Bank Holiday trip to Wales

Currently listening to John Butler Trio over and over at the moment. Love them, they are fab! So bummed though that JBT are touring Europe but are not coming to the UK at all. Why!!!!??? Great drums, fab guitar work, awesome lyrics, part reggae/bluesy/ndy rock, with a social and enviro consciousness that they act on not just fashionable “talk”, what further reasons do I need to love these guys! http://www.johnbutlertrio.com/

Excerpt from “Better Than” by JBT

All the time while you’re looking away
There are things you can do man
There’s things you can say
To the the ones you’re with
With whom you’re spending your day
Get your gaze off tomorrow
And let come what may

Anyhoo…It was Tony’s last weekend in England before heading back to Australia, it was a long weekend and what more do you need as an excuse to go travelling. The plan was to go to Skomer Island in Wales to see the Puffin colonies. The weather forecast was not promising but by now we realise that you have to continue with your plans and hope for the best or else you would never leave home. Of course you do always plan a number of alternative options to suit the weather conditions. Well the rain and gusting winds continued all the way down to St Martins Haven where we were due to catch the boat across to Skomer Island. I had begun to get the feeling that the boat trips were cancelled when more cars were coming towards us than heading in the same direction as us. This was confirmed by the gate attendant who also advised that the boat trips were not likely to resume the next day either. Time for Plan B.

Plan B was generally heading in a direction we hadn’t been before (incredibly scientific and well planned theory to this style of travel). In short, it consists of looking at a map, hmmmm that looks interesting, plug it in to Suicide Susie (the GPS) and away we go. With this plan underway we made our way around the Pembrokeshire coastline stopping at a few beaches along the way. Mainly admiring them from inside the comfort of the car as neither Steve, Tony or myself really felt like getting drenched.

Driving through Wales once you get onto the B roads is great fun. Then it is off down the tiny laneways hoping no one is coming the other way as you have to figure out where you are going to park to let them get by. The alternative is reversing all the way back to a wider spot on the laneway. Not a nice task to have to do in the pouring rain.

We headed for St Davids and along the way Steve spotted a fantastic house built into the side of a hill. Actually it was more the hill had been built over the house. It looked fab. He believes it is a house that has been shown on Grand Designs (one of our favourite shows).

St Davids is a must see in Wales as it has a spectacular cathedral. After having survived through an earthquake the cathedral is drastically sloping (very evident when you go inside). It is a fabulous place with lots of artifacts to see and if anything a great, dry place for the afternoon.

We then headed off to Cardigan to look for somewhere to stay for the night. Thankfully we found a B&B that was very well priced, well situated in the town centre and very tidy. Nice little town to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.

Monday we headed off to do a tour of Welsh castles on the way home. Seriously can’t remember the names of them so I have to google them! First stop was Cilgerran Castle 3 miles outside of Cardigan. We were there all by ourselves for a while which is always a great feeling wandering through these ancient structures being able to touch the stone and in the silence of the morning imagine what has happened on this spot over the years.  Great views of the surrounding areas from this castle and a great view of the River Teifi. My favourite part of this castle was some stairs that took you up to the top of one of the walls and from here you are above the tree line. It almost feels like you are flying above everything (especially when the wind is gusting and your’e hanging on for dear life!)

The next castle was Carreg Cennan Castle near Llandelio. Sited on the top of a hill (actually it takes up the whole top of the hill) we could see this one in the distance as we approached the area. By the time we got there it was bucketing down so we decided to have lunch in the converted barn. Tony was the only keen one who decided to make a sprint for the top. Twenty minutes later he returned, drenched, while Steve and I sucked on our deliciously warm hot chocolates. Tony had managed to get some photos despite the down pour. I think we will look at returning another time as it looked well worth the sprint up the hill.

Finally, the last castle was a return to Caerphilly. Steve and I had done this one before but Tony hadn’t and it is well worth a return trip. The castle had a number of displays on so we got in there and had a go with the swords, shields, bows and arrows and most interestingly learnt a bit about the ballock knife. Use your imagination and a bit of creative letter changing to figure out what this knife was used for in battle. At one time it was even fashionable to carve the handle of the knife to be a life sized replica. Ewwwwww.

Great to spend some time with you Tony before you headed home. We had a great weekend despite the weather. Have a great trip home and see you again in Sydney sometime!