North Wales

Well I’m back, but not from out of space, from north Wales actually. It was breathtakingly beautiful – at times reminding me of the countryside in the Highlands of Scotland. We saw and explored beaches, farmland and mountains (inc. Snowdonia) and I fell in love with Betws-y-Coed and want to live there! (I forgot to take my camera, so no pictures. You’ll just have to visit if you don’t believe me!)

Our plan was to help out on an organic farm and we were going to stay there, but decided to camp instead because the weather was beautiful and we found a great campsite (mountains to the right, sea to the left!). There wasn’t much to do on the farm because the owner is a woman in her late sixties who is waiting for a hip operation; so she doesn’t have the animals or the busy schedule she once had. In the end, we fed the ponies, fixed a gate, cleared lots of brambles and did some general maintenance. The rest of the time we explored a part of Wales that I had never been to before. Eating big breakfasts and taking the dog (who had a ball) on long walks…

I cracked the sleeping thing as well. We’re using camping mats and a mattress topper (like a thin foam mattress, dimpled to provide extra support for your back. I bought one for our bed at home and it was much more comfortable so I thought I’d try it camping as well.) I slept really well and it’s so lovely to go to bed early and wake up fresh and bright the next day. Sometimes if I go to bed after watching TV I feel I don’t wake up fresh at all, but going to bed after a beer and good conversation I was raring to go each morning. And we were ready to get going by 8.30 at the latest.

We saw a lot of properties and land for sale, and we might end up buying land from the farm owner. Property is fairly reasonable but for us, we either need property and land or land with planning permission. And we don’t particularly want to go through an agent either.

In some ways it’s always a shame to come back, because I’m impatient to get moving with our plans – although it’s always nice to use your own bathroom after you’ve been camping! Our next farm visit is in Bedfordshire. More animals this time, which I’m really looking forward to…

(The new car drives really well! I'll put a photo on blogger soon.)