Kingsbury Water Park Again

Valentine's weekend (13th - 16th February) was our first foray away since September last year and boy did we need it!

Having done our now usual trick of booking our caravanning capers away for the year ahead on New Year's Day; we found ourselves traveling down after a somewhat bitter Winter (so far) on our first caper down to Kingsbury Water Park again
We traveled down on the Saturday after a late night (2am ish) on the lash with some friends the previous evening which resulted us not exactly being 'hung-over' but nevertheless, the 2.5 hour drive down took its toll and a "Saturday afternoon kip" was in order once we'd got pitched.

Post Storage Pains

This was the first time we'd used our Unit since the Autumn the previous year (if you excuse its use on New Year's Eve as a "spare bedroom on the drive" when we had friends staying over at home.)
However it seems the harsh Winter of 2009/10 has taken its toll. Here's a list of niggly things we found after our caravan's Winter storage on the drive which have only become apparent upon first use. Not all these can be accredited to the lack of use over Winter, but hey ho!

1. The kitchen sink tap sprung a leak - a split on the neck, which resulted in a small but constant leak; which in turn flooded the cupboards under the sink basin. A bodge job of wrapping the neck with PTFE and then electrical tape, offered a temporary repair.
2. The bulb in the lamp above my Wife's seat blew.
3. The outlet drain water pipes became blocked resulting in drain water backing up into the shower tray when the kitchen sink plug was pulled. Different drain pipes and a floor mopping exercise solved this, but a pain regardless.
4. We had to put new tyres on before we set off. A swift £100 there then!. The bloke down at ATS said the tyres he'd removed were "perished" and were 10 years old. This didn't surprise us as our van is 10 years old itself this year.
5. For some bizarre reason, one never noticed before; we seem now to have running hot water even without a gas supply. Normally we've had to physically turn on the gas water heater to enjoy running hot water. However after a process of elimination which included turning the gas supply off altogether, it became apparent that the flow of hot water would continue regardless. We're on an "electric hook-up" but that's normal. So where's the hot water coming from? Further investigation is needed when we get home. Clearly we have a gas-electric combi water heater. Something we weren't aware of before. Still we live and learn!
6. Our DAB digital radio, our sole source of media entertainment, decided to pop its clogs which meant a trip to the local ASDA to buy another.

Settled In

This lot aside, we soon got settled in and on this occasion used our small porch awning which was swift to erect, we took Lucy out for a wander.

Valentine's Day

Sunday was Valentine's Day and the weather whilst "fresh", was bright and sunny. Our original plan for this day was to take Lucy out for a quick walk around the pools and lakes in the Water Park and then go for some lunch at the nearby Dog and Doublet Inn on the tow path next to the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal

However, we decided that we'd postpone that until the next day and instead went for a 2.5hr walk around the park.

Tuesday - Packing Up Day

It rain a few times in the night which left the awning soaking wet, however by the time we'd got ourselves sorted out and had taken Lucy out for 45 mins it had dried out a bit and was easy to take down.
Well practiced at packing up now, we were on our way home by 12.30pm and were home by three o'clock.
Roll on the next caper which is at Easter.

Eat, Drink and be Merry: For Tomorrow We Die!

Well perhaps not quite as drastic as the headline suggests, but we do go home after this extended caravan caper around Wales.

Today has been the only full day for us at the Bala site. So we used the opportunity to pop into the town of Bala for a few bits and bobs and to have a look around, before driving around the lake of Bala, parking-up and taking a walk along the shore line for about an hour.

On returning back to our unit we "chilled" for the remainder of the afternoon before I took Lucy out for a couple of miles or so before the rain set in.

Plus point of the Bala site:

• There's lots of things to see and do within a short drive away when it comes touristy stuff, if you have more time.

Downside:

• No pub nearby!

Welsh Speakers

Incidently we're staying in area which is the closest we've been to the English border as far as this caper is concerned; yet we have heard more of the locals - both young and old, speaking Welsh as their everyday tongue in one afternoon than we have the entire time we've been in Wales.

Wild!

That's it for this caper, our next one is planned for October so keep following us.

In the meantime, take a look at our image gallery in the right hand column of this blog: we'll upload pictures of this caper and others.

Hwyl

Bala and the Jets

Forget Bennie and the Jets - we prefer 'Bala and the Jets' or so first impressions would indicate as we arrived mid afternoon to the more sheltered Bala CCC site just outside the town of Bala on the final leg of of our Welsh tour before heading off home on Saturday afternoon.

Why Jets I hear you ask?

Well in the couple of hours we've been here, we've counted a dozen or so low flying RAF jets (Tornados, Hawks and the new Eurojet Typhoon) which are obviously practicing their low-flying skills in and around the surrounding Snowdonia valleys, whizzing past the site at super-sonic speeds.

These come from RAF Valley to the north we are reliably told by the site wardens, however we knew this anyway as Debbe's uncle was based there during his stint in the RAF.

Not a problem for us, there's always an air of excitement when fast jets go past: (think "Top Gun" and all that). The sound of these things going past can be felt through the ground.

As Debbe says, "lots of training been done today, but then again there's a lot of wars being fought at the moment". True, very true!

The Wind Doth Blow

Our final stay at the Cardigan Bay last night site will not be known as one that gave us some restful kip. Once again gales howled around our unit and kept us awake for most of the night. So for our pitch at Bala we weren't taking any further chances; sod the awning! We'll manage without it for our two remaining nights.

So far, so good, the weather's calm and winds are low given the site's sheltered location.

Twenty Minutes

So having taken just 20 mins to unhook and pitch up (remember - no awning), here I am catching up with posts to this blog whilst I negotiate a few well deserved beers following our two and half hour drive to get here.

More capers soon.

Last Night at Cardigan Bay

As our last day at the Cardigan Bay Camping and Caravanning Club site draws to a damp neigh drenched, close; what's the consensus of opinion about this particular site from the Caravanning Couple's corner?

Things going for it...

1. It's a 'pretty site' and what you would expect from the CCC standards when it comes to the bog-block (on-site toilet and shower facilities) and the general upkeep of the site. The site is on a slope, so if you get pitched at the top of the site as we did, you get some great views across the surrounding Welsh countryside.


2. WiFi is available through the CCC's service provider and unlike the St. David's site visited last week, there's good mobile phone and radio signals.


3. There's a good dog walk which is sufficiently large enough to allow mini-ball-chucking sessions for one's pooch.


4. A public footpath, immediately outside the gate, runs along the side of the site and opens out into a series of fields which (livestock permitting) presents easily accessible walking for dogs and humans alike. During our stay, we could wander around 4-5 fields quite easily without encountering livestock.


5. The local pub, the Penrhiwgaled Arms, is about 1/2 mile away (20 mins walk) in Cross Inn and has great Guinness and a large choice of good grub served all day! There's a general-store across the road from it and a newsagents further down the street.

On the downside...

1. The nearest beach is 3 miles away, a car journey, at New Quay. Whilst this is a pleasant little seaside town, dogs are banned on its beaches as they are with all other ones up and down the immediate coastline. Not an issue if you're a non-dog owner, but a hindrance if you are. Lucy's jaunt on the beaches for this holiday looks to be limited to her escapades on Abereiddy beach back at the St. David's site.


2. There isn't a supermarket or decent store to stock up on supplies for miles. The general store in Cross Inn has some booze, but quite frankly I've had more in my fridge at home on many an occasion.

Not much to moan about really, with the positives outweighing the negatives.

Would we come back? Yes, if in the area again but from a location point of view, I think we preferred the St. David's site given its proximity to a dog-friendly beach and some breathtaking cliff top walks.

Tomorrow is another day as we pack up and move on to Bala for the final couple of nights before heading home.

Cardigan Bay - Final Day and a Trip to Aberystwyth

Leg three of our Welsh tour is drawing to a close as tonight is our final and fifth, night at the Cardigan Bay CCC site before we enter the fourth and final stage by traveling up to stay two nights at the Bala CCC site in Snowdonia tomorrow.

Weather for today looked promising when we woke, so after brekie and having taken Lucy out for a thirty minute charge about in the fields that line the back of the site; we decided to venture into civilization (or the closet thing we've seen to it for the last 10 days) by taking a shopping trip up to the town of Aberystwyth some twenty five miles further up the coast.

A journey we chose to take without our pup, Lucy whom we were to leave back at the caravan. A decision we could regret!


View Larger Map

Spend, Spend, Spend!

The road to Aberystwth took us fifty minutes to drive (yes 50 minutes for a 25 mile drive on a supposedly fast A road). This was largely due to two caravanners out in front of the traffic stream, chugging along at an average of 30 miles an hour.

Bloody caravanners!

As it turns out, they weren't 'holiday makers' but fairground travelers in tatty old trucks. This made us feel a little better in the fact that at least they weren't "one of us".

Anyway, once on the outskirts of the town, like dutiful tourists, we followed signs for the Park and Ride and obtained a combined bus and parking ticket (£1 all day - how cheap is that?) once we'd managed to figure out the complicated instructions on the dispensing machine, we waited for the bus.

Aberystwth itself isn't a particularly large town, about the same size as Keighley in West Yorkshire if that means anything to you! However despite its small size we weren't there to walk about but instead for only two purposes, namely; to stock up on supplies at the Morrisons we'd spied on the way in and to do a spot of shopping for some bits and bobs which included new reading material for the remainder of the holiday, buying a new and very pink-cased digital camera that was more portable than my large digital SLR thing and perhaps a coffee and a bun to celebrate our brief independence from not having the pup in tow.

Given our desire to get back to Lucy in the caravan as quickly as possible; who is still at the "wrecking things" stage if she's left too long; we didn't give the town justice by having a walk around I'm afraid. Perhaps some other time. We wanted to get back!

Round the Houses

However, we needn't have worried about losing out on the town-tour because having spent-up in the shops including forty five quid on books in Waterstone's; we were treated to an impromptu back-street tour of the town by the Park and Ride bus which included such delights as a trip through the building complex of the local hospital, past the cop-shop and a tour of the local retail parks before being dropped off where we started.

It seems the P&R bus doubles up as a regular bus for the locals to the hospital, which also explains why there was a lot of bandaged and sick looking people on the bus when we got on.

Still, I suppose we got our money's worth for our £1 bus-ticket!

A whizz round the Morrisons supermarket next to the P&R and we set-off back to the site. A drive which took us a more respectable thirty five minutes. Bloody caravanners!

Where's Me Tea?

Oh dear, what a sight as we got back into the caravan?

Lucy, having been left on her own for over 3 hours, had decided to demonstrate her annoyance by not only spilling her water all over the carpet and pulling all the cushions on to the floor; but had dragged and eaten most of tonight's tea (meatballs, left on the side to defrost) shredded a box of tea bags and its contents placed two shelves up from the floor and scoffed her way through a mixed box of nuts and raisins she'd managed to drag off the side.

The place was a real mess which took us a further thirty mins to clean-up (aided by our trusty Dirt-Devil vac of course). Still, serves us right for leaving her so long, however it's something she needs to get used to.

So there you have it, our adventures for today.

Debbe is now completely absorbed with her newly purchased books so that's the end of conversation for the day as far as I'm concerned, so I'll probably post again later this evening, perhaps with an overview of what we thought of the Cardigan Bay club site.

Oh, and its pissing it down again and there's no meat-balls for tea!

Sob!