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 💤.

A drive to the Peak District & a farm campsite.

Today's route, more or less - per Google rather than our satnav!

Yesterday we left Pencelli Castle campsite and took a nice winding route through Wales and up to the Peak District.  We got the satnav to take us via the shortest route to make it a bit more scenic although on google maps (for this blog's purpose) it is not quite exact but it gives you an idea.  With the shortest routes we had to be careful that the roads weren't too narrow for our caravan but we did have one or two hair raising experiences when we came across a local who would be tearing down the country lanes at a great rate of knots and find us taking up the road.  Needless to say, they either had to inch past us or reverse back to a wider bit in the road.  We nearly got clobbered going around one hairpin bend in the road with high hedges when a vehicle coming towards us came around the bend at quite a speed.  We were fortunate our brakes and his brakes worked very well!

The drive through Wales and the Peak District was lovely and brought back some memories of when I used to go walking in the the Peak District.

Our campsite is on a farm not far from Bakewell and Buxton:  Dale Farm (http://www.dale.farm/).  By the time we arrived both the car and caravan looked as if they had been in a mud-slinging session.  They were so dirty they were almost unrecognisable.  We managed to get the caravan parked up on one of the hardcore sites without churning up the site or the driveway too much.  It was all very muddy because of recent snow-melt and rain, and more mud on the car and caravan didn't matter. 

Photograph off the internet to give you an idea of the Dale Farm campsite

We discovered that we would have to cross a muddy farmyard to get to the toilet/shower facilities.  Fortunately I had brought my gumboots with me for some reason or another so they came in handy but they had to remain outside when stepping into the caravan.  I hoped that it wouldn't rain overnight otherwise I would step into water-filled gumboots.  Paul didn't fare very well - he didn't bring his boots.  He wore Crocs clogs and his feet sank into the mud a couple of times...

Well, it is a farm!

We noticed that a woman was camping in a tent on a terraced pitch near us.  The tent was sizeable but camping during mid winter???!!!  And there was still snow lying around ...  I hope there is some form of heating in the tent or that it is well insulated.  Brrrrr....

We went down to the local pub for a nice enough pub meal.  We found a table next to a roaring fire and soon felt cosy.  The pub-owner's cat soon joined us but spent much time on Paul's lap.  Apparently Paul was sitting in the cat's usual spot!  It was nice to have kitty company.

When we got back to the campsite got into our dressing gowns and picked our way across the mud, in the dark, to get to the shower.  It is a paid meter shower.  So Paul had to traipse back to the caravan to get some coins to operate the shower.  And it had started to rain outside...  I think it was about £1 for 5 minutes but we BOTH managed to shower within those 5 minutes - we didn't have many coins!  I'm small so I don't take long in the shower, fortunately.

Coal Mine Museum

After yesterday's saga with the car we had hoped everything would be sorted.  Uh oh. ...  The garage got a new right washer for the car and fitted it but unfortunately the car failed its MOT test again because the right headlight washer didn't work!  A new part has been put on order for tomorrow.  So we have extended the van rental until tomorrow.

It was useless to sit around and 'mope' so we went to the Big Pit National Coal Museum (https://museum.wales/bigpit/) in Blaenavon, south Wales, not far from where our friends, Sue and Ian, live.  The coal mine was a working mine from 1880 to 1980 and opened to the public in 1983 as a museum.

As Paul and I waited to do the underground tour we noticed that there were lots of children also waiting to do the tour as part of a school trip.  Fortunately we were not asked to tag on to the tail end of the group but ended up being with a group of (quieter) adults.

Tigger 'high' on catnip (photograph taken by our friend Sue)

We were not allowed to take photographs whilst underground (for safety reasons) and so they, and anything else with a battery (including watches), went into a locker.  We enjoyed our visit tremendously.

Being underground was fine but above ground the air was icy so we didn't go around much of the rest of the mining site after the underground tour.

Whilst relaxing back at our friend's house Tigger, their cat, got crazy on catnip.  We had a few minutes of delightful entertainment as a result!

PHOTOGRAPHS

Visitors getting coveralls, hard hats and lamps.

The mine shaft cage

Tigger loves that catnip toy!

Back in the Netherlands at last.

Schiphol Airport to Rijsbergen by train & taxi

On Wednesday early morning we arrived at Schiphol Airport without any hiccups during the flight.  We caught a train and taxi back to Rijsbergen, had a shower and crashed until dinner time.

It is now Friday morning and I've done nothing but sleep since getting back, waking up for brunch and dinner. I've been that shattered.  Paul has not slept quite as much, catching up with his mum and going through his mail.

Melvin, mum's cat, has made big strides.  He has been coming up to our room and sleeping with us! He never does, and used to go after exploring the room.  Maybe he's missed us?!

I miss those few weeks of sun and warm weather.  Dark skies and the cold don't help ☹️