The Rest of Our Week at Warp Speed.

Without too much ado, this is a very quick overview of the rest of this week - with not much rest in between!  

We drove to chunnel via Belgium and France at midday and caught our chunnel train (er... also called Eurotunnel) without any hassles.  Usually the Eurotunnel terminal is heaving, more so during term time but fortunately it was somewhat quieter when children are back at school.

We arrive in England and stayed at Meon Valley Hotel, Golf & Country Club.  On the way to the hotel we were hungry so we stopped to pick up a salad which we were able to eat in our hotel room.

Paul had business to attend to in Southampton on Thursday and left me in the hotel to continue catching up on my blogs.  I could have gone for a swim in the hotel swimming pool but decided not to.  

That evening we had dinner at Samuel's Rest, a pub/restaurant.  The meal was delicious - fish pie.  It was very filling though!

On Friday we drove up to Wales to pick up our post and stayed with our friends:  Sue, Ian and their daughter Lindsay.  It was really good to see them again - more so because they are an extension of our family by marriage.  

Unfortunately we couldn't stay any longer in the UK because Paul has a course to attend on Monday so we headed back to Rijsbergen via the chunnel on Saturday.  We arrived back at Paul's mum's place quite late in the evening but it was good to be back.  

Heading back to the Netherlands.

Pen-Y-Bont Caravan & Camping Park

We have fallen in love with the area around Bala and it was heavy hearts that we had to leave and start heading in a southerly direction.

Yesterday we drove down to Brynmawr, sometimes diverting off the main road to shorted our route bit ensuring that the road was still wide enough to tow a caravan.  The drive was pretty so we took longer to get to Brynmawr than what Google maps says. 

Yesterday's route.

It was good to see our friends, Sue and Ian, again as well as their human and furry family.  Initially we left the caravan at the bottom of Sue and Ian's driveway but Ian suggested we bring it up near the house overnight.  So, after a bit of manipulating, Paul managed to reverse the caravan up our friends' driveway and put it on a level spot.  We hoped it wouldn't snow overnight otherwise we wouldn't get down!

Paul getting some attention from Strawberry

Paul had an appointment to attend an appointment in Portsmouth which was a bit of a deviation from our route to the ferry terminal in Dover.  We ended up leaving our friends after the morning rush-hour, making sure we had time to spare for any eventualities along the way.  Fortunately we did leave well in time - parking spots were like gold dust.  Eventually we found parking near a bowling alley that was undergoing renovation, and parked in the bowling alley's car park - hoping that we wouldn't end up with a parking ticket. We got back - no parking ticket, whew.

Today's route into the wee hours of tomorrow morning

Traffic to Dover was fine and we had plenty of time to spare.  We were hungry and found KFC in town and stopped our rumbling stomachs.  We arrived at the ferry port a few hours early and were prepared to wait for our ferry which is at 2am.  The check-in chap was going to turn us away as there is no place vehicles could wait for so long (1 hour maximum and we would be waiting for our ferry for at least 4 hours).  We must have looked tired because the chap asked us where we had driven from, so we told him.  Needless to say he took pity on us, managed to find us a spot on an earlier ferry and waived the earlier departure fee (more expensive). 

So now we are on the ferry heading to Calais, France.  Yippee!  Once we get to Calais we will drive straight to Paul's mum's place in the Netherlands and then get some much needed 💤.

More scenic driving and an old toll bridge.

Our route today, more or less

We did another stunning drive down towards Dolgellau, turning off to head down through a pass to Tywyn where we stopped honey ice cream.  Yes, I know we had ice cream yesterday and are not winning the battle of the bulge but not we couldn't pass up the opportunity for one last morsel of the ice cream.

We drove along the coastline to Dolgellau and crossed over River Mawddach using the Penmaenpool Toll Bridge.  Penmaenpool Toll Bridge is an old wooden bridge which was built in 1879 to replace the river ferry.  We paid 70p to go across the bridge which was a beautiful sturdy-made old bridge and well worth the 'costly' 70p.   After crossing the river we drove to Barmouth and then up to Penrhyndeudraeth, not far from Porthmadog, using side roads off the main road.  The mountainous roads were very narrow with very infrequent passing points.  We had to go through a couple of farm gates but the views and the excitement of being on the road was worth it.

From Penrhyndeudraeth we headed to Bets y Coed via Beddgelert and stopped for hot chocolate and scones at Caffi Gwynant which was a church that had been converted into a tearoom/restaurant.  It was very nice inside. 

From Bets y Coed we drove down to Ffestiniog and took a squiggly north easterly and south easterly route via small narrow roads back to Bala.

We wanted fish and chips for dinner but, after going up and down the main street in Bala, we didn't see any takeaway fish and chip signs.   Eventually we saw a chap walking down the road with his fishy meal so we asked him where we had got them.  He gave us a few directions and we eventually found the fish and chip shop.  The entrance to it was very narrow, squashed between two large shops, so no wonder we hadn't seen the place.

Dinner was yummy...!

PHOTOGRAPHS

Heading towards Tywyn

Penmaenpool Toll Bridge

Off the main road, somewhere between Frafnant Farm and Bryn Bwbach 

(on a greater map scale:  between Barmouth and Penrhyndeudraeth)

Caffi Gwynant

Between Beddgelert and Bets y Coed with views of lower slopes of Mt Snowdon 

and a lake

Mountain pass, honey ice cream and a lake.

We took a lovely route over Bwlch y Groes (Pass of the Cross), also known as Hellfire Pass, just south of Llyn Tegrd to Minllyn.  As we headed down the other side of the pass we stopped to take photographs by the turnoff to Lake Vyrnwy.  A cyclist had made it to the junction and was happily taking photographs while his pal was still trying to cycle up the hill, sweating profusely.  Eventually the other cyclist made it and stopped to rest.  It was a beautiful place to stop.  Before we left we offered the 2 chaps some small cartons of fruit juice which they accepted gratefully.

Cyclist heading up south side of Bwlch y Groes

We headed down the pass to Machynilleth and on to Tywyn where we stopped for honey ice cream (http://www.haloshop.co.uk/).  It was well worth the stop and the ice cream was delicious.

Dam wall at Llanwyddn, Lake Vyrnwy

From Tywyn we went up a valley towards Tal-y-lln and crossed the over the mountains from Corris to Aberangell where we re-joined the road and headed back up towards Bwlch y Groes we had been over earlier in the morning.  On the way there was a sheep in the road being herded back to the farm.  Unfortunately it seemed quite strong-willed and didn't want to go in the direction that the farmer wanted her to go, but in the end the farmer and a sheepdog won.  It was quite a long trot back to the farm for the sheep but she got there in the end, and we could continue our journey 

Before reaching Bwlch y Groes we turned off and drove towards and around Lake Vyrnwy.  We stopped at Llanwyddn to stretch our legs and take photographs of the dam wall.  The area is a lovely recreational park with walking/cycling trails and picnic benches.  From Llanwyddn over Hirnant Pass and headed back to our campsite.  The narrow winding road took us, once again, through beautiful scenery.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Llyn Tegid

 

Heading up towards the north-facing side of Bwlch y Groes 

Looking back towards Bala and Llyn Tegid

 Views from Bwlch y Groes

Heading down the south side of Bwlch y Groes

Lake Vyrnwy

 

 

Looking down from Hirnant Pass to Cwm Hirnant