settled on a serviced pitch at the top of the site "D8" As we had already paid a deposit we were told we could pay weekly until we left, which suited us fine. It also gave us a bit of flexibility on when we could leave.

We were soon settled in on a large shady pitch.

We actually managed to set up a proper camp with the sun awning out, it was very HOT.

The camp site was very busy with lots of Spanish families and quite noisy but not in an uncomfortable way. The only real bugbear was the road noise, from the main Autovia that ran above the site, in the mountains at the back. We hadn't noticed it too much the previous year. On reflection a pitch in the "B" or "C" row may have been better. 

Sadly for us the first week of the holiday passed slowly, as we both went down with a "flu" type bug, very much like the new Covid strain. Combined with the very hot weather, we had a miserable week really. Once we felt a bit better, we ventured out. The Spanish were very much out and about. The beaches, bars and restaurants were packed. We noticed most people went off to the beach late afternoon obviously when it was cooler. Interestingly the resort restaurant which had been packed earlier in the year was pretty much abandoned by the Spanish except for the odd ice cream. It appeared that the restaurants and bars in the town and beach were much more appealing. Even during the "Happy Hour" the bar was pretty much empty. Following on from the Spanish lead, we had a few meals out in the local restaurants and bars, some had obviously changed hands from the previous year, but the food and service was OK.

Happy Hour and  the resort bar was deserted! Not a jug of Sangria in sight. We didn't mind too much, at least we could get a table.

As the temperature continued to rise, we managed to make it up to the town and have a wander. Even managing a trip to the market where we bought the regulation elephant throw, to pin on the side of the sun awning. I think we need to buy a proper side for next year.

Another bit of excitement was the "glasses saga". Den bought new glasses before we left home, which were rather pricey. One afternoon, having a nap, the glasses just jumped off his nose and landed under his feet, where they subsequently got injured i.e.. trodden on. Just another "holiday stress" event. This for once ended happily. We found an optician in Benicassim, who spoke perfect English. We actually thought we would have to buy a new pair but she said if we left them with her she would see what she could do. 10 minutes later, we were sat in a bar when she phoned to say they were fixed. Absolutely no charge, we are happy to help she said, we were pretty taken aback.

 Brilliant service from Multiopticas and a big shout out to the kind delivery driver who helped us find the shop. It was a scorching afternoon and "google" was not being very helpful! Benicassim is only a small town but we managed to walk past the shop a number of times. It must have been the heat. All's well that ends well. Glasses fixed and back to normal.

  

As we began to feel better we ventured out a bit more.

A paddle on the beach.

A stroll  along the shore.

We could even have had a seat in the sea!

As August became September, suddenly a change. 1st September and within a day the Spanish had gone and the Brits, Dutch and Germans arrived.

Lots of campers looking for pitches and daily new arrivals. The "Happy Hour" got busier and queues for the washing machines became more intensive, bags on the machine hooks at dawn, became the norm. No kids running around the shower blocks, replaced by the "Mop the Shower", brigade. The restaurant gradually got busier in the evenings, while the beach front and bars became quieter. Now it was time for towels on the sun beds around the pool.

Time to move on for us. We had mostly enjoyed the mayhem of the Spanish resort but not sure we would go back in August. A lovely site for many people who return year after year and very conveniently placed for shopping. Nice walks along the sea front and a pretty beach bar which was great for morning coffee. Lovely for a beach holiday, or perhaps for a few days, so not completely ruled out yet!

We are not absolutely sold on a "Winter Sun" holiday but maybe June and mid August/September, France, Spain or Portugal could be the answer, or even back to Greece in September.  I expect we will make up our minds soon!